Home Base for Scotland/Visiting the Highlands

I would begin by buying a copy of Rough Guide Scotland as the Steves guidbook leaves out a lot of stuff.

Inverness, Skye, Culloden and Loch Ness are not easily accessed from either Glasgow or Edinburgh. Of course you can do the there are tours that you can take, but any over nights defeats the purpose of getting your package hotel. Doune Castle is not far from Stirling. What is your budget?

What you might want to do is stay in Edinburgh, and then take the train to Inverness. There are tons of B&B's and there are nice restaurants and good music for evening. You can do a day trip to Skye from there and you'll see much more than you would from Edinburgh. You can get to Culloden on public transit and you can do a day trip to Urquhart and Loch Ness. There are hostels in Inverness as well, but I don't know how good they are. Look at Lonely Planet to see which ones they recommend. Check out the Information Centre for Inverness here.

Pam

Edinburgh definitely isn't a base for the Highlands as they're simply quite far away from there. Glasgow is unquestionably closer to Highland scenery, i.e. Loch Lomond is right next door, but neither are close enough to the likes of Skye to be a base for it - It's about 3.5 hours drive to Inverness and 5 hours drive to Skye from either city so you definitely couldn't make a day trip! If using public transport then bear in mind that a lot of public transport to the W Highlands goes from Glasgow.

Both Edinburgh and Glasgow have a lot to see and are both worth visiting, they are very close so can both be visited easily by train from the other. I wouldn't personally stay in Inverness for that long though, it's perfectly nice but it's quite small and there's not necessarily that much to see.

Taking the train/bus is OK to get to the main towns of the Highlands like Inverness, Ft William etc, but public transport between places in the Highlands is sparse once you're there, i.e. trying to see Skye by public transport is pretty limiting tbh. If you're not keen on driving some kind of your may be worth considering.

I'd agree about lookng at other guidebooks and other travel sites before making any decisions!;-)

Another possibility for inexpensive accommodations might be chains such as Premier Inn and Travelodge. We stayed at the Premier Inn in south Stirling for £30 for the room (for 3 people). These chains may work better if you have a car because they are often (but not always)on the edge of town. Prices are variable, but we were able to get this low rate in a number of locations.

Doune is a great castle with a very funny Python audio guide. The town was nice and there is a public footpath from town to the castle which will keep you off the narrow, winding road -- you would probably have to ask about the footpath if you were starting from town. We started from the car park at the castle and it was easy to follow that way.

The budget hotels make a good choice if you are trying to save the money, some are in the centres, others are in the outskirts. Is there a particular reason why you don't want to drive? Public transport outside Edinburgh and Glasgow is not great, and having your own car would save a lot of time and get you where the train or bus cannot /do not go.

Thank you all for your responses. Well, we booked our trip for April 2016. The reason we don't want to drive is that we both want to enjoy our surroundings. We would rather leave the driving up to someone else. Also, I was reading that the weather can be unpredictable once you head north and we would rather not have to worry about that. I booked a less expensive hotel outside the city center of Edinburgh so that if we do decide to do the tour - possibly 2 day tour to the Highlands, the cost won't be as bad.

I note that Rabbies has gotten great reviews for the 2 day tour but does anyone know of any 2 day tours that go to the Isle of Skye. I have also read that some don't think the Isle of Skye is worth it. With such a short limited amount of time there, I definitely want to pack everything in.

Ah, Krystle. The weather in Scotland is unpredictable throughout. :)

Pam

Pam,
I'm ready for it! Coming from Michigan, I understand. This morning, it was beautiful, sunny and now - about to rain.

Fair enough, I would still suggest remaining open to driving, you can choose your own itinerary more closely to what you want and you can find places to pull over for photo stops etc.

The weather in April is generally not that bad if that is the main concern about driving. Just be prepared for variations on a theme.

I have to agree with MC that driving is best. You can really get to places that the trains don't go and you waste no time waiting for the bus. My own experience is that there isn't too much traffic and in fact driving in the Highlands is fun.

I have to agree with MC that driving is best. You can really get to places that the trains don't go and you waste no time waiting for the bus. My own experience is that there isn't too much traffic and in fact driving in the Highlands is fun.