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.