Visiting Scotland Tips?

[federkeil]

My wife and I will be visiting Scotland and Ireland as part of a European trip starting next month. We will be on the Isles in October. Right now we have about 11 days planned for Ireland and 6 for Scotland.

We have a pretty solid itinerary for Ireland but are lacking on Scotland sights.

I would appreciate any ideas for things to see while we're in Scotland.

[Jock Scot]

Help us out a tad. What parts of Scotland are you actually visiting? Are your interests, more town and city, rather than country? What is your means of transport? Where is your trip starting and ending for the Scottish part of your trip?

[federkeil]

Help us out a tad. What parts of Scotland are you actually visiting? Are your interests, more town and city, rather than country? What is your means of transport? Where is your trip starting and ending for the Scottish part of your trip?

how things stand is we have about 22 days for the islands, with 6 in England at London and Bath. We want to do ~10 days in Ireland which leaves no more than 8 for Scotland, possibly closer to 6 depending on what we decide in the end.

From Bath we'll be heading up to Edinburgh, we want to see the Castle, Royal Mile and Arthur's Seat. I want to stop by Rendall's and get a traditional Colquhoun Tartan tank (obviously measured with delivery home when it's finished).

Aside from that our general interests lie in topography and natural history. We love hiking and castles and such. We aren't so much interested in art, music, literature, etc...

Transportation will probably be the Ride and Drive pass. And we will be going from West Scotland to N. Ireland

[Beertigger]

The high points of our trip through Scotland: a walk in the woods in Pitlochry, up to the wee Edradour distillery; dinner at the Mustard Seed in Inverness; and the grand hospitality at Ferintosh in Dumfries.

[Baldybrown]

Get lost in the highlands. Find an old man with a dog and ask for directions. Have your video camera ready in order to record what will be one of the finest moments of your trip!

[Pour1Malt]

come see us i' Dumfries... there is loads tae see an dae in Dumfries an' Galloway... an' I'm sure I've got some single malt Scotch aroon here somewhere ya can taste!!!

[Laird_M]

come see us i' Dumfries... there is loads tae see an dae in Dumfries an' Galloway... an' I'm sure I've got some single malt Scotch aroon here somewhere ya can taste!!!

Watching this thread as we're staying in Newton Stewart next August, so if you still have that single malt...

[Grizzly]

As Jock says it depends where you are starting from and where you want to end up. From a personal recommendation and in no particular order -

the Jacobite Monument at Glenfinnan (also there is the Glenfinnan Railway Viaduct as seen in Harry Potter).

The Jacobite Railway from Fort William to Mallaig.

The Pass of the Cattle (Bealach Na Ba) from Kishorn to Applecross. Single track mountain road that rises to 2053 feet.

Ardnamurchan Point the most westerly point on the British Mainland

Loch Ness ( Drumnadrochit and Urquart Castle)

Isles of Mull, Iona and Staffa

Isle of Skye for the Cuillins Mountain Range

Speyside (south of Inverness) for the whisky trail

Balquhidder Church yard for Rob Roys Grave

Edinburgh for the Castle and Princes Street

Stirling Castle

Eilean Donan Castle at Dornoch on the road to Kyle of Lochalsh

Aviemore for the Ski Centre/mountain Biking

Balmoral Castle - Scottish home of HM the Queen

Glasgow - former european city of culture

There are lots more you wont have any trouble filling your days.

Have a great trip

regards
Simon

[MacLowlife]

Limit your ambitions. Try to plan to spend more time in fewer places. There is a very nice hotel at Craigellachie, which is near the Spey. It might be nice to stay there and drive to various distilleries nearby, or you could hike along the Speyside way. Or you might enjoy staying in an old distillery baron's house (now a B&B) at Cragganmore. There are a couple of different nostalgia trains nearby and you are not far from Inverness. Try very hard to allow for unscheduled time.

I was there at a similar time several years ago. I rented a bicycle and made a slow loop from Aviemore to Keith, I believe, then rode the train back to Aviemore to return the bike. A kind local took me sightseeing by car one afternoon and we covered about three times as much ground in a few hours as I had managed on the bike.

[Beertigger]

Remember to eat some curry in Glasgow - the best in Europe, or so they've said.