Scotland countryside...What are the must sees?

I'd suggest that you go to Inverness for the 3 days. You can base yourselves there and do day trips around the highlands. You could see Culloden battelfield/memorial, clava cairns, Eliean Donnan castle, Isle of Skye, Great Glen or Glen Coe, etc. A car would make doing a whisky tour very easy also, though someone would need to be a designated driver and not induldge in the tasteings (or join one of the day trips and don't drive). Aviemore is also a neat village (about 1/2 way between Inverness and Edinburgh. Lots to do and see there, esp if you like hiking, walking, horseback riding, etc.

Katherine: You mentioned starting in the Lake District, and Toni suggests Inverness, a good choice but you should be aware of it's location and driving times from the Lake District. If you started in the North Lake District, let's say Keswick, the driving time to Inverness, if you drove directly there without sidetrips, is about 5 and 1/2 hours (~300 miles) plus the time for gas & other stops. And that time assumes you don't get lost and there are no unusual traffic situations, for example on the M73 east of Glasgow. If you start from further south in the Lake District, the driving time increases. If that's too much driving time for you in one day, post again and we can suggest other options.

The highlands are gorgeous, if you have time for that area.

Thanks for your responses. If I want to shorten the hours spent driving from the the northern part of Lake District, where would you suggest I spend the first night in the southern part of Scotland? Then the next day our drive north would be shorter and we can do some sight-seeing too. The other 2 nights will be spent further north. We are ending our trip in Edinburgh so we wouldn't go there in the beginning. I guess I am still having trouble deciding how to split up our 3 day countryside adventure. I am open to all suggestions and appreciate your help a great deal.
Katherine

Katherine: Answering your last post, half way between Keswick (North Lake District) and Inverness is one of Scotland's most famous beauty spots, the area is called The Trossachs. You can drive there from Keswick in about 3 hours/160 miles, half the distance to Inverness. The town of Callander is where you would sleep. Then you'd drive from Callender to Inverness the next day. Halving the driving in this way gives you time to explore on both driving legs: Keswick to Callander and Callender to Inverness.Rick doesn't cover The Trossachs in his Great Britain book, you should buy the Michelin Scotland Green Guide. If you want more ideas about what your driving itinerary could include for these two days, click on the Private Message button under my name.

Katherine, I am a big fan of the highlands, but you should think about exploring the borders. Coming up from Carlisle, you can explore the debatable lands and see Hermitage Castle, see Abbotsford--Sir Walter Scott's home--then see an abby--Melrose, Jedburgh, Kelso--Floor's Castle is also very nice. Another place to explore that's not quite as far north as Inverness is Perthshire. I love Glen Lyon and Aberfeldy and Dunkeld. I would agree that the Trossachs are also beautiful. Don't miss the steamboat ride on Loch Katrine. Pam

Hi Katherine,
Kent is right, the Trossachs is a beautiful region in Scotland. Kent is a pretty smart guy on this stuff, he helped me plan a good deal of our trip! If you end up in that area, I can recommend a great B&B, the best of our trip. It is in a town called Lochearnhead, just about a 10 minute drive from Callendar. The place is called Tigh-Na-Crich and it is wonderful. The hosts Irene and John are great, rooms are wonderful (our bathroom had a huge tub with nice showerhead and heated towel bars!) and breakfast is yummy. We also left from the Lake District and it took us about 3 hours to get to the Trossachs. We stopped at Caerlaverock castle on the way, it was free with our heritage pass. The trossachs has some pretty Lochs, including Katrine and Lomond as well as Scotland's only lake, Lake Menteith near by. We took a little boat over the lake to the Inchmahome Priory, not a well known site, but pretty cool. It seems to me that anywhere you end up in Scotland will be great!

Katherine -
I would agree with Pam's suggestions of the border area. Don't forget to stop at Carter Bar and get your pictures on both sides of the Border. You might check out Hadrian's Wall before you cross into Scotland.

If you like history, Abbotsford House is a must-see. No questions asked. Here's a link to the website:

http://www.scottsabbotsford.co.uk/

Don't forget the Mary, Queen of Scots House in Jedburgh. Along with the Border Abbeys: Jedburgh, Kelso, Dryburgh and Melrose. (My favorite is Melrose - it has a flying pig playing the pipes in the structure! and the heart of King Robert the Bruce)

http://www.electricscotland.com/historic/border_abbeys.htm

http://www.marie-stuart.co.uk/Castles/MaryHouse.htm

Also - you could go to Gretna Green which is just over the border.

I do like the Border area, but going up to to Inverness and going to Culloden and the Clava Cairns would be my first choice. Its a bit out of the way - it doesn't look far on a map but it is. If you're going from England to Edinburgh, it makes more sense to spend your time in the Border area rather than going up to the Highlands and having to come back to Edinburgh.

Good luck!

It was the distance involved that had prompted me to recommend the Borders. If you really want to get a taste of the highlands, you can get to Perthshire or the Trossachs easily from Edinburgh. But, I bet you will like Scotland sooo much that you'll have to come back anyway so why not get to know one area. ; ) Pam