Scotland: Trossachs, Skye and Loch Ness -- an indy_dad trip report
 

I had really high expectations for our Scotland road trip and it actually lived up to them (the fantastic weather didn’t hurt). Thanks to Scotland regulars janisj, sheila and others for helping me pull it together. I ended up utilizing quite a few resources to shape this trip into what I wanted.

As usual, I’ve posted photos and commentary on my blog:
http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06...highlands.html

I’ve pared my 500+ photos down to “only” 200 or so (and my kids are in half of them) – it’s still quite a long entry. You can just flick through the pictures if all my explanations bore you. :)

For the trip report type info, see below.

<b>Timing:</b> 9 days / 8 nights during the first of June coinciding with the English half term school break and the long Queen’s Jubilee bank holiday weekend.

<b>Itinerary</b>
Day 1: Drive from Derby to Callander with stops at Falkirk Wheel, Doune Castle
Day 2: Stirling Castle, National Wallace Monument, Bannockburn Battlefield and Visitor’s Centre
Day 3: Trossachs (Ben A’An walk, Inchmahome Priory, Bracklinn Falls (Callander) walk)
Day 4: Drive from Callander to Portree via Killin (Dochart Falls), Glencoe, Glenfinnan & Mallaig/Armadale ferry
Day 5: Trotternish Peninsula, Skye (multiple walks and sights)
Day 6: Skye (Talisker, Dunvegan Castle, Neist Point)
Day 7: Portree to Loch Ness. Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness Exhibition, Glen Affric.
Day 8: Culloden Battlefield, Fort George, Clava Cairns.
Day 9: long drive from Drumnadrochit to Derby via Perth

<b>Lodging</b>
3 nights at <u>Annfield Guesthouse</u> in Callander. Wonderful. Great hosts. Great food. Nice house and our preferred size (7 rooms). We liked having multiple dinner options within walking distance. &pound;68prpn (required 2 rooms). Made us a pack lunch on 2 days and surely didn’t make any money on it (&pound;5 pp).

3 nights at the <u>Skye Holiday Apartments</u> (self-catering), Portree. Just off the main drag. Walking distance to grocery and restaurants. Very basic and functional; nothing fancy. 2BR/1BA with lounge and kitchen. Washer/dryer (handy for middle of trip). &pound;105/nt. Portree was a good location for what we were trying to see. I also prefer being in town for multiple restaurant options within staggering distance.

2 nights at the <u>Glen Rowan</u>, Drumnadrochit. Highly rated. Felt more like staying in their home (with associated rules) so a little cozy for our preference. Friendly enough. Decent but not as good as the Annfield. Similar price of &pound;70prpn (also required 2 rooms).

<b>Restaurants</b> -- see blog. I’d go back to all except for Lade Inn and possibly Loch Ness Inn. My favorites were Cobbs on Loch Ness and Sea Breezes in Portree. Did not try Three Chimneys.

<b>Walks</b>
Excellent site in general: http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/

We did:
Ben A’An near Loch Katrine
Old Man of Storr (Skye)
Quiraing (Skye)
Glen Affric (20-30 minutes from Drumnadrochit)
Plus some shorter ones in Glencoe and Callander

All were reasonably well marked and did not require maps, compass, etc. Glad we had proper hiking shoes/boots.

<b>Driving</b>
I’m used to the left so that’s not an issue. I also had my own car and GPS/sat nav. It’s best if you aren’t in a hurry but it really wasn’t that bad. It was motorways up to Glasgow/Stirling and 2 lanes most everywhere except on Skye. The main haul from Armadale to Portree was 2 lane and most of the peninsula loops were single track. That said, even the “main” single track roads were easy enough with frequent and easy to see passing places. The only real tedious parts were on the spurs (to Quiraing) and outer parts (to Neist Point). Overall, I found it easier than say Ireland, North Wales and England for that matter.

We logged 1400 miles over the 9 days with the bulk of it coming over the 3 main travel days.

<b>Planning tips</b>
I was struggling until I purchased a large <u>paper</u> map (Ordinance Survey Tour map in my case) and started pinning/writing where things actually where. That helped with the grouping and later prioritization. I was focused on scenery and history with decent food options. This was a non-city trip this time.

