Yelpir

Once again, thanks for the feedback

Mimar: I plan to keep the driving down as much as I can, but it's hard to balance having a relaxing holiday with seeing as much of Scotland as poosible. The compromise seems to be to spend more time in the best parts. Now all one has to do is identify the best parts

Ok, so goodbye to Durness. Now I have to choose between a day in the Gairloch/Ullapool area vs an extra day on Skye

sheila: I hear what you are saying about 12/13th. I don't want to rush around like a chicken with its head cut off. I would rather see less but at a leisurely pace. Given that we can't do them all, which ones would you select for a comfortable 2 days? We could always do Loch Lomond on the 14th on the way to Mull (it's really just a drive-by with photo stops).

15th: The reason for including Lunga was to see and photograph some puffins. I really love those little birds and would hate to miss them. If the only real reason for going to Iona is its religious connections then I would prefer Lunga but if Iona is special in other ways I might be prepared to forego Lunga and hope to see a puffin or two on Staffa. That would probably make my companion happy as she is not too keen on small boats and rough water

19th: Gairloch does not strike me as a place to spend 2 nights. Most of the excitement is on the road in and the road out. Perhaps we could sleepover in Gairloch on the 18th and in Ullapool on the 19th (doing the Inverewe Gardens on the way)?

Plan 2: My companion is 66 and I am 67, so we won't be climbing any mountains or taking any long hikes. Short walks (a mile or two) would be about all we could manage. I suppose it might be worthwhile to have a day in reserve on Skye in case of bad weather. Both of us rate Skye a 10 on our places to see lists. Perhaps I'll leave this part of the trip unbooked to provide last minute flexibility.

Edinburgh: The flight from Edinburgh to Heathrow leaves at 11:00am on the 23rd. I presume that this means that, even in rush hour, we would be moving in the opposite direction to the heavy traffic? I figure on setting out for the airport at 9:00am. Would that give enough time to catch the 11:00am flight?
I will check out Corstorphine, thanks Sheila

caroline_edinburgh

Hi Yelpir. I wouldn't bother leaving for the airport until 9.30.

You don't need to stay in a suburban B&B unless you actually want to - for £70pn you could stay in one of the more modest chain hotels in the city centre, like the Ibis.

Yelpir

Thanks, Caroline. I checked out the Ibis and the other budget hotels in the centre. The problem is that they don't include breakfast so, by the time you pay for breakfast, the price goes way over budget

caroline_edinburgh

Oh yes, sorry Yelpir, I just checked the Ibis for your dates - nearly £90pn ! It has gone up considerably since I last checked. Did you also try the Holiday Inn Express on Picardy Place, the Travel Inn on Morrison Link, the Travel Lodge on St Mary's Street, the Jury's Inn on Jeffrey Street ? How about student self-cateringaccommodation, since I think the university will still be on holiday then ? Someone here wrote a good report about the ones on Robertson's Close last year. The Central Youth Hostel on Haddington Place ? (fairly new, all rooms from singles to 8-bedders are en suite ?)

Otherwise if you're looking at B&Bs, the streets to look for leading out from the city centre through Corstorphine which Sheila mentioned (and on the airport bus route) are Haymarket Terrace, West Coates, Roseburn Terrace, Corstorphine Road, St John's Road, Glasgow Road (all basically one road, in ascending order of distance from the centre).

Yelpir

Thanks, Caroline. I have checked a large number of hotels now and, by the time you add breakfast, they come out at more or less GBP100 prpn.
I have accepted that I have to push the budget up a bit because it is Edinburgh, after all. I have been able to find a few nice B&Bs in the GBP40 pppn bracket. As you good folks have suggested, I am focussing on places along the road from the centre to the airport. They get a bit cheaper as you move out.

I am currently considering a small change to the itinerary of the 18th, 19th and 20th.

Plan 3: On the 18th proceed as planned from Skye to Gairloch. On the 19th drive up to Durness and overnight there. On the 20th drive down to Inverness and overnight there.

This plan turns two nights in Gairloch into one night in Gairloch and one night in Durness but adds a lot of driving.

What do you think? Too much driving? Not worth such a long trek to get to Durness?

sheila

If it were me, I'd play it by ear. If you think Gairloch is more of the same go to Durness. If you like Gairloch/ have done enough driving, stay the extra night. Accommodation will not be hard to get in September in either place

Yelpir

Makes sense. Thanks Sheila

I am currently reseaching literally hundreds of B&Bs in Edinburgh. I have set my mind on something along the A8 between the city and the airport. Watch this space!

caroline_edinburgh

The A8 comprises the list of road names I gave you above, in ascending order of distance from the centre.

Yelpir

Thanks, Caroline, your list is helping me a lot

caroline_edinburgh

Oh good !

Yelpir

The next chapter:

Our 2 nights in Edinburgh have now been booked at The Beverley, which seems to be a very nice B&B in the Corstorphine area. Thanks, Shiela and Caroline for all your great advice

We have also booked our 3 nights in Callander at Arden House, which has excellent reviews from both guests and travel books.

The 14th of Sep is a go-go day. We will leave Callander after breakfast and travel to Fionnphort via Loch Lomond, Glen Coe and Oban (we will cross to Craignure on the 16:00 ferry).

the 15th will be spent visiting Staffa, Iona and Tobermory, finishing up at Salen (Mull) where we will overnight (still looking at accommodation for these two nights).

