We are hoping to visit Scotland April 19th for 4 days after an Ireland tour. Looks like best flights are from Dublin to Glascow. We will likely fly rtn to Newark or NYC airports.
For having 4 days and desire to see the Highlands what should the highlights planned be?. Should we base ourselves in one place in middle for day trips? Any recommendations on authentic option local type of accommodations for a middle age couple?. We will be renting a car, wanted to hike, and see distilleries.
Thanks!
Posted by
681 posts
I would stay in one location and day trip out. The highlands are beautiful. We stayed in the Isle of Skye and loved it. You could spend your entire time there. We went to a distillery, nice hikes and beautiful scenery. You could also base yourself out of Inverness and day trip out of there also. The driving takes longer than you think due to many stops to see many beautiful spaces so don't plan to much and just enjoy. Don't know what the weather is like in mid-April. We were there the end of May and found it very cool (we live in FL) but nice. Not too much rain for us. Good luck.
Posted by
Yorkshire
1277 posts
Hi Mary -
I would stay in or near the much maligned Fort William, which is a good base for the Highlands. Hikes up Ben Nevis or lower up Glen Nevis - Falls of Steall for instance - or in the not too distant Glencoe. Aonach Mor range with its chairlifts a little way north out of town. Loch Ness also going North-east up the Great Glen. Mallaig going west via Glenfinnan. Access to Ardmamurchan peninsula via the Corran Ferry.
If going into the hills be properly prepared and equipped and be aware that even in April there could still be some snow about high up.
As for distillleries, I’ve seen quite a few and for my money, if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all as the process is identical in all of them although they’ll all claim to have some aspect unique to them!
Have a good trip!
Ian
Posted by
205 posts
Glascow
It's Glasgow.
And It's Tower Bridge.
Posted by
3122 posts
With just 4 days to work with, I'd recommend choosing one place like Pitlochry or Coupar Angus or Blair Atholl -- i.e., in the highlands but not too far from Glasgow -- and using that as your base. The Dalwhinnie distillery is not far up the A9 from there.
Since you're interested in hiking, you might want to look at Cruise Loch Lomond. They have boats coming & going from different spots around the loch so you can hop off, hike to another dock, and catch the next boat back. (Obviously, keep an eye on the time so you won't miss your boat!) https://www.cruiselochlomond.co.uk/
Posted by
Sacramento, CA
670 posts
We hiked the West Highland Way last year, and absolutely loved the Highlands. You might look into staying in Glencoe, or Kinlochleven. That was the area where we enjoyed the scenery. If you choose to hike in the Loch Lomond area, be aware that some of that is slow going -- very muddy, twisty-turny, over small rocks. One Scot we ran into actually referred to the "4 miles from hell". If you are just doing day hikes, I would focus around Glencoe.