My wife and I are traveling to Glasgow on May 20 and spending 7 nights in Scotland. We will have a car. Looking for itinerary ideas to take in some of what Scotland has to offer while keeping the pace manageable. Interested in castles, history, whiskey, good food, scenery. If possible We would like to limit to three spots for overnighting as my wife tends to take a day to settle into a new place when we travel. Very open to day trips. Would love some ideas. Thanks!
Posted by
Washington DC
28062 posts
I have no particular tips for Scotland, but I think limiting the number of hotels is an excellent idea. To me, it's the hotel moves that are the biggest drag. (The second biggest pain is having to get up really early in the morning.)
Having the car gives you considerable mobility. What I'd recommend is picking just two hotels and building the best possible vacation around them. You are not going to see all the good bits in Scotland in seven nights, no matter what you do, so why not go with the best places accessible from two bases, rather than three? Three would be too many for me.
Posted by
Folsom
2732 posts
Acraven, right again, Remmeber Patrick, happy wife, happy life!
Posted by
Atlanta
5194 posts
Listen to acraven!! Stay in only two places. You'll lose a lot of time relocating that you'll never recover. Perhaps your wife should pick her "must" place and you should do the same.
Posted by
white plains, ny, usa
4161 posts
Taking into account the caveats you mention for your trip - Are you planning ANY time for Glasgow and/or Edinburgh ? If so , six days ( your usable travel time ) would just about work , and a car would be useless . If you take these places out of your equation , and wish to drive - here is a doable plan - Pick up the car at Glasgow airport and drive northeast to Stirling ( about 25 miles ) . after an overnight there , to get over jetlag , you could visit Stirling Castle the next morning , and then drive northeast to Perthshire , basing in a place like Dunkeld ( pure charm ) and easily visiting Pitlochry , Blair Atholl and other spots in the area bordering the Cairngorms . ( from Pitlochry , a short drive will take you to Queen's View overlooking Loch Tummel ) . Dunkeld and Birnam are beautiful villages to wander about . Considering you want a relaxed pace , don't underestimate travel times and usable hours .
Posted by
S.F. Bay Area, CA, United States
1878 posts
Are you definitely set on staying in Glasgow for part of your trip? I might suggest Edinburgh, Oban, Inverness. You could also substitute Ft. William. I know all of these are featured in Rick's Scotland book. (I have only been to Edinburgh with a side trip to Stirling, but I have researched Scotland for a future trip). What tires my wife and me out is 1) long days marching around in cities 2) changing hotels, and 3) covering a lot of ground. I have not figured out how to solve the first one, but moving hotels les frequently and making your stops closer together is one way to have a more relaxing stay. It's hard for me to recommend less than three full days in Edinburgh. You could get by with two if you did not take side trips. We had three nights, two full days but on one of those went to Stirling. It was all great but I could have used another day in Edinburgh. I've got my eye on Isle of Skye for our next Scotland trip, but that would be a bit far for a one week itinerary.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Awesome ideas so far. Thanks. We definitely have our hearts set on Edinburgh for part of the trip.