On the 16th we will cross from Fishnish to Lochaline (10:00am ferry) and drive to Ardgour. There we will take the Corran ferry to Nether Lochaber. From there we drive to Glen Nevis and then to Mallaig where we take the 16:25 ferry to Armadale. From Armadale we drive to Broadford where we spend 2 nights (accommodation not yet set).

That is as far as I have got with the planning and organising so far

I want to thank all on this forum for their invaluable help so far. I could not have done it without you.

We will have 2 full days to explore the region around Callander. We would really appreciate your ideas on how we should spend these two days. What can, and should, we see on those two days? What would be doable day trips from Callander? We would be looking mainly for mountains, lochs, forests, waterfalls and interesting ruins. A definite will be Inchmahome Priory, so please factor that in. What is the attraction at Loch Katrine? Should one take a boat ride there? Is a grand circle to Crieff and back doable in a day?

Sorry to ask so many questions but it is really useful to have so many knowledgable and helpful people available on this forum

Yelpir

Update:

Further accommodation booked as follows:

MULL
Fionnphort: Seaview B&B
Craignure: Linnhe View B&B

SKYE
Broadford: Strathgorm B&B

All ferries booked

Still to come:
Gairloch
Durness
Inverness.

Car hire research in progress.

SB_Travlr

Hi again Yelpir
If you are still going to Durness (which we loved) I highly recommend staying at Mackays http://www.visitmackays.com/. If you are not in Durness overnight, the restaurant is excellent too. It was a big surprise to find a small jewel of a hotel like this so far away from everywhere. I hope we can go back there one day, and stay longer.

We also loved our stay near Gairloch -- we chose a B&B in Opinan, called Na Fir Chlis (na-fer-cleesh). Website is very good: http://www.nafirchlis.co.uk/, and Ian posts daily weather pictures. At the moment, it looks lovely... Our room was quiet and comfortable, and our hosts were great -- excellent cooks, too! It was a short and very scenic drive from there to Gairloch and Inverewe, our main reason for staying in that area.

I'm a tad envious of your trip. Hope it's a great one, and looking forward to your trip report.

Yelpir

Thanks, SB_travlr, I will definitely check out those places you recommended

My biggest problem now is car rental. I am finding it to be a swampland. By the time I have compared rates, rental conditions, insurances, extras, excesses, oneway fees, etc, I am totally boggled. What makes it worse is that quotes from the same company alter from one day to the next, so the best one yesterday is not the best one today and the best one today will not be the best one tomorrow. Just when I think I have found the perfect rental company, I find out that they don't do GPS navigators and I have to move on.

The insurance angle is really frightening. I have been reading horror stories of people being landed with massive credit card debits because a stone flew up and chipped the windscreen. Not only did they have to pay for the windscreen to be replaced, they also had to pay the rental company for the time that the car was being fixed. None of this was covered by any of the included insurances. I queried this with car hire companies and they confirmed that that would be the case.

janisj

I personally would NOT make my decision based on availability/non-availability of a GPS. In a lot of the places you are going a GPS will be less useful than a good printed road atlas. And the atlas will be MUCH cheaper.

There is a problem in lots of rural areas of the UK w/ GPS sending one down the garden path figuratively (and in some cases literally).

Just get the best rental rate/insurance package you can get (and that will vary from day to day, rental location to rental location)

Yelpir

Thanks, janisj. I have dumped the idea of a GPS and will rely on my Philip's Road Atlas of Britain

Update:
Weeks of car hire research is over. I settled on a Ford Mondeo 1.8 LX manual from Hertz in Guildford. Hertz are celebrating their 90th birthday and are offering these cars at a very good rate. The downside is that their excess insurance is VERY expensive. However, I have found an independent insurance company who will do the excess plus windows, tyres and lights for a fraction of the price.

I notice that almost all the hire cars are diesel powered. Is diesel fuel readily available in Scotland and how does its price compare to petrol?

GreenDragon

Yes, there is diesel at every gas station, I didn't see any without it (our car had diesel on our trip we just got back from). The most expensive I saw diesel was on the islands at £1.43 per litre, and down to about £1.25 per litre near Glasgow. This is about £.15 higher than regular petrol all over.

Yelpir

Thanks, GreenDragon. Your timely information is very helpful for budgetting purposes

Well, the final leg of our Scottish odyssey has now been booked:

Depart Edinburgh on BMI flight BD57 at 1310. Arrive Heathrow Terminal 1 at 1430.

Barring nasty unforeseen events, this gives us 4 hours at Heathrow before my friend's longhaul international flight out from Terminal 3 at 1830. Now all we can do is pray that the airlines stick more or less to their schedules

caroline_edinburgh

All sounds good, Yelpir. The Beverley is in a good position.

sheila

IT all sounds good to me.

Stirling doesn't merit a day and a half of an itinerary like this, but if you're going out and about in the countryside, it's fine.

I would definitely aim for Mull if you can do it, both for teh reason Janis set out and because it's just a nicer palce to be than Oban. If you stay in Tobermory, aim to beat the buses to Fhionnphort

Day 5 is a bit back and forth. If it were me, I might give up on Fort William in favour of Arnamurchan. Tough call, though.

I love that you're going to the north west.