We are planning at least a 10 day trip to Scotland in August or September. If we decide to stay put for 1 week, where should we stay in order to make the most out of day trips? Also, does anyone know what there is to do in West Kilbride besides golfing (since we aren't interested in that)? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!
Posted by
Charlotte, NC, USA
3428 posts
We truely love Inverness. There are soooo many day trips you can do and several companies that do the "small van" type trip. You can tour Culloden battlefield and Clava Cairns, go to Isle of Skye via Eliean Donnan castle, see the Great Glen and Glen Coe, Ft. William and Ft. Agustus, even Orkney and John O' Groats. There are Whisky distillery tours, hikes, walks and don't forget Loch Ness and the river Ness and the Firth. You can do cruises, etc. See Urquart castle! There is good shopping and great people!
Posted by
Pantego, NC, USA
1014 posts
If you go to Inverness, look at Ardgarry B&B -http://www.ardgarryguesthouse.co.uk Great B&B. Wonderful hosts and will go out of their way to help, at least they did for me.
From Inverness, you can day trip to several wonderful sites -Isle of Skye, Lock Ness, etc.
Posted by
Edmonton, AB, Canada
668 posts
West Kilbride is a small town on the west coast. Good views, some craft stores, not much else. If you are staying tehre, I would recommend a car, then it would be a good centre to tour the Clyde coast and the south west of Scotland. There are a LOT of golf courses in the area, so beware....!
We used to live in Kilmarnock which, with Ayr, is one of the largere towns in the area.
Posted by
OP
Philadelphia
2 posts
Glad to know there's not much more than golfing in West Kilbride, thank you. I will certainly look into the Isle of Skye, etc. I forgot to ask about the Isle of Arran. Any outstanding features to see there? Thanks again for all of your responses.
Posted by
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2712 posts
I agree Inverness would be a great base. Skye is my favorite place in Scotland -- it is so beautiful -- a great place if you love scenery and hiking. You may even want to spend 2-3 nights there and cut back on Inverness in order to really see it. Also, Edinburgh is my favorite city in the entire world. If you can, spend a couple of days there.
Posted by
Edmonton, AB, Canada
668 posts
Scenery is the biggest thing on Arran. Brodick Castle is quite interesting and there is a ruined castle at anothr place - cannot remember the name of it, but think it starts with an "L", other than those, I do not think there is too much apart from teh island itself.
Posted by
New York City, NY, USA
5678 posts
I agree that the Inverness area is a great base. You might want to explore smaller towns near Inverness if you're going to be driving. I love Inverness, but it is very busy and if you want some place where you can start to get a sense of feeling at home, you might want to look at some place like Fortrose on the Black Isle. You can still get to all the places that Toni mentioned. Also, when you stay in the Inverness area you have great flexibility. A lot of times the weather can be bad in the west and still have sun in the east. It's rarer to have fine weather in the west, so go to those sights first if the weather is good. Another nice day trip is to go up to Dunrobin Castle north of Golspie. You go past Dornoch which is nice little town with one of Scotland's world class golf courses. Just beyond Dunrobin is a Broch that you can explore.
Do spend time in Edinburgh. You might think about exploring Perthshire on your drive north. It's another area that wouldn't be a bad base, but it's easier to reach more places from Inverness.
pam