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Sold Out/Fully Booked

Posted by (Somerville, MA) on

Hi. Having just returned from a mid-October week in Scotland, I figured I would let folks know that even in October, a surprising number of things were fully booked - and some important to us places were not. Below is the list of those that we encountered, most of which we booked ahead. We missed out of the Falkirk Wheel boat ride as we didn't think that would sell out. No problem for us in Portree as we had a house with a kitchen but still surprising.

Fully Booked Upon Arrival
Falkirk: Falkirk Wheel Boat Ride
Portree: Seemingly all restaurants
Skye: Talisker Distillery Tour
Edinburgh: Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh: Andy Goldsworthy exhibit at the National Gallery

The parking lots at the most popular hiking site on Skye were not full and while we made dinner reservations for both nights in Edinburgh the restaurants did not see full. I know that in the summer both of these are jammed.

Posted by
10569 posts

Yes, that's pretty much the underlying theme of Scotland. Book ahead. 😊 They are jammed in the summer, but I've been in there in the shoulder season and if you didn't book ahead, especially restaurants, you are pretty much out of luck.

Posted by
4694 posts

Thanks for this info. I don't like booking ahead, but will if necessary. I'll keep it in mind for my upcoming April/May trip. Thankfully I have a fairly flexible schedule in most cities. I would hate to miss the Falkirk Wheel.

Posted by
1543 posts

Mid October coincides with school half term break in Scotland. The schools are out for two weeks. It’s also when locals breathe a sigh of relief and take themselves off to the Canary Islands for some sun. So you’ve got restaurants short staffed as their student servers have gone back to university and some of their local staff are away on holiday. But Skye has become a year round destination, so it’s even harder to get a table.

Demand outstrips supply (particularly in Skye) almost all year now. Always book ahead!

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