Scotland - 16 day trip - need itinerary advice

Hi dnweaver10,

Most important question .. is your accommodation set for Edinburgh? When going in the busy August season, you want that done now if it isn't! Days 13-16 look a bit zig-zag. Do map your locations, maybe arrange a bit so you're not backtracking. When heading south from Aberdeen, visit Stonehaven (I highly recommend Robertson Bakery for a sandwich and dessert) and Dunnottar Castle, which was in the running this year for a 8th wonder of the world competition. Cheers.

You could fly into Glasgow and do the western part of the trip first (up to Skye). En route you can visit Kilmartin Glen, one of the richest archaeological areas in Scotland with hillforts, stone circles cairns, an old church with Celtic crosses, a ruined castle, a nice museum and tea house. The up through Glen Coe, site of the MacDonald/Campbell massacre and very atmospheric with wonderful scenery. From Oban, I would recommend a day trip by ferry and coach to the Isle of Mull and Iona Abbey. Skye can now be reached by a bridge so you are not tied to a ferry schedule. There is a good website for Skye check it out, lots of info on what to do. Head north east along Loch Ness and then down to Edinburgh via your other choices. You could add Loch Lomand to your itinerary near Glasgow - its pretty countryside though very touristy. If you go to Kilmartin from Glasgow, you can stop for a meal at the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar - it was one of my partents' favourite places when they lived on the Holy Loch - they have their own oyster beds and smoke their own salmon. Its on Loch Fyne, just north of Inverary another good stop with a castle that is the home of the chief of the Clan Campbell and Inverary is a nice little town - I recall a rather good whisky shop there!

We don't want to be tourists, we want to get right in an experience Scotland.

But you're going to the most over-touristed parts of Scotland, plus to a bunch of cities that are just cities (Aberdeen, Dundee(? ouch), Oban, etc. You've blown off most of everything north of the Caledonian and especially skipped the northern and western isles.

Is there any special reason you picked these places - - heritage, maybe?

Another vote for the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar.

@Betsey - No we don't have any accommodations booked yet. The entire itinerary is open to changes still so I'm going to wait until after the first of the year to book anything else. Thank you for your suggestions!

@Lesley - Flights have been booked so flying to Glasgow is out (I thought it might be cheaper to fly into Glasgow but it wasn't. I saved around $400 by flying to Edinburgh so that is where the trip will start. Thank you for all your ideas. Kilmartin Glen will probably be added to this list and I know my husband will appreciate the Oyster bar.

@Ed - After reading through the list it does sound very much like I'm hitting all the tourist spots. So I suppose we want it to be a good mix of tourist/non-tourist activities. I went with a lot of these things because I thought they would be interesting. My husband wants to experience the culture by eating where the locals eat. He has some weird idea that local food is the only part of any culture. This itinerary is ever changing as I learn more about Scotland. A lot of the cities on here are really just home base cities since we will have a rental car we can pretty much go anywhere. I'm thinking I'm going to add an additional day in Edinburgh because its festival season. I would also like to add some Highland games to the list as well. I know they are going on all over Scotland in August. So if you know there are things on here that can be skipped and others added in their place please let me know! I've never been to Scotland but everything about the country fascinates me. I'm not sure when we will get a chance to return after this trip so I want to see and experience as much as possible. Who knows maybe we will accidentally miss our flight home and stay forever!!

Two hints about Turnhouse:

You come in on the ground floor arrivals level. All the sources of sterling on that level are the horrible AmEx booths and machines. Walk to the far end of the terminal and go up the escalator. As you get off there's a wall in front of you. Work around to the other side of it and there's a bunch of bank ATMs.

If you get at car at the airport, use a free luggage buggy since it's a good hike to the rental center. Skip the bus, walking is still faster.

I think I'm having such a hard time with this planning because I wan't to see EVERYTHING!!! I'm sure the trip will be great no matter what we end up doing.

