Scotland

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iplaydrums

100+ Posts
Me and my gf are going over to Scotland in mid-August. We will be there for six days, and are flying into Edinburgh during the big festival. Does anyone have any suggestions for places to go outside of the cities? We do know that we want to go to the Isle of Skye, and we do have a rental car. We're both the outdoorsy type, and definitely would want to look into staying at least a night in a castle. If anyone has any suggestions, we'd appreciate it. Thanks!
 
Edinburgh is pretty cool. The Royale Mile is fun, though a lot of tourists. Starts at Edinburgh Castle, goes through Old Town to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. All are kinda musts. Plenty of good things along the way like pubs, shops, etc.. Stayed at The Glasshouse, which was quite nice. Would recommend. Down all the whisky you can!
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One of my favorite trips ever. You will love driving around Scotland--the scenery is beautiful and the topography is so varied.

Loch Ness in Inverness is worth a visit. We also stopped at a beautiful castle ruin on a cliff overlooking the sea, Dunottar Castle.

If you're a golf fan, you should definitely visit St. Andrews for the history. The experience of walking the course was almost reverential for my husband. It was quite easy to visit and play the course 10 years ago when we went. Of course, that was before Tiger Woods turned pro and public interest in golf surged. The town itself is also very charming. There's the university, and a great old cemetery you can visit.

And eat lots of Indian food if you enjoy it--it's fantastic over there. Have a great trip!
 
Glasgow is a ~40-minute train ride away iirc. It has some cool stuff to check out. If you take the train a little farther down the line from Glasgow, stop at Paisley... small little scenic town.
 
Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities. There is a ton of stuff to do, especially during Festival. I didn't get to go to the military tattoo while I was there, but some friends went and really liked it.

Glasgow I wasn't as big a fan of. There is definitely stuff to see there, but I fell in love with Edinburgh right away. If you want some reasons to love Edinburgh, read Glue by Irvine Welsh (author of Trainspotting). It will turn you into a fan of Edinburgh, Leith, and Hibernian FC.

Stirling (which is actually where I stayed for half of my trip) is also worth a visit. They have a really cool castle, the Wallace monument that you can actually climb, and just some really good scenery. Stirling is where William Wallace fought a legendary battle against the English on the Stirling Bridge, so there is a ton of history in and around the town. They also hold highland games in the summer, so check and see if any are being held when you go.

You should definitely go to Skye. I stayed in Kyleakin, which is a small fishing village. There is a really good hostel there, where our group of three had our own room. They have a really fun pub to go to at night. It's just such a different experience from the larger cities of Scotland, even Portree (the largest town on Skye). I took a glass bottom boat ride out of Kyle of Lochalsh (the city on the mainland that connects to Skye via the Skye Bridge). I recommend that.

Also, along with all the great Indian food and pizza they have there, don't forget to try haggis. I know it sounds ******* disgusting, but I actually like it.
 
iplaydrums

I have lived in Scotland for the past 2 1/2 years and can give you several recommendations. PM me if you have any questions or want to discuss further.

If you only have 6 days, I would suggest about 3 in Edinburgh and 3 on the West Coast (Skye, Mull, Oban, etc.). I would skip Glasgow as I think the real beauty in Scotland is in the Highlands and smaller villages - no point in spending all your time in the two largest cities. Keep in mind that it's a fairly long drive from Edinburgh to Skye (6+ hours I think), and you could easily spend 3 days there.

What types of outdoor activities do you like? If you enjoy hiking (or hillwalking, as we call it here), there are some amazing climbs you can do.
 
I've been meaning to post on this thread for a while. Scotland's my favorite place. I liked a lot of

Here is a wonderful online guide to virtually every site in Scotland:



undiscoveredscotland

I liked a lot of places there, but a few that could probably fit into your trip would be:

GlenCoe, Urqhart Castle, the loch east of Kyle of Lochalsh on the way to skye. There are also a number of brochs on skye and on the mainland to the east, you should visit at least one.

the isles of Lewis and Harris are also amazing but wouldn't fit into your trip.

I stayed at a couple of good hotels on Skye -- DUNTULM CASTLE HOTEL (which is way up north) and Sligichan (which sits at the base of the cullins). Both were great.
 
Edinburgh was a lot of fun. The Royal Mile is pretty touristy, but it's probably the best place to go for partying. I spent entirely too much time at Espionage and Three Sisters when I was there. I didn't have anytime to get out of the city, but I know that there were a lot of fliers for Highland tours and whatnot at the hotel. My gf recently went over to Edinburgh and she took a day trip tour of historical William Wallace sites.

Pretty ballsy to drive over there. The rules of the road seem to be a little different over there.
 
I didn't drive in Edinburgh, but my perception is that the lanes are narrower. It certainly felt like cars were a lot closer. Obviously, you're on the opposite side of the road. Driving in Edinburgh probably isn't all that different from driving in any other major cities. I just know that I wouldn't feel comfortable driving over there.
 
driving really isn't bad over there. the lanes are a little narrow and there are plenty of traffic circles, but you get used to it pretty quickly.

once you get away from edinburgh or glasgow it's pretty much all just driving on somewhat narrow two lane roads that aren't that busy.
 
Rather than start a new thread, I thought I would just bump this old one. My wife and I, along with our 3 kids, are going to Scotland for 2 weeks in July. We will be based out of Edinburgh (staying with my brother), but obviously plan on branching out. Our kids are 8, 6, and 3. My wife home schools our children, so we will undoubtedly try to make the trip as educational as possible.

In addition to the things mentioned above, and making sure we catch some Highland games (probably in Stirling), what else should we do?

We will also spend a few days in London. Suggestions for there are also appreciated (although I think our itinerary in London is pretty full).

Should we venture anywhere else outside Scotland, or should we just stick to Scotland

Btw, this is our first trip to Europe.
 
If you do spend some time in Glasgow do it in the east end of town with Glasgow Celtic supporters. If you do the west end with ranger supporters you'll most likely end up in a fight or two and in jail. Hail Hail and Hook Em! Mick
 
a few years ago i travel to scotland and did some fly fishing. we stayed in Pitlochry at the Atholl Palace (a cool place with a private pitch-n-putt course 0.25 mile hike out back) i think we arranged for a guide through the hotel. we fished the River Tay and caught a bunch of small trout. our guide, Ali, took us on the scenic routes between fishing spots - we got to see the Fortigall Yew (believed to be the oldest tree in the UK) and J.K. Rowling's old house in the scotland hills.

overall, Edinburgh is my favorite city i've traveled to. st. andrews is great, and the driving isn't bad. i can't wait to go back and explore the highlands and western coast.
 
If you get to Glasgow on a weekend do yourself a favour and get to a Glasgow Celtic match. Only sport atmosphere that may top College football. Hail Hail!
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