Demon22

Will be travelling to Scotland (from Oz) in September. This will be our second trip and looking to go to some places we didn't get to last time. We will have about 17 nights but could stretch to 20 if that would work better. We will fly into Edinburgh and catch the train to Glasgow. On our previous trip we spent time in Edinburgh, Inverness, Ullapool, Skye, Glen Coe, Ayr, so looking at:
Glasgow 4 nights - pick up hire car
Oban 2 nights (looking at doing a day trip to the islands)
Ullapool 2 nights
Thurso 2 nights
Dornoch 3 nights
Aberdeen 2 nights
Dundee 2 nights
Edinburgh Airport - drop off car and fly to Oporto
Comments most welcome, we are really flexible......
FOR SOME REASON I CAN'T TAG THIS POST TO UK - CAN SOMEONE DO IT FOR ME?

janisj

Random thoughts:

>>We will fly into Edinburgh and catch the train to Glasgow.<<

I love Glasgow but staying there 4 nights really does jam up the rest of your itinerary

Instead of having to take the tram or a taxi to Waverly station and then a train to Glasgow, you can just catch the CityLink coach from EDI to central Glasgow.

Oban to Ullapool is a 5 hour drive without a stop. Ullapool to Thurso is a 4 hour drive by the fastest route. There is much to explore in the whole NW but you will really only have two days.

Are you playing golf in Dornoch? If not, I'd probably cut one night from there.

Interested why Aberdeen and Dundee for stays? Aberdeen is fine but staying on Deeside would be more scenic. There is so much to see in the area (the Castle Trail etc). And Dundee has some new development and museums but two days there would seem overkill. I'd probably stay in Fife instead and just visit Dundee for a few hours. Spending the rest of the time seeing St Andrews, Crail, Falkland, etc.

I love Glasgow but staying there 4 nights really does jam up the rest of your itinerary. I consider staying there just two nights and add the extra time to the NW and Aberdeenshire/Deeside (not Aberdeen city)

Demon22

Thanks Janis for the prompt response (I have worked out why I couldn't tag it - using a tablet and therefore light version of Fodor). The tip about the CityLink is very useful - didn't know about this! The extra days in Glasgow are to allow us to get used to the change in timezone and deal with any jetlag problems. No we don't play golf - just thought the area around Dornoch looked interesting. We didn't go anywhere on the east coast last time - thus the inclusion of Aberdeen and Dundee - but it is early days in the planning, so will check our guide books and maybe find somewhere a bit more interesting. We had a number of days in Ullapool last time and did a lovely trip across to Loch Ewe and surrounds, so maybe no need to go back there and break the Oban to Thurso another way - we just don't like to spend only one night in places, particularly if we have spent most of the day on the road.

janisj

>>We didn't go anywhere on the east coast last time - thus the inclusion of Aberdeen and Dundee - <<

There is a lot (tons) to see in the area- Castles galore including Craigievar, Fraser, Crathes (though mainly for the gardens which by Sept won't be at their peak), the incomparable Dunnottar, Glamis, St Andrews, the Fife fishing villages etc. I was only questioning staying IN Aberdeen and IN Dundee. Check out options like Ballater and Crail instead.

I love Dornoch but the area close by around it really isn't '3 day territory' when one is trying to cover so much territory. I might consider adding a night on the west coast - Ullapool if you like - to explore Loch Maree, Applecross, Inverewe - but again the gardens won't be at their best. Skipping the loop up to Thurso I'd take the A949 across, visiting the Falls of Shin en route to Dornoch. and stay 2 nights in Dornoch. From Dornoch you can drive up to see some of the neolithic sites on the coast and Dunrobin Castle.

Then down into Aberdeenshire (though staying on Deeside rather then in Aberdeen)