The FastDay Forum

[Tracieknits]

We're starting to plan a trip to Scotland for this summer. We've only got 7 or 8 nights -- because we have agreed as a family we want to leave 2 or 3 nights a the end of any trip for Paris, and because our max is about 10 nights. After that, we start to get really exhausted.

My husband has been to Scotland a couple of times now, for business, spending most of his time in Edinburgh and a bit of time in Glasgow.

I have always had a fascination with standing stones, so I want to include a visit to Calanais area. Is it reasonable to plan a driving vacation that far? or should we fly to the island from Inverness or Edinburgh?

Bruce would like to visit Inverness and we want to visit a whisky distillery (his favorites are Balvenie and Aberlour), but we learned we can't bring our 14 year old with us if we do that. And our son would like to see Loch Ness, even though he knows he has as much chance of seeing Nessie as he has of seeing Champ when we visit Lake Champlain. He also wants to see as many castles as possible.

So if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears. We're nervous about driving on the other side of the road, so we won't be getting a car unless we can find an automatic (preferably something like a prius). Are there any good small tour companies that tour the highlands with small groups?

Is July or August a better time to go? I don't really like crowds, but it's really our only time to vacation as a family due to school.

I would like to see Hadrian's wall, but I'm not sure that it's reasonable to want to cross all of Scotland for my top two items in only a few days' time. Is Antonine's wall a decent substitute?

Thank you!

[janeg]

In my usual unbiased way, I am going to suggest staying in Scotland for as long as possible! For what you're wanting to do, I think Inverness would be a good base. I'm sure @Nessie and @Wildmissus will back me up!
Not sure how long it takes to get to Lewis and Calanish , but non diving daughter is not long back. She stays in Inverness.
Orkney is also doable with the ring of Brodgar.
Automatic car hire is available from most of the big providers.
July is a bit busy but it doesn't take much to escape the crowds, and the definition of 'busy' does vary
The tourist board- visitscotland - has outlets in most cities, and offers tours, and a wee goggle will bring up what you're looking for.
Very excited for you... and then Paris! oh, my! oooh la la!

I second all that @janeg has said the west coast of the Highlands is beautiful. From Inverness you can get coach tour of a day to Orkney for around £60. part of the tour is to the standing stones, and of course Loch Ness is only about 8 miles from Inverness. I am sure @Wildmissus and I would love to meet you while you were in the Highlands. I'm sure all your plans will fall into place although you won't have time to see it all.

[Tracieknits]

Oh thank you! Yes, @Janeg, I think you're right about staying in Scotland as long as possible. Husband and offspring originally suggested a few days in Scotland and then a few days in Wales, before going on to Paris. But I think that we'd be bettter off seeing only Scotland on this trip, and then Wales and England on another trip. We've already seen a bit of England and while we did enjoy it, none of us have been to the Highlands.

That ring of Brodgar is stunning!!!

@Nessie - a meetup sounds like a lot of fun Are there any particular tour companies out of Inverness you recommend over the others? My husband isn't a big fan of constantly changing hotels, so there's something to be said for making a base in Inverness.

I can't remember the trip I went on but I'm sure I could find out. I also had a thought that you can get a coach from either Edinburgh or Glasgow to Inverness and there are also tours over tho the Isle of Skye from Inverness which would give you a taste of the west coast and the coach would travel along the length of Loch Ness. I will get back to you next week sometime.

[Tracieknits]

Thank you!

One more question -- are we fine getting a large rental car? I know in France it's difficult to always find a place to park with a larger car, and smaller really seems to be better there. But the highlands seem more spread out, so I'm wondering if we have to stay as small as possible with a car. We'd like an automatic, and looking at the Avis car results, an automatic large car is actually 100 pounds cheaper than getting a midsize automatic.

[wildmissus]

@Tracieknits, big car in the Highlands is no problem at all and parking is no problem at all, in fact there is lots of free parking.

