Home bases Scotland

Hello islandfam2008
70 somethings here... we have enjoyed home bases in Stirling, Inverness & Oban.

From Oban we took 2 of the Undiscovered Scotland's driving tours and a day trip to Mull. We were 3 days, 4 nights in the area. https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ustours/index.html The National Trust Glencoe visitor center has very nice displays of all things Glencoe and a decent cafe for lunch or a snack or just a place to warm up. Glen Etive drive is stunning but on a one lane road, slow going. Kilmartin Glen is fascinating and unexpectedly we enjoyed Inverary Castle. Kilchurn Kirk is a very quirky church with critters for downspouts. We enjoyed the short ferry ride to Mull and a drive to Calgary beach.

From Inverness we visited Dunrobin Castle, Culloden Battlefield, Clava Cairns, Elgin Cathedral ruins, Ness river walk. I know Inverness is a place people love or hate. We enjoy it and have stayed several times usually for 4 nights.

Stirling is one of our favorite places to visit and we're back again this fall. The Undiscovered Scotland driving route maps has some wonderful suggestions for days out. Their regular map might help you dial in places of interests and then the experts on the forum can tell you best how to get from point a to b.

Happy planning!

Thank you Diane! Yes we too enjoyed Inverness when we stayed there in 2017. The Mustard Seed was a favorite. That trip we skipped St. Andrews in favor of hiking in the Cairngorms hence why we are thinking of adding it. Plus I know my parents will be asked by all their friends when they get home if they made it there. We are trying to include a few things we didn’t on our last trip as a lot of our last trip was centered around hiking. This will obviously be different. We also didn’t make it to Oban. I believe Inverary Castle might be doable from there. Since it was in Downton Abby I might just be able to get that approved. Lol Honestly they are game for anything but my dad isn’t as sure on his feet anymore which is why the trip to Staffa didn’t seem like a good idea. Perhaps we could still go to Mull and Iona. Obviously not enough time for all of it! As far as when you stayed in Stirling did you drive on your own as you day tripped?

Hi again,
I use a walking stick for balance. DH should but he won't :) We both managed the Hermitage Walk in Dunkeld for reference to compare how well your father negotiates spaces. We hire a guide to take us about Scotland as I no longer drive and to keep the good people of Scotland safe DH should not drive. There is great public transportation from Stirling but DH would find that difficult getting on to and off of.

If you think your parents might enjoy the Highland Folk Museum check out the Scottish Crannog Centre. It's on our list to visit this fall.
https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/
kenmore/crannogcentre/index.html https://crannog.co.uk/

Inverary is a beautiful, obviously well loved castle. The grounds are beautiful and easy to negotiate. We are not Downton Abbey fans so were there more for the history of the clan. The guides were exceptionally well informed, very approachable for questions. The main stairwell up to the 1st floor is wide with good railings.

We did briefly visit St Andrews and the ruins. Check out the story of the bottle dungeon. St Andrews definitely had an ancient town juxtaposed with college town feel to it. It was another place we surprisingly enjoyed.

Happy to share experiences getting about.

The Highland Folk Museum at Newtonmore is definitely worth thinking about - it is a fascinating place and a real blast from the past... It could be tied in with a trip on the Strathspey Steam Railway for a leisurely trip behind a steam loco. Think about booking an afternoon tea on the train too! For something completley different, there is a trip on the Cairngorm Mountain Railway to the top of Cairngorm. There's no access to the mountain from the summit station but the views from the top are spectacular.

These could easily be done from a base in Inverness, Boat of Garten, Aviemore or even Kingussie or Newtonmore.

You certainly can get from Stirling to St Andrews by public transport-
either the train to Dundee, then bus 99 OR
the relatively new X22 bus hourly to Dunfermline, the X24 to St Andrew's. I was on the X22 yesterday, and you get very good scenic views of the little known Ochil Hills, as well as several of the towers of Clackmannanshire (fortified houses/keeps).
However another place to stay in would be Dunfermline. Sometimes people on here use Dunfermline as a last night stopover for flights from Edinburgh, but no longer.
Dunfermline Abbey (where Robert the Bruce is buried) is two attached Churches- the current Abbey Church (which is open) and the earlier Church (in the care of Historic Scotland- currently closed for Masonry repairs.
I was also in the Abbey Church yesterday, having unexpectedly got about 45 minutes free from the business of the day, so could play tourist briefly.

Thank you wasleys. My husband and I actually bagged Cairngorm when we were there. The view was stunning. I remember we also checked out the raindeer farm prior to heading to Inverness windblown and rather wet. It was not a sunny day but the clouds broke up enough for a view thankfully. Back at that time you could walk the entire thing and knock on the station door to be let in! We will 100% we driving while we are there once we leave Edinburgh but I will check out the tea.

Thank you isn31c. I appreciate your thoughtful feedback as well as mentioning Dunfermline. I will take a look. We will have a car so would be driving. We will have 13 nights so I just need to figure out how to divide them up. We do tend to sightsee as we travel from place to place allowing us to have a fun journey rather than the destination. I was never concerned about luggage left in the car as one would Italy for example. Out last trip we had a lot of 2 night stays. Trying to avoid that this time.

One interesting thing I saw in Dunfermline was that the old Guildhall and Linen Exchange has been converted into a Wetherspoons pub and hotel.
Whatever you think about their food they very sympathetically convert old buildings into pubs celebrating the history of the building.
They don't have many hotels. However the ones I have stayed in are a good step up from Premier Inn, but in the same kind of price band.
It's quite an interesting and useful find.
Textiles was the basis of the town's economy for centuries. So a key building in the history of the town.

The town was also the birthplace of Andrew Carnegie (of free libraries fame).
There is a free museum in that weaver's cottage.
I didn't get there as there is a limit to what you can do totally unscripted in 45 minutes!!

We spent a week in Callender at the Leny Estate in a cottage. Near Sterling.

I might suggest a drive from Portree up to Ullapool. There are cottages with a lovely view on Ardmair beach. From there, it's a stunning drive up to Durness and Tongue, down the A836 through Lairg to get to Inverness, can be done in a (long) day. That puts you in good position for Speyside. I drove this route once with my father, who was 78 at the time, with no problem. He loved seeing the scenery from the moving car.