Greetings, friendly Fodorites:

We are a group of 4 mature adults planning a July visit to Scotland. We arrive in Glasgow, will stay 2 nights, then pick up a rental car for our exploration, and drop it off once we arrive Edinburgh. We are planning 2 night stays in each of our destinations, as we've learned that one-nighters are not for us
We also want the driver to be able to enjoy himself in the evening, so we'd like to stay in towns where we can just walk to dinner, pubs, and not worry about driving back to the B&B or guest house. We're looking forward to nature walks, castle visits, whisky tasting, cultural/historical opportunities.

Proposed itinerary:
Glasgow
Oban and surrounding area
Isle of Skye (stay in Portree)
Inverness
Pitlochry (interested in seeing plays, and visits to nearby sites)
Edinburgh (will stay 2 nights, have already been there several times)

5 years ago we took a weeklong adult summer school course at the university in Stirling (which included some day trips to St. Andrews, etc), then we spent 4 days in Edinburgh. So, we have seen some areas, but with a car, we are looking forward to setting our own schedule.

I have been checking this site, tripadvisor.com, Rick Steves' Britain Guidebook, and still am seeking recommendations for B&B's and/or guest houses in Portree and Edinburgh. We require 3 rooms (one double and two singles). Price per person about 30 -45 pounds.

Thank you for any tips, suggestions, comments. Happy travels!

We stayed at the Craigatin House in Pitlochry last summer, http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._Scotland.html, and highly recommend it. It has won best in Europe for Inns before on tripadvisor. It was really nice and you could walk into town very easily.

Have fun!

Since you have a car, why not stay somewhere outside Portree, but where you can still walk to dinner every night?

I ate dinner here, at Coriusk House in Staffin (not far from Portree) and they are also a B&B. The food was good and although I didn't stayovernight, the entire place was charming.

http://www.seafood-skye.co.uk/

I very much enjoyed my stay in Duntulm, further north in the Trotternish. There is a very good restaurant and bar (I stayed in a self-catering cottage, but there are also hotel rooms available). The area is stunning for hikes, although not centrally located for touring the whole isle.

http://www.duntulmcastle.co.uk/

stepsbeyond, your first link is to a place in Elgol, far from Portree and far from Staffin. Could you have meant this place: http://glenviewskye.co.uk ?

Mimar, yes, I did make that mistake! Thanks for catching it!

Thanks for the good leads! We require 2 singles and a double, and am having a tough time finding B&B's that have 2 singles. Will keep looking, but appreciate any more tips.

We liked Apartment By Castle in Edinburgh. It is not a B&B but a self catering apartment. The owner is extremely friendly and stocked our kitchen before we arrived so we had plenty to eat for breakfast. The location is great - literally right next to the Castle and walking distance to several restaurants and pubs. The apartment is not fancy, and the entry is very drab, but it is clean, large and the owners could not have been more friendly or helpful. Here is a link:
http://www.abc-edinburgh.co.uk/

We ended our trip this year with two nights in Edinburgh also. I found a four bedroom flat through VRBO. It is in a posh residential area just west of town in the Stockbridge area. I can't say enough about the owner. We left a suitcase there by mistake and we were pondering whether the contents were worth getting the owner to mail to us when we looked up and there she was suitcase in hand at the Edinburgh airport.

It is very well stocked. There is no breakfast, but we probably could have fixed breakfast and lunch the first day with the groceries thoughtly left for us.

Her price is 175 GBP per night and does accept stays as short as two days. The only draw back is finding parking on the street but she gave us a parking pass to use. The VRBO number is 88557. There is a small deposit at booking and the rest can be paid once you are there. She takes Paypal which is a plus.

It may not be exactly what you are looking for but it was wonderful for us to all unwind at the end of the trip and spreadout. Also there is a washer/dryer so you can clean a couple sets of clothes before you leave for home.

We also stayed at Pilrig House at the first leg of our trip. I recommend them also but they are a little more than you planned to spend.

if you are going to the Isle of Skye then I would recommend a visit to Eilean Donan Castle , which is about 10 miles south of the Kyle of Lochalsh . It is a picturesque site www.castlepictures.com/eilean.html

Definitely stop for photos at Eilean Donan. But you can save the money/time actually going inside.

It is in an amazing scenic setting - but the interior is nothing to write home about. You will see many other/better castles all along your route.

I'm not a 'rush-through-stop-for-photo-ops' type traveler - but Eilean Donan is a place one can definitely cut to a short stop.

It's about 7 miles due east of the Kyle.

Hi,
You could also try looking for self catering apartments in Edinburgh, which is becoming a very popular alternative to staying in a hotel. Edinburgh seems to have a large number and a variety of self catering apartments available - and many are price very resonably.