[Travel] Scotland: Holiday Help

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GT49er

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Feb 1, 2009
49,186
Gloucester
Asking the great and good of NSC for some help. With Lyme likely to be overrun with staycationers from 4 July with hospitality reopening and our cruise with Dennis Taylor for August being cancelled we were looking at a week in Scotland late July/early August to get away from it all.

I've put together a very rough itinerary as below, one night in each place and drive on. Am I wasting my time though with the first few days in cities and head straight to the countryside and mountains? Anything or places and accommodation I should definitely visit? Also would like to have one night at the seaside, where's best to visit?

???

Edinburgh
Dundee
Aberdeen
Inverness
Fort William
Loch Lomond
One of the islands (Mull/Arran?)

Scotland is much bigger than most people who don't know it think - and it's not all accessed by motorway either. To be honest, with that itinerary you'll see bu**er all of most of the places you're staying. 80 or 90% of your 'holiday' will be just driving from place to place! And within that itinerary, just forget about the islands!
 


atfc village

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2013
5,080
Lower Bourne .Farnham
Wtf are you going to do in Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness for a day and as for Fort William. Edinburgh great for 3 or 4 days, Glasgow best city to visit in the UK (and I didn’t realise that until I went for a long weekend about 8 years ago - always thought it was a dump).

Go up M6 turn left at Moffat and head to Galloway (Annan and Dumfries are dumps so keep going), spend a couple of days in Castle Douglas / Kirkcudbright area you can also visit Galloway Forest Park - beautiful scenery and no people). Head up to Glasgow (take the Ayr road) and spend a couple of nights there (Unbelievably genuinely nice friendly people). Great food (not all deep fried), visit Kelvingrove Museum / Art Gallery (really educational - explains what is actually being depicted in works of art - and art bores me), leave Glasgow via A82 that will take you to Loch Lomond, follow road to Oban (two routes - ones longer via Lochgilphead or Crianlarich)(great lodges you can rent at Benmore Farm (with great few of Ben More and two lochs)), from Oban take Ferry to Mull (spend night in Balamory (sorry Tobermory)) then take trip to Iona the resting place of Scottish Kings and greatest prime minister we didn’t have. Back in Oban you want to head back in land to Tyndrum so you drive up to Fort William through Glencoe - stunning scenery). Fort William is a wee bit depressing but you could climb Ben Nevis. (Take Harry Potter train to Malagg). Then depending on time either straight up ( well windey road) the Great Glen (loch ness) to Inverness or turn left and go to Skye. I’d do the Inverness leg - then trip up to Dornoch - most northerly championship golf course ( if you have time Helmsdale has a museum on the highland clearances) - next you head to Speyside - where I’m hoping to go this year). Then head down A9 - lovely towns and places to visit Pitlochry). Head to Aberfeldy as Dewars main distillery is three and has best visitor centre). Great hotel in Dunkeld you can stay - it was a Hilton with drinks on lawn over looking River Tay. From there head to Stirling (Wallace Monument and Castle) and then onto Edinburgh for a least two days to do anything - make sure your at Castle at 1pm when the gun goes off. From their head home - it’s decades since I’ve been to the Borders so can’t comment.

Had a wonderful red pudding saveloy in Helmsdale . Dornach was a lovely place to stay would recommend it to anyone ,Tain down the road was an interesting night out on the other hand . The whole of the highlands is stunning . Also did a day trip to The Orkneys that was along day.
 


If you're doing Inverness I would highly recommend an excursion down to the Caingorms and you can go up for the afternoon/day - just south of Aviemore and really lovely

I recall the Starrbank Tavern (or maybe Inn) at Leith had a bar with beer pumps thereon that seemed to stretch into infinity.
 


Leekbrookgull

Well-known member
Jul 14, 2005
16,384
Leek
Just be wary of the mileage required let alone drive time. Otherwise your be spending more time on the road than actual visiting places.
 






Mr Bridger

Sound of the suburbs
Feb 25, 2013
4,753
Earth
Been to Scotland twice, once working in Glasgow which rained all the time we were there. Had tickets to Rangers v Hearts which was called off due to the rain.
Second time we had a flight 7am into Edinburgh , by 11 am we had checked our bags into the George Hotel, ( great location) on was on an open bus tour of the city. Spent two nights in Edinburgh and then booked a car to pick up from Waverley station.
Drove up to The Boat if Garten, just outside Aviemore, stayed in a great pub called The Boat and from there we had day trips to Inverness, Loch Ness and a days skiing at Aviemore.
On the way home we travelled the long way round through the Cairngorms for a drive by at Balmoral, then back to the Airport to drop the car off.

Loved the second trip and looking forward to going back soon.
 


dazzer6666

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Mar 27, 2013
55,539
Burgess Hill
Wtf are you going to do in Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness for a day and as for Fort William. Edinburgh great for 3 or 4 days, Glasgow best city to visit in the UK (and I didn’t realise that until I went for a long weekend about 8 years ago - always thought it was a dump).

