Our family of 5 will be traveling from London to St. Andrew (train to Edinburgh and rental car to St. Andrew) to golf one day. We would like to see Loch Ness, but do not know how long the drive is from St. Andrew to Loch Ness. From Loch Ness we would be returning to Edinburgh to catch the train back to London. We only have 3 nights total, Friday to Monday. Is this possible? Should we spend two nights in St. Andrews and one near Loch Ness, or can you do a day trip to Loch Ness from St. Andrews? Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

get yourself out a map and look at Scotland. St Andrews to Loch Ness is a long ways and in Nov you will have short days and likely bad weather.

Loch Ness is no great shakes as loch go. There is a lot better scenery and prettier lochs much nearer than Loch Ness.

If I were you, I'd spend the 3 days near St Andrews, or 2 days St Andrews and one day near Loch Tay or Loch Earn.

Any particular reason you want Loch Ness? Or is it just the "famous one" you figured must be the best??

I would agree with that. It would be an awfie faff to get to Loch Ness just to say you'd been.

Sightings of Nessie have dwindled to zero in recent years. Global warming?

Loch ness is attractive, but it is a long way from St Andrews (not Andrew).

.... Are you prepared to admit that you are only going there in the hope of seeing the monster .....

But it would be nice to see the highlands while you are in Scotland, and having to get to Loch Ness is as good a motivation as any (the locks at Fort Augustus are impressive when boats are moving up and down the Caledonian Canal). St Andrews is very beautiful (I went to Uni there), but it is not in the highlands. Are you a golf fan, or on the Royal Prince trail ?

I use Viamichemlin for roadmaps and journey planning. Be very very aware that driving long distances in the UK takes much much longer than you think, and that tourist attractions start closing 4:30-5pm (earlier if you wanted to visit the cafe).

Be aware that one-way car rentals cost about £35 extra from most companies.

Chris has bad info - for cars rented from the States there is almost never a 1-way drop off fee. In fact having rented cars for nearly 30 years, I have only had a drop off fee once. That was when I didn't need inclusive mileage and opted for a bare bones rental that didn't include anything. BTW - you will save between 25% and 40% on your rental car if you pre-book it from home before arriving in the UK.

As for Loch Ness being OK as a way to see a bit of the Highlands - there is much better highland scenery a lot closer than traveling all the way up to Loch Ness.

Well, you could do loch Ness or better yet, loch Lomond by train in about 3 hours. So, take an early train, spend time in or around the loch and back to Leuchars by late afternoon. Sheila and Janis wouldn't do it, but they are sane and I am a train type of guy.

I don't think I do have "bad info".

I made a statement of what I have found to be true in attempting to book a car here in the UK: one-way fees always seem to be quoted (actually some do not actually quote a one way charge, they just hint that one MAY be payable, without saying how I can find out, or what it will be).

I then asked a question about why people from the US seem to not have to pay one (I did not call their veracity into question).

To repeat...

What I ASKED (not stated) was whether the fact that people from the US find that they definitely DON'T pay one-way charges here in the UK is because they are booking from US websites rather than the .co.uk ones I have been using. I wondered whether what we pay as an *extra* charge was perhaps *included* already in a higher basic charge for you. (Prices do vary wildly between different domains.)

If I am wrong (I admit it happens - er, quite a lot actually) and I can get a one-way hire from Stansted to Sheffield WTHOUT paying either a one-way charge or an expensive all-inclusive hire fee - please let me know how.

If I am confused, then I (limply) blame the hire companies who seem to find it impossible to simply show you the total price once you have selected a car, two locations, and two dates/times. (I would allow a few tickable options underneath, on the SAME page, showing what each tick will cost me.)

Instead they give an "all inclusive price" on one page

.... Then a different price on the next page ("Oh, you are picking up the car at an airport!" - "YES - I said so on the first page!!!!!!!!" grrr !)

... Then a scrollable set of terms and conditions that include at the bottom (invisible until you scroll)

.... A hyperlink labelled "locally-payable charges" which when you click it says

.... "A one-way fee may be charged if you drop the car at a different location" YES - like I said on page 1 !! - And what does "may" mean, and how much, and how do I find out before I turn up and have no choice BUT to take the car.

... and "collision damage waiver" that DOESN'T waive the first £600 if they mysteriously find (as soon as they approach the car) a minute scratch on the windscreen that you haven't seen (in a week's driving).

... unless you pay £12 per day "supercover" (NOT included in the "fully inclusive" price) which still doesn't cover you for damage to the roof, tyres, underneath, etc, etc, etc...

Actually, I now have personal insurance for the "excess" for about £40 per year. So that's one thing I don't have to add to the fully inclusive price (ha!).

... But I still can't get a quote for Stansted to Sheffield for 1 day (ie less than 24h) for less than £60 (except for quotes that leave it delightfully vague whether the one-way charge is included or not).

I'll get my coat.

By bad info I meant the &quot;<i>Be aware that one-way car rentals cost about &pound;35 extra from most companies.</i>&quot; bit -- which is simply not true if one books from overseas.

Unfortunately studying maps of Scotland have not been very helpful because they never indicate the driving time. Past experience has shown that roads/trips vary widely in travel time based on road conditions and other things.

Other than two days in St. Andrews (for golfing and exploring), we are open as to where to go for a day of pure sight seeing. For whatever reason, most travel information (including the Fodor's video on Scotland) recommend seeing Loch Ness. It would be nice to see the highlands and a loch, but we aren't tied to Loch Ness. Any suggestions for a closer beautiful loch would be appreciated.

It was suggested to us to take a train only as far as Edinburgh and then rent a car so that it is easier to do some exploring. (as opposed to straight train or bus travel) Appreciate any and all input, thanks.

The previously mentioned lochs Earn and Tay are in an area mountains, lochs, rivers and villages. You could spend the night in/near Aberfeldy or Dunkeld. Lots to see in the area and a lot nearer than Loch Ness/Inverness.

I suggest you drive west and north to Perth and Ballinluig, east through Aberfeldy to Kenmore and Loch Tay, and along the north shore of Loch Tay. Stay somewhere around Killin (budget?), then back south to Edinburgh or Glasgow and on home.

Yes - Killin at the other end of the loch from Aberfeldy and/or Dunkeld would be a lovely place to stay. The Falls of Dochart are the rapids that run through the middle of the village - much pretttier than anything along Loch Ness.