We are planning a trip to Scotland in June 2016 (when we will be 61 and 58 respectively). We arrive in Glasgow on June 6 and take a planned and supported hike leaving us in Fort William on June 13 in the morning (when the rest of the party goes to the airport)
Our plan then is to take a bus to Oban, stay one night and then take the ferry to Castlebay on Barra and use 7 - 10 days to go by bus and ferry to Stornoway and then home - probably with a few days in Edinburgh or Glasgow.
We don't want to make any reservations of accommodation or return flight, since we want to retain as much freedom of choice as we can - and to experience the thrill of winging it :-)
I took a similar trip 30 years ago (after hitch hiking from London) and we were together in Fort William 8 years ago (after a boat trip on the Caledonian Canal and Loch Ness (http://www.leboat.co.uk/holidays/destinations/scotland)), but I realise that much may have changed since then :-)
Questions:
- Since the trip is before the British school summer vacation (http://www.schoolholidayseurope.eu/scotland.html) we don't expect the hotels, guest houses, B&Bs to be filled up. Is that a reasonable assumption?
- Is it reasonable to expect us to make the trip to Stornoway in 10 days or less? Last time I walked and hitch hiked, but I can't remember how long time I used :-(
- Are there any special places on this route which we should make sure we don't miss? We are mostly interested in natural scenery, small towns (markets), and whisky (mainly me); not museums.
- Should we end in Edinburgh or Glasgow? Why?