Scotland Sept 2022 trip- need help with complicated planning
 

We are traveling from Oregon to Scotland for 19 days in Sept 2022 and need ideas/help for the last seven days of our trip. We will have already been in Edinburgh for three days and on a 13-day literary and walking tour that includes Inveraray, the Isles of Mull, Iona, Erraid, Staffa, a day hike along the West Highland Way, Glen Coe and Stirling. Our tour returns to Edinburgh.

We will have three days and nights leaving from Edinburgh mid-September to explore by ourselves, then my brother and sister-in-law fly into EDI from Denmark and join us for four days (including travel days). We have the choice to make two trips- one before and one after picking up our family at EDI or to drive a larger loop and ask the family to take a train and meet us somewhere rather than returning to EDI to pick them up.

We’ve created quite a challenge for ourselves! We’ve considered a short trip to Isle of Arran and Glasgow by train alone for 3 days, then returning to EDI and driving an eastern loop with family for 4 days- Pitlochry (for distillery walk), Speyside area, over to east coast (Dunnottar Castle) and down to St. Andrews and back to EDI. We’ve even considered driving to Isle of Skye in a day, spending two nights, then on to Pitlochry and have family meet us there via train then drive the eastern loop. It feels like we are probably taking on too much(?) We are open to other ideas as well. We just want something different than what we will see on our tour.

We are in our 60s, fit, enjoy walking, biking, natural beauty, food and want to visit at least one distillery.

Thank you.

Some random comments:

Distilleries are more and better on Speyside than anywhere near pitlochry.

I personally would not try to squeeze in Skye I so few days.

Since you will have spent so much time on the west coast two other good options for 3 & 4 day trips would be the east coast Including a bit of the castle trail / Dunnottar / and Fife -- or -- The Borders including the Abbeys / St Abbs Head / Lindesfarne / maybe as far as Bamburgh. Either of these will be significantly different than the Mull/Glencoe/etc.

What about Rosslyn Chapel and Hadrian's Wall? Given what you will have seen and the time limit you have, I would go north east for whisky and different sights.

Roslyn Chaple is on the outskirts of Edinburgh so easiest to visit when staying in the city. Hadrian's wall would be good for the four day trip - the Border sites I listed, Bamburgh, Alnwick and a bit of Hadrian's Wall could just about be done in 4 days, but a little too much for 3 days

Do your brother and sister-in-law have any desire to visit Edinburgh, or are they okay with rocketing off somewhere immediately on arrival? Or are they staying on after you leave?

Not knowing anything about the tour, if you're visiting Oban and/or Tobermory during that time, there are distilleries in both places that could be visited to put that goal behind. It's just my view (but one that I think is widely shared) that one distillery is pretty much similar to the next; if anything the small distilleries in Oban and on Mull are small and old enough to be more than representative, rather than some of the industrial-scale distilleries in the Speyside area.

If they don't mind skipping Edinburgh, then the idea of crossing the English border to the Northumberland coast is a terrific suggestion. There's enough to see on the way south that I probably would skip Hadrian's Wall, and focus on the marvelous coastal scenery, castles, all the history around Lindisfarne (aka Holy Island) and all the rest. If you return to Edinburgh via the Lammermuir Hills (after a stop at the Black Bull in tiny Etal, the northernmost thatched pub in England) you'll also be able to experience some lovely, lonely moorland - heather etc. - as part of this route. Have a look and google the places on this map, or (better) use Undiscovered Scotland - Undiscovered Scotland: Home Page - a very useful site. Map - https://goo.gl/maps/9tJUuNTrCvxhvQRDA

If you want to stay in Scotland, and given it's (presumably) mid- to late September by this point, then another fabulous area would be a loop through Fife, then into the Perthshire Highlands, then back via Stirling and Culross. Here's another map - https://goo.gl/maps/S5Qi6pd1Q3EW4Yy7A

