OT - Scotland Suggestions

[texbike]

We're headed to beautiful Scotland in a few weeks with the family and wanted to reach out to the Paceline brain trust to see what suggestions the group has on things to do, places that have to be seen, suggested restaurants, historical sites (and sights), etc.

We're flying into Glasgow, spending a week in the Ft. Augustus area at the South end of Loch Ness (just to the West of Cairngorms National Park), a few days on Skye, and the remainder of the trip on the Western shore of Loch Lemond. Unfortunately, cycling is unlikely to be part of the trip, but we do plan to ride horses, hike, fish, boat, look for Nessie, eat some haggis, wear a kilt, etc.

Regale us with your Scottish tales. Where should we wander?

Thanks in advance! :)

Texbike

[guido]

Be sure to bring headnets and bug spray/lotion. It is peak midge season...

Glasgow is great city. Wonderful for walking. The Macintosh tour will show you some fine architecture. Unfortunately there was a fire at the school but repairs are supposed to be underway...

Enjoy!

[Ken Robb]

Edinburgh for so many things including The Castle, Holyrood Palace, Georgian House, etc.
Stirling for the Castle.

[rcnute]

Mull if you can fit it in. Check out the Talisker distillery on Skye. Also on your way to or from Skye see Eilean Donan (Highlander Castle--there can be only one). I loved the Highlands and Glasgow.

Ryan

[KJMUNC]

Sounds like an awesome trip! You asked for Scottish tales, so here goes:

20yrs ago, during my last semester of undergrad and during a night of heavy drinking and heavier introspection, a buddy and I lamented that we'd never been abroad and needed to commit to a trip. To show my mettle, and despite my stupor, I called up Delta and booked a flight to London. My buddy swore he'd do the same the next day, as he didn't have a credit card and needed to secure funds from his parents. Well, you can guess how the next day panned out:

me - "did I think I bought a ticket to London last night....."
him - "Yeah....so my parents aren't going to pay for that"

So like that, I'm heading to Europe on my own for two weeks.

I'd traveled extensively in the US, but none of my friends had ever been abroad, nor had my parents, so I had a very romantic view of what it would be like "backpacking in Europe". I had friends studying at Oxford for the summer and figured I'd just stay with them.....only I forgot to tell them I was coming. And I had zero accommodations planned for a two week trip. What could go wrong.

So I land at Heathrow without a plan other than "hey, I know people in Oxford....and Pink Floyd is from there, so I can figure it out, right?" So I find a bus to Oxford, wander around town for a day and then run into a friend-of-a-friend on the street and crash for a couple of nights. But it turns out that they a.) don't like people who aren't studying there crashing in their dorms and eating in their cafeteria, and b.) they really don't like it when you're a guy and you're staying in the girls dorm.

So I'm off to London (the Scottish content is coming, I promise). I didn't know what to do and where to go, so I wandered the city for a few days and slept in train stations (hostels were packed full and this was pre-cell phone so I couldn't find a place and I had zero money). On a last ditch effort I went back to Oxford and convinced my friend to go to Scotland with me. It wasn't until we were about half way that I told her that "I hear backpackers sleep in cemeteries and parks all the time....we'll be fine."

Luckily for us, on the train to Edinburgh, we met a great guy who owned a pub in Stirling. When he heard we had no plan for a place to stay, he insisted we stay with him and could pay off our room/board by working at his pub. So for the 2nd week of my trip, I slept on his couch by day, he drove us around the Scottish countryside by day, and I tended bar at night. I'm Scottish by heritage, so we went to my ancestral area around Loch Lomond, we skinny dipped in the Loch, and all in all had a grand time. At one point I called home to tell my parents where I was....they thought I was staying in Oxford and were pretty surprised to hear that I was tending bar in Stirling. It took some soul searching to make the return trip home to the job I had waiting as I was pretty happy living that life for the time being.

It was one of my favorite trips of all time and something I wish I'd done a lot more of when I was younger.

Enjoy the trip and just see where life takes you while you're there! :beer:

[Louis]

Sounds like an awesome trip! You asked for Scottish tales, so here goes:

Cool story! Thanks for taking the time to write it up and share with us.

[oldpotatoe]

We're headed to beautiful Scotland in a few weeks with the family and wanted to reach out to the Paceline brain trust to see what suggestions the group has on things to do, places that have to be seen, suggested restaurants, historical sites (and sights), etc.

We're flying into Glasgow, spending a week in the Ft. Augustus area at the South end of Loch Ness (just to the West of Cairngorms National Park), a few days on Skye, and the remainder of the trip on the Western shore of Loch Lemond. Unfortunately, cycling is unlikely to be part of the trip, but we do plan to ride horses, hike, fish, boat, look for Nessie, eat some haggis, wear a kilt, etc.

Regale us with your Scottish tales. Where should we wander?

Thanks in advance! :)

Texbike

Glasgow-here
Burrell Collection

Glasgow School of Art

Glasgow has a great walking mall as well..great city. Not the 'detroit' of Scotland at all.