Go up M6 turn left at Moffat and head to Galloway (Annan and Dumfries are dumps so keep going), spend a couple of days in Castle Douglas / Kirkcudbright area you can also visit Galloway Forest Park - beautiful scenery and no people). Head up to Glasgow (take the Ayr road) and spend a couple of nights there (Unbelievably genuinely nice friendly people). Great food (not all deep fried), visit Kelvingrove Museum / Art Gallery (really educational - explains what is actually being depicted in works of art - and art bores me), leave Glasgow via A82 that will take you to Loch Lomond, follow road to Oban (two routes - ones longer via Lochgilphead or Crianlarich)(great lodges you can rent at Benmore Farm (with great few of Ben More and two lochs)), from Oban take Ferry to Mull (spend night in Balamory (sorry Tobermory)) then take trip to Iona the resting place of Scottish Kings and greatest prime minister we didn’t have. Back in Oban you want to head back in land to Tyndrum so you drive up to Fort William through Glencoe - stunning scenery). Fort William is a wee bit depressing but you could climb Ben Nevis. (Take Harry Potter train to Malagg). Then depending on time either straight up ( well windey road) the Great Glen (loch ness) to Inverness or turn left and go to Skye. I’d do the Inverness leg - then trip up to Dornoch - most northerly championship golf course ( if you have time Helmsdale has a museum on the highland clearances) - next you head to Speyside - where I’m hoping to go this year). Then head down A9 - lovely towns and places to visit Pitlochry). Head to Aberfeldy as Dewars main distillery is three and has best visitor centre). Great hotel in Dunkeld you can stay - it was a Hilton with drinks on lawn over looking River Tay. From there head to Stirling (Wallace Monument and Castle) and then onto Edinburgh for a least two days to do anything - make sure your at Castle at 1pm when the gun goes off. From their head home - it’s decades since I’ve been to the Borders so can’t comment.

Daughter lives in Galashiels so been there and the locality a few times. Wouldn’t make a special trip to the area otherwise I don’t think but scenery is beautiful. Spent loads of time on holiday and working in Edinburgh, agree plenty to do for several days in the city and nearby. Love Glasgow too.

Following this thread closely as a road trip beckons as soon as we have the time (sometime this Autumn hopefully).

Can’t beat a proper Scottish Breakfast either.
 






Timbo

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
4,322
Hassocks
Very few good suggestions yet I'm afraid!

Best thing I've done in Scotland so far was get an island hopper ticket from Ullapool. Gets you across to Stornaway and then drive down through the Outer Hebrides down as far as Barra then get the ferry back across to Oban. Needs about three or four days and some pre booked stays in pubs or B&B's on the way and you get a few fantastic ferry trips between the islands on the way with rest joined by causeways.

Oban is great for food and drink and the distillery tour which someone else has mentioned.

Don't worry if you end up driving all day, it's the best part of getting around Scotland.

West coast from Oban above is stunning, right up as far as Kinlochbervie, loads of remote pubs and deserted beaches.

Wouldn't bother with the east coast, as someone said earlier, Aberdeen isn't great but if you insist on going that way, Stonehaven is a bit better. Edinburgh is ok, Glasgow really isn't. As for Inverness, it's a great base but wouldn't give it more than a couple of days.

Last Christmas we stayed about an hour down from Elgin, about half an hour from the Cairngorms near Aberlour, not somewhere I'd spent too much time around before but it was incredible and we're going again to the same place in August. The place we stayed was about as remote as I've ever seen.

Other good places Isle of Skye (Portee and the Cuillins), Poolewe, Mallaig, Ullapool and Lochinver (If you're after a days walking, try Suilven)

The people are great the further north you go.
 






Tony Towner's Fridge

Well-known member
Aug 22, 2003
5,545
GLASGOW,SCOTLAND,UK
Arran a must . I hope to be back over next month and then spend the majority of the remainder of the year there. Golf, fishing, walking and relaxing. Heaven on Earth so it is!
If you come over drop me a pm.
Cheers
TNBA
TTF
 


Mr Banana

Tedious chump
Aug 8, 2005
5,491
Standing in the way of control
Wouldn't stay in Edinburgh - it's nice, but dull compared to the rest of Scotland, even more so outside of the fringe. That said, if you do decide to go there, the Fruitmarket is great, and the walk from there to the Gallery of Modern Art - and the gallery itself - are also fantastic. You could also try Haggis Backpackers if you're there. They do tours of a day or a few days. I haven't used them for years but they used to be brilliant.

Would base yourself in Glasgow. I've grown ancient but the indie themepark city is still the best. Perfect for a week. Day in the city centre, loads of good places to eat, Gallery of Modern Art. Go to the Riverside and walk along the quay or visit the museum if you like transport stuff. Then a day at Kelvingrove and the park. Take the train a couple of stops and go for a massive walk in the countryside. West End for more cracking bars and restaurants. Botanic Gardens, Mausoleum, cathedral...all the good stuff. Sauchiehall Street for a bar crawl at night. Take a boat to Arran for at least a day and hire a bike.

Could take the train from Glasgee a bit further afield for a day trip to anywhere that takes your fancy. Arbroath's pretty interesting - old-world feel, fishing port, castle, pubs. I'd do that for Edinburgh as it's only an hour each way. If you do that on a Friday or Saturday night (assuming pubs are open) you get that added bonus of a guaranteed festival atmosphere on the train.

Not sure about Aberdeen. Spent a lot of time there, it's granite and bleak. Good people and cheap, as always in Scotland, but not sure what's there that you couldn't get elsewhere for a holiday (without needing to travel so far) apart from a decent gallery and some nice beaches and countryside if you go out a bit.
 


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