Travel & Accommodation Suggestions/Tips for Scotland
 

I will arrive in Glasgow on 28th of May 2002. I plan on staying in Motherwell for 7 days if I can find a place at a reasonable price. Then I was thinking of travelling around Scotland by train. Anyone out there have any suggestions about Accommodation, train travel and getting good pictures, etc

Arthur<BR><BR>I think we need to know a little more about what you want to see and do. Motherwell is a bit of an industrial wilderness, too. Here however is Edinburgh to the Highlands and back to Glasgow (mostly) by train:-<BR><BR>Walk through the new town with a proper guide to how it was all<BR>done.(free except for cost of book- probably somewhere on the web)<BR><BR>Visit Valvona & Crolla which is probably the best Italian deli in<BR>Britain (worth it for the experience even if you don't spend anything)<BR><BR>Visit the Royal Mile (free) and go to St Giles's Cathedral (free) and<BR>Parliament House (free) and John Knox House (&pound;1.95)and the Castle (&pound;6<BR>including commentary)and appreciate the Stone of Destiny and the buried<BR>tenement (Mary King’s Close- charge but I don't know how much)<BR><BR>Visit the Scotch whisky place (bit commercial; I wouldn’t)<BR><BR>Go to Deacon Brodie's pub and understand why it's called that (free except for the drink)<BR><BR>Eat in the Grassmarket and shop in Victoria Street<BR><BR>Go to the Royal Museum (&pound;2)<BR><BR>Visit Arthur's seat (free)<BR><BR>Visit Hollyrod Park (free)<BR><BR>Go and see Greyfriars Bobby and read the story (free except the book)<BR><BR>Go to the Royal Scottish Academy (free except for special exhibitions)<BR>and the National Gallery of Scotland next door- (free)<BR><BR>Drink at Sandy Bell's pub where they play live folk music.<BR><BR>Eat at Viva Mexico and Cafe Vittorio and the Kalpna<BR><BR>Climb the Scott monument<BR><BR>Train to Pitlochry<BR><BR>The only distillery worth looking at in Pitlochry is Edradour. The salmon ladder is<BR>interesting and the scenery around there is good, although Pitlochry<BR>is a bit of a tourist trap.<BR><BR>Train on up to Inverness. <BR><BR>Rent a car in Inverness and drive to see sights like Culloden Moor, Cawdor Castle,<BR>and then drive down along the east side of Loch Ness, drive to Isle of<BR>Skye .Stay in Portree. Stop at Plockton on the way to Kyle of Lochalsh. Take as much time on Skye as you can. Take the ferry off to Mallaig and drive back to Oban<BR>via Morar, Arisaig and Fort William<BR><BR>If you wanted to give yourselves one good night, stay at the Pierhouse at Port Appin and have a really good seafood meal.<BR><BR>Train to Glasgow.<BR><BR>

Why Motherwell? As Sheila says, it's a bit of an industrial place (at least it was before the steel plant shut) and I think you'd be better off finding somewhere in Edinburgh or Glasgow to stay.<BR><BR>In addition to Sheila's suggestions, you could also consider (if you had longer) going up the east coast from Edinburgh. You could then take in St Andrews (nearest station Leuchars then a bus trip from there) and possibly also Dunnotar Castle near Stonehaven (which doubled as Elsinore in Mel Gibson's "Hamlet".)<BR><BR>You could then get the train from Aberdeen to Inverness, and pick up from there.<BR><BR>As for eating, I'd also suggest Cafe Vittorio on Leith Walk in Edinburgh - it's good value for money.

Sheila, how do you pronounce Edradour?

Eddradower

Good replys and now for an inexspensive place to stay only 150 metres south of Valvona Crolla and 615 metres from Princes Street.Only Edinburgh hostel in an historic Georgian townhouse in the New Town.Check out this site and make sure you have a look at their in-dewpth Edinburgh information page.http://www.a1-playfairhousehostel.co.uk

Don't stay there (playfairhouse). I stayed there with my partner one night - we had booked three - and was disgusted with most of the place. Reasonable price for Edinburgh, very expensive for what you get. A disgrace.

Thanks Sheila, and Keith. To answer the question of why Motherwell, its because it is where I was born and stayed for my first 12 years before coming to Australia. So I want to spend the first couple of day's there and then either use that as a base or find another place maybe better to look at. Preferabilly not in the big cities like Glasgow or Edinburgh as I live and travel through Sydney, Australia, which is a big city.<BR>Id then like to see the sights, historical,folk music with the more pipes the better, etc. But not the ones that have fallen apart, & as I said I'll be travelling by train on a Scotrail Pass and finding accomodation as I go. For about 20 to 30 pounds if I can.