mccarder

We are taking my 80+yr old dad to Scotland in late July (me, my husband, and 10 yr old daughter) - his dream trip. All we have so far is airtickets in&out of Heathrow from Washington Dulles (ff on United). We will be going for 2 weeks although my dad will be flying home about 5 days earlier then us. We will spend the last 4-5 days in London (he has no interest....been there). I'm having trouble figuring out how to get started with the itinerary. My husband is willing to drive. The only definite destinations in Scotland are Isle of Mull, St. Andrews, and Edinburgh. Should we just fly up to Glasgow right away and rent a car from there. Should we rent a car right away and maybe drive to Cotwolds or Windsor for our first night (take it easy after the flight )? Take a train? I'm really struggling. My dad is very mobile and in good health (still plays golf and tennis!) but I'm still worried about how the long flight will affect him. Any great ideas?

janisj

"<i>Should we just fly up to Glasgow right away and rent a car from there. Should we rent a car right away and maybe drive to Cotwolds or Windsor for our first night (take it easy after the flight )? Take a train?</i>"

Whatever you do -- you don't want to drive your first day due to the jet lag and probable exhaustion. Plus it isn't necessary.

You only have 8 or 9 days max (other than the final 5 days in London) So IMO you don't have time for the Cotswolds, or other places between Scotland and London.

W/ what you've mentioned -- I'd do something like: Arrive LHR and fly directly to EDI. Stay 2 nights in Edinburgh.

Then collect rental car and drive into Fife to visit St Andrews and the coastal fishing villages/Falkland Palace etc. Stay one or two nights anywhere in Fife.

Then drive west and spend the next night somewhere west of Stirling - like Callander. See Stirling, the Trossachs, etc.

Next drive on to Mull via Oban -- stay 2 nights on Mull. Tour island, go to Iona, and Staffa. I'd stay in Fionnphort if you can find rooms. This place is great -- but does get booked up. http://www.seaview-mull.co.uk/

Then you have one day to 'play' w/. I'd probably head to Glasgow, turn in the car and stay for one night. Then fly down to LHR where Grandad can fly home and the rest of the family can go into London. (or if you've run out of days - the one or two nights in Fife would determine this - then you can leave Mull in the AM and easily make a late afternoon or early evening flight out of GLA. Oban to GLA takes around 2.5 hours)

qwovadis

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irishface

I think janis's plan is great. Definitely spend two nights on Mull. I loved it there! Iona is a great visit even if the weather is not good. I enjoyed Staffa, but we had a sparkling day to go and watching the puffins up close was a great experience for my naphews and me. I suspect the boats to Staffa don't run in bad weather but the island is uninhabited and there are no shelters, etc. Our trip left early in the am (after a full Scottish breakfast) and returned before lunch which we had at a cafe on Iona. It is an easy walk out to the Abbey where Macbeth and other kings are buried.

We also visited Duarte Castle on Mull, picnicked beside the road, sat on the pier at Tobermory for a supper of fish and chips,and played on a beach where there were no other people, just cows munching on grass nearby (one was wading in the water near us).

Have fun!

irishface

I think janis's plan is great. Definitely spend two nights on Mull. I loved it there! Iona is a great visit even if the weather is not good. I enjoyed Staffa, but we had a sparkling day to go and watching the puffins up close was a great experience for my naphews and me. I suspect the boats to Staffa don't run in bad weather but the island is uninhabited and there are no shelters, etc. Our trip left early in the am (after a full Scottish breakfast) and returned before lunch which we had at a cafe on Iona. It is an easy walk out to the Abbey where Macbeth and other kings are buried.

We also visited Duarte Castle on Mull, picnicked beside the road, sat on the pier at Tobermory for a supper of fish and chips,and played on a beach where there were no other people, just cows munching on grass nearby (one was wading in the water near us).

Have fun!

GoAway

We took my parents (around the same age) to Scotland last year for two weeks. Neither had any problems with the flight over or back. Just plan on taking it easy for the first day to get over jet lag.

If you're going to Scotland first, would it be possible to change your flights to fly into Edinburgh or Glasgow instead? Your father's flight would be round trip since he's not really going to London with you, yours would be open-jaw out of London.

janisj

Re GoAway's suggestion -- I would have mentioned open jaw tickets too, except that you said the flights were already booked w/ miles and it probably won't be possible to make any changes.

IF you can alter the flights -- then yes -- into EDI or GLA, home from Scotland for your father and home from London for the rest of you. But more than likely that won't be possible, so my plan gets essentially the same result (flying up to Scotland from LHR to get there the same day)

mccarder

Thanks for your replies! You are correct that 3 of the tickets are booked with ff miles (Chicago-Dulles-Heathrow going and Heathrow-Chicago returning). I haven't actually booked my Dad's yet. But we want to fly with him from Dulles-Heathrow (he hasn't flown in a long time). The problem is that there are no direct flights from anywhere in Great Britian to anywhere in the DC area except from Heathrow. I haven't booked it yet (but need to very quickly) because there has been some angst over if they were going (my Mom has now decided to stay home - due to some health issues) and how long to stay. We want to take full advantage and stay as long as possible; now that my mom is not going, Dad thinks he only want to go for 8-10 days as opposed to the full 15 days. Didn't express all this in the orig. post cuz obviously it was too much info!!

janisj

Then my suggestion is a good compromise. You can book R-T on BMI up to EDI maybe 4 hours after your LHR arrival. (I'd feel comfortable w/ 3 hours but 'things' can happen so 4 or 5 hours will give you a cushion)

Assuming you land at LHR early in the morning, you'd get to EDI by early afternoon, and in your hotel 45 minutes later.

