Have you been to Scotland? tell me about it

[bag13msu]

My DH and I are currently disagreeing on where to take our vacation. He wants the beach (belize, costa rica, etc) and I want Europe. Our vacation will be most likely be during hurricane season and wet seasons of his choices (which is why I do not want to go). So he threw out Scotland. What is there to do and see there and how long would you go for?

[dutchgirl678]

I love Scotland. When I went, it was August and while the weather is really unpredictable there I had mostly sunny days. In Agust, the military tattoo is taking place in Edinburgh as well as the Fringe festival which means lots of cultural options. You can also visit the castle and just wander the old streets and sample the local food and drinks at the pubs. I also spent a day in Inverness but was not too impressed with it. However, we were there on a Sunday and there was nothing to do it seemed like. I took the train from Edinburgh to Aviemore to meet a friend and we hiked a beautiful trail there. We also spent a few days on the Isle of Skye. Absolutely beautiful there! Lots of walking options, seeing Scottish Highland cows in the wild. On the road to there we stopped at Loch Ness and took a boat tour. We didn't find Nessie . And we visited the Eileen Donan castle which is the backdrop for lots of movies such as James Bond. I heard Glasgow is a really cool city to visit as well.

[wise_rita]

I love Edinburgh, I went to grad school there so lived there for a year. I think it's the perfect tourist city because it's so walkable, and there's lots to see. It's pretty affordable, too, compared to London.

When are you looking to go? I personally would prefer to avoid August and the Fringe Festival because sooooooo many people descend on the city it gets uncomfortably packed. That said, the military tattoo is incredible.

I didn't get out into the highlands as much as I should have, but did take a trip to the beautiful Isle of Skye.

How long do you have, or is that flexible? You could do Edinburgh itself in 3-4 days. You can fly there from Amsterdam on KLM, which connects from a lot of major US airports. If you wanted to branch out and see Glasgow, St Andrew, Loch Ness I think you could do it pretty thoroughly in 2 weeks.

[GilliC]

We went for a week, starting in Prestwick near Glasgow. It was a dirt cheap RyanAir flight, so the whole thing was kind of a spur-of-the-moment "Hey look how cheap these plane tickets are!" kind of thing. But it ended up being a fantastic trip and definitely among my favorites.

We sketched out an idea of where we wanted to go, and then just rented a car and drove around. Scotland is full of B&Bs, so we never had too much trouble finding a place to stay each night.

We ended up driving up along Loch Lomond and stopped in Fort William. We would have liked to hike up Ben Nevis, but we didn't really have enough time. Then we headed west, stopping at the Glenfinnan monument (and viaduct of Harry Potter fame). I would have loved to take the historic Jacobite rail trip, but the schedule and logistics just didn't work for us. So we drove up to Mallaig and then caught the ferry to the Isle of Skye. Spent a couple of days driving around and exploring the island (it's gorgeous), and visited the Talisker distillery.

We left Skye via the bridge and stopped at Eilean Donan Castle. We ended the day driving along the west side of Loch Ness and spent the night in Drumnadrochit, which is pretty tiny, but surprisingly fun, because we ended up at a little local pub (for the free Wi-Fi) and got to talking to a few of the locals. It's also home to the Loch Ness Center, so we visited in the morning before heading on to Inverness. From Inverness we visited the Culloden Battlefield, which wasn't terribly exciting for me (I'm not really a fan of battlefields in general) and Clava Cairns, which was hard to find but kind of cool if you'd read the history (I don't there was much signage, but we'd read about them in our guidebook).

We drove back down the east side of Loch Ness and then did some scenic driving through the highlands. Just driving around and enjoying the amazing scenery was really the highlight of the trip! While I'm usually a city-break fan and can spend days exploring museums and walking tours, I loved the space between towns in Scotland much more than any of the cities or towns themselves.

We stayed with some friends near Edinburgh, and visited some the city. On our last full day, we drove over to Stirling and the Wallace Monument and then headed down to the Falkirk Wheel (which was a must-see because we had been talking about it at work shortly before).