I purchased the Michelin Green Guide but that style doesn’t suit me. I backed up to an Eyewitness Travel top 10 to get some ideas and then bounced them off the forum here. I also used my already purchased Rick Steves GB and newly purchased Scotland the Best to fine tune.

We love Scotland and were glad we finally got to see some of the scenic bits. I’ll start thinking of where in Scotland we should visit next. There’s a good chance that it will overtake some of the more exotic continental options that I’d been planning for next year.

Hope that helps others with their plans.

Another great report/blog!

I was in the same Doune/Stirling/Callander/Lake of Menteith area about two weeks ahead of you

another great trip report! Wonderful pictures. I love seeing your family enjoying their adventures. (By the way, "oh shoot!" would not be the words I would use when I saw the rest of the hike to the top.)

Thanks for sharing!

Gorgeous views. Your children are great hikers!

I'd guess that was a sick hedgehog as they don't usually hang around like that.

Thanks for the comments.

@irishface -- "oh shoot" was just the blog version :)

@sassy_cat -- according to the girl, the hedgehog was running across the road and she stopped her bike and that's when it froze up. It wasn't there when we returned so hopefully he's alright

We stayed at the Annfield Guesthouse in Callander in April. It's deserving of its good reviews/ratings, but we did think Callandar a little "tired-looking" compared to our last visit 6 years ago.

Thanks for another fascinating trip report. I am sure there must have been times when the kids weren't smiling, but all your memories will be good ones. It's good to see the photos of the food you ate as well. British food has really changed in the past twenty years.

In contrast to other trip reports, not a single whinge. Did you truthfully not spend any time watching the pickpockets?

Ah, indy_dad, that sounds like the hedgehog was healthy and you were lucky to see it!

A hedgehog used to live in my garden when I was young (complete with fleas!) and we regularly fed it cat food at night. They're interesting animals.

love your blog!

Hi ID,

Thanks for sharing.

It's helping me plan my visit.

((I))

<i>In contrast to other trip reports, not a single whinge. Did you truthfully not spend any time watching the pickpockets?</i>

Not too much to whinge about on this trip. It's not always perfect and we do find that 9 days or so is enough family time until the next one. :)

One whinge: We didn't get any good photo ops of hairy cows and that was high on my daughter's list. How's that?

Indy_dad,

Fantastic blog and pictures. We are looking forward to our visit to Doune, Stirling and Falkirk.

Do you remember how much time you spent at Doune and Stirling? It will help in our planning.

Hi Europeannovice,

We spent about an hour at the Falkirk Wheel and 1-1.5 hrs at Doune Castle on our first day (the drive up). It's a smallish castle with about 15 items to listen to on the audio guide.

On our Stirling day, we arrived at the castle when it opened and probably stayed 2.5 hrs. One could stay longer but we also wanted to see the National Wallace Monument (1.5 hrs ?) and Bannockburn (1-1.5 hrs) in the same day. There's also a lot of similarities with Edinburgh Castle which we had also seen on a previous trip.

Hope that helps.

Lovely report; lovely pictures. So glad you had a good time.

The Quiraing is not the summit; it's the whole land-slidey area.

And you should try MacSween's haggis if you're back

Thanks, Sheila. Your early info really started things off for me.

As an aside, some fellow ex-pat co-workers took a similar (in the broadest since) trip around the Highlands the same week. It's not necessarily the trip I would take, but they also have some nice photos and commentary.

http://schetzelsintheuk.wordpress.co...and-adventure/

We spent about the same amount of time at Doune and Stirling Castles. We visited many of the same places you did, and enjoyed them lots! You really should have found the Fairy Glen, though - a delightful little hike up to the small cave, and weird/bizarre formations to see. And Three Chimneys was definitely worth it, we went for an amazing lunch.

indy_dad:

Nice report.

