Greetings from Mexico everyone and thank you for reading and your responses in advance!
We are arriving in scotland via air on the 6th of May at 10 am and wanting to leave from Edimburg towards York, England on the 12 of May. That gives us 5 full days and 2 half days.
We have started to notice that we might be wanting to stretch ourselves too much and the information out there and the tours available are confusing us.
We are not on a tight budget but, as you may imagine, our peso is not strong at all and saving as much as possible is always welcome.
Our priorities to discover in scotland are: castles, lakes, breathtaking views (nature) and a couple of good easy (but active) hikes. (is this too much?). Obviously Edimburgh is on our list too.
We have booked 3 nights in Edimburgh at the start and 2 nights near Inverness (all is still refundable and flexible but everything is fastly booking!)
We were looking at tours but they seem to go on big buses and they seem to not be active at all but more panoramic. We don't want that.
We have obviously read about Skye, Glenfinnan, Glencoe, Stirling Castle, Inverness and Edimburgh as the main spots. I wonder. Is that the "must do"? or, can we find alternatives that check our list, that are a bit "off the path" and more doable but rewarding and accessible by public transportation or even with smaller more active group tours?
BTW. One of my sister's is Harry Potter's fan. Should I tell her the Glenfinnan thing is overrated? Or am I wrong?
Sorry for seeming clueless, but, I kind of am.
Thank you for your help again
Best!
Posted by
Yorkshire
1210 posts
Which airport are you flying into
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Edimburgh. Thank you!
Posted by
OP
3 posts
BTW. We do realize that renting a car might be the best, but, doing the math it seems that we are too late in getting the affordable rates, and, the roads seem tricky as well. Plus it seems our driver's license might not be good enough.
Posted by
413 posts
You can drive in Scotland with a Mexican license.
Also, you can use Turo.com to find a private car rental that’s often cheaper than peak rental agency rates
Posted by
Yorkshire
1210 posts
This might be of interest.
https://www.scotrail.co.uk/tickets/combined-tickets-travel-passes/highland-rover
Covers some buses to if you look in the terms.
Most useful
Oban- Fort William - Inverness.
The line to Fort William is beautiful and the highest UK station is there Corrour.
Theres a cafe at the station and the walk round Loch Ossian is very nice.
Or you could continue to Fort William.
The waterfall in Harry Potter is Steall Falls in upper Glen Nevis which should be scene.
Taxis can take you right to the start of the trail.
As Glenfinnan is only 15 miles from tne Fort eould be crazy NOT to vist.
Theres trains covered by your pass and local buses.
Theres a couple of recent threads Glenfinnan and things to see in Mallaig and possible tour routes beyond that recently.
Posted by
Lake District, England
5748 posts
In terms of visiting Castles you should look into a Historic Scotland membership, as against your plans- and see if that would save you money.
Only you can judge whether Glenfinnan Viaduct is over rated- apart from it's Harry Potter connections it is an amazing piece of Civil Engineering in the most stunning scenery. In terms of the Steam Train Ride it has not yet been confirmed by the Train Company whether that is running this year, or not. If it is, that is another subjective view. I would argue that the normal diesel train gives a superior experience. For others and maybe you YMMV.
Rabbies, and other companies, do small van tours. It is for you to judge if those are active enough for you.
The itinerary above is the usual one. But there is a lot else of Scotland which is equally as good, but very neglected on the RS forum, for those 5 days which is equally as good and far easier by public transit.
There will be no consensus on that matter or where else is "best".
Fife and Aberdeenshire; The Scottish Borders; Dumfries and Galloway; Arran and the other Islands of the Firth of Clyde; The Isle of Islay (a short flight away from Glasgow, on lovely small cloud hopping Loganair planes), or ferry hop in one direction via Arran. Scotland offers many such wonderful internal flights.
Islay is best known for it's whisky, but is far more than that, scenically. You could even add the neighbouring island of Jura as a day trip by public transit. Both Arran and Islay have very good transit.
Posted by
Glasgow, Scotland
1644 posts
Glenfinnan is also a lot more than just the viaduct which is a spectacular piece of engineering in a spectacular locale. The Jacobite links are also interesting in their own right.
Posted by
Yorkshire
1210 posts
Theres a small museum and cafe at Glenfinnan station.
The walk up the Glen to Corryhully is easy and feels a million miles from the crowds by the viaduct.
If I win the lottery I want to buy the lodge too ,its in a stunning situation