I posted a few messages previously and since then our agent was supposedly planning our trip. Needless to say - I am turning to this site and folks familiar with Scotland travel. So here's keeping my fingers crossed I can plan this soon.

Please help !

Details - Military Tatoo for August 16th. We are thinking of flying into Edinburgh - staying for a few days and then traveling to Ayrshire and then onto Isle of Skye. I know there's much between. As for interests - we love history, ruins, castles, hiking, fishing and great villages where we can stop in a pub and chat with folks - for instance my favorite town in Ireland is Dingle.
As for preference in accommodations - we are open to options and not looking to skimp if the place is really special.

Thank you in advance for you help.

Hello, ckyle.

I have a couple of questions, which will help many of us answer your questions.

1. How long (total) is your trip? (Does that include travel days on both ends - to/from somewhere like the US?)

2. Do you already have accommodations in Edinburgh and tickets for the Tatoo? If not, you may very well be "out of luck" at this point.

3. Will you have a car? Or are you planning to use public accommodation?

4. Do you like B&B's or hotels or castles - or what type of accommodation? What is the general price range (usually quoted per person per night at B&B's, per room per night in hotels).

If you're driving, and you have a couple of weeks, you may want to click on my name ("leonberger," in blue, above my posting) and read some comments I wrote for another poster about traveling in many of the areas you've mentioned. (I didn't know about fodors at the time of that trip, so didn't publish a trip report. We also visited Skye, drove the Highlands, and stopped at Stirling for a few days on that trip.)

I hope this helps...write back and give us some details.

Gayle

For accommodation near Stirling and information about what to see and do in the area, take a look at our website : www.kilronan.co.uk

Thanks for your suggestions. Here are some more thoughts.

1) Traveling ten days - including travel from the US. We have the Military Tatoo tickets.

2)We plan on renting a car once we leave Edinburgh. In terms of accommodations - guest houses, hotels, castles and perhaps a B&B if there is one that is highly suggested.

2) Budget - in US dollars up to $200.00 per couple. But again - not set on that. It's always nice to save money on a room - but if it's a must stay then we'll consider.

I appreciate your help.

Two points, one good, one bad.
The Bad: August is often rainy in Scotland, particularly in the West. it won't slow you down, but be prepared. Highland scenery is lovely through a soft mist (moderate rain). The good: I have had very good luck outside finding reasonably priced accomodation through the local tourist office outside Edinburgh and Glasgow, provided that you decide reasonably early in the day where you want to stop. The really good news: the Scots are wonderful people, very democratic, very proud of their country. Enjoy them!

1. Following on from Leon, get your Edinburgh rooms booked NOW. You're mid festival, and there may well be nothing left already.

2. Ayrshire is a closed book to me, but north of the Clyde you may want to have a mosey round Inverary, town and castle; Easdale; Oban; Arisaig; all en route to Skye.

The place is awash with all the things you like.

For ayrshire try this one:

Low Coylton House http://www.ukbed.com/southern-scotla...lton-house.htm (I don't think they have their own website but there is an e-mail link) I stayed there a few years ago and it is absolutely lovely.

and I second sheila's advice -- book Einburgh ASAP - like yesterday . . . . .

Yes - this is me literally kicking myself for not making plans earlier as intended. Now I am pretty nervous about making this happen.

However - your suggestions on the B&B's look great. Just wondering if you can help further with where to stay and for how many nights.

Assuming Edinburgh is for three nigths and the remainder would be a visit to Ayrshire(where the Kyle clan is from ?) and surrounding area. Would we be better off staying in Sterling and visiting Ayrshire or is it too far ?

Also - would you suggest staying somewhere on the way to Skye as a hub and take trips from that location ?

Yikes - too many options.

Thanks

Carolyn

You've gotten some good information from the rest of the posters, but I'll add a little here.

I think Stirling is too far to comfortably drive back and forth to Ayrshire, but I didn't actually look at map to see whether it is "doable."

We stayed at a B&B in Maybole (very near Ayr, as I recall). It was call Drumellan and was very impressive. It's an old house (I want to say a "manor," but I'm not sure whether that has to be something even more specific!). Three guestrooms (we used two, no one was in the third). Extensive gardens, a bowling lawn (is that the correct term), a "folly," a cat... Big rooms, wonderfully furnished, and extremely friendly and welcoming hosts. Complimentary drinks in the afternoon, a puzzle in the living room for all to work. I'm not sure what they could have done to make it better. This was in September 2002, and we paid 25.50GBP per person per night.

I have no idea whether Peter and Pattie still provide B&B at Drumellan, but I'd highly recommend it if it's available!

From there, we headed north and stopped at Helensburgh to visit Hill House. I'm a fan of the Scottish Arts & Crafts movement (so's my Mom), so it was an important stop. We loved the house and spent quite a bit of time troring it.

We stayed that night at "Riverside B&B" in Spean Village (20 GBP pppn). A newer house, and immaculate. One dog, four cats. (Can you tell that I like the animals? I keep notes about them, too!)