Sandy

Thanks so much. We are looking forward to our brief visit. We will report back.

indy dad: Thanks for your report, again. We did several of the activities you reported on: Bracklin Falls hike, Clava Cairns. How on earth did you get the scenery pictures? We could never find a place to pull over. Maybe you have a roof camera? ;-)

eastenderusvi -- we seemingly pulled over at every layby; much more than I've ever done. It was much easier in Scotland than in N. Wales since we didn't have to deal with those stone walls! :)

Glad you enjoyed the report.

Those stone walls seemed to jump out at our car!

Yes, they are sneaky! I've had that happen as well. In Scotland, England, Wales AND Ireland!

Hi, I'm from the states and am looking to rent a car at Edinburgh airport. Does anyone have some tips for renting a car in Scotland?

Hello jroth -- best to start your own thread rather than tack on to this one. You are likely to get more responses that way.

You can also search the site to see what's already been discussed. Like this one for instance:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...l-391830-3.cfm

saving for me

Thanks for sharing your trip, indy_dad. What a fabulous report! I am totally going to steal some of your ideas. It looks like you had Skye to yourself in June -- hoping we have a similar experience in mid-May (and similar weather, too). I appreciated all the humor as well (e.g., "future Darwin Award winner").

Very cool trip report - I wonder how old were the children in the photos when they did the hikes at Old Man Of Storr (Skye) and Quiraing (Skye)? How long did it take, and what was their reaction to the hikes? You take some great photos and it was great of you to post them here.

hi tG_live

Glad you liked the post and thanks for the complements.

The kids were 9 & 12 at the time. We walk/hike semi-regularly here so they were certainly used to the concept. I don't remember the actual times, but if I were to guess, I'd say ~2 hrs for Old Man and maybe 1.5 hrs for Quiraing.

More elevation change for the Old Man. The only issue we had was on the Quiraing where we chose a non-ideal path towards the end and got into some precarious footing (it had been very dry as well). We had to scoot down rather than carry on, gather our wits and then return as planned.

Both are very manageable (we did them both plus some other touring in one day). Good luck with your planning.

Nice - I miss having kids that are 9 and 12 : ) Yours are tough and glad to see they are into hiking. The trail times you posted are a great help - have to just decide between Skye and Perthshire but your photos make it difficult to avoid Skye. Have posted alternate itineraries. Feel free to take a look and respond based on your own experience if you have time. And good luck planning your next trip - sounds like you are already thinking of new ideas for the next time : )

Hi Fodorites - road trip in Scotland mid Sept. I have a question on the Loch Ness drive from Fort Augustus. We will be coming from Broadford- Skye - heading to Inverness and on to Aberdeen. Should I take the west bank of Loch Ness or east bank? I understand west bank has more traffic, but is it more scenic that the east bank? Which offers more views?
Any restaurants along the Loch would also be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

traveling: IMO east bank is more scenic - but then you can't visit Urquhart. ('scenic' is relative re Loch Ness -- It isn't the most scenic loch going) However - the most direct/best route would miss Ft Augustus and you wouldn't be able to get to the east side.

Are you doing this drive to Aberdeen in one day? Via Ft Augustus you are talking about 5.5-6 hours 'car time' w/o any stops. Bypassing Ft Augustus - maybe 45 minutes less. IMO Loch Ness would be way too early in your journey to stop for lunch.

(If you are only going as far as Inverness that day - it is a much shorter/doable drive)

You also might want to start your own new thread w/ your specific questions.

Janisj - We were going to skip Urquhart as we were planning a "castle trail day" later in the week - but are you saying we should make time for it?

Our intention was to maybe stop in either Inverness or Nairn for a night on the way to Aberdeen (Stonehaven) via Nairn/Elgin/Cullen (is it worth seeing?- we like coastal towns) and then stay in the Aberdeen area for 2 nights (or mayby Dinnet) before heading to Edinburgh for two nights before heading home to NY.

Any suggestions for mid-range lodging in the Inverness area?

OK - w/ two days for the drive I'd probably do the west side, visit Urquhart and stay either somewhere like this at the northern end of the Loch http://www.doresonlochness.co.uk/beinn_dhearg.html (then you can also explore the east shore a bit the next morning) -- or -- somewhere near Nairn and forget about the east side of Loch Ness.