We (4 adults) will arive GLA May 21st, depart May 29. Plan on spending the first day and night in Stirling (my younger son spent his jr. year there). Please help with destinations. We will have a car, don't mind doing a different B&B each night. Like castles, ruins, small towns, pubs, seafood, beautiful countryside. Any ideas? Thanks.

Well - with that much time you have a lot of options. <BR><BR>But one reasonable itinerary would look something like this:<BR><BR>night of 5-21/5-22 Stirling<BR><BR>5-23/5-24 near (not IN) Inverness. Visit Nairn, Culloden, whisky distilleries, Ququhart castle, etc.<BR><BR>5-25 near Ullapool<BR><BR>5-27/5-28 on Skye or on Mull<BR><BR>5-29 travel to GLA and depart<BR><BR>If your flight is early in the morning cut back to one night on Skye or Mull and stay the last night on/near Loch Lomond which is an easy drive from the airport.

My husband and I were in Aberfeldy (in Perthshire) in the fall of 2001. Easy drive from Stirling. Nice town to walk in, maybe have lunch. Dewars runs a distillery there (they make a single-malt whiskey there), and you can tour it. Fun, informal, educational tour with tasting at the end. One of our favorite finds was Menzies Castle in Weem, just outside Aberfeldy. You can tour the castle and the grounds (check the web for pix/info...) Also, consider a visit to Blair Castle (can look up on the web). Self-guided tour and beautiful grounds. You might consider buying one of those discount passes for entry into castles/homes/gardens, etc... if you plan to visit a lot. We had them and they were well worth the purchase price. Everywhere we drove, the countryside was gorgeous.

If it were me, I'd wing it and follow the weather. We often get some of the best weather of the year at the end of may. You will have no problem getting places to stay, so don't worry about booking ahead.<BR><BR>Again, if it were me, I'd probably do a small bit in depth- like Fife- gorgeous little seaside villages, masses of history, lots of castles, great pubs and nice places to eat. 7 days no problem. <BR><BR>But if it's sunny in the west, why not go to Inverary, and Kintyre; stay in Tarbert and spend a day or two on Islay; have a look at Kilmichael glen and Crinan and Oban,<BR><BR>Or go up to the north east coast round Elgin and see the Moray fishing villages. The history gets a lot more blurred up there till about the 18th century but plenty to see and do.If you go north of Inverness, the east coast as far as Helmsdale remains charming. North of that it's quite bleak, but still very grand.<BR><BR>Danna would send you to the south west and if you search her name you'll find out why.<BR><BR>Or here in the north east you could combine the towns and villages of the castle and whisky trails.<BR><BR>No need to tear round the country at high speed. Slow down and smell the roses. (or in this case azaleas and rhodendendrons)

If you e-mail me mentioning Scotland I will send you some pretty extensive folders of my notes about Scotland, all with good websites.<BR> [email protected]

Thanks for the ideas. Shiela, we will be going to Kintyre toward the end as our friends from Grand Cayman (from Tarbert and Islay) will be there after the 26th.