Opinions on Scotland on a relatively tight budget?

I did 8 days in April '08 for under $2500 (total: air, meals, hotel, transportation, souvenirs), so $3K sounds doable to me. I was able to get a nice $800 ticket last summer and spent 13 days on $2300. If you know what day/time you want to take a train, then you can get advance tickets (good for a specific train/time) for as low as 10 pounds. I've bought online through http://www.scotrail.co.uk/. I think it's 10-12 weeks ahead of a date when the advance tickets show up. I've stayed twice at http://www.deneguesthouse.com/ (New Town area). A single standard room is under 30 pounds. Yes, basic furniture, but easy on budget, quick to get on the buses, and a good breakfast. I usually eat breakfast at the b&b and then get a late lunch from one of the small stores. I can't help with the pub info because I've not been into one yet (too shy when traveling alone). The Great British Heritage Pass can help stretch the budget, http://www.britishheritagepass.com/. Check if there's enough places you want to visit yourself in the length of card you buy. I've used Rabbies to drive me around. Pros and cons to using minibus tours. In Inverness I stayed two nights with Liz Munro at Charden Villa. Great breakfast and host, http://www.1bbweb.com/europe/scotland/northern_scotland/highland/inverness/charden_villa.html April is fast approaching. Do you have your air tickets??

I agree with Toni and renting a car is expensive. There are lots of places that you can visit without one. You'll just have to save up your money for the second trip with one. ; ) You might want to look at stopping off at a smaller town on your way north. I just checked on my favorite B&B in Dunkeld in Perth and it's around $55. http://www.thebridge-dunkeld.co.uk/index.htm. Dunkeld has lots of walks that are immediately accessible from town, has a nice pub and has some history with the Cathedral and small houses. There are other B&B's there as well. http://www.visitdunkeld.com/bed-and-breakfast.htm Also, Blair Castle is the Blair Athol stop on the train between Edinburgh and Inverness. You can walk to the castle. I asked and go permission to leave my luggage at the hotel that is close to the station. I don't know if they do that routinely. Inverness is terrific. You can hear some good music there as well as take day trips to sites. Contact the Inverness Tourist Office for prices. You can go by public bus to Culloden. Let us know if you have more questions... Pam

I think you should be able to manage it. With $3K each, you might even be able to induldge a bit- or take a longer trip than you think. Airfare seems to be running about $750 or a bit less roundtrip to Edinburgh from Albany. That leaves you with over $2K each for lodging, food, ground travel and souviners, day trips, etc. I'd suggest you consider flying into Edinburgh, stay 2-3 days, then train to Inverness, stay 2-4 days, then either train to Aviemore for 1 or 2 nights, or to Glasgow. Fly home from Glasgow (called open jaw or multi-city) or train back to Edinburgh. Lots of options for lodgings- from 4 or 5 * to b&bs or hostles. Do some research here and on TripAdvisor and maybe Lonely Planet for suggesstions. You don't have to rent a car (small, narrow roads, VERY EXPENSIVE gas/petrol, most are stratight drive, and you drive and shift on the 'wrong' side, plus parking can be a nightmare)- we always use the trains and buses. We've used BritRail passes in the past because we liked the flexibility, but youmight come out better moneywise to use point-to-point- again do some research (http://www.rail.co.uk/ to check train routes, prices, etc.). And I would stretch the trip as long as you can- well worth it. EDIT: just checked rates at the hotel we use in Edinburgh for your dates (the Royal British)- running about $100-$150 a night- per room not per person. Inverness is similar. It is not the cheapest, nor the most expensive, but well located and good breakfasts.

Without going into gory details of where to stay and what, spcifically, to see, here's some planning costs: We figure $225 per day, total for the two of us anywhere in the UK with minimal/no time in London. Scotland's expenses are no worse than anywhere in England. This is with a car the whole way. We stay in B&B's, eat well at dinner, and probably go fifty-fifty on lunches from either a pub or the sack in the back of the car. For information, kayak.com is showing a small car for 21-30 April from Inverness at $27/day. Rounding up to fifty bucks will buy you more gas than you can use for what it looks like you'll be doing. Rounding our number up to $150/day/pp, it looks like you'll come home with money coming out your ears if you're going with three grand each. The only expense you'll have above ours is that we're long-past souvenirs and entrance fees.

To save money, we stayed outside of Edinburgh and took the train in every day. You can save money by eating in pubs but even more by having picnics in a park. Take the train to Inverness and stay the night. Have a great trip - we'll be there in May!

Pam,
I cannot imagine you will have a problem staying within that budget. My wife and I spend 3 weeks on all our trips. Last spring we spent 3 weeks in England (Hastings, Cornwall, Bath, Cotswolds, and 6 nights in London at a nice hotel) for $8000 ($4000 each). We always stay in places which serve breakfast as part of the deal. In England, it is usually a full English breakfast. We do not eat lunch, just a snack, and then a full dinner at a nice, reasonably priced restaurant or pub. We find hotels/B&Bs on tripadvisor and have never been disappointed. The total included a car rental for nearly two weeks and gas for driving the southern loop of England described above, Heathrow to Heathrow.

Thank you all for the great advice. I feel a lot more confident about taking this trip. It is scary stuff to make plans to spend money and go so far. It's not like we can cut our trip short for lack of funds if we are locked into a return flight. And after planning for so long to go to Scotland, it would be really disappointing, too. Pam

If you want just a basic "motel" kind of lodging, you can't really beat Travelodge - http://www.travelodge.co.uk If you start booking now - on-line - you could get their rooms in Scotland in April for less than 40 pounds per night. And get a quote from www.carrentals.co.uk before you book anything. Roger

David made a valid comment. Even though we dont plan on it, if you are at a hotel (out of London) which serves full English breakfast, we often find, we just dont feel like lunch and get by with a snack and a pepsi. If you are planning on Inverness check out the Station hotel in Inverness. one of the old style large station hotels in Britain. We stayed there many moons ago. large rooms, fantastic "old world feeling" and great "scottish" breakfasts- even more food than a full english breakfast. Dont know what the rates are now, but if still reasonable consider it. Also Braemar, site of the Braemar games and near Balmoral castle.

The 'station' hotel Brian mentioned is the Royal Highland. It is where we always stay in Inverness. Great hotel. It's staircase was the model for the one in the original Titanic and was used in the movie.

Toni Thanks. for the corret name. we enjoyed our stay there
Brian

I have NEVER paid more than 2 - 2.5 k for a two week trip to the UK in June/July (top season). My secret? I rent a car, drive, and I stay at Travelodge.co.uk almost every night. Very inexpensive, yet clean and basic. I try to get at least one B&B in. Yes, petrol is expensive, but the gas mileage is incredible. The only difference is that I usually have one other person to share the expenses. I'm looking at a two week trip this summer, and my room rate for all 15 days comes to about $400. You can do it! I've never found renting a car to be expensive. I use autoeurope.com to book, and I've never had a bit of a problem. Right now for April 20-27, you can get a Volkswagon Golf Diesel for 191.19 USD Basic Basic Rate includes taxes Book Now 300.70 USD Inclusive
(I get the inclusive rate usually) But, I'm sure you can use trains, too! I just love the freedom of the car.

I always forget something! I forgot to say, "Have a great trip!"

Thanks again to everyone for their help. I am getting such great info that I can't wait to get there instead of worrying that I couldn't take this trip because it was out of the reach of my budget. I'm also seeing that we don't have to sacrifice seeing more of the country and stay in one area to be able to afford the trip. It looks like we really are just having to cut the longer (2-3 weeks planned for) trip down due to lack of time off at work. And I could take longer if I wasn't already taking a trip to Seattle later in the year. Thank you all, again, Pam

Pam, You really don't have a lot of time and your budget if just fine. I'd stay in Edinburgh and take a side trip or two. Drumnadrochit and Stering maybe. There is so much to do and see in Edinburgh, it's one of my favourite cities. We stay at a B&B off the Dalkeith Rd. (Ricks book) from where there is a bus into town. It is also not too far to walk. Our one dinner splash out was at the Witchery just outside the castle. We also liked the food at Deacon Brodies and a nice tea or a little something to keep body and soul together can be had nearer the bottom of the Royal Mile at Clarindas. (Gosh I hope it is still there)

Pam, If you have to do a short trip, I'd put more emphasis on Inverness rather than Edinburgh. I find there are more and better day trips available. Though they may not have started a full schedule in April. Also, I just re-read the last sentence- my great-grandfather on my dad's side was a Bell! On ething you can do in Edinburgh (several places) or Inverness is research you clan's history- locations, names, motto, badge, and the various plaids (formal, hunting, old, modern, etc.) All the shops have ties, scarves, pants, etc. - some of better quality and others of lesser- in lots of different clan plaids. But if you don't like "yours" there are some 'generic' ones like Black Watch, etc.

We stayed at Ardgarry B&B in Inverness. http://www.ardgarryguesthouse.co.uk/index.html 50 Pounds or less per night for two. Bath across the hall. Great breakfast and great services. 10 minutes to grocery store, 10 minutes to self service laundry, 10 minutes to JOHNNY FOXES pub. Music starts about 10:00 PM. Get a seat by the fireplace, across from the band stand. Wonderful music every night and after a couple of brews, the locals dance the night away. I liked it better then the Hootnannay.

One final thought - rent a cottage for a week and do day trips. Cottage rentals may be found at http://www.wildernesscottages.co.uk and be as cheap as $500 for a week. Then take into consideration that you can make all of your own meals (though you do need to hit some of the pubs to meet people!), and you will find a very affordable way to travel. Personally, I like having a "home" to go to each night and not having to worry about finding lodging from day to day.