Scotland with Teens - almost final itinerary?
 

Thanks to Sheila, Historytraveler and Craigellachie we have an itinery for our June/July trip with two teens (17 &14). We've tried to balance seeing the un-touristy parts of Scotland with some adventure, some must-sees and some legends (eg St Andrews). We'd rather enjoy what we see than just say we've seen it, and we think this looks full but still gives us time to visit, relax and explore.

We are now looking into B&Bs and final day trips so any suggestions are welcome.

Sunday June 25th
• Arrive Glasgow 2:25 pm
• Prebook a B&B in town (suggestions?) for 25/26

Monday June 26th
• Explore Glasgow & rent car for tomorrow
• See Bard in the Botanics

Tuesday 27th
• Take Hwy A82 along the lochs, via Crianlarich (or Inveraray?) to Oban
• Take 3:30 ferry sailing to South Uist
• Arrive 9 pm; drive one hr to Langass Lodge
• Lodge booked for 3 nights (27/28/29)

Wednesday 28th
• Walk about N Uist (stone circle, cairns)
• Explore beaches on Uist

Thursday 29th
• Kayaking, roping @ Uist Outdoor (TBC)

Friday 30th
• Take 7:20 or 10:40 am ferry to Harris
• Drive/walk around for the day
• Catch 4pm ferry from Tarbert to Uig (arrive 5:40)
• B&B near Uig (Ferry Inn? Uig Hotel?)

Saturday July 1st
• Explore Syke for the day, including Duntulm castle, the Quiraing, Kilt Rock and the Old Man of Storr
• Possibly visit Dunvegan
• B&B near Kyle of Lochalsh (Sona’s B&B? Schoolhouse B&B At Dornie?)

Sunday 2nd
• Drive via Spean Bridge (stop at Commando Monument) to Cairngorm Mtns
• See the mountains, forests, birds etc
• B&B near Newtonmore? Tomintoul? Rothiemurchus?

Monday, 3rd
• Walk, drive, explore
• Distillery stop (Dalwhinnie? Glenfiddich? Aberlour?)
• B&B same spot as last night?

Tuesday 4th
• Drive to Blairgowrie/Dunkeld via A939 and A93
• B&B for 3 nights (4/5/6) Drumellie Meadow? Birnam Wood House? The Bridge at Dunkeld?

Wednesday 5th
• Spend day canyoning at Nae Limits? (TBC)

Thursday 6th
• Castles (Glamis, Huntingtower) & sights

Friday 7th
• Drive to St Andrews, explore, walk the course
• Stay overnight (close by? in town??)

Saturday 8th
• Drive along coast through East Neuk fishing villages to Edinburgh
• B&B at Edinburgh two nights (8/9)
• Drop the car or do we need it to get to airport?

Sunday 9th
• Edinburgh sights

Monday 10th
• Edinburgh sights
• Airport for 3 pm flight to Heathrow
• Booked hotel for night near airport

Tuesday 11th
• Noon flight to Halifax

lal_birch,

Re a B&B in Glasgow. I can't give any personal recommendations but, if you haven't seen it already, you might find the city's official tourism website helpful;

www.seeglasgow.com

There is a link to hotels on the left hand side of the page & this includes B&B's. I know that Sheila has recommended Adelaide's here in the past & although I don't have any personal experience of it it's certainly in a very good location.

As regards Tuesday 27th I would choose to go to Oban via Inveraray rather than Crianlarich. There is very little difference in journey time between the two routes but I think that Inveraray is the more scenic of the two. It's worth stopping off at the Rest And Be Thankful just for 5 minutes to enjoy the fantastic view back down Glen Croe. Inveraray itself is also a pleasant town to stop for a break.

Jim

Agree about Inverary over Crianlarich

I've stayed in the Uig Hotel and would find it hard to recommend for anything other than its location. The Ferry Inn has recently changed hands but used to be pretty awful too.

DO visit Dunvegan. If just for the Fairy Flag

I'm very fond of the Heatherbrae I Nethybridge

Glenfiddich does a top tour, tho' it's not a top whisky. Worth trying to see if you can tour Balvenie, because they have a floor malting. But it's appointment only, I think.

Drop the car when you get to Edinburgh. The cost of a taxi out to the airport will be less than 2 days' hire.

lal,

Regarding accommendations on Skye, I suggested the Uig Hotel and Ferry Inn because they both received reasonable reviews on tripadvisor and in several guide books.

I suggest that you do stay somewhere near Uig as you arrive late afternoon/early evening and otherwise will find yourselves doing some back-tracking the next day.

Go to visithighlands.com for a good selection of B&B's and guesthouses.

I would book asap as the better places do fill up. I booked my Scotland accommendations almost three months ago, but then I had very specific places I wanted to stay. Good luck and let us know if we can be of any further help.

My teenage boys are insisting on visiting Doune Castle--where Monty Python was filmed, of course! This is about an hour north of Glasgow. Have any of you been there--is it worth the trip?

PWAbbott, it depends on what appeals to you. I just got back from visiting Scotland; and of the 11 carefully-chosen castle ruins I visited (the ones that are not furnished, polished and grand like Edinburgh & Stirling Castles), I would probably rate Doune as 2nd or 3rd on my list of favorites, and IMO well worth the trip!

I spend all day on a computer, but I'm not totally net saavy, so I'm wondering if I'm missing something when trying to book accommodations. I've tried all the accomodation booking sites recommended on the forum and it seems most of the search engines are by location or type (B&B /hotel etc). I have to enter each hotel/B&B to find out availability and suitability. Given I don't know the areas very well, it's quite time-consuming. It also appears that family rooms are mainly ony for families of three (the new trend?) and many of the 4 can't accommodate a 6 foot tall young man (bunk beds??)

Having said that, we did expect to be booking two rooms, and most of the people I've contacted have been very helpful. We've found some interesting places and chosen a couple working farms, including Quiraingview, 15 minutes from Uig. The view looks awesome and beats looking down on a ferry dock.

Sheila, were you aware that Heatherbrae has new ownership according to their website? As a bird-lover, do you know anything about the Balliefurth near Grandtown-on Spey?

Lal

I knew the Heatherbrae was on the market, but not that it had changed hands.

I don't know the other one; sorry