[osumelissa]

Great post - I was going to be posting something similar today! I am pretty sure Scotland is going to be my June solo vacation...probably will devote about 10 days or so and then head down to London for a few days.

I am guessing that renting a car is totally worth it right, and that I shouldn't be nervous about getting used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road?

[wise_rita]

Jan 31, 2014 8:48:01 GMT -5 osumelissa said:

Great post - I was going to be posting something similar today! I am pretty sure Scotland is going to be my June solo vacation...probably will devote about 10 days or so and then head down to London for a few days.

I recommend taking the train from Edinburgh instead of flying to London.  You don't want a car in London, anyway!

It takes 4.5 hours and it's a beautiful journey.  Really, that's not all that longer than a flight would take you.  Plus it takes you city center to city center, so you won't have the expense of getting to/from the airport (which is very cheap in Edinburgh, but not so in London).

As soon as you have your dates sorted book that train, because the price does go up.

[anna7602]

Jan 31, 2014 8:48:01 GMT -5 osumelissa said:

I am guessing that renting a car is totally worth it right, and that I shouldn't be nervous about getting used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road?

I will do anything possible to avoid having to rent a car on vacation and this is one case in which it was not only necessary, but completely nice. DH did all the driving, so I can't speak to getting used to driving on the other side of the road (I kept looking the wrong way when he would ask me if he was clear to make a turn or whatever), but I really didn't mind sitting in the car for long periods of time. The countryside was absolutely stunning.

[Deleted]

We're heading there for a 3 day weekend soon and this is what has been recommended to us:

www.thewitchery.com/

www.mussel-inn.com/

www.thedomeedinburgh.com/

www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk/ - even if you aren't a whisky drinker I was told it's worth going because it's really interesting... and you get to ride in a whisky barrel, what's not to love!

www.realmarykingsclose.com/

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186525-d1523950-Reviews-Stockbridge_Market-Edinburgh_Scotland.html

[sporky]

Bookmarking since we're planning a 3-week vacation this summer to England and Scotland. Thanks!

[mrsukyankee]

You definitely do not need a car to visit Scotland - you can use buses and trains to get around very easily. But if you do rent a car, don't be scared...it's not that bad to drive on the other side!

[osumelissa]

Jan 31, 2014 19:58:56 GMT -5 jamaicam said:

Jan 31, 2014 19:44:36 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

I recommend taking the train from Edinburgh instead of flying to London.  You don't want a car in London, anyway!

It takes 4.5 hours and it's a beautiful journey.  Really, that's not all that longer than a flight would take you.  Plus it takes you city center to city center, so you won't have the expense of getting to/from the airport (which is very cheap in Edinburgh, but not so in London).

As soon as you have your dates sorted book that train, because the price does go up.

I send that suggestion. The train is gorgeous, especially the bit from Edinburgh to York. 

Awesome...I will definitely take the train to London then. I am a huge fan of train travel to start with

[bag13msu]

Hmm, thank you all for the tips and advice

[Wanderista]

I agree with a lot of what has been posted. I enjoyed my time in Scotland. There is so much to see and to enjoy. I was there in March so I was freezing cold, but it was so beautiful. I'd love to go back and I only saw a segment of it.

I didn't have a car when I was there but you easily could. I found it pretty easy to get around on buses and trains too. I took a train up from London and I agree that it was beautiful. I went from London to Glasgow so I went through the Lake District. Going between Glasgow and Edinburgh was really easy. It was about an hour by train. Blink and you are in the next city.

Edinburgh is, indeed, beautiful. I know it gets crazy during the Fringe but there is so much to see and do the rest of the time as well. Personally, if I hadn't been there before, I wouldn't go during the Fringe. I'd want to do all the touristy stuff when the city is less crowded. Scotland is ruggedly beautiful. Even Edinburgh is too. It's like London meets the wild quality of Scotland. All the major historic sites there are worth seeing, the parks, the castle, the historic parts of town, the museums, etc.

