Just starting to plan a trip for my adult son and me. We are happy to visit Edinburgh and Glasgow but are wanting to focus more on small towns and highlands- hiking, scenery, castles, coastal kinds of things.
We will be renting a car.
Im thinking we'll want 2 places to stay. One for western side stuff and one for eastern side stuff.
We will look into flying in to Glasgow and out of Edinburgh, or vice-versa, to avoid back travel.
What general areas would be good bases?
Posted by
Maryland
1129 posts
Edinburgh and Glasgow are only an hour apart so backtracking is not much at issue. You don't say how long your trip is, or when during the year, so we might be able to help better if we knew those things. Places you may want to focus on are: Isle of Skye (Coastal things) , Fort William, Inverness, and Aviemore (in the Cairngorms National Park).
Posted by
OP
129 posts
Maybe a 10 day trip. Probably spring/summer
Posted by
white plains, ny, usa
4292 posts
Along the Tay Valley , Dunkeld and Birnam , Pitlochry , and Blair Atholl are good choices . I also love The Cairngorms , with a car , Aviemore is a good base from which you can explore Grantown on Spey , and Tomintoul . Both of these small towns are absolutely beautiful . For Coastal locations , The Fife villages of The East Neuk are perfect You can drive from St. Andrew's down the coast to villages like Anstruther ( pronounced Enster ) , Crail , and Pittenweem .
Posted by
86 posts
For the Western highlands, we love staying in Lochinver. If that is too small for you, look at Ullapool.
Posted by
Duluth, MN🌲
11793 posts
So, are you planning to stay on the mainland, or did you want to visit any of the islands? One suggestion would be the Isle of Mull in the Highlands. I love Mull and it's not nearly as crowded as Skye usually is. The town of Tobermory is very charming with a lot for you to see and do there. I stayed 4 nights in one of the harbor colorful B&Bs and parked in one of the free car lots on the harbor. It's lovely to be able to walk down through the shops and restaurants that line the harbor. Bring your camera as it's very photogenic. You can visit the Isle of Mull Cheese Shop (Sgriob-ruadh Farm), which is about a mile from the harbor. There are self-guided tours to meet the farm animals and learn about traditional cheese making. There is also a cafe and a farm shop.
Also, there is a short walk from the harbor car park along the wooded hillside to Aros Park with woodland trails, a lochan and really nice waterfalls. A walk from the other end of Main Street leads along a coastal path to the Rubha Nan Gall Lighthouse. There are amazing views out over the Sound of Mull. And another short walk up the hill towards Baliscate leads to the Baliscate Standing Stones. Nearby is the site of the Baliscate Chapel, the subject of a BBC archaeology dig.
You also might want to stop at Isle of Mull Pottery, which is just beautiful. They sell some in the shops along the harbor but the main shop is in the town up above Main St. (you will pass it if you go to Calgary).
The Tobermory Bakery is wonderful—definitely stop here for one of their delectable pastries, take-away sandwiches and coffee or tea. Their Millionaire's Shortbread is incredible! There is a shop at the end of the harbor that is farthest from the ferry terminal that sells handmade chocolate with a tea room, and along the way are some very nice gift shops - I bought half my souvenirs in Mull (and I'm picky about stuff like that). Lots of nice restaurants, too. There is also a catch-and-release aquarium that is interesting, too.
And don't miss Calgary Beach, which is about a 40 minute drive from Tobermory. It's very narrow and the single track roads run through the mountains with some switchbacks, so you will need to go slow through much of it. But it's well worth a visit to see the beautiful beach.
And of course, there is the Isle of Iona, the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland and filled with so much history. It makes for a wonderful day trip from Tobermory. You can drive to Fionnphort, then take the 10 minute ferry over to Iona, see the ruins and the history there, have some lunch, walk on the beach, and then take the ferry back to Fionnphort and drive back to Tobermory. It's an amazing day.
Posted by
Duluth, MN🌲
11793 posts
Another option would be the Isle of Arran, which is easily done from Glasgow. You could pick up a car on the outskirts of Glasgow, which is what I did, and then drive to Ardrossan to get the ferry over to Arran with your car.
It's a smaller island and is frequently called "Scotland in miniature" because it has all the elements of the whole island: mountains, beaches, castles, ruins, distillerie and so on. It's really a lovely place, and you usually won't get the kind of crowds that you get in other places. You can also see a lot in just a few days and there are a lot of wonderful hiking opportunities there. https://www.visitarran.com/