"The Scotland Appetizer Trip" Please Review my itinerary
 

I have named my trip the "Scotland Appetizer" a sampling of the feast. I am basing my itinerary on the fact that this might be the only time my husband and I will make it to this wonderful place so I want to give us a taste of it all. I don't plan on zooming through but I would like to cover as much ground as we can and get some hiking in.

We are not into big cities so to start with we are going to save Glasgow and Edinburgh for last and if we get to them fine if not we will be OK with that. We are arriving May 27 (Sun) into Glasgow and will rent a car right from the airport and we fly home on June 8.

I know we start our trip during the Bank holiday so I will need some starting advice so we don't get into trouble finding places (which I was already advised by some that it shouldn't be a problem but at that point I didn't have any iterary posted).

Our interests are mainly walking(hiking), seeing a few ruined castles. We don't have to do all the touristy things. We want to relax, take lots of pictures, watch the people and have wonderful memories.

We can do this route either way:

We land Sunday morning on May 27 and plan to drive away from Glasgow. I don't think going to Stirling will be too much with jetlag???

-Stay either in Stirling or around that area our first night. (do I need to book before I get there or will I be ok to just wait till we get there and find something that day)
-Head over to the East Nuek area and visit some fishing towns. I remember a post suggesting some of the villages but I can't find it now. Of course stop by St. Andrews.
Also any good suggestions for some good seafood restuarants?? and any B&B's in that area?

Then heading over to Skye. I have maps and books and plan to follow along with my Lonely Planet book but we always find it interesting to talk to people and find out where they have been and what they discoverd s far as routes and places. So we tend not to make our plans fit into 2 days here and 3 days there.

After Skye we will do Mull then if we have time some other small islands. We then head back to Glasgow and stay I will book a place right outside the airport. If we have a free day we will take a trip to Edinburgh.

Ok so am I crazy in thinking we can do all that in 12 days?

And because of the holiday will I have a hard time finding a place in Stirling (does that get really crowded during the Bank Holiday).

Because of the Holiday would we be better going up to Skye first instead of the East Neuk area. I know what it is like in Pennsylavnia and New Jersey during our Memorial day and I wouldn't wish that on any visitor. So any advice on where would be the least crowed at this time would be of help.

Thanks in advance.

just time for a couple of quick notes right now . .

But IMHO you need to focus a bit more. Glasgow to the center of the country at Stirling, to the east side in Fife, then all the way back across the country to Skye, down to Mull back to Glasgow and a day trip to Edinburgh has you to-ing and fro-ing waaaaay too much.

A more efficient route would be something like Glasgow > Mull, Mull to Skye, Skye to near Stirling, Stirling > Fife, Fife > Edinburgh

nights could be:
May 27 Oban or Mull
May 28 Mull
May 29, 30, 31 Skye
June 1, 2 near Stirling
June 3, 4 Fife
June 5, 6 Edinburgh (even if you aren't city fans Edinburgh is very special)
June 7 Glasgow
Fly home June 8

I think that you can do the things you mentioned in 12 days. Although I generally agree with janisj, I would end up at Skye (and then Glasgow). If you went to Skye first, the isolation and beauty of the west might spoil you for doing the more populated (relatively speaking) bits afterwards. You could do her suggested itinerary more or less in reverse, taking the train or bus over to Edinburgh the first day or two, which is a great way to get over jet lag (before you even have to drive). Then follow a counter-clockwise ("anti-clockwise") route ending in Skye, Mull, Oban and Glasgow.

I can't really speak to the bank holiday aspect of the plan, but I think I'd plan the first night or two lodging. In addition to the bank holiday, you won't have to contend with finding a place to sleep when you are jet lagged.

Largish towns in Scotland will have a Tourist Information center where you can arrange (for a small fee) for future nights' lodging. Stirling's is quite nice, and is located down the hill from the castle. I would be tempted to stay within walking distance of the downtown part of Stirling, so you can park the car at your lodging and wander - there's a fair amount to do in Stirling itself. Also, there's a hop on hop off bus that takes in the highlights of Stirling and vicinity (Wallace Monument, and I think Bridge of Alan - decent fish and chips there at the Alan Water Cafe).

noe847 is right - driving right off the plane is really HARD and often dangerous (and I'm always telling folks not to do it - must have been a brain lock of some sort :) )

Anyway, think about my route - but in the reverse order as noe suggested.

