My first trip out of the U.S., at the age of 65, and I am so excited to finally visit Great Britain! It has been my dream for decades. My sister and I are visiting May 2018. At this point we figure we will have a mere 8 days for Scotland. Alas, way too short for all I want to see and experience.
I will be asking many questions in further posts..but this is my first to hopefully get some help and ideas to start a plan.
We will be driving up from Holy Island probably Thursday May 24 and I am planning to stop to see Tantallon and Dirleton Castles before coming into the Edinburgh area. We fly out of Aberdeen to London to home on Friday June 1.
Aberdeen because one of my "must sees" are the neolithic sites on Mainland, Orkney and it made sense to do this at the end of our trip. Due to our too limited time, I think we will fly to and from Mainland on Thursday May 31. Meaning we will need to be in Aberdeen, or a town very close to Aberdeen Wednesday evening.
My other "must see".... I have decided Kilmartin, due its saturation of archaeological sites, to satisfy my need to see history, and the Loch Awe area for its beauty..and Kilchurn Castle. I think this trip would be more leisurely and enjoyable over 2 nights.
Now....for the" in between" time and there is not enough! Had thought we should see Edinburgh, Culross is nearby and looks inviting as well as up the coast to St Andrews. Doune Castle, because one of our family favorites is Monty Python and the Holy Grail and would love to take video for my son. Also was thinking about taking a tour of the Cairngorms.
Another very important thing I wanted to do was a pony trek; nice, leisurely with great views either of lochs or through woods. Any recommendations to the areas we will be?
Starting plan:
day 1) from Holy Island stop at Tantallon and Dirleton to Edinburgh area
day 2) Edinburgh
day 3) ??
day 4) head to Kilmartin
day 5) Loch Awe
day 6) leave Loch Awe area to??
day 7) be near Aberdeen p.m.
day 8) fly to Mainland, back to Aberdeen
day 9) fly from Aberdeen to home
ahhh...so dismal...too little time
I will appreciate all your advice!
Happy New Year
Marna