Glasgow is also worth a visit in a different way. It's the butt of a lot of jokes but I liked my visit. It has a very different feel to Edinburgh. I was told that Glasgow is the more "Scottish" city, so I stayed there most of the time and used it as a base for easy day trips. Glasgow is a very artistic city with a lot of beautiful art nouveau buildings that have a kind of gritty quality. It's sort of "ugly beautiful" - as in, the buildings are kind of blackened and dirty, but there are so many fine architectural details. Really, if you like art nouveau then you should see it. I fell in love with the work of Charles Rennie MacIntosh there. I stayed in the artsy district as well which was pretty nice. I would recommend staying in that neighborhood near Glasgow School of Art but not necessarily where I did. The neighborhood was safe and interesting but my hotel was just ok. Not everyone appreciates Glasgow but I really enjoyed it and I found it to be a good base for the western part of Scotland.

I went to Oban because I have a family connection there and I did think it was very beautiful. The bus ride to Oban did totally blow my mind. It went north past Loch Lomond and around the various lochs and mountains to Oban (where you can catch a ferry to the Hebrides). It was a "I don't want to blink to miss anything" drive. I do recommend that. Another place that was really beautiful and where I would love to spend more time is Inveraray - just a beautiful town. If you Google it then you'll know what I mean. I'd love to go back there and the countryside around it is perfect.

I also went to Stirling which was easy to get to even from Glasgow. Like I said, it was really easy to get around. Stirling is worth seeing too for sure. I spent a lot of time in Stirling Castle and did not regret it. Basically, I never had a moment in Scotland where I said, "I wish I hadn't seen that." There is plenty more that I haven't seen yet, but yep, is it worth visiting the country? Without a doubt. Hard to go wrong, just try to stay in nicer neighborhoods in the cities.

One more thing that really blew my mind was just the sheer number of castles. If you love castles, it is paradise. There are the major famous ones but there are also so many beautiful abandoned medieval castles around. I went on a walk to some around Oban along the beach. It was a more beautiful experience than I could possibly describe to you.

[wanderlustfoodie]

Feb 1, 2014 9:51:15 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

You definitely do not need a car to visit Scotland - you can use buses and trains to get around very easily. But if you do rent a car, don't be scared...it's not that bad to drive on the other side!

I agree. I studied in Edinburgh for a semester and was able to see plenty without a car.

You've already gotten some great tips on things to see so I just wanted to chime in that Scotland is lovely and you should definitely go!

[meggers5]

I lived in Edinburgh for 2 years and go back twice a year, so let me know if you have questions at all about what to see/what to eat/where to drink and what tours are cool.

It's the most incredible city.

[Deleted]

Feb 5, 2014 16:10:44 GMT -5 meggers5 said:

I lived in Edinburgh for 2 years and go back twice a year, so let me know if you have questions at all about what to see/what to eat/where to drink and what tours are cool.

It's the most incredible city.

meggers5, I'm heading there for a long weekend soon and we're staying near the castle. I would love some food and drinks recs! Any price point and type of food its fine. It's just me and h and we're both adventurous eaters.

Thanks!

[meggers5]

Feb 6, 2014 3:30:41 GMT -5 @uwhuskygirl said:

Feb 5, 2014 16:10:44 GMT -5 meggers5 said:

I lived in Edinburgh for 2 years and go back twice a year, so let me know if you have questions at all about what to see/what to eat/where to drink and what tours are cool.

It's the most incredible city.

meggers5, I'm heading there for a long weekend soon and we're staying near the castle. I would love some food and drinks recs! Any price point and type of food its fine. It's just me and h and we're both adventurous eaters.

Thanks!

You got it.

Food:
I've never been, but The Witchery on the Royal Mile always has fantastic reviews. You need to make a reservation, but if you're into food,I'd say it's worth it.
For a quick bite, go to Oink on Victoria St. It's pulled pork sandwiches and you can get applesauce, onion and sage stuffing, and haggis on it.
On Young St you can go to the Cambridge Bar, where you can get burgers with anything on it. BF's favourite is the Aussie, which has beets, pineapple, an egg, bacon and who knows what else on it. They also have a great beer selection.
On Thistle St there Tex Mex 2. It's a tiny tex mex place but the food is fantastic (as are the margaritas). I recommend getting the crab floutas to start.