Train over to Edinburgh for two nights car-less. Then Fife 2 nts > Stirling/Callander 2 nts > Skye 3 nts > Mull and/or Oban 2 nts > Glasgow for your last night before flying home.

I thought I had saved that fishing villages thread, but haven't been able to find it.

If you find yourself near Loch Ness (and I'm not saying that this would be the best route for you), I'd recommend that you go west from Drumnadrochit to Glen Affric. This is the prettiest spot that I've seen in Scotland, a forest preserve where the original Scots Pines have been protected and reintroduced. This is the way that much of Scotland looked before sheep - it looks positively primeval. We took a few nice walks back in there and it's really lovely.

You can stop in any bookstore in Scotland and find a wonderful selection of walking books for any region of the country. Be sure to get some good maps for driving (the book-style atlas of Great Britain are the most useful, especially for small roads) and for walking. One place that has outdoor supplies,books, and maps is the Green Wellie Stop in Tyndrum. We always stop here - it has great bathrooms for one thing.

6abc

I find that I get really tee'd off whith the contributors on here who say things like" I know you SAY you want to see Outer Flugga and Glen Mahoy, but you would be MUCH better to to do the following instead....

But this time, if you'll let me, I'll do just that. First up, don't worry about the "Bank Holiday". It's very English. The Monday is a holiday here, but not the rest of the week.

You have plenty of time.

I think the fishing villages post, might be mine, so if you click on my name you'll be able to track it down. (the seafood restauarants are in it too)Or wait till tonight and I'll re-post with some other suggestions for you.

UM - from the OP, they want to see 1) Glasgow - check, 2) Stirling - check, 3) Mull - check, 4) Skye - check, 5) Fife - check, 6) Edinburgh - check - - all covered. No one is saying they should go somewhere else instead. Just that they should do them in a different order . . . .

I don't think that Sheila's comment was aimed at you (or me either) I read it to mean that Sheila herself was getting ready to suggest an alternative, but hasn't ... yet.

indeedie (although, if the cap fits:))

ok, I'm wearing it! :)

OK, So what I am hearing is that 12 days is OK with going from one coast to the other and some stuff in between?

I like the suggestion of taking the train to Edinburgh when we get off our flight but that puts a wrinkle in my car rental plan. I was going to rent from Glasgow airport and come back early on June 7 and then take a train over to Edinburgh to visit. If we take the train when we first get here can I rent a car somewhere in Edinburgh and then drop it off at the Airport in Glasgow (for our flight home) with out a heavy drop off fee? I guess I could find that out on my own but until I do any comments. And where is there a convenient rental in Edinburgh.

I will have to check past post for places to stay around town. Or if someone wants to throw a name out I will check out the place. Since I hadn't planned on making this our first stop I am not sure if there will be much available in the lower cost range for Edinburgh (I guess that is why I was thinking of driving out to Stirling area our firt night - I was thinking there might be more available lodging away from Edinburgh and lower pricing??).

How long of a drive is it to the area around Stirling? and on a Sunday morning will there be less traffic so it wouldn't be as hard to drive with jet lag? I know we have been warned and I have read many post about not driving far the first day and I don't want to but if getting a little out of a the city is an option we might want to do that but I am still opened to some expert advice.

Shelia, I glanced through about 100 or so of your post and started to get bleary eyed looking for the fishing village post. So If you do have a quick link it would be appreciated.

janisj, I think we will do the counterclockwise route. I agree that going to Skye as the finale of the trip sounds wonderful.
Thanks again.

Renting a car at the Glasgow airport is easy. Three times we've arrived in the morning, rented a car and have driven about an hour outside Glasgow. One of the nicest was about 45 min. north, on the western edge of Loch Lomond. There is the small town of Luss which has a lovely, quiet hotel for the first night. You can walk around the area some, have an early dinner and to bed at "their" time...to deal with jet lag.
Usually, anything longer than driving 2 hours after arrival from the States..one risks errors in "judgment"!
You "could" the next day drive drive the beautiful route to Mallaig, take the ferry to Skye and return by way of the "bridge" at Kyle of Localsh.
Or go to Oban, and take the wonderful trip to Mull /Iona.
From Skye and back on the "mainland" one can see Eileen Donan castle, then over Inverness way.....and "weave" your way over to St. Andrews and down the Fife Coast.
There are SO MANY great possibilities in Scotland,and you can do LOT in 12 days. My husband and I keep "on the move" , but see and experience many things. That's just the way we like to travel...but have returned several times . Others prefer to find a spot and settle in and branch out each day.
No right or wrong !
As I said...12 days is a good length of time to get a wonderful view of Scotland.
I would definiatly make a reservation for the night you arrive. Even though it is Sunday, and Monday is the Bank Holiday. And it wouldn't hurt to bring some #'s from home!
Have a great trip!