The next day we (unfortunately - remember, this trip was pre-Fodors for me) stopped at Eileen Donan on the way toward Skye. Do NOT go in there. Yes, the setting is beautiful, but the castle itself is not worth the time (or the money). And there are gazillions of tour buses all the time!

Continued on to Skye and just spent the day driving around. Absolutely gorgeous.

On Skye, we stayed at the Duntulm Castle Hotel (I didn't record the cost, sorry). It was OK, but I wouldn't really recommend it. (My husband and I could hear the band playing the bar until the wee hours, and the restaurant kitchen was right below our room, so it was pretty noisy! Smallish rooms, and utilitarian facilities.

The dining room, however, has spectacular views over the water and toward the ruins of Duntulm Castle.

More driving around Skye - I don't think you can go wrong anywhere there! Stopped to walk a little (Mom's knees don't let her do much of that, so the rest of us try not to leave her behind for too long), admired the falls at Kilt Rock, and just really enjoyed ourselves.

I've just realized how long this has gotten, so I'll stop now! Hopefully, some of it will be of use to you.

Regards,
Gayle

No - don't try to use Stirling as a base for Ayrshire. There is a lot to see in the area
plus your family connections. You don't want that long drive back and forth. Be
sure to visit Culzean Castle, Crossraguel Abbey, and a few of the Burns sites.

Thank you both for your insight and sharing your experiences.

Gayle - I love animals too. Actually sitting here having breafast with my dog Wilson - he's a great pyr.

Carolyn

Hi,

So here I am sitting with all my maps and guidebooks and a bit of confusion. There is so much to see and so little time...
So far the places that jump off the map so to speak are Edinburgh, Dunkeld, Nairn, Skye, Oban, Ayrshire and fly out of Glasgow.

Ultimate question - is this too much ? We would spend three nights in Edinburgh and two nights in each of the other towns. Wonderng is this trying to do too much. Is there a town we should not stay over in and maybe press on and do a bit more driving.

Kind Regards,
Carolyn

Just wanted to pop in here with my 2 cents on where to stay on Skye (if you decide to to that). My husband and I were there last summer and loved where we stayed -- Jan & Jed's Cottage, about 10 minutes drive from Portree with a gorgeous view out back. Nice owners, good food, great price, room to spread out (it's a one-bedroom unit), and lots of peace and quiet. Only downside was placement of the bed (it was butt up against the wall and I had to crawl to the foot of the bed to get out to use the bathroom in the middle of the night). But that didn't stop us from loving the place -- we'd go back in a heartbeat. Here's a link to their website if you're interested: http://www.welcomingyou.co.uk/jan-and-jeds/

Thanks. I am still piecing this together and not entirely sure we'll have time for Skye. However, this Inn looks beautiful.

Carolyn

Hello everyone,

I need some help with our Scotland trip. So far - we are all set for three nights in Edinburg and airfare. But we have four additional nights to plan.

I am not sure how much we can accomplish in this amount of time. What do you think is reasonable in this timeframe ? Do you suggest we not consider Skye due to the time constraint. We also want to spend a day in Ayrshire where my husband's ancestors come from.

Any help would be great. We like history, castles, music, outdoors, etc.
Don't mind driving and prefer a 4 or 5 star level of accommodation.

help !

Carolyn

IF you're going to Ayrshire, I would say trying to fit in Skye too would be a nightmare. Doable but no fun. Just stick with the west, the south west or the Borders. Or maybe a day trip to Arran

I'm just going to give you one recommendation as part of your trip. As you want to base part of your trip in Ayrshire, I urge you to make a visit (possibly consider staying at least one night here) at the Brig o' Doon Hotel in Alloway. It's a lovely hotel and its grounds are just beautiful, overlooking the brig (bridge) of Doon. The hotel is opposite the Old Church of Alloway where Robert Burns' parents are buried and itself the spooky setting for Tam O'Shanter.

Thank you. What do you think about Sterling and Perthshire ? Sterling looks to be right outside of Edinburgh -would you consider it a day trip or an overnight ? Perthsire is said to be very nice. Also - what about Oban - it looks doable from Ayr - but...

Appreciate your help.

Carolyn

Stirling (note the spelling - it helps when you are serching for things) is an easy day trip by train or car from Edinburgh. If you take the train you'll mainly see the Castle and some of the town. If you drove you could see the Castle plus drive around the lovely area to the west that includes the Trossachs, several lochs/waterfalls and a lovely abbey (Inchmahome) on an island in the lake of Menteith.

Perthshire is a big place - not a single destination. There are lochs, mountains, lovely villages like Dunkeld, Scone Palace, amazing gardens like Drummond Castle, etc. Whether you tour around Perthshire really depends on which place(s) you want to go.

Oban/Mull/Iona are wonderful, but you only have a few days - I wouldn't keep looking for more places to tour but try to spend a bit of time in the areas already set.

Thanks for the tip and spelling point !
Do you think it's feasible to leave Edinburgh by car - drive to Stirling and visit the surrounding area - head up to Dunkeld stay over ( not sure one or two nights) over to Glencoe - and on to the Ayrshire ?

Thanks again for your help !