Scotland - please help with itinerary
 

Just bought my first book on Scotland (Fodors) and am starting to plan a first trip to Scotland! its a bit overwhelming with all there is to see and do, so i would love a bit of guidance.

We will have about a week in late June and are a family of 4 with 2 avid golfers (dad and teenage son) and 2 nongolfers (mom and teenage daughter)

I'm thinking our trip will have 3 sections:

1. St. Andrews ( a must for the golfers in my family)

2. Turnberry (golf, again, plus a Starwood hotel to stay in on points)

3. overnight in a castle (wish of the nongolfers), somewhere in between, preferably near Edinburgh, so we can spend at least one daythere. Can also do the night in a castle and also stay in Edinburgh, since we'll probably fly in and out of there.

my questions are below:

1. are we really limiting ourselves with an itinerary like this and missing a lot of highlights?!

2. Can anyone recommend a lovely castle to stay in less than $300 (U.S.)?

3. any famous scotch distilleries near these places?

thanks!!

dina

You only have a week - so you will miss a LOT. But that can't be avoided -- Scotland is a very Biiiiiiig place. W/ St Andrews, Ayrshire and Edinburgh as your givens - you simply don't have time to go anywhere else.

If you could squeeze out another week then you could see/play maybe some other areas including some of the highlands, Dornoch and the north, other great courses and more scenery. But a week limits you a lot.

OK - About your itinerary:

The west coast/Ayrshire/Turnberry. Also in that area must see's include Culzean Castle, Robert Burns sites, Crossraugel Abbey. Prestwick and Troon courses are also there (Prestwick has more historic connections than Turnberry - but maybe not the cache)

In/Near St Andres/Fife: Besides the Old course there is the castle/cathedral in St Andrews. Several lovely fishing villages such as Crail, Anstruther(which all have their own courses), Falkland Palace/Gardens. Not far from St Andrews is Carnoustie.

Edinburgh is worth a couple of days at least.

A real castle (or even a country house hotel) will run more that $300 a night for 4. That is only about 150GBP. Places like Traquair House run nearly 200 GBP for a double.

Here is a possible itinerary: Fly into Glasgow and head down the coast to Turnberry for 2 nights.

Then to Edinburgh for 2 nights (stay in a nice hotel in the city and forget about a castle hotel). You will probably want to increase your hotel budget for a nice place.

Then to St Andrews for 2 nights -- then back to GLA (or EDI if you fly open jaw) to fly home.

Oh - meant to add - in June the days will be very long. It will be light until nearly 11:00 p.m. (tee times go late as well)

So you will have lots of daylight to explore long after the castles/gardens/sites close for the day.

Yes, you are limiting yourselves with an itinerary like this. But if this is the holiday you want, so what.

Castles. I think your best options for location are Dalhousie, Traquhair, and Fernie. As janis says, I think you'll find the pricing a bit... firm. Personally I wouldn't do it, but it's your holiday.

Distilleries. Well, none of the Lowland distilleries are REALLY famous, so I think you're going to go with what's available.

Near Ayr, you have Auchentoshan. Near Edinburgh you have Glenkinchie.

Other (and, IMHO, better options would be to a) take a day trip from Ayr to Arran and go to Lochranza; b) take aday trip from Ayr to Dumfriess-shire and visit Bladnoch; or c) take a day trip from Fife to Glenturret and visit the Famous Grouse's "Malt Whisky Experience"

Tip- DON'T call it "scotch". It's whisky (no "e"), or malt.


3. any famous scotch distilleries near these places?

Just don't order "Haggis" and you'll be fine.

Janis and Sheila-
thanks so so much for the great advice. i will continue my research and be back with more questions, i'm sure.

Wesse-
what's haggis?
(i don't drink whisky, my husband does. he loves oban and glenlivit)

thanks,
dina

A haggis is a small animal native to Scotland. It's a bird with vestigial wings - like the ostrich. Because the habitat of the haggis in exclusively mountainous, and because it is always found on the sides of Scottish mountains, it has evolved a rather strange gait. The poor thing has only three legs, and each leg is a different length - the result of this is that when hunting haggis, you must get them on to a flat plain - then they are very easy to catch - they can only run round in circles.

:D

(BTW - if you have to ask you won't like it. Wesse was just being a smart aleck. Sheila is pulling your leg)

I am NOT!:)

We were over there last May and we were overwhelmed by the beauty of Fife, and all the areas we visited. Have your husband check out www.kingsbarns.com just south of St Andrews. My husband so wants to go back and play it. We did get to see Turnberry. It was beautiful, but he didn't play it--however, he was lucky enough to get picked in the daily draw for the Old Course. But if your husband could substitute Carnoustie, just north of St Andrews-- for Turnberry and add Kingsbarns to the St. Andrew portion of the trip, you'd have so much more time to enjoy Edinburgh and St Andrews.

It is a shame you don't have more time as you could fit in a trip to Oban. it is a lovely place and as your Husband likes Oban whiskey you could do the distilery tour.

whisky -- repeat after me W-H-I-S-K-Y :)

(w/ an "E" it is an different thing from a different country)

I like Shelia's suggestion of a day trip to Arran. It'll give you a glimpse of what the Highland's are like. The easist way to get there is via Ardrossen (not far from Turnberry) on the ferry. It's about a 50 minute trip.



About the "Haggis"... give it a go. You may be surprised. I never cared much for whiskey but I am fond of whisky.

OK yes I am terrible for typinmg fast and not checking my spelling so sorry about the whisky bit.

janisj, why forget about a castle hotel in Edinburgh? i am staying at Stobo castle. any input on that?

schuba, I think it was mostly because the OP's budget of less than $300 would make it nearly impossible.

Not to mention that Stobo's not in Edinburgh

ok.

what sheila and caroline said -- plus it really isn't a "castle". More of a country house / spa. It was only built in the early 19th century.

Duh - what I meant to say was "what sheila and noe said -- "