6abc: There are seldom drop off fees in the UK. So I'd go to Edinburgh on the train, stay 2 days, then pick up the car either in the city or out at EDI, then after the 9 or so days you can drop the car at GLA.

As for the fishing villages - there have been several threads about them - maybe if you e-mail sheila she can send you her word document. But in general the best villages are:

Crail - iconic "chocolate box" harbor scene, Anstruther - larger than Crail, some really good seafood, and boats to the Isle of May
Pittenweem - still a working fishing harbor/lots of fishermen's cottages.

(Sorry about the "over reaction" to sheila's post. Reading over it now I don't even see what tee'd me off. Just a bit gun shy since the last couple of days I've been attacked for totally innocent posts)

To answer another question, 6abc, Stirling is not a very far drive from Glasgow, but to get from the airport, you'll have to drive through town (it is highway, though). Maybe 1.5 hours.

You could also start with just 1 night in Edinburgh, pick up the car, do your circuit, end in Glasgow (dropping off car) and do another day or so in Edinburgh as a day trip.

For my personal taste, I'd rather do a train than drive the first day. With all the moving around that you'll be doing, packing light would be handy.

Mari5--
I don't want to butt into this posting but it's very helpful for our own trip in August. We may need an overnight near Glasgow airport and I was thinking of Luss. Do you remember the name of the place you stayed in? Lodge at Loch Lomond looks too Americanized/large for me and so I'm looking for other options in Luss or Balloch.

First up, please excuse me for the iteration, but here's one I prepared earlier- Castles, Walks and food:-

Castles, walks and food


CASTLES

Start with Edinburgh- sits on a volcanic crag, is very old, is very open to the public, is very grand and houses, amongst other things the "honours" of Scotland (our Crown jewels) and a fake of the Stone of Destiny (they
think it’s the real one, but….

Loch Leven castle at Kinross, where Mary Queen of Scots was locked up on an island in the middle of the
Loch. You can take a tour in a wee boat to visit.

Perth- Take time to climb Kinnoull Hill which proudly overlooks the town and the Tay and is surmounted by a folly castle built by an Earl of Perth, who had done the Grand Tour and thought that the Tay valley was just like the Rhine, except it didn't have castles on its hilltops- so he faked a couple.

If you then take a wee detour west to Aberfeldy and Loch Tay you will pass Breadalbane Castle, former
home of the Marquis of Breadalbane, and now a golf course!

Back on the A9- the main road to Inverness you will come to Blair Atholl, a planned village and a superb castle for a visit. The Duke of Atholl is the only person is the UK licenced by the Queen to have a private army.

While in the Inverness area visit Castle Stuart, supposedly haunted. The Stuart family runs a hotel and a tour of the place is $5/pp. Lots of fun with the secret passages and fake library shelves, the tour guide was excellent in relating the history of the castle and its place in Scottish history. Beautiful countryside location, great pictures of the valley from the top tower. Also nearby is the site of the Battle of Culloden; fascinating history.

When you get to Inverness, pass by quickly and go down the Loch side. Stop at Castle Urqhuart, see the piper; hope you see the Monster, then turn right at Invermoriston and follow the road to Dornie . Go down to Skye, where you can visit Dunvegan Castle, home of the fairy flag. Another available castle is Kinloch Castle owned and run by Lady Clare MacDonald as a hotel (with excellent food).

Back in the North East of Scotland, Pittodrie is a stunning Country House Hotel on the slopes of Bennachie in west Aberdeenshire. Its core is a 14th century tower house (Castle), but it hasn't got a ghost.There are so many castles in the North East we have a Castle trail. It does not include Slains Castle where Mary Shelley
wrote Dracula.


From Pittodrie, you are closest to Leith Hall at Kennethmont, which is owned by the National Trust, and is very nice. The trail leads you in one direction to Kildrummy Castle which is a ruin and owned by Historic Scotland, then up through Strathdon to Corgarff Castle, which has a fascinating wall skirting it. It was a barracks for the soldiers building the Wade road nearby. Cross over the moor to Deeside and Braemar Castle which is privately owned, but open to the public, then come down Deeside to Balmoral, the Queen's
wee place in the Highlands.

