We'd like to spend 8 nights in Scottland, with at least 3 nights in Edinburgh and the rest exploring the Highlands. Can you recommend an intinerary that makes sense? We prefer to be self-guided and have an interest in photography.
Thanks for your help!
You should look at Secret Scotland website. They have many itineraries. We purchased one of the itineraries for our upcoming trip to Scotland.
Do you plan to rent a car? Are there other interests aside from photography? Whisky? Music? History? Ancestry? Walking?
Pam
I've a bit more time now, so I can give some suggestions, but it would help if we knew what other things interest you.
But, if what you really want to do is take beautiful landscape photos of the highlands, then consider basing yourself near Inverness and making day trips to the west and other places. I've done this with walking tours. Being in or near Inverness gives you access to the west coast--Ullapool, Plockton, Gairloch, Torridon and all points in between AND if the weather is bad in the west you can drive north up toward Dornoch or east to Speyside or south to the Cairngorms. Our guides modus operandi was to always head west if the weather in the west was decent. Otherwise she would look for alternatives if the weather was poor. Photography would have similar weather wishes.
We stayed at The Richmond in Strathpeffer for several years and more recently have been on the Black Isle at The Anderson in Fortrose. The advantage of Strathpeffer is that it's a bit closer to the west. :)
If you're willing just go and the weather be damned then there are so many, many options that it's hard to say. Also, are you willing or interested in a "road trip"--changing hotels every night?
Pam
Thanks for the detailed suggestions Pamela, much appreciated! Yes, we plan to rent a car. We generally like to have a loose plan of what we want to see, but then be flexible if we discover something new, what to linger longer or make new friends and decide to share a meal. We pack very light (only carryons for us) so we can move quickly and get in and out of airports fast.
We like to drive between towns and then park the car and walk. We are interested in historic sites, quaint villages and some shopping. We'd be open to a road trip, but ideally would like a minimum of 2 nights per location. Sounds like Inverness should be our hub!
Thanks again, I really appreciate you!
If you're going to be staying near Inverness, I can recommend the Pottery House which is just outside of town, right on Loch Ness (well, actually, right across the street from the loch, but you can see it over the treetops). It was our favorite B&B in the entire trip in 2012. Built specifically as a B&B, the rooms are all the right size, the bathrooms are massive in comparison to most other bathrooms on our trip, each room has bathrobes in the closet along with a mini-fridge with a bottle of milk inside, and the breakfast actually had more than the standard English Breakfast fry-up available (I had French Toast that was just wonderful). The beds were comfy, the wifi was speedy, and the hosts were perfectly charming.