[Joxster]

I live in Edinburgh, bring yer wellies, it's rainin'

[oldpotatoe]

I live in Edinburgh, bring yer wellies, it's rainin'

Other than that....yer a lucky guy. Yes, my Great Grandfather was from Glasgow, but I found Scotland to be beautiful, friendly, interesting, steeped in Scottish history(fook the english!!), even if they don't speak english...;)

[cadence90]

I was fortunate to work on a building in Dundee, and so traveled there often for a couple of years.

Scotland is one of the most beautiful countries I have visited. I do wish I had had the chance to visit the western islands, but was never able to get that far over (from Edinburgh).

[rustychisel]

I live in Edinburgh, bring yer wellies, it's rainin'

The buses used to have posters on the sides proudly proclaiming that it rains 325 of 365 days a year.

That's something to be proud of???

I vote go somewhere else. Just about anywhere else. :cool::p

[old fat man]

We did 8 days in Scotland a few years ago. Edinburgh was the highlight. Beautiful city and such cool history. The ghost/haunted night tour of the old city was really fun.

We went to Loch Ness, took a boat cruise.

My wife is an Outlander fan so we also visited some popular sites from that book/show series.

Battlefield of Culloden was cool too.

[texbike]

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far. Unfortunately, we're not going to make it anywhere near Edinburgh on this trip. We'll primarily be North and Northwest of Glasgow.

Sounds like an awesome trip! You asked for Scottish tales, so here goes:

20yrs ago, during my last semester of undergrad and during a night of heavy drinking and heavier introspection, a buddy and I lamented that we'd never been abroad and needed to commit to a trip. To show my mettle, and despite my stupor, I called up Delta and booked a flight to London. My buddy swore he'd do the same the next day, as he didn't have a credit card and needed to secure funds from his parents. Well, you can guess how the next day panned out:

me - "did I think I bought a ticket to London last night....."
him - "Yeah....so my parents aren't going to pay for that"

So like that, I'm heading to Europe on my own for two weeks.

I'd traveled extensively in the US, but none of my friends had ever been abroad, nor had my parents, so I had a very romantic view of what it would be like "backpacking in Europe". I had friends studying at Oxford for the summer and figured I'd just stay with them.....only I forgot to tell them I was coming. And I had zero accommodations planned for a two week trip. What could go wrong.

So I land at Heathrow without a plan other than "hey, I know people in Oxford....and Pink Floyd is from there, so I can figure it out, right?" So I find a bus to Oxford, wander around town for a day and then run into a friend-of-a-friend on the street and crash for a couple of nights. But it turns out that they a.) don't like people who aren't studying there crashing in their dorms and eating in their cafeteria, and b.) they really don't like it when you're a guy and you're staying in the girls dorm.

So I'm off to London (the Scottish content is coming, I promise). I didn't know what to do and where to go, so I wandered the city for a few days and slept in train stations (hostels were packed full and this was pre-cell phone so I couldn't find a place and I had zero money). On a last ditch effort I went back to Oxford and convinced my friend to go to Scotland with me. It wasn't until we were about half way that I told her that "I hear backpackers sleep in cemeteries and parks all the time....we'll be fine."

Luckily for us, on the train to Edinburgh, we met a great guy who owned a pub in Stirling. When he heard we had no plan for a place to stay, he insisted we stay with him and could pay off our room/board by working at his pub. So for the 2nd week of my trip, I slept on his couch by day, he drove us around the Scottish countryside by day, and I tended bar at night. I'm Scottish by heritage, so we went to my ancestral area around Loch Lomond, we skinny dipped in the Loch, and all in all had a grand time. At one point I called home to tell my parents where I was....they thought I was staying in Oxford and were pretty surprised to hear that I was tending bar in Stirling. It took some soul searching to make the return trip home to the job I had waiting as I was pretty happy living that life for the time being.

It was one of my favorite trips of all time and something I wish I'd done a lot more of when I was younger.

Enjoy the trip and just see where life takes you while you're there! :beer:

K, that is a fantastic story! I had a similar experience in the USVI during college that ended up being a blast. Thanks for the tale. :)

Be sure to bring headnets and bug spray/lotion. It is peak midge season...

Enjoy!

Ughhh. Hadn't thought about that. Thanks for the heads-up.


I live in Edinburgh, bring yer wellies, it's rainin'

Yeah, the forecast for the last two weeks has shown nothing but rain. Hopefully, it'll rain itself out before we get there. :rolleyes:

Thanks again for all of the suggestions! We're excited (except for the midge part and the long plane ride). This will be our first time to take our kids overseas (Canada, doesn't count as overseas, right?). My daughter wants to ride ponies and see real castles and my son wants to see Nessie. It should be fun.

Texbike

[d_douglas]

I went on a solo mancation (only one this far) shortly before my son was born in 2011. I stayed in the West Highlands at Loch Torridon and it was incredible. I did ride my bike mostly, but could've easily had a great time hiking, drinking beer, wandering through small villages, etc. I look forward to taking my family there.

Oh yes, the midges are pretty awful ;)

Come to think of it, I was there at exactly this time of year !