Come back over towards Alford and visit Craigievar castle, the sugar plum castle Disney is supposed to have used as his model. If you stay on Deeside you can visit Crathes Castle and Drum Castle, both of which are fun. Crathes has the added attraction of terrific gardens. Crossing back to Donside to come home can
bring you past Castle Fraser with its resident ghost.

If you go the other way from Leith Hall, you reach Huntly Castle, another ruined ancient monument. The trail then takes you to Fyvie Castle, which is the grandest of them all. Come south to Haddo House, ancestral home of the Earls of Aberdeen, then past Tolquhon Castle at Tarves to Pitmedden House, in its lovely
formal gardens.

To pick 3 or 4 from that lot, I'd do one of the ruins, probably Kildrummy, plus Fyvie for grandeur and
Craigievar for cuteness- and which ever of the rest takes your fancy.

Doune Castle is another central belt place worth a visit.

Other castles to visit are: Glamis, Stirling, Cawdor, and Eilean Donan- great pictures there.(the hills are mesmerising)


WALKS

Another thing we have a lot of is outdoors. The rule in Scotland is that you can go anywhere so long as you don’t do harm. We have lots of grand mountains and lots of pretty hills and lots of lochs with lochside walks and lots of forests with forest walks. And it really is very difficult to narrow it down. If you sort out an itinerary I can recommend walks just about everywhere.

Scotland has a wide array as I said before- there are waymarked, long and middle distance walk, the most famous of which is the West Highland Way, which goes from just outside Glasgow up to Fort William
In addition, there are little ones like the Fife Coastal path and the West Gordon Way in Aberdeenshire.

There are mountainous areas like Torridon on the west coast -one of Scotland's more impressive ranges-hugely to be recommended but not for the fainthearted. Lots of serious mountains and little walks like hiking up to Alligin Falls. The following was a designated route a chap asked for walks on. I’m just repeating it here-"The main road west from Aberdeen (A93) along Deeside will be busy at the time of year. That being the case, I would suggest you go out the south Deeside road, rather than following the main road..quieter, a little slower, and more scenic. You stay on the south Deeside road as far as Bridge of Feugh- very pretty- then turn south as though you were going to Fettercairn. When you get to Strachan, you do not take the Fettercairn turn but follow the back roads which will bring you out on the south side of the river at Aboyne. Stay on that side of the river. A few miles further on you pass the entrance to Glentanar, where you could take a short detour and go for a walk in the remnant Scots Pine forest. Stay on south Deeside till you get to Ballater, when you need to cross over and get on the A93. You are now driving west along the north bank of the river and a few miles along you get to Crathi, which is where you find Balmoral Castle where the Windsor' go to massacre birds in the summer. At this point, either decide if you want to go on up to Braemar and the Linn of Dee for the scenery (At the Linn of Dee there is a very pretty walk up the river or up the Lui river, in really quite stunning surroundings- from Glentanar on you are in serious walking (hiking) country but I guess you are too close to where you started to want to stop here) or turn right towards Tomintoul. If you do go up to Braemar, you have to come back here. The road crosses moor and pretty rivers and brings you out at Corgarff on Donside, where you cross one of the country's highest passes- the Lecht. At the Donside end there is an 18th century castle built by General Wade as a barracks for the soldiers who were sent here to subjugate the populace, which is unspoilt and is open to the public. Drive over the Lecht to Tomintoul- very good whisky shop- and then follow the road signs north and west to Grantown on Spey then Nethy Bridge. One of my prejudices is that I do not much like Inverness. It's in an important place and is OK, I suppose but it's a real "nothing" town. I would stay overnight somewhere about here, Nethy Bridge has B&Bs, a bunkhouse and hotels. Boat of Garten, which is nearby, has a campsite. The forests at Abernethy and at Rothiemurchus and at Glen Morlich are riddled with very walkable trails. Then get Inverness out of the way. A quick zap up the A9- do the tourist stuff (20 minutes max) then go over the Kessock Bridge and on to Dingwall where you turn left to go to Garve, then Achnasheen. Lots of lovely hills to walk on along this road. From Achnasheen, drive on to Shieldaig, which is next to Gairloch, next to Poolewe, next to Mellon Udrigle. There's a campsite at Gairloch and one at Mellon Udrigle. The locations here are superb; but you are also now in the sort of area, where, if you get off the beaten track a bit, and off cultivated land, you can simply stick a tent up. n the shops in this area, you can buy a booklet about local walks, but my own suggestions would include walking round Red Point- you can see it on the maps,- walking in the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve- it has a visitor centre at Kinlochewe- or walking along the tracks n the north side of Loch Maree. To get down to Skye go back down to Kinlochewe and then west to Shieldaig (that's the other Shieldaig) and right round the peninsula to Applecross. The road is spectacular and looks over the Inner Sound to Raasay and Skye itself. You then drive back round Loch Kishorn to Lochcarron and south again to Kyle of Lochalsh via Plockton. The bit from Kinlochewe to Shieldaig takes you through Torridon, which has stunning mountains; the sea lochs are very pretty and Plockton is picture postcard stuff. Lots of places to stop off and walk. Cross the bridge to Skye and settle down to enjoy our most spectacular Alpine ridge- the Black Cuillins. You can camp at Sligachan, Portree, Glen Brittle, and on Raasay on campsites. But you can pitch a tent just about anywhere you do no harm. Suggesting places to walk on Skye is like mentioning shops in New York. Choose your own!!!! Come off Skye on the Mallaig ferry and drive round the Ardnamurchan peninsula and Morvern peninsulas to get to Lochaline. The scenery here is very mixed, with huge flat beaches, but mountain ranges beyond. You come through Morar and Arisaig, then south to Ardnamurchan itself.(Don't leave Mallaig without a tank of petrol!!) Try to see the movie "Local Hero" before you come. The beach scenes were filmed here. Try to get out to Ardnamurchan point, for the view over the Small Isles- if you get visibility- then come back up Loch Sunart to Strontian, then you cross the head of the loch and come south to Lochaline. There is no camp site here, but you will find a pitch if you want. The hotel is a dive- don't stay there if you can avoid it. Take the ferry to Fishnish from Lochaline, then go round to Tobermory. After that it really depends how long you want to stay on Mull. You can cross on the little ferry to Ulva, and spend the day there walking on this unspoilt little island or you can go down to Carsaig and walk for a few miles along the bay. When you leave Mull come off on the Oban ferry from Craignure. There's a camp site at Glenshallach, but a better one (I think) at Gallanachmore. You can do the coast route back to Glasgow or the inland route. I think, after all that water, I would recommend you go down to Ballachulish and through Glencoe, the Glen of Weeping, and if you are not blown away by it, you have the constitution of an ox. Glencoe has a heap more fantastic mountains for walking on. When you reach Crianlarich, you can either go south past Callendar to Stirling and zip in to Glasgow from there; or you can opt to go down Loch Lomond and stay there before your trip to the airport- try the campsite at Balloch at the bottom end of the Loch.
Kinloch Rannoch is in a stunning area. You are a short distance from Schiehallion, which is a lovely mountain. It's the place where they measured something about how the world goes round the sun, because it's got straight sides.

