Topic: Visiting Scotland

[antipodes]

Probably get flamed by ACE here, but I have been keen for a while to visit Scotland with hubby and kids. I went once, (Edinburgh) and thought it was lovely. But i would like to see some of the more remote spots too. What places would you recommend, if anyone is familiar with Scotland? We like historical places, castles etc and also we are quite outdoorsy so walking etc would also be fine. Something quite scenic, with a distillery or two thrown in!
We would be looking at probably renting a cottage or something (think camping is out, a week in the pouring rain in tents in the Lake District has banished Camping and Britain from appearing in the same sentence).

[gazza1960]

http://www.cottageguide.co.uk/rosecottagebonawe/websiteframeset.html

We stayed in Self Catering Holly Cottage,it was "small but perfectly formed"and suitable for 2 adults and 2 kids in bunkbeds.
Reasonable rates and a friendly family who run it made our visit memorable.

Beautiful walks right from their House amoung the low hills and river were a good tonic when you needed to stretch your legs and with Loch Etive 10 mins away you could walk  along its shore line taking in the fantastic scenery.

Oban was 20 mins drive and had plenty of fair priced eating houses,Oh and the Oban Distillery is a must for the Scotch Connoisseur.

Weve done The Austrain and German Mountains along with the Colororado Rockies but it was brilliant to visit somewhere on UK soil
that had a stunning range of mountains all within a shortish drive from our base.

Not being "castle " history type folk we drove past plenty that might float ya boat.  !!!!!!!!!!!

The food is sublime and the scottish people made us very welcome all along the West Coast.

well worth a visit.

GazNjude

[ACE]

Probably get flamed by ACE here, but I have been keen for a while to visit Scotland with hubby and kids. 

No, not me, I hope to get up there next year myself. Stationed up there back in the early sixties for a while. Visited some old friends a few years ago and drove up to Fort William, what a drive, dramatic views, nice roads, and friendly locals. We have friends that recommend Pitlochry for a bit of whiskey sampling and good hotels.

[claybasket]

Being Scottish myself Ive lived in the highlands of Inverness, the gate way to the last wilderness,the Great Glen cycle & walking tracks, castles galore ,the whiskey trail in the highlands ,fishing,free fishing in the sea loches ,the  battle field of Culloden, were the last land battle in Britain took place very spooky feel to it.then less than 1hr your in Fort Willaim lovely little town your now on the west coast ,you can go to Skye ,see Ben Nevis take a walk up if you like,drive to Oban get a boat to the Isles ,or just take in the lovely places, of the Argylshire coast,to Aberfoyle another fine place ,then head in land to Pitlochery with its Salmon larder watch the salmon jump up the steps to the loche, I used to live there, it has a small theatre very famous ,well I'm home sick now boo hoo,Might visit my daughter in Inverness she' married to a real Highlander he came with the kilt.(yes it's true what they say about wearing the kilt) hope this helps, and that's just a wee bit of Scotland .PS I don't work for the tourist board.

[Deb P]

Been to Scotland quite a few times, if you want to spend a night in a castle (not the cheapest but a brilliant treat) I cannot recommend Dalhousie Castle near Edinburgh highly enough. We stayed there with two kids and they loved it, were treated like royalty and had the most superb restaurant in the dungeons....
http://www.dalhousiecastle.co.uk/

Also recommend a visit to Rosslyn Chapel, you get a lot more tourists there after it was featured in the 'Da Vinci Code', but it is a wonderful place, and has my all time favourite poem on a grave in the little churchyard there. http://www.rosslynchapel.org.uk/

St Andrews is a nice town to visit, lots of good B&B's around there a good restaurants and little specialist shops. Cardinals restaurant is nice, we have been back a few times there.

[artichoke]

I second St Andrews, as I was brought up there and still go back to see family. Miles of beautiful beaches, ruined castle with the famous bottle dungeon, cathedral ruins, walks along the cliffs, beautiful little fishing ports all round the Fife coast (Crail, Anstruther, Pittenweem etc), the terrifying Chain Walk at Elie.

[schmelda]

I'd highly recommended the short walk from Stonehaven to Denotter Castle. 

Once you've narrowed down your destination I'll come up with plenty more suggestions!

[antipodes]

Lordy what a lot of things to choose from! Who would have known there was so much to see! Fort William does sound nice and actually i forgot, I have also been to Pitlochry as I visited the blair Athol distillery and saw the salmons :-)  Also forgot about Rosslyn Chapel, yes that would be good to see. Claybasket you have given me loads of ideas!!!
I guess now the tricky thing woul;d be to find a (cheap) place to stay (think castles are out!!! Unless Liz and Phil will have us at Balmoral!) and figure out how to get there - drive? It's a long hike. But how much will fly+car hire cost?   This is why I am looking now for next year as I can see it will be a real headache!

Any more suggestions, I would love to have them.

[Carol]

Hi.  I live in the Scottish Borders which is 40 miles south of Edinburgh.  It is almost an unforgotten area of Scotland but it is really worth seeing.  I think you should write down what you want to see around Scotland and take it from there.   Fly to Edinburgh and hire a car.  spend a couple of days in the city doing the touristy stuff.  Pick up the car then and head up into Perthshire.  I think this is a lovely area of Scotland.  or you could head west from Edinburgh and make for Loch Lomond and head up the west coast.   I would take in Fort william.  How about going to Skye?  or Mull?   both worth a visit.   I suggest going to the West in May.  They always seem to have good weather in May.   The list is endless of where to go.   As I said I like Perthshire and if you carry on you could cross over to the West from there past Speen Bridge.   I also like Royal Deeside.  That area also has its own beauty.   Inverness is also worth a visit.   No matter where you choose to go this country is worth a visit and if you get good weather you will find it breath taking.   Good luck.

p.s.  if you want to see Rossyln Chapel you could visit it while staying in Edinburgh,  it is several miles to the south of theCity.