This starts with a tour of Fife and includes a stop in the lovely old Royal Burgh of Falkland (royal palace and gardens, the city used extensively in Outlander.) You'd then visit the perfect fishing villages in the East Neuk area, then through St. Andrews and over the Tay. You'd then visit the wonderfully picturesque and historic village (and excellent hotel) in Fortingall, at the mouth of Glen Lyon, IMO one of the most beautiful places in Scotland. In the autumn (probably starting to appear when you'd be there) the autumn foliage in Glen Lyon will stop your heart. Visit the incredibly scenic Roman Bridge (it isn't that old) and continue up Glen Lyon until the trees give way to moorland and heather.

Continue along Loch Tay and visit the Falls of Dochert in Killin, then return to Edinburgh via Stirling with its castle, stopping at the Kelpies monument, and finally the ancient village of Culross on the banks of the Forth. Like Falkland, Culross was also used quite a lot in Outlander.

This is a compact itinerary that would expose you to a very wide range of landscapes, lots of history, and memorable villages and towns. Highly recommended.

Here's a fun video about the "Roman" bridge in Glen Lyon.

Thank you Gardyloo, Janisj and StantonHyde. Your ideas are wonderful. Love the idea of The Borders as a smaller, beautiful trip between our busy tour and when family arrives. As it is a loop, staying in one location for three nights won't work. Where would you suggest we stay along the route? We have all day Tuesday-Thursday and would need to get back to EDI by noon on Friday to pick up family for the next leg.

Gardyloo, my brother and sister-in-law will visit Edinburgh another time. We are going to Oban on our tour and I will look at whether we can go to distillery there rather than trying to do Speyside. The Fife and Perthshire Highlands route sounds wonderful in mid-September, although we will have gone to Stirling Castle on our tour. I don't need to see lots of castles but would like to visit Dunnottar if possible. Again, suggestions for where to stay along the route? (Friday noon to Monday afternoon)

Your ideas will help with my next leg of research!

We are taking the advice mentioned here and doing two loops. We need some help fine tuning and where to stay night 3 of both loops.
Loop 1: The Scottish Borders and coast for three nights.
Da 1 Pick up car at EDI in morning, drive through north Berwick and Tantallon Castle, on to Dunbar and then St Abbs for a crab sandwich and a walk along the Berwickshire Coastal Path or St Abbs Nature Preserve. Check into Parish School Guest House in Berwick Upon Tweed for two nights.
Day 2: Royal Border Bridge and wall walk in Berwick Upon Tweed. Explore Holy Island (tide times allow for visit between 10:00-1600.) Bamburg Caste and Alnwick Castle. Return to lodging in Berwick Upon Tweed.
Question: Better to look for lodging on Night 2 closer to Bamburg so we don't retrace our steps? We wanted to avoid moving every day if possible.
Day 3:
Option 1: My husband is intrigued by the Melrose Abbey. Is it worth the drive with what we will have already seen? The abbey is currently fenced off. Stay overnight there?
Option 2: More leisurely time to explore places from day 2, then stop at Balck Bull Pub and begin return north through Lammermuir Hills. We need a suggestion for what town to stay in Night 3. We need to arrive by Day 4 midmorning at EDI to pick up family at airport.

Loop Two- Fife and Perthshire Highlands
Night 1: Staying in an Air B&B St. Andrews
Night 2, Fortingall Hotel, in Fortingall.
Night 3: Where shall we stay between Fortingall and EDI? Want to see Falls of Dochert, Kelpes monument, Culross?, Would Stirling be the best option? We will have toured the castle earlier on our tour. Need to return to EDI by noon/early afternoon on Day 4.
Thank you for your help!