Edinburgh is a fine destination, even if you can't go farther afield. In fact, there are some fine walks in hilly country (the Pentland Hills) very close by to Edinburgh (get there by bus if you like), and the coastal areas east from Edinburgh (both on the south and north shores of the Firth of Forth) are beautiful and rugged, with a number of beautiful fishing villages. A foray (by rail - it's easy) into the West Highlands is doable
FOOD

Food now, there’s another thing…

Firstly the general standard is much better than it used to be, but we do not have the highest rate of heart disease in Western Europe for nothing. We are, after all, the nation that invented the deep fried Mars bar! But there are some stunning places. Obviously there are the top notch- but you can find them in the foodie guides for yourself. Places I love, for setting and ambience as much as for food include:-


Isle Oransay on Skye
The Pierhouse at Port Appin
Let’s Eat in perth,
The Tolbooth in Stonehaven,
The Ostler’s Close in Cupar
The Cellar in Anstruther in Fife
The Marque in Edinburgh
Viva Mexico in Edinburgh
The Courtyard in Aberdeen

I posted that ny mistake; both the Marque and the Courtyard are no more:(

As it happens, I think you are absolutely right with your plan to finish in the cities. I think it leaves you with wider options. And the thing about returning your car, not where you found it, works just as well in reverse.

So, arrive May 27th, collect car. Head west to Gourock and take the ferry to Dunoon. Have lunch. Drive north to anywhere you want but not further than Strachur and Creggans and stop.

You might want to pin down taht bed, but otherwise, I promise you will have no trouble finding places.

28th, drive to Tarbert and get the ferry to Islay. You can do this by driving round biggish roads round the head of Loch Fyne, stopping in Inverary (drive distance 60 miles), or you can do down the tiny wee road along the east side of Loch Fyne to Portavadie and getting the ferry (38 miles). BIG Castle at Inveraray. Little Castle at Castle Lachlan.

Masses of lovely walks on Islay. Dunyveg castle and Finlaggan.

29th, take the ferry to Jura and walk across the Paps. Quite serious walk.

30th, take the ferry to Oban. Dunstaffnage castle. Take the evening ferry to Mull. Pick a castle. Hell, stay in one!

31st, walk Ben More. Serious walk.

1st, take the little ferry to Lochaline (by the way, buy one of the block tickets on Cal Mac), then drive round Morvern and Ardnamurchan to Mallaig. Ferry to Skye.

2nd and 3rd on Skye. Serious, serious walks. Well, maybe a day in the Cuillins, and one in Storr. Go to Dunvegan castle.

4th, drive to Anstruther. I pick it, because it's slap bang in the middle of the Fife Coastal path.

5th Cruise the Fife villages.

6th, drive to Edinburgh, leave car. See Edinburgh

7th is available for Glasgow, but, to be honest, I wouldn't.

8th take the train and then the bus to Glasgow airport.

Seafood restaurants:-

Creggans Inn, Creggans

An Tigh Seinnse, Portnahaven, Islay.

Mull, I don't know about. If you have time to eat in Oban, try Ee-usk.

Skye, I don't know about.

Fife- the Cellar in Anstruther, the Cellar in St Monan's, Sangster's in Elie, the Seafood Restaurant in St Andrews, the Seafood Restaurant, St Monan's

And lastly:-

On the north side of the river Forth, Dunfermilne is on your left. Robert the Bruce, the hero king who won Bannockburn is buried here in Dunfermilne Abbey (although his heart is buried at Melrose in the borders); go back onto the main road and you will shortly come to Loch Leven, where Mary Queen of Scots was locked up in the castle on the island (v. romantic..the story of the escape- she then fled to her cousin in England for succour. She locked her up for 20 years then beheaded her.) You can take boat trips from Kinross.
Vane Farm Bird Reserve is on the other side of the Loch.
Then go due east to the coast. There are lots of other nice places, like Ceres, Falkland Palace, the East Neuk villages, Pittenweem, St Monans and Leven - a stretch of picture-postcard little fishing villages, with Anstruther, Crail, etc, leading toward St Andrews. For hiking, there's the Fife Coastal path that runs along the entire coast.
In Anstruther visit the fishing museum, then have the best fish in the world for your lunch. After that drive along the coast to Largo, home of the 'original' Robinson Crusoe. When Daniel Defoe wrote about Robinson Crusoe, he was writing about a real person. His name was Alexander Selkirk and he came from Largo in Fife. Defoe was an English spy up in Scotland in the 1700's and nicked the story. That area of Fife is well worth a visit

In St Andrews, take a trip underneath the castle in St. Andrews, Fife. It can be a bit of a squeeze so if you are claustrophobic then probably best to pass on this one. John Knox used to live in this castle - also get chance to see the bottle dungeon. St. Andrews with its ancient university, its cathedral (we do have a lot of them, don't we?) and the home of golf, the Royal and Ancient is seriously worth a visit. It has one of the best beaches in the world- the West Sands, which is where they filmed the opening sequence of Chariots of Fire- shame about the weather- and one of the best ice cream shops in the world (Jannetta's) apart from being a lovely little town.

I hope these help.

I can do walks, pretty much wherever you choose.

As usual, excellent advise from sheila, janis and noe. By the time I am ready to tie down details for our trip in Sept/Oct 2008, I probably won't have many questions because of threads like this one.

I hope you will do a trip report, 6abc. I'd love to hear how it turns out.

WOW! WOW! WOW! Thank you all. I wish you all were coming with us on our trip. Just want to let you know that your time an effort to help make our vacation interesting, enjoyable and carefree is very much appreciated.

One last quick question on car rental advice. We usually rent a full-size car because my hubby is 6'2" and I am 5'6". We are just more comfortable.

But since the roads are narrower are we better off going to an intermediate or even smaller one? Or is this not an issue...Once again thanks in advance.

I'd get the smallest car you are comfortable in. Not the smallest, or maybe not the 2 smallest classes. But definitely a compact/economy sized car.

Reasons being - VERY expensive petrol (can you say $6 a gallon?) and narrow roads, especially when driving through villages w/ cars parked every which way.

