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Need another location for October Scotland trip, 12-ish days Pitlochry?

Hello. We are planning a trip to Scotland for about 11-12 days the very first part of October. It will be myself and my husband along with our four-year-old. We are planning to do around six-seven days in Edinburgh. We have a kid so I have found the playgrounds! ha! We aren't rushing this segment of the trip. Planning on some day trips from there like Stirling, North Berwick, maybe a Hadrian's Wall jaunt. We won't push too much so we can give our kid plenty of time to run around. Then we are planning to travel to Aberdeenshire for three days maybe? There are some castles and ruins that I really want to see. Probably stopping in St. Andrews on the way up? I'm pretty loosey-goosey about this and not too worried about it. Unless there's something I need to aware of? Anyways, we are trying to use up an insane amount of Marriott hotel points so Edinburgh and Aberdeen will be perfect for this. I just need to find one more short little section of the trip to explore. Maybe Pitlochry? This part of the trip we will have to find something obviously not under the Marriott umbrella, which is fine. I'm just not sure where to go. (I thought maybe we would tack Inverness on the trip, but I have a feeling we will be back to Scotland in the near future when my daughter is couple of years older. Then we can really do Inverness, Skye, and more on the west coast properly.) So, the extra location: We would feel comfortable taking a train or driving to this location. Any ideas for an extra area to explore?I feel like we will have tons of fun around coastal areas, so inland might be the way to go. Is Queen's View suitable for a four-year-old? She has experience hiking, but she is four!

I'm so familiar with England and have been there numerous times; I can plan a trip there no problem. But Scotland really threw me for a loop! But we are so excited. If you see any issues with our rough itinerary, I am grateful for any suggestions. We are flying in and out of Edinburgh.

Posted by
11775 posts

You might go a bit beyond Pitlochery to Grantown-on-Spey, a charming little town in the Cairngorms National Park. Great woods to hike in, Scotch to taste (it is Speyside afterall), and relaxing. There's a wonderful funicular up the mountain, too. Fun ride a a great view.

Posted by
4 posts

Laurel-ohhhh, this looks interesting! We could pop over there from Aberdeen, then take the train back to Edinburgh. I bet that's insanely beautiful train ride. Thanks for the info!

Posted by
10187 posts

We were in Aberdeenshire last August and absolutely loved it. The castle ruins at Dunnottar with its spectacular North Sea setting are fabulous (although getting there and back involves rather steep descents and ascents), and I really wanted to get to the Fowlsheugh Nature Reserve near there to see the puffins -- I bet your four-year-old would love that.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/find-a-reserve/reserves-a-z/reserves-by-name/f/fowlsheugh/directions.aspx

The kids on our trip were older, 8 and 11, but they really enjoyed Craigievar Castle, and we thought it made for the perfect contracts with Dunnottar - a fully decorated castle which you visit with a guide, and very vertical. (In fact, I remember as a child being scared to come back down the spiral staircase and my dad having to carry me down. I JUST avoided that sentiment at 47 this time!!)

https://www.nts.org.uk/Visit/Craigievar

There's also Aviemore Center, which would be fun for the little one, lots of activities, and the first place I ever rode a horse!

Posted by
6 posts

My wife and I returned from Scotland just yesterday and loved it!

Our kids are grown and we went alone, but I think your four year old would enjoy seeing the Kelpie horses in Falkirk, maybe even the Falkirk wheel nearby. The Camera Obscura near Edinburgh Castle would probably be a big hit as well.

We thoroughly enjoyed our two days in Pitlochery. We stumbled across some locals that were dancing to Scottish music in the small town hall. A three piece band provided the music and most of the men were wearing their kilts. This is a particular group that meets once every couple or weeks so our timing was lucky.This is just the kind of local flavor we enjoy experiencing.

We also discovered the lawn bowling green just behind the town hall. Neither of us had played before, but apparently my wife is a natural and gave me a sound whupping. :)

My wife enjoyed the shopping on the main street and we also took in a nice walk that led to a waterfall and the Eduador distillery.

We stayed at he Craigroyston B&B and couldn't have been happier with the proprietors, Vaughan and Susan. They were the absolute BEST host and hostess imaginable. It also had an excellent location, only a block or two from the main business area.

One last piece of advice - book as far in advance as possible!

Happy trails,
Steve

Posted by
1 posts

There is an Enchanted Forest light show running through mid-October in Pitlochry which the 4 year old (and her adults!) should enjoy; just google Oir An Uisge or find it on Facebook. Just north of Pitlochry is the sheep farm which does demonstrations of the herding dogs at 4 pm every day, also sounds like fun.