Traveling in England and Scotland in late July

For more than 20 years we have gone to the UK the last week or 2 in July. It is a good time to go. Yes, there will be some crowds at some sites. Nothing unbearable. Scotland is especially lovely in summer. Feel free to private message me.

The weather is always the same in Scotland: gray and damp--so it doesn't matter what month you go.Okay, I'm exaggerating. July is a good time. You might even see some blue sky. It's a beautiful country, all that dampness makes for beautiful green countryside.

Its a great time to go. As the others point out, you can't avoid rain, but you can go with the attitude that you won't let a little damp spoil your trip. Since you have a fair bit of time, try to be flexible in your plans. While the UK is small island by our standards, the weather really varies from place to place. This is because it is an island that has mountains and oceans that affect the weather. When you watch the weather on TV in the UK they have all these weather symbols (sun, part sun, white cloud, black cloud...) place all over the map. It took me a few trips to realize that these symbols are very purposefully placed and there is a difference between the white and black clouds!

Take a good Goretex jacket with a hood and you'll be fine. If you want to do any walking (hiking in American) take a pair of good hiking boots. I've found that the trails are wetter than the US and the boots really make a difference.

There will be crowds, but the further north you go I believe that the smaller they will be. And the further north you go the later the sun stays out. Have fun! Pam

The further north you go, the fewer the crowds. We spend 3 weeks just driving around Scotland. We would stay at a place for 3 to 5 days, use it as a base and the go see the town the first day, then out and about the next 2 to 4 days. We would then drive to another abode and do it over. Really loved the area and the small pubs in small towns were wonderful. If you are going to Inverness, I would rec. Ardgarry b&B-
http://www.ardgarryguesthouse.co.uk/. Also, if going to Edinburgh, we loved staying in Portobello as a base and traveling out and about. We used Number five self catering - http://www.numberfive.com/. They have free parking within a walled court. The bus is really outside the door. L2.30 gets you into Edinburgh and back. Cheaper than driving and paying 20 pounds for parking for the day. We stayed there a week and went to Stirling, Falkirk (Falkirk Wheel -http://www.thefalkirkwheel.co.uk/), Glasgow (used bus-cheaper than driving,Dunbar(oldest beer brewery left in Scotland -Belhaven Ale), St. Andrews -just to see the golf course, etc.

July 25 and 26 will be The Clan Gathering 2009 in Edinburgh, not sure what size the crowds will be but you can check out their website for more info. Happy travels also