First, it's Bamburgh. Personally, I'd stay there if you can find accommodation at this point. Note however that trying to squeeze in both Bamburgh and Alnwick castles in the same day is pretty much a non-starter, especially given the popularity of Alnwick with the Harry Potter crowd. If for no other reason I'd go with Option 2 - easier to manage your time. It also looks like all the principal Borders abbeys (Kelso and Dryburgh as well as Melrose) are undergoing restoration work and have limited (or no) access to all or part of their premises, so I guess it's your call as to adding them to the plan. Certainly the Lindisfarne Priory on the Holy Island is worthy of a visit, and of course there's always Rosslyn Chapel closer to Edinburgh (which can be done as an easy day trip from the city.) I believe, by the way, that Tantallon Castle is also unavailable for touring, so maybe consider bypassing it on the way south. If you do choose to overnight someplace closer to Edinburgh before heading to the airport, you might want to look at Gifford, a very pretty village on the edge of the hills. The Goblin Ha' and Tweeddale Arms hotels are very nice, with good food.

As for the second loop 3rd night, if you want to see the falls then both the Kelpies and Culross, I'd probably just decide to spend the night closer to the airport. I don't think a day that includes all three sights en route is going to be especially grueling, so arriving in the late afternoon or early evening in the vicinity of EDI shouldn't be a deal-breaker. Personally I really find South Queensferry to be an appealing overnight destination. There are a couple of nice, more traditional hotels in the village (under the bridges) or more modern offerings like the Dakota Hotel up on the flats south of the village core. Map for the day: https://goo.gl/maps/NM6Ywn26rcRiEru88

Nice video about Queensferry -

• "Day 2: Royal Border Bridge and wall walk in Berwick Upon Tweed. Explore Holy Island (tide times allow for visit between 10:00-1600.) Bamburg Caste and Alnwick Castle. Return to lodging in Berwick Upon Tweed".

Too much for one day. :( True -- total drive time would only be maybe 2.5 hours. But Lindesfarne, Bamburgh Castle, and Alnwick Castle (not even counting the separate Alnwick Gardens) are each 2.5 to 3 hour visits. That plus the Alnwick gardens and Berwick-upon-Tweed walks is really a two day itinerary. IMO B-u-T is interesting but other places in the area are more so . . .

With 3 nights and because Tantallon Castle is currently closed to the public -- it is really just a drive by -- I'd drive straight from EDI to St Abbs Head, walk along the cliffs, then to Lindesfarne island and finish up in Bamburgh. You might be able to visit the Castle that afternoon but if St Abbs and Holy Island ate up the first day, visit the castle in the morning. Then on to Alnwick - the Castle and Garden plus exploring the town will take most of a day. If you don't want to move hotels you could stay that night back in Bamburgh.

Then on Day 3 drive over to Dryburgh Abbey, Melrose, and Traquair House. Stay that night anywhere nearby (Galashiels, Melrose, Innerleithen)

I'm busy for a few hours but will think about your 2nd loop later today.

Was posting the same time as Gardyloo . . . I don't have the time to absorb his suggestions just now. Will look them over later. Between the two of us I'm sure you have quite a bit to thinks about ;)

Again, JanisJ and Gardyloo, Your insights are invaluable. We are going to stick with option 2 and enjoy a more leisurely pace on the coast. If we head straight to St. Abbs from EDI, will we have time to explore Lindesfarne Island that day as well if we can only access island until 1600?

EDI to say Eyemouth to Lindesfarne - just the drive time - will take less than 2 hours total. EDI to Eyemouth, a little over an hour. With a 9:30 or 10AM start you'd have from around 10:30 or 11AM til 4PM for both walking on the Head and at least the Priory and Castle on Lindesfarne. Should be enough.

As for your option 1 or 2 for day 3: There are so many other sites in the area if Melrose is fenced off (I hadn't checked on that). Melrose is lovely, But IMO/IME Dryburgh is lovelier in a prettier setting, plus there is Floors, Mellerstain, Traquair House (a must IMO) and Abbotsford to choose from.

Oh oops -- just checked and Dryburgh is also inaccessible at present :(

But there is still a lot of great sites to fill a day.