hints for visiting Scotland?
Hi,
in August this year I will visit for the first time Scotland with my wife and doughter. My holiday tour starts in Edinburgh via Inverness to Glasgow and lasts about 12 days. I use my own car and most of the time we have bed and breakfast. It is a tour organized by a travel agency. The details of the tour I will know next days I hope.
Now I want to ask scottish natives (if present here at the forum) for hints for the tour. Are there any places we should not miss.
Beside typical scottish sights I would like to visit historic railways or museums (also special technical museums).
Greets Ingo.
in August this year I will visit for the first time Scotland with my wife and doughter. My holiday tour starts in Edinburgh via Inverness to Glasgow and lasts about 12 days. I use my own car and most of the time we have bed and breakfast. It is a tour organized by a travel agency. The details of the tour I will know next days I hope.
Now I want to ask scottish natives (if present here at the forum) for hints for the tour. Are there any places we should not miss.
Beside typical scottish sights I would like to visit historic railways or museums (also special technical museums).
Greets Ingo.
Post edited by ingo on
Comments
If you're driving then I'd say to make sure you get out of the city's etc and see some of the scenery! From what I've seen on the telly, it looks stunning up there :-)
http://www.thedungeons.com/edinburgh/en/
But a set of thermal underwear. :D
Also check out the greyfriars cemetery in Edinburgh, it's free!!! :D
I did go to loch lomand once, it was just a massive lake, so it might be a thing to avoid them, even if it sounds like something you should be visiting. ;-)
Went from Edinburgh to Aberdeen by train all the way up the East coast, very nice scenery and saw seals basking on rocks, as well as going over the Forth Bridge. Impressive.
Can only really mention a few things in Edinburgh, Mary Kings Close which is an undeground village where Scottish people used to live for reasons I can't remember. There is also a tour of the Catacombs which are haunted, but may not be suitable for children as it is a bit "grown up" in places. There is a Museum of Childhood, which is a bt small but free. Close by is a Bagpipe museum. There is also a musical instrument museum but its open at odd times.
The Castle is worth a look, but I didn't go in, they let a cannon off sometimes.
My last visit to Scotland took in Lossiemouth which is the furthest North I have been, it was cold and wet. Also very noisy due to the RAF base nearby.
But again, nice scenery and nice people.
I don't think they lived underground. They just built the bridge on top of their houses. Then sealed it all up, because no one wanted to live under a bridge. :-D
I do not want to give the impression that the current residents of Edinburgh evolved from creatures that once lived underground.
The seafood on Mull... something else!
Stirling Castle is a must. The Wallace Monument is worth a look in - not much there but stunning views of Stirling, Bannockburn and the Ochill Hills when you reach the top.
Also check out Balhousie Castle in Perth. It is the museum for the Black Watch and a place I have spent many hours - and could spend many more!
Search for a place called Dunkeld that's a nice place. Park there and do the walk to Loch of the Lowes - or park at the loch and walk to Dunkeld - it's maybe 2-3 miles I think through the countryside.
Blairgowrie is charming little place and if you are lucky (like we were) you might see Billy Connolly walking about the place. He owns a pad near there I'm told.
I'm told Apple Cross is picture perfect scenery, but not made it up there yet.
Inverness is lovely enough but try and get to Buckie - people talk well funny there!
In and around Loch Tay is stunning too I'm told...but that is another on my "to do" list. I want to see the Crannog that is there.
Edinburgh is, well, Edinburgh. Cram packed full of history but very busy.
Castle Urqhart I also enjoyed.
There are also Scone Palace and Glamis Palace to see. Not too bad price wise, both are beautiful houses and the staff at both are very informative and friendly.
If you want to come down more to the borders region, seek out Hermitage Castle, again not really a lot to do but the place itself has a great reiver back story.
If your daughter is young, search out a Pictavia centre and take her there...lots to do for kids - I loved it and I was in my mid 30s'! :-D
Try the ferry ride down Loch Ness/Caledonian canal. Great Stuff. When we did it, we were treated to a low level flying exercise by some Tornadoes (I think?) whilst on the boat. Awesome to see them machines at quite a close distance.
I myself will be back in Scotland at the end of August for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo...can't wait! :)
If you fancy trying to beat my world-record score for New Zealand Story, visit Nice n Sleazy's on Sauchiehall Street, they do fantastic burgers, my favourite being the "Murderous Hog" (Pork mince, pulled pork, smoked bacon, and bourbon jam) for ?8.45.
Outside of Glasgow...I love Oban. Lovely wee town. And right up in the very top left hand corner of Scotland is a beach called Sandwood Bay, regularly voted Britain's most beautiful beach. And rightly so. It takes forever to drive to, and the nearest car park is 2 miles away; as a result you can have the entire beach to yourself. It is also haunted. And has the wreckage of an upside down Spitfire visible at low tide.
