Inverness vs. Pitlochry

It's our first trip to Scotland, and we'll be there for about 9 days. We want to see quintessential Scotland, which to us means castles, whisky, and golf. We fly into Edinburgh and go straight to St. Andrews - we'll be there on a Sunday so we can walk the course. From there, I was planning to drive to Stirling and Glencoe, up the Caledonian Canal to Inverness, then circle back down through Pitlochry to Edinburgh, where we'll spend our last couple of days. So far, we've got 2 nights in St. Andrews, 1 night in Glencoe/Ft. William, 1-2 nights in Inverness, 1-2 nights in Pitlochry, and 2 nights in Edinburgh. The only pieces of this trip that aren't flexible are the 1st 2 nights (must be St. Andrews), and ending in Edinburgh. I suppose any other route suggestions are up for debate.

From the guidebooks I've seen, it sounds like Inverness itself is nothing special, but it is a good place to base yourself to tour the Highlands. I've heard that Pitlochry is a beautiful area and still offers a lot of day trip opportunities. I'm really just looking to see what opinions others have had.

Mara,
Inverness is one of favorite cities in the entire world. It is small enough to be very walkable. It has great shops (some in a Victorian "arcade") a lovely river, good food, and lots to do! You can get to Culloden Battlefield, Clava Cairns, Urquart Castle and Loch Ness, Great Glen, Glen Coe, Elliean Donan castle (and others), Isle of Skye, even Orkney. There are distilleries and great whisky to buy. We like to stay at the Royal Highland hotel. It adjoins the rail station. The main staircase was a model for the one on the Titanic and was used for some of the film. The tourist information office is one of the best in the UK. There are numerous companies that do lots of 1/2 day and full day trips. There are companies that do walks (day and early evening) around the city. If you want to see a small village, I'd recommend Aviemore. It is about 1/2 way between Edinburgh and Inverness by train. It has lots of outdoor activities- Rothmurchie (sp??) estate is there and has hiking, horseback riding and acitivites on the lake. There is a funicular that takes you up Mt. Caringorm and there are hikes there, too. There is a microbrewery in town that does tours and gives samples. You can get to lots of the Speyside distilleries very easily by bus or train and there are tour companies that specialize in day trips touring the distilleries. There is a steam train that does round trips through "Monarch of the Glen" country!

Mara: Thanks for the additional info.If you want to find all the discussions that have ever been had on this forum about Inverness, go here How to find all of the answers ever given re Invernessfollow those detailed instructionsinput the search word invernessyou should get 92 hits for prior discussions on this forum.Not all of them relate 100% to your question but many do, use the More Text option to browse the 92 hits faster.Repeat the process for Pitlochry and you should get 19 hits.

Pitlochry is quite a bit smaller. It's very nice, but as others say it depends on what you want to see. Toni's given you the run down on Inverness, here're what saw during my visit to Pitlochry. First, I was there because I got a ticket to attend an Aly Bain concert at the Festival Theater. So, you might want to check and see what's playing. There's a nice distillery to see that's right in town. Over near the Festival Theater there is a new Explorer's Garden. During the 1800 explorers went all over the world searching out the plants that now populate all those lovely British gardens. It's a nice way to spend an hour or so. I think there is a tour.

Blair Castle is just up the road (the A9) or up the train tracks. Not so far up the road is Queen's View. A beautiful drive is to get off the A9 at Queen's View. Stop and check out the view, but then keep going and up the side of Loch Tummel and on to Loch Rannoch if you've time, then take the single track road past the mountain Schiehallion and over the mountain toward Loch Tay. You can continue south along Loch Tay and on to Killin and the Trossachs. Or you can go toward Aberfeldy and on to Perth. Beautiful either way! Pam

And don't miss the Pitlochry Power Station!(I kid you not, look it up)

Is the fish ladder still in Pitlochry?

"Is the fish ladder still in Pitlochry?"Yes. The salmon ladder is a permanent part of the dam and hydroelectric plant there.

Mara, I was in both cities last year. Pitlochry is great, and the Edradour is fantastic (try the port finish). Pitlochry also had the best fish and chips of the trip (next door to the laundry mat). I only stayed in Inverness one night but really wish I has stayed longer. It is a beautiful city and the Dalmore Distillary is just a short drive. If I had it to do over, I would stay 1 night in Pitlochry and 2 nights in Inverness. Also, look up Ullapool, it's a couple hour drive from Inverness, but well worth it.

If you make it to Ullapool look up the knitwear shop. It's the best and you can wear those sweaters for three-quarters of the year here in Madison. ; )

Pam