Drinks:
Ecco Vino on Cockburn St (off the Royal Mile). It's a great wine bar with a huge selection.
Brewdog on Cowgate. They have some really interesting flavoured beers.
The whisky bar at the Scottish Whisky Experience (top of the Royal Mile) has a massive whisky selection.
Tigerlily om George St for fancy cocktails.
Bar Kohl on George IV Bridge for great cocktails.

Bonus: If you like tea, go to Eteaket on Frederick St. It's an adorable little tea shop with a million different flavours, amazing cakes, and they do a great afternoon tea.

Any other questions, let me know. I love Edinburgh so much.

[frlcb]

Feb 6, 2014 3:30:41 GMT -5 @uwhuskygirl said:

Feb 5, 2014 16:10:44 GMT -5 meggers5 said:

I lived in Edinburgh for 2 years and go back twice a year, so let me know if you have questions at all about what to see/what to eat/where to drink and what tours are cool.

It's the most incredible city.

meggers5, I'm heading there for a long weekend soon and we're staying near the castle. I would love some food and drinks recs! Any price point and type of food its fine. It's just me and h and we're both adventurous eaters.

Thanks!

There is a pub across the street from the radisson blu near the castle that is really good. And go to Wedgwood, also on the royal mile, so so good. m.wedgwoodtherestaurant.co.uk

[wise_rita]

The best caramel slice I've ever had is across from the Grassmarket, on the east side across the road from Biddy Mulligan's pub. It's called CQ Cafe and man I hope that place is still in business.

Man I love that slice!

[meggers5]

Feb 7, 2014 3:19:05 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

The best caramel slice I've ever had is across from the Grassmarket, on the east side across the road from Biddy Mulligan's pub. It's called CQ Cafe and man I hope that place is still in business.

Man I love that slice!

It's not! I meant to tell you. I saw that it was gone and thought of you.

And they changed the desserts at The Chanter. I don't know what to do with myself, dessert-wise, in that city anymore .

[wise_rita]

Feb 7, 2014 9:18:25 GMT -5 meggers5 said:

Feb 7, 2014 3:19:05 GMT -5 wise_rita said:

The best caramel slice I've ever had is across from the Grassmarket, on the east side across the road from Biddy Mulligan's pub. It's called CQ Cafe and man I hope that place is still in business.

Man I love that slice!

It's not! I meant to tell you. I saw that it was gone and thought of you.

[sb]

We're going in 3 1/2 weeks and I'm so psyched!

Right now the plan is to spend a couple of days in Edinburgh, then head up to Inverness and then over the Skye/the Hebrides. Now I'm thinking I should try to convince my husband of doing somewhere else in the highlands. He really wants to see Loch Ness though.

We'll be renting a car and playing a lot of things by ear, just depending on where we end up each day.

[pittpurple]

Feb 6, 2014 3:30:41 GMT -5 @uwhuskygirl said:

Feb 5, 2014 16:10:44 GMT -5 meggers5 said:

I lived in Edinburgh for 2 years and go back twice a year, so let me know if you have questions at all about what to see/what to eat/where to drink and what tours are cool.

It's the most incredible city.

meggers5, I'm heading there for a long weekend soon and we're staying near the castle. I would love some food and drinks recs! Any price point and type of food its fine. It's just me and h and we're both adventurous eaters.

Thanks!

@uwhuskygirl

I live in Edinburgh (Hi Meg!)

My all time favourite restaurant is Rhubarb at Prestonfield House, it's in an amazing old home and it's just spectacular. Totally well worth it. I've gone for afternoon tea a bunch of times and for dinner for my birthday once. (http://www.prestonfield.com/Dining-RhubarbRestaurant.html) It took me years to find as it's not in town, you'd probably take a taxi. Go early and have a pre-dinner cocktail in the drawing room - so fun!

