Traveling to Scotland for The Clan Gathering 2009

In 2007, my wife and I and our two sons stayed at the Ramada Mount Royal as part of a tour group. It was a decent hotel and, because it was part of a tour package, I don't know its cost. I don't know whether to recommend it. However, two items made it memorable to us. First, one side of the hotel is open to a wonderful public area, the Princes Street Gardens, so it has an unobstructed view of the old city including Edinburgh Castle and he Sir Walter Scott memorial. Second, some rooms on the hotel's upper floor shared a fantastic balcony. We stood on the balcony and took pictures of the Edinburg skyline. As we took our pictures, we experienced the second item that made it memorable. In some cities, a saxophonist stands on the street corner and plays for tips. On that day in Edinburgh a bagpiper played on the street corner. It was way cool.

My only advice is to make a reservation somewhere as soon as possible. We've been reading about the 2009 Gathering for over a year and understand that it is going to be very big this year. I suspect that many lodging places are already completely booked.

You might want to look at numberfive.com self catering apt. It is in Portobello, which is about a 20 minute bus ride into Edinburgh, but it will be quiet there. Also, they have free parking, inside a gated fence.

We stayed there a couple of years ago and it was really nice and the hosts were wonderful. It is also a lot cheaper than a hotel.

Unless you have already made reservations, you may have some troubles. We tried and found many places already booked.

There are a number of B&Bs in Portobello. We stayed in one years ago (they had a wonderful white cat, I remember) and it was a short bus ride into the city.

I've stayed at a small hotel, the Inverlieth, near the Botanic Gardens. It's an easy bus ride up to Prince's Street or the Royal Mile and easy walk back down the hill. There are lots of lovely day trips from Edinburgh. I would recommend Stirling and Stirling Castle and Linlithgow as very easy train trips. Also, it's a very short train ride to Glasgow. There are also day tours you can book as well. The city itself is terrific. Some of the sights off the Royal Mile are great. I've done the Leith Water walk up to galleries and exploring Leith itself can be interesting. If you wanted to rent a car for a day, it might be interesting to explore a bit of the borders country. Are you going to The Homecoming because of family heritage? Do you have a particular part of Scotland you want to see?
Pam

Joan, check availability at the Prestonfield House Hotel on Priestfield Road in
Edinburgh. My wife and I have been staying there for 30 years. It's outstanding, and about 5 minutes outside of the city center. Peaceful, elegant and historic.
Check out their website. You'll be amazed.

We can trace our heritage back to Clan Lockhart. We will be having lunch on Friday (7/24) with them. We were able to find a B&B in Edinburgh as of month. We would like to travel to the "tourist" locations: Loch Ness, Culloden, Castle Doune (Monty Python)and of course see as much of Edinburgh as possible.

Glad you found a b&b with rooms! Inverness is well worth several days. Lots to see and do, Loch Ness, Culloden, Clava Cairns, Great Glen, Glen Coe, Isle of Skye and Ellean Donnan, whisky distilleries (if you don't get to the distilleries, ask at a pub to do a tasting- and try Balvinnie 12 year double wood and Dalwhinnie reserved). Inverness is one of my favorite destinations.