Scotland summer 2023
 

Hi we are planning a trip to Scotland/UK next summer. We will have about 7 days. I know there are a lot of variables that go into something like this but I’m kind of looking for some starting point ideas. What are some must see things? What are some must do activities?

Welcome to Fodors. You say Scotland/UK (which would be 4 whole countries) but your thread title just mentions Scotland - so can we assume you are visiting JUST Scotland?

When exactly is your trip? 'Summer' covers a lot of territory and if you are thinking of visiting in late July/all of August you will face special issues in all of Scotland but especially in Edinburgh. During that period the Fringe Festival, International Festival, other festivals, and the world famous Military Tattoo all run concurrently the full month of August -- the city literally doubles in size and hotel rates triple . . .

But if you mean say early June/early July - then the above isn't an issue.

so 1) WHEN is the trip? 2) What places have you already researched/what to visit? 3) Do you mean just Scotland - other parts of the UK too? 4) How firm is your 7 days - if that is the total time home to home, that nets you less than 5 full days for seeing/doing? 5) What sorts of things interest you?

Scotland is a large country with hundreds (thousand really) of worthwhile sites, and amazing history, and glorious scenery . . . All of this is to say -- we need a lot more info before we can give useful advice.

Thanks for the feedback. Let me see if I can get some more specific information. I think we are looking at seven days on the ground touring the country. We certainly love castles we love nature we love all the scenery that we see on television in outlander ha ha. We also love food and we will most likely be there in June or early July-definitely not august. All of this is a surprise for my bride of 15 years so I’m doing the research myself. Thanks for the continued help, this is somewhere she has begged to go.

Things to see, assuming that you are driving are Inverewe Garden, the Falkirk Wheel, New Lanark, the Art Lover's House in Glasgow as designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh

https://flic.kr/p/7HGfxb https://flic.kr/p/7EjmTk https://flic.kr/p/7HGo49 https://flic.kr/p/7HCpTP

The places Michael suggests are all totally worthwhile but are hundreds of miles apart and are sort of a random list -- and I'd guess for most first timers probably not on their must list.

Seven days on the ground is not very much for a tour of Scotland so you'll have to be very selective what to include and what to leave out. What I'd suggest you do is 1) get a good guide book on Scotland, and explore some resources on line such as Undiscovered Scotland https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk which covers sooooooo much. Also Historic Scotland https://www.historicenvironment.scot Then come up with a sort of basic itinerary and we can help you refine the plan.

Visiting in June/early July is a HUGE advantage.

Places you might want to research on line and in the guidebook(s) (just a very short list and in seven days you'd only be able to touch a few of them) and see which if any really call to you:

• Edinburgh in general but especially the Castle/Old Town
• The Castle Trail and other places in Aberdeenshire (Dunnottar, Castle Fraser, Craigievar etc)
• The Borders including sites like the Border Abbeys (Melrose, Dryburgh, etc -- they are closed to the public this year but hopefully back open t=next year), Traquair House, Abbotsford
• North Central near Inverness -- Culloden, Clava Cairns, Speyside distilleries, the Cairngorms.
• Fife and Angus -- St Andrews, fishing villages like Crail and Anstruther, Falkland Palace, Glamis Castle
• The west and west coast - Glencoe, Mull, Skye, Kilmartin, etc
• Glasgow - especially museums and Charles Rennie Mackintosh properties (but you may not want another city in such a short visit)
• Central areas - Stirling Castle, the Trossachs, Doune Castle, Falls of Dochart, Culross, Falkirk Wheel, the Kelpies.

In your planning realize that the driving - especially in scenic areas - will be quite slow like 30-40 mph slow on a good day :)

So assuming you'd want maybe 2 full days in Edinburgh (car-less to explore the city and recover from jet lag) you could have 4+ days for a driving tour of one or two other regions which could be from the list above.

I didn't list anything in the far north or the far SW - they are glorious but in a week's trip you simply wouldn't have time to get that far.

Wow! I’m So appreciative of the feedback. I will definitely get busy looking into this immediately. Thank you so much!

Taken on my one and only trip ro Scotland.