Once again thanks!!! 6abc

Not necessary to get a tiny car....We've traveled 7 or 8 times in Scotland by car and for the two of us (seniors) we usually get a full or medium car (Ford Escort ,tarus,or similar). and we go down narrow allys and streets in small villages etc. The larger car feels safer, more comfortable, ...and if you are taking a trip to Scotland then you just factor in the cost of gas....or don't worry about it.
$6 sounds about right, and having a little car wouldn't make a WHOLE lot of difference. Get an automatic if you feel more comfortable. For years we rented a manual and did fine, but we're "older" now so we rent an automatic (making one less thing to worry about)(:>)

An escort is about the size I meant . . . (definitely not considered "full size" in the States")

You're right....Escort IS small in U.S.

Mondeo rings a bell with me, and in looking at records we did rent a Mondeo a couple of times...might be a little bigger. Each company has different definitions of their sizes.

In France and Germany , whatever we reserved, they upgraded us to a Mercedes twice. Good car,,and did fine in those countries and drove very smoothly in France, Belgium. The second time they wanted to "upgrade" us in Frankfurt we refused because Mercedes are not allowed to be taken into Italy ( and we knew we were going to "dip" in to Northern Italy and back".)

Well, I digress!...but a larger, standard or medium or even full would be fine in Scotland. Parking is often tight~~~~but it sounds like you will be driving a lot and covering many miles and you want comfort.

What a wonderful Trip you will Have!!!! You have received some great ideas .

Twice we've rented a Renault Scenic, which we really loved. I don't know its classification, but it has a fold up third seat. It's really not that big of a car; we had no problem navigating the small roads of Scotland. It's kind of square and boxy so we had tons of room - my husband is 6'4" and I'm 5'6" - but we mostly got that car because we had one or more kids with us.

We had friends who were upgraded to a big Mercedes and they were miserable - too hard to get around on the back roads.

A mondeo is equivalent to a Ford Taurus. They stopped making the Taurus - don't know if that is also true of the Mondeo.

On our recent trip we rented 2 cars. We had a 4 door Ford Focus in Scotland, and it was the perfect size and very easy to navigate.
But, in England we got a Vauxhall Vectra and hated it. It was far too big. It was hard to park and tricky to navigate.

I am currently looking into car rental places. Any suggestions. I have checked out AutoEurope and Hertz. Prices seem to be all over the place. Any horror stories with any companies? We have rented from just about all of them in the States and have been very fortunate to always make out very good.

And has anybody stayed at any of the Airport Hotels near GLA. I am looking at the Holiday Inn Express. We are going to turn our car in the day before we fly out and depending on when we get there we will probably travel in to Glasgow on our last day.

Concur with Shelia - do go to Dunoon and plan to eat at the Coylet Inn in front of the big fireplace - just lovely!! Have the salmon if you can. If you stay in Edinburgh or Glasgow, I adore the B&B's both places: they're cheaper, more friendly, and you will get to see how folks (kind of) lived, because you will be in a house, not a hotel - you can find one on the internet. Scottish breakfasts are neat, too (I would avoid the blood sausages, though). The big, old hotel above the harbor in Tobermory, Mull, is a really neat place to stay. The venison and brambleberries, if you can find them on a menu in Mull, are spectacular! And don't forget to listen to the music in pubs on weekends there. (Going from Oban to Mull on the big car ferry - CalMac - is a delight in and of itself, but you can also get a CalMac ferry to Dunoon). There's an alcoholic drink (buy it at the store in a bottle) called "Scottish Mist". WONDERFUL - cream-based whisky! You can go to the whisky distillers if you want to - I wouldn't - but there is one which has/had a resident cat - kind of fun to know . You will love Scotland! Be sure to pack an umbrella and do watch the sheep - they have rights you don't have!

re the rental cars: Auto Europe is a broker so you might end up w/ Hertz, or Avis or whatever. I usually start there and use them as a benchmark to see if anyone else beats them If ind that about 60-65% of the time Autoeurope has the best rates. But definitely not always.

At GLA - either the HI Express or the Premier Travel Inn would be good. The Travel Inn will likely be cheaper.

I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Glasgow once, the night before my flight, and it was really hot and stuffy in the room. The a/c did not work, or there was none, I can't remember. This was 5 years ago though, and I wrote a letter and got a $50 voucher. The next time I stayed at the regular Holiday Inn at the airport and it was fine.

