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Looking for a base in the Highlands of Scotland

WoohooJen

10+ Posts
We’ll be in Scotland in August and I really know nothing about Scotland! Philip has been on a golf trip, before and is so excited to see more, and I’m using Rick Steves’ Scotland book as a resource. But his 14+ day tour around the highlands includes a whole lotta moving! We have 3 weeks and I’d really love to pick 2-3 bases and day trip. Is that possible? I know the distances are not too bad since it a fairly small area, but how is the travel? Are roads too difficult? We have a car, are starting in Glasgow and would like to circle the highlands clockwise and end in Edinburgh. Alright experienced Slow Travelers… what do you suggest?
 
Do you know about the midges that are in Scotland in the summer? There are websites that track them. Having experienced black flies in northern Ontario, which I think are like these midges, I would try to avoid them. Some areas are better from what I’ve read, but I can’t remember the details. Does Rick Steve’s mention them?

For 3 weeks, I would do 3 1-week rentals but can’t advise where.

I’ve been reading about the Orkneys and would love to go there. We’ve only seen southern Scotland, over 30 years ago! There are some interesting stone circles in the northern part that I would like to see.
 
The Rick Steves itineraries do involve a lot of moving around and you may well end up seeing more of Scotland through the windscreen rather than actually experiencing Scotland. Unfortunately many people end up slavishly following them, regardless of whether they are right for them.
Your idea of choosing bases for several nights and exploring from them is the right way to go.

I actually prefer DK Eyewitness Scotland as a travel guide. It has a lot of pictures and the maps are good enough to get started with planning. It covers many areas ignore by the other guide books.

Once I’ve decided on an area I an to visit, I go to the Undiscovered Scotland website. This is a wealth of ideas. start with the relevant map page and then follow the links to text pages with photos and information.

Don’t underestimate driving times. Scotland may look a fairly small area compared with the states, but distances will take a lot longer to cover than you might expect. If using google maps it is recommended to add 25% to their driving times and then add on time for stops. Off the motorways, roads are often narrow and can be very slow.

August is the height of the tourist season and many places will already be fully booked up - this particularly applies to places like Skye and Mull, so I've not included them in these suggestions, although it would be possible to see some of them on a long day tour. I've also discounted Orkney too along with shetland and Western Isles. (more wonderful places for another visit!)

Starting in Glasgow - spend 2or 3 days in Glasgow to recover from jet lag. There’s so much to see and do in the city - cathedral and many world class museums, especially the Burrell Collection. You won’t need a car in Glasgow.

Pick up a hire car from the airport. Arnold Clarke get consistently good reviews or Celtic Legend.

Head to either Oban or Fort William for your first base. Then head across towards Inverness, but rather than stopping in Inverness itself, think Dingwall, Beauly or Strathpeffer to the north and west OR Nairn to the east.

My final base would be St Andrews or one of the Fife Fishing villages.

I would suggest 4-5 nights for each of these places. (Use Undiscovered Scotland for isdeas for each place).

You are wanting to finish in Edinburgh BUT be warned Edinburgh is always busy in August. Accommodation is at a premium, probably fully booked and prices are sky high. The Tattoo finishes 26th August and the Festival on 28th. You may have problems finding somewhere suitable in Edinburgh itself before then. Linlithgow is a possible or else head for somewhere to the south in the Borders - possibly Melrose for the rest of the stay.

If you do stop in Edinburgh itself, you won't need a car so drop the car off at the airport and use public transport.

I did look at trying to include a loop round the top of Scotland on what is marketed as Route 500 but that would involve a lot of 2 night stays and there is limited accommodation up there and (like Skye) it is likely to be fully booked in August. I've tried to think of places where you should be able to find accommodation without too many problems.

Use this very much as a taster trip. I'm sure you will want to be back and there are so many more wonderful places to explore...
 
Do you know about the midges that are in Scotland in the summer? There are websites that track them. Having experienced black flies in northern Ontario, which I think are like these midges, I would try to avoid them. Some areas are better from what I’ve read, but I can’t remember the details. Does Rick Steve’s mention them?

For 3 weeks, I would do 3 1-week rentals but can’t advise where.

I’ve been reading about the Orkneys and would love to go there. We’ve only seen southern Scotland, over 30 years ago! There are some interesting stone circles in the northern part that I would like to see.
Yikes! I haven't heard about the midges, but will start that research right now. Thanks for the heads up, Pauline! I hope they are not much worse than the mosquitos in our neck of the woods!
 
The Rick Steves itineraries do involve a lot of moving around and you may well end up seeing more of Scotland through the windscreen rather than actually experiencing Scotland. Unfortunately many people end up slavishly following them, regardless of whether they are right for them.
Your idea of choosing bases for several nights and exploring from them is the right way to go.

I actually prefer DK Eyewitness Scotland as a travel guide. It has a lot of pictures and the maps are good enough to get started with planning. It covers many areas ignore by the other guide books.

Once I’ve decided on an area I an to visit, I go to the Undiscovered Scotland website. This is a wealth of ideas. start with the relevant map page and then follow the links to text pages with photos and information.

Don’t underestimate driving times. Scotland may look a fairly small area compared with the states, but distances will take a lot longer to cover than you might expect. If using google maps it is recommended to add 25% to their driving times and then add on time for stops. Off the motorways, roads are often narrow and can be very slow.

August is the height of the tourist season and many places will already be fully booked up - this particularly applies to places like Skye and Mull, so I've not included them in these suggestions, although it would be possible to see some of them on a long day tour. I've also discounted Orkney too along with shetland and Western Isles. (more wonderful places for another visit!)

