Visiting Scotland in September
 

This will be our first trip to Scotland, arriving and leaving from GLA. We're pretty well set with things to see but any B&B, pub (especially those offering vegetarian items) and shopping suggestions would be appreciated.

I think we could use a wee bit more information to help out here.
Yopu might like to have a look at this book:-

Scotland the Green: The Alternative Guide to Vegetarian & Vegan Hideways in Scotland by Jackie Redding.

Working on our intinerary yet. Daughter prefers veggie meals but will do some seafood. Just basically looking for neat and reasonable places to stay and to eat.

I'm not trying to be nit picky, njc, but we need a bit more...towns, country, mountains, islands, art, culture, history, how you will travel, all that sort of stuff?

As my previous message said, we're working on an itin. Recommendations for B&Bs anywhere could be part of that itin. We'll be driving and have 8 days to cover whatever anyone deems must-sees.

We spent a few days last summer driving around Scotland. We were in London for the month and took the train from there to Edinburgh. We rented a car in Edinburgh and stayed in B&Bs, had a fabulous time. If you can fit it in- Don't miss the Isle of Skye, its incredible.

We did not find the food to be very good in any of the restaurants we tried. I don't think Scotland is particularly known for its cuisine, although the more Whisky the better it might taste. We didn't really pre-plan the B&Bs just kind of found them as we went. (except Edinburgh- we preplanned there).

Thanks. Will try to work it in. Any B&Bs that you especially liked?

Don't mean to be obtuse here, but you say "We're pretty well SET with things to see". OK, what/where are you going? It doesn't make much sense to recommend great B&Bs or restaurants in one area when you are set going other places.

BTW - please don't pay a lot of attention to someone who "spent a few days" in Scotland and is sure there are no good meals to be had. Two of the VERY best meals I have ever had (better even than in Paris, New Orleans or San Francisco) were in Scotland. Now not every cafe or restaurant is that memorable - but there are MANY great places to eat all over Scotland.

So give us a hint - you really don't need to keep your itinerary a secret. Then we can give you useful suggestions.

We toured northern Scotland last summer and found it beautiful, fun and had plenty of good meals. One of our favorite places to stay and eat was the Newton Lodge in Kylesku. I don't know if it is part of your trip but that area is enchanting and that place is great to stay.

For those who don't think Scottish cuisine is very good, I suggest you get hold of the May issue of Bon Appetit.

Last September we had wonderful dinners in Stirling, Oban, and Glasgow. I had haggis twice and both were different from each other but fabulous flavors. The seafood in Oban was wonderful. Just remember "You are not in Kansas any more". teehee
I agree with Janis, there is a wonderful bounty of delicious meals in Scotland.

I can't resist this question! My husband and I drove around Scotland several years ago in April with just a loose itinerary and a copy of the Taste of Scotland guide, which lists B&B's, guest houses, and hotels that have received the Taste of Scotland award (for wonderful and authentic food). We chose guest houses (more substantial than a B&B but smaller than a hotel) and had incredible dinners and breakfasts at a fraction of the cost of eating in restaurants (in part because there's no tipping or mark up on wine). In many cases our host would prepare the foods we specially requested.

Scotland is the one place where I'd say you can get a good guide book and wing it -- we got much of our best advice on shopping and touring from the owners and travelers we met at the guest houses. If you have a car, it's easy to switch gears too. For example, we thought we'd like to do the "whisky trail" but quickly tired of distilleries.

I think the food is much better than Ireland...at least in Edinburgh. I am a veggie that eats steak a few times a year and found it easy to eat Veggie in Edinburgh. A cheap and cheerful late opening italian/pizza place is Darios on I believe its Lothian road. (Maybe Sheila can correct this). I have spent a few late nights falling asleep in my pizza with a bottle of wine and friends. We were just gluttons after a night in the pub :-). It had some dished I had not seen since I lived in the states. Nothing fancy but old fashioned Italian place.

There are 2 Veggie restaurants that Sheila rweccommended to me and I did not get to which if you search for Vegetarian and Edinburgh they should come up. Pubs tend to be more on the meat and fish and chips side of things. Lots of nice coffe shops and cafes have veggie offerings.

If you are near the Grass Market its a 5 minute walk to a cafe called Favorit across from where my pals worked or went to nursing college. The street walking up to this has tapas, Italian etc.