Could you squeeze in a bit of time at Fort William for a certain train ride? http://www.westcoastrailways.co.uk/jaco ... etails.cfm

[wildmissus]

Sorry @Tracieknits, I never actually read your original post but now that I have I had to laugh at the 'crowds' bit. Before we moved up here, more than 10 years ago, my MIL would tell me about houses for sale and make comments about them being on a busy corner or busy street. When we actually moved here I had to laugh at what she called busy - I had lived in the middle of Glasgow - now that was busy and there were crowds! Up here a crowd is more that two people waiting in a queue! Yes, I appreciate that the major tourist attractions will be busy but again we are talking busy Highland style. Once you are out of Inverness driving is a breeze (and I am a comfort driver) - you'll soon know the locals as the one's who weave in and out of cars and don't indicate as 'they always turn left at that junction on a Tuesday'. You also need to remember that many of the independent shops in the wee towns still shut on a Wednesday afternoon and don't open on a Sunday. The Highlands are very laid back and the local people have a very 'manana' attitude to life.

If you venture down to Hadrian's Wall, either @silverdarling or I can host you (assuming I happen to be there same time as you) and recommend good places to stay.

[Tracieknits]

Is that the Hogwarts Express @Milly107? So cool!

Thank you so much, @Rawkaren - I would like to fit it in, if it doesn't cramp our schedule too much. I'm waiting on the travel guide I ordered, and I also requested info from visitscotland.com

@wildmissus - well that sounds fabulous! I like laid back and uncrowded

Hi,
I think that I said elsewhere that it is worth having a look at the Kilmartin valley which is not too long a drive from Glasgow. There are really beautiful sites and an interesting museum and interpretive centre. I personally would choose Orkney over Lewis if you only have a short period of time. It is a very rich archaeological area, with one large site being actively worked on each summer. Not only are there standing stones, but tombs and ancient villages. Callanish is interesting, but I find Lewis a pretty grim and forbidding place. Friends of mine lived there for a while a few years ago. Lewis also has brochs, but a more attrative site for brochs is Glenelg on the west coast. It is a wonderful drive up a mountain pass from Kintail, in fact the entire drive up from Fort William is stunning, and there's a tiny ferry from Glenelg across to Skye with a challenging, but beautiful drive at the other side.

The railway journey from Fort William to Mallaig which has been mentioned is beautiful, as is the journey by road, although there are still a few stretches of single track road. From Mallaig you can catch a short ferry to Skye, which you can drive across to catch another ferry from Uig to the Isle of Harris from where it is a short drive to Lewis. That's a slower, but more interesting route to Lewis than driving up to catch the ferry from Ullapool.

It is possible to avoid ferries to Skye by driving up to Kyle of Localsh and travelling across the Skye bridge.

I forgot to mention.... there are alo good sites in Cumbria...Castlerigg stone circle and Long Meg and her daughters........

Regards,
Bracken.

[janeg]

Have you got room for a small one? Reading all this is getting me very excited as we are planning on moving home next year. I may even be back when you're over and would make every effort for a meet up!
We toured about last summer, me showing Beloved bits of Scotland he didn't know. We hired a car, a Pajero, and found the driving a breeze compared to the sand pit. The bigger car was no bother even on the wee windy roads.
We based ourselves in Inverness for a few days , so we could check put non diving daughter's new patch, then headed to Oban and Glenfarg.
From Glenfarg, we did day trips to St Andrews and Fife. The East coast was where I spent childhood holidays and it was lovely seeing it all again. Distances are really quite small, although the roads can be interesting. The longest, challenging drive was actually form Aberdeen to Inverness and that wasn't really that tiresome.
It's a wee country, rich in so much and easy to whizz round doing the sights and also so llovely to really explore a small patch,

@Tracieknits it is indeed the Hogwarts and there's usually plenty of a) steam buffs b) kids trying to find their way back to Hogwarts. If you want to do it you must book tickets!

And if you want castles and HP don't forget Alnwick and North Northumberland! Alnwick castle was where Harry Potter was filmed - and we have Bamburgh, Holy Island (with Lindisfarne castle), Dunstanburgh, Warkworth, Chillingham all castles ... And quiet roads compared with the rest of England!