The far North of Scotland, where it's always freezing (well, look at the lattitude) is supposed to have some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, including a waterfall that's three times higher than Niagra falls. It's very underpopulated (human being-wise) since it's so cold and rains so much, so you probably won't want to go there, but if you do then the people who've been there say it can be stunning (but *very* cold!)
You might want to avoid driving in Edinburgh if possible - it can be a nightmare with traffic / bus lanes, and parking is expensive. I suggest using the park-and-ride sites located around the outlying areas (free parking). Buses (and now trams) run into the centre every 10 minutes or so.
Here is a map of Edinburgh I made for some Dutch friends a year or two ago:
I think you are thinking of the West coast - that's where the iconic Highland scenery is (Glen Coe, Glen Nevis, etc).
Way up the at the top of the country, and over to the the East it gets kinda 'flat' (by Highland standards anyway).
I can be frikkin' cold sometimes, but they do have palm trees in Ullapool and other places in the West though. :wink:
Don't eat the local cuisine, unless you're fond of blocked arteries.
Don't wear an "I love England" T-Shirt.
Don't try to interact with the natives. Rumour is they speak English but I'm not convinced.
The Castle is a must see. Remember, you have a military museum there, quite nice with captured flags and such. And they fire a cannon at 1PM ;-)
The Scottish National Museum is good. Good exhibitions ranging from history to tech stuff, also good about geology.
And Arthur's Seat / Calton Hill are great for a nice walk and views.
There's more to see, but those would be at the top of my list.
I did a few tours to the highlands, and what impressed me more was Glencoe (and the road to get there). Pitlochry is also quite nice.
As for the rest, can't comment, I've only been to Edinburgh.
People do speak English, but a foreigner like myself, it might take a few minutes of immersion to get used to the accent. So don't panic if you don't understand much at first :-) After a while, no problem.
I truly recommend it, specially if you don't like the summer heat. That's my case, coming from southern europe I just want to escape 40?+ summers and crowded beaches!
http://www.nms.ac.uk/our_museums/national_museum_of_scotland.aspx
http://www.nms.ac.uk/our_museums/national_war_museum.aspx
And then there's the National Museum Of Flight just along the road from where I stay....which isn't in Edinburgh, but about half an hour away on the train...
http://www.nms.ac.uk/our_museums/museum_of_flight.aspx
And yeah, the Edinburgh Festival will be on in August, so if you've got any nights free in Edinburgh, just go out for a walk and you'll probably have people come up to you offering free or half-price tickets to comedy shows/plays/etc.... :)
Then there's the old Sinclair/Timex factory on the corner of Harrison Road/Faraday Street (it's now a JTC building.)
Or there's the Kingsway (motorway) and train station to make your escape :D
Oh, and as it's Scotland, bring waterproofs, thermals and shorts as you'll probably need them all in one day :lol:
I don’t think I have the stomach for it.
--Raziel (Legend of Kain: Soul Reaver 2)
https://www.youtube.com/user/VincentTSFP
Visit Glasgow if you like to gamble - and see if you come back alive!:grin:
You can nip over to the black isle and watch the dolphins.
Oh and u can drop in on my brother and buy the eejit a drink:)
thank you very much for your tips - if I know the schedule from the travel agency I will create a small guide including some maps using your hints and print it myself.
Can you recommend a provider for a prepaid smartphone card to use at the trip. Most important would be to have a provider with a net that could be used all the way. In the past I never used the internet while my hollidays but nowadays it seems to be usefull to get some local information.
Greets
Ingo.
I'd recommend the Vodafone network. I've found it has the best coverage in remote areas of Scotland- even in the heart of the Cairngorms national park.
Sainsbury's (A large supermarket chain in the UK) offers their own SIM card that uses the Vodafone network. The rates are decent, and you can pick up a SIM in one of their many stores.
http://www.phoneshopbysainsburys.co.uk/bundle
Edinburgh zoo is also worth a look if you're into that kinda thing.
As a Yorkshire chap I'm a bit embarrassed that I've only been to Scotland once (I did live in Wales for 16 years before moving back though ;)).
Yeah, Camera Obscura is great! unless you don't do stairs very well...there are a lot of stairs! Lots of great holograms and illusions to look at as well as the Obscura itself...
http://www.camera-obscura.co.uk/
And the castle is a bit of a rip off, Unless you go on St. Andrew's Day (November 30th) when you can usually get in for free! :)
And if you top it up in a Sainsburys store you get ?5 off yer shopping as well!
Well impressed!
Seriously though - I've only been in Sotland once...and that was Edinburgh last year and I quite enjoyed it (except for the rain PISSING DOWN on the first evening).
I'd like to go back to there though. Perhaps even a trip 'round the countryside at some point too.
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah