Scotland Trip Report
 

I spent 2 weeks in Scotland in September and wanted to report back for those who might be interested in our itinerary and the places we stayed.

We visited Edinburgh, Inverness, Isle of Skye, Fort William, Oban and Glasgow, most places for two nights each. Since we didn't know when we'd ever get another chance to visit Scotland (there still being so many wonderful places in the world yet to see) we wanted to cover a number of areas in Scotland, although we acknowledge we could have stayed days longer in many of these places. We stayed at pretty high-end inns and all were fantastic (with the exception of Corriegour Lodge on Loch Lochy at Stean Bridge (near Ft. William) where we had a rather pokey room. However I must admit that food there was lovely and the setting gorgeous.

Our other hotels were The Howard in Edinburgh, historic Culloden House outside of Inverness, Kinloch Lodge on the Isle of Skye, Airds Hotel in Port Appin, Argyll, which is close to Oban, and One Devonshire Gardens (recently renamed Hotel Du Vin) in Glasgow. All were excellent with stunning settings and had the most amazing food. My friend and I are from New York City where great food abounds and we've gotten rather picky about our restaurant dining over the years and we were amazed at the quality of both the food and wine lists at all of the above places. As to the lodging in general we especially loved the setting and dining at Kinloch Lodge (and I was particularly enamored of the ruggedness and wild beauty of Skye), the location of Corriegour Lodge, and lovely staff at Culloden House, and everything about Airds Hotel in Port Appin, where the food was incomparable.

If anyone has any specific questions about our itinerary or the places we stayed, I'd be more than happy to respond. But be warned, Scotland is very expensive right now. Still it was gorgeous and we don't regret a dollar that we spent.

Ellen

Thanks for your report. Have nothing to add, familiar (slightly) with The Howard in Edinburgh. You covered a lot of territory...our latest trip, we had a week The Edinburgh Residence, which has, I think, the same ownership as the Howard, and took a day trip by coach into the Highlands.

Sounds as if you had a great trip. I'll be in Scotland for two weeks - one week in the Perthshire area and one week on the Isle of Skye. I was glad to see your comment about Skye because my sister is a little worried that there won't be enough to "do" while we are there. I look at the week on Skye as a chance to see the scenery your mentioned and relax.

Sounds fabulous ! Glad to know the food at Airds is still good - we stayed there a few years ago specifically to eat. Can't remember if it still has its Michelin star ? Did you eat at any other starred restaurants ? I love Martin Wishart in Edinburgh but it's very annoying because I can see it from my flat but can't afford to go as often as I'd like !

In 2004, we stayed at the Pierhouse in Port Appin and found the location as well as the restaurant ver good. The food was amazingly fresh and imaginitively prepared.

Betty, we had lunch at the Pierhouse after leaving Airds and it made me think I'd never tasted real scampi before. We even discussed the feasibility of future daytrips from Edinburgh just to have lunch there !