I have used AutoEurope or the sister company Kemwel for the last four trips. I have never been disappointed. The advantage of paying for the rental in full before you travel was a economical blessing. The fact that they usually have the lowest rates was yet another. I have always found the cars theys provide to be clean and well maintained. They usually book me into EuroCar. The staff is very courteous and helpful.

Slan Beo,

Bit

Thanks all! I found the best car rate by calling Budget directly. I actually found it a bit more difficult looking on line for cars because I wanted an automatic and most were just showing manual. Also by calling I was able to use my AARP (OH lordie I can't believe I am an AARP member, but I have been for 5 years now and it sure come in handy) I wasn't able to find a place online to enter in AARP or AAA membership numbers.

I am also checking out some cars on Expedia.com but I think the prices are about the same as going directly through the companies by phone.

OK I am finally getting excited. It is 9 days and counting. Time to start getting the Camera cards ready (I remember the days of going out and buying 100 rolls of film)and collecting all the cloths and throwing them in the spare room and starting to sort things out. Went to a great packing class the other day at AAA. Even though I have been traveling for years this was very helpuful. The women that taught it was a world traveler and had some great tips. We are going to try to pack with just 1 suitecase each. We will wear our hiking boots on the plane. They usually take up 1 suitecase. I guess what I find the hardest is packing hiking gear, poles, raingear heavy socks etc. and regular cloths (but we usually end up staying in our hiking cloths all day anyway-when will I learn, maybe this trip)

Thanks again for all your help.

6abc

Does Budget let you pay in full before you leave? There is something nice about having that "paid voucher' in hand when you walk up to the desk overseas. One can do it with Hertz, and I think NOW Auto Europe lets you do it. AutoEurope is a large consolidator in POrtland ,Maine with 24 hour customer service,even from overseas. They use different rental companies in different countries and have a good reputation....and good prices. We don't ALWAYS use them, but have a few times and were satisfied.
(One time in Exeter, England (train from London) we didn't have a paid voucher(another company) in hand and they just charged what they wanted..even though something else was on the computer). It was remedied upon our return of course.

You have received some WONDERFUL travel ideas and will have a fabulous trip. My husband and I LOVE Scotland...and I'd enjoy reading a "trip report" on Fodors talk upon your return.
I like your idea of not spending a lot of time in the big cities. A day or so in Edinburgh (possibly an all inclusive bus tour, and a walk down the Royal mile would give you and overview).!

What is your final itinerary? or will you "wing it " some.?

mari5, with Budget car rental you pay when you get there but I have a confirmation number and that is how we usually do it in the states. But I am still going to check out expedia and autoeurope and see if I can get it cheaper.

We are going to plan our first night and then just wing it. Some days I want to start clockwise and hit the fishing villages first and than other days I think the last thing that Shelia suggested was heading west to Gourock that sounds good to me.

Today I am feeling like fishing villages on the east coast would be a nice first few days. Get a few good seafood dinners. Mingle with some people and explore some little fishing towns and take some nice warf pictures and than head up to more solitude. This might be the way to go for us. It will give us a chance to slowly wind down and than get some good hikes in as we progress across the highlands and head west to Skye. Sounds like a good way to explore to me.

I am coping all of the info sent by everybody and hope to hit a lot of the suggestions. Everyone has been so helpful and I will post when we return.

Hi,

My input maybe too late to help, but I used this itinerary
http://www.secret-scotland.com/produ...c_tour_14_day/

I found it to be excellent. All the detail you could possibly ask for to find great B&Bs, good restaurants and places to visit. They really help you find the places that the big guides miss out. Much better than Lonely Planet in my opinion.

It was a 14 day itinerary, but there were 3 nights when we stayed in the same area so you could easily skip these and make it a 12 day itinerary.

The guide directed us to the Lochbay Restaurantant at Stein on Skye. Without the guide we would have never found the place. Cafefish on Mull was another superb recommendation by the Secret Scotland Guide.

I can also vouch for the B&Bs that they recommend along the route. A range of prices and all very good in our experience.

Enjoy
Jean-Noel

Thanks Jean-Noel.

With me it is nevre too late. IMO the only time it would be too late is when we have returned home. I will take a look at the itnerary. Thanks for the input.

6abc----I'm from Skye though living on the west coast just now so if you need any more help just shout.
One thing I would definitely recommend for your airport hotel is the Hilton which is having a late spring deal. It is £73 [$145] for bed and breakfast with dinner on the 1st night. The Hilton Grosvenor in Edinburgh is a lovely old hotel 150 years old and they have the same deal and their restaurant is superb.