Can anyone give suggestions for the best places to see Heather bloom? My husbands mother passed in June suddenly but she was of Scottish ancestry. The 2 things she asked for before we knew she was sick was pictures of the Heather and pictures of really cool/old Celtic crosses. She also wanted to know more about the Robinson's and were they were originally from but I have yet to figure that out.

Also wanted to ask about whale watching off the cost of Skye, is it worth it?

Don't worry. You're headed up toward Skye in the second half of August, you will see plenty of heather!

Are you at all the walking type? If so, you might consider walking a bit on Skye. there are walks that don't need mountaineering gear. My sister and I did one years ago. We walked in toward the Culliins from Sligachan. You get high enough up at the end to see Loch Coruisk. Alternatively, you can drive down to Elgol and take a boat trip over. Both are great alternatives. Also, on Skye is a Broch which you'll want to explore. I also would recommend driving out to Niest Point. It's very dramatic with views of the Minch and the Outer Hebrides. You'll also drive past Skye Silver which is a wonderful jewelry store. The Trotternish Peninsula is worth exploring as well.

There are some really nice drives from Skye to Inverness. The North side of Loch Ness is not necessarily the best one. It can get crowded, or at least crowded by Scotland standards. :)

Think about staying in one of the smaller towns on the way south rather than Aberdeen. Look at Ballater and the other towns in the Tweed valley.

PAm

Edinburgh is consumed by its set of arts festivals for the entire month of August, along with the famous military tattoo. Reserve as soon as possible to have any chance of decent accommodations. It is the greatest festival city in the world and, if any of the activities at the Arts and Fringe festivals appeal, you need to be avid in hunting down tickets.
I like Glasgow, a contrast to Edinburgh, and think it is worth more than one day. A walking tour which illustrates its well-preserved architecture is a good idea. Despite its working-class legacy (your husband can dine on fried bread) it contains several important arts museums and a growing interest in its history as a seaport. It also could be your departure point to return home.

Here's the website for highland games: http://www.shga.co.uk/visitor-events.php. Maybe you can work in the Stirling games on August 16th - it's an easy day trip from Edinburgh.

Well Stirling games won't work out for us but the Grantown on Spey games are perfect. We will be in the Inverness area on the 24th so that will definitely be going on the list.

I've decided to cut out Aberdeen, St. Andrews and Dundee from the trip. Aberdeen just doesn't make much sense now and we aren't big golf fans so St. Andrews is out and there are other things that I would like to do besides drive out of the way to those places (plus gas prices are a lot different there than in the USA so any unnecessary driving is being cut out)

You might want to consider going to the World Pipe Band Championship which is happening August 16th, 2014 in Glasgow at Glasgow Green. Here you will see some of the best pipe bands in the world. This event is located within walking distance of the Necropolis so you could easily do both in a day.
http://www.theworlds.co.uk/pages/home.aspx Hope you have a great trip!

You might want to spend a day in Glencoe. We were there two years ago. It was charming and historically interesting. We stayed in a fabulous B&B, and are pretty sure it was called Callert View.

Two ideas for Glasgow:

1. Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum - paintings, jewelry, sculpture, furniture, technology, and a stuffed elephant (among other things).
2. Riverside Museum - transportation museum on the banks of the Clyde, European Museum of the Year for 2013.

Both are fabulous and free.

Last August my daughter and I traveled to Edinburgh. From there we did a 3 day Rabbie's tour of the Isle of Skye. It was wonderful! Portree has fantastic restaurants. The itinerary:
Day 1 Highlights of the tour include Glencoe, the Lochaber region around Fort William, Eilean Donan Castle (set of “Highlander”) and over the sea to Skye, where you stay in the picturesque harbour town of Portree.

Day 2 focuses on exploring Skye including the wild north of the island, the Old Man of Storr, the mountain pass of the Quiraing and Skye’s most westerly point at Neist.

Day 3 returns you through the Cuillin mountains to the mainland, past the 5 Sisters of Kintail, on to eerie Loch Ness, the central Highlands, Pitlochry and Edinburgh. Stay 2 nights in the picturesque harbour town of Portree , Skye.