Starting in Glasgow - spend 2or 3 days in Glasgow to recover from jet lag. There’s so much to see and do in the city - cathedral and many world class museums, especially the Burrell Collection. You won’t need a car in Glasgow.

Pick up a hire car from the airport. Arnold Clarke get consistently good reviews or Celtic Legend.

Head to either Oban or Fort William for your first base. Then head across towards Inverness, but rather than stopping in Inverness itself, think Dingwall, Beauly or Strathpeffer to the north and west OR Nairn to the east.

My final base would be St Andrews or one of the Fife Fishing villages.

I would suggest 4-5 nights for each of these places. (Use Undiscovered Scotland for isdeas for each place).

You are wanting to finish in Edinburgh BUT be warned Edinburgh is always busy in August. Accommodation is at a premium, probably fully booked and prices are sky high. The Tattoo finishes 26th August and the Festival on 28th. You may have problems finding somewhere suitable in Edinburgh itself before then. Linlithgow is a possible or else head for somewhere to the south in the Borders - possibly Melrose for the rest of the stay.

If you do stop in Edinburgh itself, you won't need a car so drop the car off at the airport and use public transport.

I did look at trying to include a loop round the top of Scotland on what is marketed as Route 500 but that would involve a lot of 2 night stays and there is limited accommodation up there and (like Skye) it is likely to be fully booked in August. I've tried to think of places where you should be able to find accommodation without too many problems.

Use this very much as a taster trip. I'm sure you will want to be back and there are so many more wonderful places to explore...
Good info, Eleanor... Thanks! I didn't fully explain that Scotland is the end of a 5 month trip!
March 21 we cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona
3 days in Barcelona then train to Dordogne where we pick up a car and stay in an Airbnb just outside Bergerac for 2 weeks. Drive to Provence and stay for 2 weeks near Lacoste. Fly to Florence for 3 days, then pick up another car and drive to Tuscany for 2 weeks, then Umbria for 2 weeks. Fly to Amsterdam for 1 week. Fly to Bristol and drive to Cornwall - 3 locations for 3 weeks. Next is Sidmouth, Devon for 10 days, then Cotswolds for a week or so (still under construction), THEN Scotland for 3 weeks. We need to end in Edinburgh because our friends will join us for a golf trip to wrap up our adventure. SO... I'm excited to dig in to your ideas and suggestions! We are trying to get all accommodations booked before we leave at the end of March, and right now it looks like we have plenty of choices, but I do get that we are hitting Scotland at the busiest time of year. Sure am glad I found this Forum!
 
If you really enjoy live theater, music, art exhibits, and/or book fairs, then August in Edinburgh is very much right time, right place (we’ve been to the August festivals there at least 10 times). I agree that you’d need to book an Airbnb or such much in advance. But if you’re going primarily to tour the town, the large numbers of August festivals goers will probably just annoyingly be in your way in every way.
Been fishing in the highlands right after the festivals close at the end of August several times without being much harassed by the midges. Lots of lovely country houses for visitors all over the beautiful countryside, so we often start with that choice and make it our ground zero for several days and explore the environs around there. Never been disappointed.
Enjoy!
 
What a wonderful trip. I am envious! Forget the comments about jet lag, but Glasgow is still worth a couple of days!

What route are you planning to take to reach Glasgow as you could amble up through Dumfries and Galloway on the way up or even take a trip across to Arran.

Arran is often described as Scotland in miniature and has some stunning scenery along with a distillery, ruined castle, stately home, amazing wildlife.... You can hit the hit spots in a day but a few days gives you chance to slow down and really enjoy it.
 
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We did a Scotland trip in 2015. Flew in to Edinburgh rented a car for 2 weeks. Stayed at a B&B near St. Andrews so hubby could live the dream and golf by the wee stone bridge. The town is beautiful. He was able the get a tee off by showing up at 5 am and waiting for a cancellation (a tip from our host as he didn’t think he would actually get to golf there).

We stayed here at Monastery Apt in Ft Augustus. About an hr to Skye or Inverness and Culloden. Good highland base on a beautiful property but not much local in Ft. Augustus. Visited distilleries and drove the beautiful countryside.

We returned the car for the last few days in Edinburgh. Roads are good and driving was pretty easy in the fall. May be busier in the summer. Driving standard on the left going through a round about first thing in the morning after an overnight flight just about did in my husband, but that was the worst of it.
 
WOW! The Monastery looks lovely! So in the meantime, we just jumped in and got it all booked. We will:
Fly into Glasgow and spend a couple nights in a hotel.
Pick up a car and drive to Oban for 4 nights in an Airbnb. ( distillery, Mull/Iona/Staffa and hopefully puffins, a day trip to Glencoe/Ft William with a hike in Glencoe Valley)
Drive to Portree for 4 nights on Skye in a hotel. ( as much of Skye as possible)
Drive to Hopeman for 6 nights in an Airbnb. ( some golf, Inverness and area, Nairn, Loch Ness)
Drive to Blairgowrie for 6 nights Airbnb. ( hiking, fly fishing, relaxing, Stirling, Balmoral - but looks like it will be closed for tours at this time, darnit)
Drive to Edniburgh for 2 nights until our friends arrive to begin a golf trip.

So now... can anyone recommend a fishing guide near Blairgowrie? Or any puffin sighting advice? Or any other tips or ideas?

Y'all are the best!
 

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