You'd have the rest of that day and the whole next day to recover from jetlag and see quite a bit in Edinburgh.

historytraveler

I'm assuming janisj suggested BMI since both United and BMI use T-1. From past experience, BMI to EDI seems to sell out rather quickly so I'd check it out ASAP. BA also does several trips daily to EDI but you'd have to transfer to T-5 and that would involve even more time.

mccarder

Thanks janisj and GoWay...you're giving me inspiration...I was starting to get paralyzed. I just checked our flight times. We get into Heathrow ~10:30am. I'm wondering what you think of this as a possibility: Fly in and take train into London and then to York. Spend 2 nights in York and then hire car and drive to Edinburgh. 2 nights there, then to St. Andrews for 2 nights then head west to Mull (3 nights) then to Glasgow (drop car, late afternoon flight to Heathrow). Grandpa flys out next morning. 3.5 days for us in London.

janisj

That would work. Getting from LHR to Kings Cross to York will make for a longer/more hectic travel day - but if you think you can manage the schlepp, York would be a good stop over.

But I'd make one change -- there is a lot to see between York and Edinburgh -- but you just won't have the time to see it. So I'd take the train to York, stay over, then the train to Edinburgh, and pick up a rental car as you leave Edinburgh.

You won't want/need a car in Edinburgh and the parking is difficult to say the least.

The other issue is . . From St Andrews to Mull is quite a looooong slog - about a 7 hour drive w/o stops--and that is only if you make the ferry right on schedule and done't have to wait for the boat. You'd really want to break the journey for a night somewhere -- like Callander.

A way to fit in a break would be either to cut York to one night or to cut Mull to two nights.

W/ just one night in York: If you arrive at LHR @ 10:30 AM you could get to York by mid to late afternoon. Then you'd have that afternoon/evening and much of the next day to explore the city. Take a late afternoon train to Edinburgh --arriving in time for dinner.

One thing about St Andrews BTW -- If you can be there on a Sunday, there is no play on the Old Course so it becomes a huge city park and you can walk the whole thing -- across the Swilken Bridge, look down into Hell Bunker, see the double greens etc.

historytraveler

I think janisj's suggestion is a very good one. York makes a great stopover when traveling to Edinburgh, and it is probably quicker and certainly easier to take the train from York to Edinburg.

I might opt for just one night in St. Andrew's and spend the other on Mull or even York. I think you could easily manage ( with a reasonably early start) the East Neuk and some time at St. Andrew's in one day.

mccarder

I guess I was thinking that getting out and 'experiencing' the tube, train station, train, etc. sounded like more fun then sitting around in the airport for a 3 hr layover and another 2 hrs on an airplane. But I am afraid of it being more hectic/stressful. From what I've been reading, I thought it sounded pretty straightforward, but, of course, hard to really tell from just reading.

historytraveler

The easiest ( most relaxing) way to get from LHR to Kings Cross would be to use a car hire service. More expensive than tube but certainly less stressful and the two hour trip to York does allow for some down time.

I've never taken the tube from LHR to Kings Cross so can't tell you what changes etc. that might possibly involve.

betsy3

Health Suggestion:
You mentioned your concern about the long flight.
My doctor tells me to wear support stockings from the Medical Supply store to help circulation during the flight and during long car drives.
I think it is on the American Heart Assoc. website.

81mg Aspirin a day is good for keeping blood thin and your Dad needs to walk around every 2 hours.

Talk to his doctor about the airplane flight and the support # on the socks.
Some people can not take aspirin, so these are only suggestions that my doctor has me do.

Your Dad’s doctor knows what he needs for a safe trip.
Hope all goes well!

janisj

Kings Cross is all the way across London from LHR. It IS on the direct tube line w/o changes --but it takes an hour and you certainly won't see anything (being underground and all )

Other routes are even more 'schleppy'. A <u>very</u> expensive train to Paddington, then an expensive cab ride to Kings Cross, or the same expensive train and a nasty transfer to the tube to Kings Cross.

Now - a pre-booked car service like justairports.com would be a good option and less of a schlepp. But it would take just as long (or longer) as the tube. A car service would be least tiring - get in at arrivals, get out at Kings X.

But really - 3 hours in the airport would be a piece of cake (especially since you can probably check your bags all the way through to EDI even if they are different bookings)

betsy3

We have used British Airways in the past to travel country to country in Europe so as to avoid the train luggage hassle. You will already be at the airport so you could fly to Aberdeen, rent a car and do the castles. The castles will take 2 days in my opinion. Drive to St. Andrews for a night and then drive to Edinburgh. You might want to take a day bus tour out of Edinburgh for the Highlands if your husband wants a driving break.

When planning remember the days become short of time moving from place to place.
I gathered some great information on this site for Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

Also, you can rent a car at Aberdeen airport and return the car in Edinburgh. I think at the train station in town or the Edinburgh airport, but check on that.

I have been planning our trip to Scotland for this summer and there is a lot of information out there.
Here are the castle websites.

http://www.aberdeen-grampian.com/use...rail-1.1mb.pdf

http://www.discoverroyaldeeside.com/castles-top-10/

historytraveler

Yeah, I think I'd go for a flight as it's pretty easy to spend a couple of hours at the airport with time to relax, get something to eat and peruse the shops.

If still interested in car service and the train to York/Edinburgh, here are a few options.

www.justairports.com
www.london-transfers.com
www.smithsforairports.com

I've used the first two and like Ray Skiner at london-transfers best, but prices vary. Have heard good things about Smiths, and I have them booked for trip from LHR to Southampton.

You may also want to check train prices. For late July you may still be in time for advance fares. Otherwise, it can get very expensive on the London/York/Edinburgh route. www.nationalrail.com