I posted this in another thread but I think it's worth repeating. There is a WONDERFUL B&B in Tobermory (on the island of Mull) that is my favorite B&B of all time. It's called Ambleside. The people that own it are so engaging, charming and funny. The price (two years ago) was twenty pounds per person per night!!! The owner, Doug, is a fisherman and will prepare you a basket of fresh, steamed langoustines (small lobsters?) with dip and bread and butter at no extra charge. We walked down to the village, got a nice bottle of wine, had the langoustines as an apetizer and then walked into the village for dinner. The breakfast is phenomenal. The rooms are clean and modern.
Enjoy!

Hi Sethsmom
Fort William to Mallaig: we just did this trip as part of our holiday to Scotland. It's beautiful. We took the ordinary ScotRail train because it costs £10 return pp and the times are much more flexible. The "Jacobite Steam Train", which is nothing special apart from the locomotive, costs £25 return pp and only gives you 2 hours in Mallaig. (There is nothing in Mallaig except ferries to Skye and some other cruise trips available.) Public transport on Skye is not great either. I would suggest keeping your car and driving the Road to the Isles. You will see the same scenery as you would by train and then you have your car on Skye.
My other comment on your itinerary is that you might want to have more time in Glen Coe. At the moment it looks like you want to go from Mull to Skye via Glen Coe in one day. It is spectacular scenery and probably deserves a bit longer.
Happy holidays!

To all...thanks once again for the insights!

sheila: I've looked up the sleeps you suggested and Mansion House Hotel, Farleyer or Moulin Inn (they are very different, yes?) look promising. Also, we might stay at Eilean Iarmain the first night on Skye and give Sligachan a try the other two since it looks pretty central. I've tried reaching Eilean Iarmain by email ([email protected]) but their server is not working. We'll keep trying.

anglo_dutch_couple: You've definitely given me something to think about regarding the train vs driving. Although we are not big hikers, we've heard Glen Coe is beautiful, beautiful and we could use more time there. We want to try to stay as flexible as possible (yeah right Alisa, look at your itinerary) Plus, it will be no fun rushing around in order to catch a scheduled train.

Juicy JuJu: We're just doing Mull in a daytrip but will keep your recommendation in the FILE just in case we change our minds. That does happen...ha!

Kganza: Culloden is a place we definitely want to experience and it is nice to hear the tour was rewarding.

Sethsmom

Those three places are all very different.

The Slig is still quite far south is Skye terms, but it's right at the Dunvegan road junction.

I utterly disagree about the Jacobite and, indeed te train journey. That's one of the great train routes in the world. Sweeping round Glenfinnan viaduct (like in Harry Potter) especially pulled by a steam locomotive, has to be special. Really.

I do agree that Mallaig is nothing to write home about, but, time it right and have a nice lunch ovelooking the Harbour (and read "The Last Wanderer" before you go).

I'm just trying a test to Eilean Iarmain... yup, their server's down. Would you like me to phone them for you?

sheila: Thanks for keeping up with my messages. What to do...what to do...I've been captivated for some time by the idea of taking the Jacobite train. However, there are a few things to think about. I checked and it doesn't transport cars so we would have to turn ours in and get another car in Broadford, Skye (slight time inconvenience). On the other hand, we want to stop for a while and explore Glenfinnan and the train does make a stop there. The train leaves at 10:20 and we will be driving up from Port Appin stopping by Glen Coe. As I've mentioned before, my husband and I love God's wonders but are not big hikers so I'm not sure how much time we really will want to spend in Glen Coe. We don't mind the early start but aren't sure how much time it will take us to leave Port Appin, see Glen Coe, get to Ft. William, return our car and make the 10:20 departure? The time element is the unknown for us since we have never been there before so your help is sooooo appreciated.

Hi everyone...it's been a while since I've written but have been busy researching, working our itinerary and reading lots of forums. I am so thankful for this forum! Posted is our tentative itinerary. We would love any suggestions and insights from y'all. Day 1 - Day 6 seem to be working well but then we get a little lost on Day 7 & 8. We were thinking we could probably use a "free day" on Day 8, maybe see a sight or two, maybe play 9-holes, maybe just relax. Any suggestions y'all have would be great!

Sheila...did y'all make your August trip? I've been looking for your post and would love to hear about it!

DAY 1: Fly into Glasgow mid morning and head for Argyll area; drive to Loch Lomond, Rest & Be Peaceful, Inveraray (castle & lunch), stay at Ardanaiseig Hotel (3 nights)

DAY 2: Explore Kilmartin & Oban area

DAY 3: Catch ferry to Mull, explore Mull and Iona, then catch ferry back to Oban

DAY 4: Leave Argyll and drive through Glen Coe, catch train to Skye, stay at Eilean Iarmain (1 night)

DAY 5: Explore southern & western Skye and stay at Sligachan (2 nights)

DAY 6: Explore northern Skye

DAY 7: Leave Skye, drive by Eilean Donan, Ft. Augustus, Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness, Culloden, then ???? At this point, we're not sure of the best place to stay for the night and next day. We sort of want to take it easy for a day before heading down to Perth. My husband may even want to squeeze in 9-holes. Has anyone been to Nairn before? Things to do and see there? Or maybe Elgin? (2 nights)

DAY 8: ???

DAY 9: Head down to Perthshire (taking Sheila's great suggestions for stops along the way, stay between Pitlochry and Perth (still not sure where we will stay) (2 nights)

DAY 10: Explore Perthshire

DAY 11: Leave Perthshire and head for St. Andrews, through Cupar, see East Neuk villages, Culross, then stay ???
in or close to Edinburgh (anyone have any good ideas???) (1 night)

DAY 12: Up early to drive into Edinburgh (2 nights)

DAY 13: Explore Edinburgh

DAY 15: Fly home!

Hi again...I posted a message over the weekend but messages on so many threads were flying around and my message didn't stay on top very long at all. So, I thought I'd try one more time. Any suggestions or insights would be great!!!

In case you haven't already booked accommodation in or around Elgin - we stayed at the Mansion House Hotel for a weekend a liked it, but it was about 5 years ago. Our room was large, nicely furnished and had an amazing stone wall, with some sort of heraldic device carved into it, which seemed to belong to an older building.

Thanks Caroline. I sent away for some brochures on Mansion House just last week. Thanks for the referral.

In the 2000 Fodor' Scotland book, 2 hotels were recommended in Nairn. Clifton house was one and I can't remember the other, but regrettably, that's the one we chose. It was so creepy and strangely quiet and "Fawlty Towers"-like, that we went over to the Clifton House at least to have dinner. We almost cried---the hotel was so much better, quaint, beautiful, but the best was the host, complete in full kilt and totally charming (he's almost 80 yo).
We had a delicious dinner in the beautiful dining room . I hoped to return some day to stay and I have been waiting to recommend it to someone, it was so cool. Don't miss it!! I was there in 2000 and there have been some changes, so check their website. Guaranteed you will love it.

Also, for Perthshire, check out the Hydro-Crief Hotel. It is run by Best Western, but in the UK most of the Best Western's are really cool historic houses or hotels. Hydro Crief has a hotel and separate houses to rent on the property with many activities. Check out their website through Best Western/Perthshire.
Have a great trip.

I lived in Aberdeen for 3 years and just moved to England one year ago. I loved Scotland. My favourite castle--Dunnotar, on a cliff, in Stonehaven. While in Scotland, try the Beef Olives, Haggis (hmm...) and try to eat and compare as many servings as you can of Sticky Toffee Pudding! Delicious, if you get it at the right place!
Happy travels and Happy Anniversary!

spanishfly: Thanks for the tips. Actually, I read another thread a while ago about the Clifton House and the review was also great. We will check into it. My husband and I like the one-of-a-kind places to stay and the owner sounds like a definite original.

We spent a wonderful afternoon at Fort George nr Inverness - it was one of these places I was luke warm about the prospect of visiting (husband wanted to go) but ended up loving. You can often spot dolphins from the ramparts. There's so much to see there. We also found Culloden very atmospheric, and then drove on to the Clava Cairns close by (only about a mile away). Don't miss these!!!! A google search will bring up details about these stones - we had the site to ourselves, it's free to access and well worth half an hour to wander around them.

Thanks Morgana. I'll look into Fort George (my husband also would love)and Culloden is definitely on our list!

If you only have time to do ONE thing in Scotland then you must drive up the A82 from Glasgow to Kyle of Lochalsh. It is one of the most beautiful car rides in Europe if not the world.
And I say this as a Scotsman who has done a bit of travelling in my time and saw some sights .

Sheila--How was your stay at the Western Isles Hotel? The last time we chatted here you were planning a weekend stay? Would love to know.

Actually, I really disliked it.

I may have been hit by a basic prejudice, but... the lobby, you see, was full of lilies and I LOATHE the smell of lilies.

We arrived at 4pm and couldn't get a drink- bar not open till 6pm- I don't just mean alcolhol, bottled water was beyond them.

The room was OK, if worn. It was VERY close when we were there and neither of us slept at all the first night.

Generally I found it unwelcoming and really not worth the money. I wouldn't stay there again.

That's a 4 out of 10, I guess, rather than a total and utter disaster.

My husband says I'm not being fair on them

Well, Sheila, that's the Western Isles I experienced, too. Your term "unwelcoming" is certainly the best summary of the place. I felt as though the staff thought having guests at the hotel ruined their day.

What a shame to waste that location.

Fortunately everywhere else was ace!

Sheila...Did y'all spend any time in Perthshire this trip? If so, any good news on the accomodations there. Did you visit Eilean Iarmain this trip? I've tried to contact them 4 or 5 times by email but have not heard back from them. I wonder if they are still in business.

Eilean Iarmain is defeinitely still in business.

We spent two nights at the Ardeonaig on South Loch Tay and it was the highlight of the trip.

The public rooms were just fantastic, the bedrooms nicely done, the food excellent and the wine lift wonderful.