OK trying this in the Scotland Forum. Thankz to those that pointed this out. Maybe we need a Bavarian Forum? I'm looking for a nice area and B&B/hotel/apartment in Scotland in Spring. I'll be coming in from Germany (US citizen). I like the countryside, nature and the less traveled and fewer tourist route. A few local nice villages and along the coast would be nice. Good food, beer, whisky and friendly people. Looking at one-two week stay. I plan a rental car and price really does not matter anymore (getting old). Best place to fly in? Thankz (again)...
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
You could stay in the North Ballachulish area and take a day trip to my favourite part of Scotland - the Ardnamurchan peninsula via the 5 minute long Corran ferry. Watch out for otters, birds and other wildlife whilst driving the clockwise loop. Visit the lighthouse then loop back to Fort William. Take a day trip to Oban or take the ferry over to Mull or Iona. Ben Nevis is nearby. Go deer spotting in the glens. Fly into Glasgow.
Somewhere less touristy is Dumfries and Galloway. Plenty of small twee fishing villages, book shops, Caerlaverock Castle and the nearby nature reserve, climb the Mull of Galloway lighthouse, excellent walks and lovely people. Fly into Glasgow.
If you flew into Edinburgh, you could stay around Berwick upon Tweed which these days lies in England - just. From here you could cover the excellent Northumberland coast plus in Scotland, there is the pretty St Abbs Head coast, North Berwick and the border towns such as Kelso could easily be seen with a car.
Posted by
OP
Oberpfalz, Germany
1288 posts
Can anyone suggest a travel/tour company that provides an itinerary, rental car and makes B&B/hotel accommodations? Looking at something like the North Coast 500. We had good luck with similar packages in Ireland and New Zealand.
Posted by
Lincolnshire, UK
1828 posts
Secret Scotland do different itineraries around Scotland, recommending places to see and go with detailed driving instructions. They will also designb a cutomised itinerary for you. They provide a list of recommended accommodation for each tour, although I don' think they actually book it for you. However, you could always ask.
They also provide 10% discount on Arnold Clarke car hire, the recommended car hired provider in Scotland.
Posted by
New York City, NY, USA
5678 posts
So very many options! So, countryside, some whiskey and not too many tourist. So first off you won’t have a lot of tourists in Scotland in the spring. They tend to come in July and August. So good news for yo! Aberdeenshire is definitely an option. Lots of whiskey and lots of countryside. I have stayed in Ballater, but that was more for castles. The Cairngorms are wonderful. Check out the National Park and Rothiemurchus. I love Perthshire and the central part of Scotland. There is some whiskey, but amazing drives and walks. Look at Dunkeld, Aberfeldy and Pitlochry. If you want to base yourself in the north where you can do day trips to the west, north and south to the Cairngorms check out the Inverness area. I have stayed in Fortrose and Strathpeffer. Others have recommended Nairn. I also really like Inverness. If you want to go off shore, check out Orkney. Great whiskey, Highland Park, incredible archaeology, few tourists and wonderful walking. And of course there is the west. I’ve stayed on Mull and on Skye. Mull is less touristy. Both are wonderful
Posted by
81 posts
We used Nordic Visitor this past summer to tour Scotland. They put us in charming B & Bs, arranged our rental car and helped plan the sites we would see. I had some ideas of places I wanted to see and they incorporated our ideas into our final itinerary for us. I highly recommend them.