[FlashUNC]

Went a little over a decade ago. Edinburgh is a great city. Really enjoyed it. I'd highly recommend the Scottish National Gallery.

[Joxster]

I used to spend a bit of time in Inverness, if you head east towards Aberdeen there's a load of distilleries to explore. In Inverness there's a few good restaurants at least one michelin star (Rocpool) Head down to Perth you have Scone Palace and Perth is an hour from Glasgow and Edinburgh. Glasgow is the more industrial of the two cities. You can get the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh in 40mins and the station is below the castle. Skye is a hell of a drive to get to but the Three Chimneys is michelin starred, to drive from Skye to Glasgow is a good four hours but it's stunning scenery, if using sat nav and it tries to take you via the Rest and Be thankful don't the road is closed.

[dumbod]

If you're on the West side of the country, try to stop in Fort William. (We really liked the Lime Tree Hotel.) Fort William is the mountain-bike capital of GB so there is some really good biking but there's also Ben Nevis which is the highest mountain in the UK and a great hike.

You can take the bridge to Skye but I'm old-fashioned; I prefer the ferry. It's not as efficient but hey.

If you've never been to a distillery then visit Talisker by all means but I'd give it a pass if you've ever been to one. I love whisky but if you've seen one, you've seen them all and most of them are pretty automated now. (Glenlivit has more people working in the gift shop than in the distillery.)

[texbike]

I went on a solo mancation (only one this far) shortly before my son was born in 2011. I stayed in the West Highlands at Loch Torridon and it was incredible. I did ride my bike mostly, but could've easily had a great time hiking, drinking beer, wandering through small villages, etc. I look forward to taking my family there.

Oh yes, the midges are pretty awful ;)

Come to think of it, I was there at exactly this time of year !

Wow! That sounds like fun. :) The online pics of Torridon look incredible. Thanks for the suggestion.

I used to spend a bit of time in Inverness, if you head east towards Aberdeen there's a load of distilleries to explore. In Inverness there's a few good restaurants at least one michelin star (Rocpool) Head down to Perth you have Scone Palace and Perth is an hour from Glasgow and Edinburgh. Glasgow is the more industrial of the two cities. You can get the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh in 40mins and the station is below the castle. Skye is a hell of a drive to get to but the Three Chimneys is michelin starred, to drive from Skye to Glasgow is a good four hours but it's stunning scenery, if using sat nav and it tries to take you via the Rest and Be thankful don't the road is closed.

Thanks for the heads-up on the road. We'll be headed from Skye back toward Glasgow and will take note of that route.

If you're on the West side of the country, try to stop in Fort William. (We really liked the Lime Tree Hotel.) Fort William is the mountain-bike capital of GB so there is some really good biking but there's also Ben Nevis which is the highest mountain in the UK and a great hike.

You can take the bridge to Skye but I'm old-fashioned; I prefer the ferry. It's not as efficient but hey.

If you've never been to a distillery then visit Talisker by all means but I'd give it a pass if you've ever been to one. I love whisky but if you've seen one, you've seen them all and most of them are pretty automated now. (Glenlivit has more people working in the gift shop than in the distillery.)

Fort Williams sounds like a great spot to check out. Thanks!!! And yes, we'll take the ferry versus the bridge. Good suggestion. :)

Thanks for all of the advice so far!

Texbike

[texbike]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! We had a wonderful trip and the kids loved it. We ended up spending a good portion of our trip on the shore of Loch Ness in Ft. Augustus and did day trips from there. The little town is fantastic!

We made it to Inverness, Skye, Torridon, Ullapool, the Cairngorms, Glencoe, Ft William/Nevis Range, the Trossachs, and Glasgow. The number of tourists on Skye made it a bit of a pain to get around, but the rest of the trip was incredibly easy. Beautiful country! And yes, the midges were brutal - especially around Torridon for some reason...

So, thanks again for the suggestions (and warnings). Here are a few pics for your enjoyment (apologies for bad iphone pics...).

EDIT - looks like my pics are going to require a bit of work to not load sideways. Stay tuned for more...

Texbike

[weisan]

great to hear, tex pal, hope to see more pics.

[d_douglas]

Awesome! I am envious. Yep, that's what it looked like for me. Well, it was pretty evenly split btw warm, grey skies and perfect sunshine. I couldn't complain.

I cant wait to take my monkeys there someday in a few years!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! We had a wonderful trip and the kids loved it. We ended up spending a good portion of our trip on the shore of Loch Ness in Ft. Augustus and did day trips from there. The little town is fantastic!

We made it to Inverness, Skye, Torridon, Ullapool, the Cairngorms, Glencoe, Ft William/Nevis Range, the Trossachs, and Glasgow. The number of tourists on Skye made it a bit of a pain to get around, but the rest of the trip was incredibly easy. Beautiful country! And yes, the midges were brutal - especially around Torridon for some reason...

So, thanks again for the suggestions (and warnings). Here are a few pics for your enjoyment (apologies for bad iphone pics...).

EDIT - looks like my pics are going to require a bit of work to not load sideways. Stay tuned for more...

Texbike