The owner owns The Witchery and the Tower Restaurant at the Museum of Scotland. Rhubarb is my favourite but there are arguments for all of them! The Witchery and Tower Restaurant do pre-theatre menus which are super affordable so you could easily try them all.

The best place ever for a cocktail or fancy lunch is The Dome (http://www.thedomeedinburgh.com/). It's in an old bank and it just absolutely gorgeous. My favourite place in the centre of town - well worth it to pop in for a drink if you're at any of the museums in town. No reservations accepted but I've never had a problem getting a table and though it looks fancy, they aren't pretentious at all - I've gone in jeans and sneakers after a rugby game (and in a cute dress for cocktails with my girlfriends) - really, anything goes. So worth a stop!

[Deleted]

Only been to Edinburgh. It was wonderful. The city is incredibly beautiful. There're also hills and beaches. I went in April, and it was nice enough. It would be even nicer in the summer.

[Deleted]

I just got back from Edinburgh today and it's a beautiful city. It's not my favorite, but I'm really glad that we went. It was a really low key and relaxing weekend. I think we would have enjoyed it more if we were more interested in golfing or whiskey, but despite not being golfers or whisky lovers I'm really glad we spent a weekend there. I think 3-4 full days would be perfect in Edinburgh. 

We flew from London to Edinburgh because flights were a lot cheaper than the train and it took just about the same amount of time. We took the Airlink bus (route 100) once we got into Edinburgh, it was 30 minutes from the airport to the city center and £7 round trip.

We stayed here and the hotel wasn't anything fancy, but it was clean, nice and really easy to walk places: www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186525-d4089712-Reviews-Angels_Share_Hotel-Edinburgh_Scotland.html 
All of the rooms are named and themed after famous people. 

One of the things that I knew I really wanted to do was get some of H's family's tartan to make pillows or a throw out of. We went to a few places and buying it by the yard was a little harder than I was expecting. I ended up finding a place that sells it by the yard, but it was all cut to order. They're sending it to us in a few weeks. www.geoffreykilts.co.uk/ 

We went to the castle and spent about 2 hours there, wandering around the grounds. The views up there were amazing. Definitely worth going. 

We also did the underground Mary King's Close tour: www.realmarykingsclose.com/ 
If you're interested in doing that it's worth it to book in advance because the tickets were sold out. It was delightfully cheesy, but really interesting to see what the streets were like back in the day. The tour was about an hour and it was kind of fun. 

Even if you aren't a whisky fan (neither one of us are) I think it's worth it to go to the Scotch Whisky Experience. You learn quite a bit about whisky and the tasting is really educational. We opted for the gold experience (5 tastings each), but I wish that we would have gotten 1 silver (1 tasting) and then shared 1 gold tour. The tour is the same, but the only difference is 4 extra tastings at the end. The pours are really generous and for 2 non-whisky drinkers 1 gold package would have been more than enough. 

We wanted to climb Arthur's Seat, but the weather was too bad to do it. It looks like a decent little hike though. 

We ate and drank here: 

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186525-d4748689-Reviews-The_Black_Cat-Edinburgh_Scotland.html 

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186525-d720094-Reviews-Mussel_Inn-Edinburgh_Scotland.html (I wouldn't recommend getting the oysters, I didn't think they were very good.) 

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186525-d2191845-Reviews-Bibi_s_Bakery-Edinburgh_Scotland.html 

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186525-d4053982-Reviews-BrewDog_Edinburgh-Edinburgh_Scotland.html

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186525-d796842-Reviews-The_Last_Drop-Edinburgh_Scotland.html


Tried to go, but it was too crowded (we didn't think about it being Valentines Day weekend and didn't make reservations anywhere in advance):

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186525-d732347-Reviews-Ecco_Vino-Edinburgh_Scotland.html 

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186525-d752894-r86012577-The_Cambridge_Bar-Edinburgh_Scotland.html

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186525-d720945-Reviews-The_Witchery_by_the_Castle-Edinburgh_Scotland.html

Thanks for the tips everyone! They were all really helpful!