My family of 7 adults, 1 teen, 3 six year olds, and a two year old (12 total) is planning a 10-day trip to Scotland in early July 2025. Because of the large group and small children, we would like choose two places to stay as "home bases" for not just sight-seeing, but exploring the local area. We've settled on Edinburgh for the first half of the trip and then we'd like to pick someplace in the highlands for the second half. We're planning to rent a house and found a few options, but we're not sure where the best "home base" would be. We want some place that will give us a flavor of the highlands, is near food options, and then we can get to interesting/worthwhile places for kids within less than 2 hours. We will have a car (or two), to get around. Does anyone have any suggestions? I know this is a tall order and I'm aware the logistics are going to be hard, so any advice is welcome!
Posted by
Banchory, Scotland
282 posts
You could try Gairnshiel Lodge which can sleep 18 so easily room for all of you. Six miles away from Ballater in the Cairngorms National Park
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
7463 posts
Oban or Fort William would make a good base for the highlands. There is also Nairn, a lovely coastal beach town near Inverness, which would probably appeal to the kids.
Posted by
Lincolnshire, UK
2187 posts
Or Aviemore?
Posted by
SoCal
890 posts
I can't think of a better headquarters for a Highlands visit than Inverness. The important sites like Culloden, Loch Ness and even Skye are all reasonably proximate to Inverness, and it's a big enough city so that food and entertainment, not to mention groceries, will be ready at hand. The smaller towns could be challenging even to find optimal accommodations. You could even rent a car locally in Inverness, turn it in, and then train it to Edinburgh and do the same thing there.
Posted by
Bristol, UK
1268 posts
I’d start with searching for large enough accommodation as there won’t be hundreds of options, then narrow down from there. Catering for that many people is a big task so ask hosts which supermarkets will deliver to the address as that will save you having to do lots of shopping trips. In some rural areas you might find that only 1 or maybe 2 places do delivery, which you can order and pay for via an app. It’s amazing how much food you need for that number of people.
I wouldn’t choose to stay in Inverness itself as it’s a pretty uninspiring city when you have such beautiful countryside right there.
Posted by
SoCal
890 posts
Helen and I have differed on this before. Ultimately the question is what's most important in a headquarters location: stunning beauty when you walk out the door, or eating at a variety of places, having grocers and pharmacies nearby, and being able to go out for a movie or drinks and music in the evening. She prefers the former, I the latter. But trust me, Inverness is not "uninspiring" to those like me who've come to love it.
And after all, when you've spent the entire day drenching yourself in Highlands beauty, you might just be in the mood for some craft beer or a dram of fine malt.
Posted by
Bristol, UK
1268 posts
Well I guess I live in this country so don’t really find much interest in staying in small towns which just offer the same chain stores that I can get at home. I’m looking for a different experience on a holiday which might explain why we don’t agree on this.
Posted by
Isle of Skye, Scotland
1257 posts
Just to add to the consideration of grocery shopping. Unlike in England and urban parts of Scotland, most supermarkets don't deliver to individual homes in rural and island Scotland. For example here on Skye the only supermarket that offers home delivery is ASDA and then only as far north as Broadford (10 minutes drive from the Skye bridge). Tesco offer a 'click and collect' service to Uig, Portree, Broadford and Kyleakin on Skye and Morrisons have a couple of click and collect locations. It's a similar story for the north west highlands. So don't rely on being able to get home delivery of groceries. You are likely going to need to travel to shop - which is what those of us who live here do!
For your circumstances I would recommend finding a house that will accommodate you - rather than looking for the perfect location, as those properties are going to be pretty scarce. Sykes is one company that has some good larger homes. You could also look at Landmark Trust who have a couple of pretty spectacular large houses. There is also Cottages and Castles
Try a google search for e.g. Large holiday homes Scotland.
Another alternative could be to look at 'lodge' style accommodation and get several units on the same site.
Good luck
Jacqui (Skyegirl)
Posted by
Glasgow, Scotland
1686 posts
To add, Sykes are also the company that the National Trust for Scotland uses to rent out its holiday accomodation if you are looking for something different.
In terms of the grocery shopping, once you've got a place in mind you can see where the nearest supermarkets are. Delivery as Skyegirl points out may be a serious issue in parts of the Highlands, but there are Tesco in Inverness (famously!, so dominant they have their own trains!), Oban, Campbeltown, Wick, Thurso, Dingwall and Ullapool, Morrisons in Inverness and Fort William, Lidl and Aldi have a presence and a lot of smaller places have Co-op supermarkets. This is just off the top of my head from memory!
Personally in your situation I'd forget delivery as sometimes part of going self catering in another country is the chance to go around the supermarket.