May I also cast a vote for the much maligned Parliament Building.

I too cmapigned for the concept and when we've got over the fuss, the building will still make us proud

saving for future reference. Great ideas!

there's an article in this months Saveur magazine about a restaurant, called The Chip in Glasgow, the Chez Panisse of Scotland.'
Sheila, have you dined there?

I haven't, Mimi. It's Sunday name is the "Ubiquitous Chip" and it's where the glittering people go.

I have eaten several times at the Chip, although not for about 3 years now. It was always quite good when I went (if not out of this world). However, about a year ago I read a very poor review of it, so it may be resting on its laurels.

BTW I am by no means glittering ! I suppose some quite trendy types go there but the decor is quite basic & sixties style - maybe that's supposed to be the similarity to Chez Panisse ?

Fair play to the place, though; I believe it was the first good restaurant in Scotland, back when Britain was still coming out of post-WWII austerity & discovering good food.

Craigellachie, I was just reviewing your "Top 10/11! in Scotland" in my planning for a trip in May 2006.

Could you tell me a little more about the "Superfast ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium"? How would a person go about this?

We are having trouble booking our flight from Toronto to London, via Amsterdam using air miles, with a return trip from Glasgow. I'm wondering if it may be plausible to fly in to Belgium, take the ferry across to Edinburgh, and start our trip there, do Scotland, then a couple days in London and fly home from there.
We would be skipping a 2 day layover in Amsterdam but could do that in Belgium instead...(just looking to do one more place if we can, even just for a couple of days to get the taste of the place).

Booking with Air Miles and arriving in one destination, while returning from another destination, I have found is a bit of a nightmare, so I am looking for possible options flying in that would give us one more place to see enroute (they will allow a 4 day layover between stops) enroute.

So, what else can you tell me about this ferry? (cost, length of trip etc.)

I guess flying into Scotland direct can't be done?

You can find details on http://www.superfast.com/Scotland/English/index.asp

it's good but it ain't cheap

Thanks Sheila, I have found the site.
To your question about flying into Glasgow direct- there aren't many options for airlines with the Air Miles program, we are restricted to KLM/North West, Air Canada and American Airlines I believe.
KLM makes a stop in Amsterdam no matter what whether flying into London or Glasgow. Air Canada has lots of flights in and out of London in May, however, no options for flying into one destination and out of another.

We just thought it would be a bonus, if we had a stopover in Amsterdam and had the option, we would stay there overnight before flying into either London or Scotland (at no extra cost).
As we had been planning a couple of days in London prior to finding our way to Scotland for 2+ weeks of travel, we didn't want to travel back to London to return home to Toronto. Thought it would make better use of our time to leave from Glasgow, which is complicating things...

Thanks for your assistance, may be asking for more as we plan our itinerary for the trip.

raz,
If you're looking at the Superfast ferry site be aware that they recently announced a reduction in ferry frequency for this winter. They SAY it will be back to one daily trip each way next spring...
Four years ago I got direct Air Canada flights from Glasgow to Toronto - have these been stopped?

Craigellachie,
Thanks for your response. I actually finally got my flight plans settled today and able to use my Air Miles. Yes, I believe Air Canada does fly into Glasgow, however, nothing available with Air Miles at the time I needed (they only have so many seats on certain planes and once they're booked, you're out of luck). Had we wanted to fly in & out of Glasgow, we might have been able to make something work, however, our preferance was to fly into London and out of Glasgow -that made things much trickier.(you have to use the same airline for both trips when you book your travel with Air Miles.)
We are now flying into London via Amsterdam, then flying out of Glasgow also via Amsterdam - with a stopover in Amsterdam for one night on our way home to Toronto. We had initially tried for a stopover on our way to London but all the pieces wouldn't work...
In the end, we may regret all the time spent on airplanes and in airports, but some of us have to learn the hard way...
this is my first trip to Europe, so it's a learning experience for me all around.

Craig, yes, the Herald had a piece a week or two ago about Air Canada stopping direct flights to Glasgow - actually while Jack was schmoozing in Canada.

Kirkcudbright in the SW of Scotland. That is a wonderful place.

Second... Sulwaith brewery tour in Castle Douglas...

Third... Logan Botanical Garden in Port Logan.

Fourth ... All of Edinburgh.


I'm looking forward to visiting more places so I can fit Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire in the mix... I do like the Provost Skene's museum!

wow read all these suggestions and i am overwhelmed.. i am planning a 2 weeks vacation in the summer of 2012.. yes i am starting early since Scotland is my dream vacation! maybe i sound silly, but i wanna see the "braveheart" kinda sights. not the typical tourist stuff, but nature, castles and just beautiful sights. can't do all day hikes or such things as I have 3 children with me :-D but i want to see as much as possible without having to rush from place to place. have time to suck it all in.. i would like to choose one place for one week and do day trips from there and the next week i would love to go to another place and do the same. and suggestions where to stay?

You'll probably garner better responses by starting a new thread with specific questions rather than topping a 6 year old thread.

Laura_King: Yes -- you definitely need to start a new thread of your own.

"<i>but i wanna see the "braveheart" kinda sights. not the typical tourist stuff, but nature, castles and just beautiful sights</i>"

Well -- 'Braveheart sites' are about the most touristy bits in Scotland (only Nessie sites are more so) Folks often say they don't want to go touristy places, like the country is full of theme parks -- not realizing places like castles, distilleries, scenic view points ARE the touristy sites in Scotland. They are touristy/popular for a reason.

Yes, two one week stays in holiday cottages is a great option. I have several l suggestions for locations and even specific rentals -- but I'll wait til the new thread is up, and post info there.

When you start your new thread, can you please tell us how long you're coming for, what time of year, and how you will travel about?