Advice for Scotland driving itinerary

We are planning a 15-day vacation in Scotland in late April. I would
appreciate suggestions for driving itineraries, hotels, unmissable sights,
good bases for stopovers, etc.



Our "skeleton" schedule is:



April 20 - Arrive Edinburgh. I haven't made reservations yet, but I'm
considering the Best Western Edinburgh City Hotel on Lauriston Place (south
of Old Town). If you've stayed there -- or if you can recommend other
hotels in this price range (60-75 pounds per night) within walking distance
of the city center -- can you offer a recommendation? Is it possible to
find reasonably priced restaurants in this area of the city?



April 23 - Rent a car and drive in the general direction of St. Andrews,
Perth, Aberdeen, Inverness, Inverlochy and Oban. We'd like to stay at least
2 to 3 nights at a time in towns or villages that would be convenient hubs
for day trips. We prefer small, b&b-style hotels, but private-home b&b's
are okay, too.



May 5 - Return car to Manchester Airport and celebrate our 25th anniversary
on the flight back to Chicago. If there's time, we may include a few days
in the Lake District and/or York on the way to Manchester.



How chilly will the weather be in the Highlands in late April? Too cold to
spend extended periods outside?



Many thanks for your any tips you can give a pair of first-time visitors.
============
Karen Walker, Champaign IL www.prairienet.org/bridge

"Karen Walker" wrote
| We are planning a 15-day vacation in Scotland in late April. I would
| appreciate suggestions for driving itineraries, hotels, unmissable sights,
| good bases for stopovers, etc.

There are some sample itineraries - and a wealth of other information - at
http://www.visitscotland.com/sightsa...?view=Standard

| April 20 - Arrive Edinburgh. I haven't made reservations yet, but I'm
| considering the Best Western Edinburgh City Hotel on Lauriston Place
(south
| of Old Town). If you've stayed there -- or if you can recommend other
| hotels in this price range (60-75 pounds per night) within walking
distance
| of the city center -- can you offer a recommendation? Is it possible to
| find reasonably priced restaurants in this area of the city?

According to the web that hotel is "Converted to a hotel from a historic
Victoran Maternity Hospital during 1998" so the plumbing should be fairly
modern :-)

Stac Polly 8a Grindlay St - this is a "Taste of Scotland" recognised
restaurant with a strong Scottish theme. Sample menu at
http://www.stacpolly.com/sample_menu.html
Their website says Dinner £25 - £30 Three Courses with Coffee, LUNCH £13.95
Two Courses with Coffee £16.95 Three Courses with Coffee

The Edinburgh College of Art is on Lauriston Place and it's convenient for
both the university area and the financial quarter, so there should be
plenty of cafes and bakers selling reasonable take-away lunches.

If you go to yell.co.uk and search for restaurants in EH3, then select EH3
Edinburgh, you'll get a full list. Many of the Lothian Road establishments
cater towards the after-pub clientele.

| April 23 - Rent a car and drive in the general direction of St. Andrews,
| Perth, Aberdeen, Inverness, Inverlochy and Oban. We'd like to stay at
least
| 2 to 3 nights at a time in towns or villages that would be convenient hubs
| for day trips. We prefer small, b&b-style hotels, but private-home b&b's
| are okay, too.

Check the local tourist board listings linked from visitscotland.com - in
April (easter aside) you will probably not need to book earlier ahead than
the morning if you are willing to be flexible.

| How chilly will the weather be in the Highlands in late April? Too cold to
| spend extended periods outside?

Not at all (I hope), but take a jacket for the evenings.

April 2003 weather summary:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/feature...scotland.shtml
The remarkably dry, warm and sunny weather experienced for much of March
continued until the last week of April, when there was a complete change to
a cyclonic weather type with rain and showers.
The mean value (for April 2003) was 8.0°C. 2.5°C above the 1961-90
average, which is in the exceptionally above average category. Warmest in
the series, previous warmest was 1987, when 7.3°C was recorded.
The (sunshine) total for (April 2003) was 5.94 hours per day. 132% of the
1961-90 average, which is in the exceptionally above average category.
Sunniest since 1984, when 6.03 hours per day was recorded.

Summary at
http://www.met-office.gov.uk/climate...tion/scotland/

30-year average graphs for Lerwick, Aberdeen and Glasgow are at
http://www.met-office.gov.uk/climate.../sunshine.html
http://www.met-office.gov.uk/climate.../rainfall.html
http://www.met-office.gov.uk/climate...and/winds.html


Tips - Midge repellent. Jungle Formula and Avon Skin So Soft Moisturiser
both seem well recommended on the walkscotland.com messageboard :-)

Owain

--
www.stirlingcity.org.uk

"Karen Walker" writes:

April 20 - Arrive Edinburgh. I haven't made reservations yet, but I'm
considering the Best Western Edinburgh City Hotel on Lauriston Place (south
of Old Town).

Since I live in Edinburgh I've never stayed in a hotel here, but if
I've got my geography right, that hotel was called Simpson's Hotel
when it first opened. My parents stayed there and loved it. Check
that free car parking is available at the hotel - parking is very
expensive and in short supply in that area. It's in an area called
Tollcross which is packed with relatively cheap restaurants. And
it'll have lots of drunks around late at night. I don't know if I
would want to walk back to the hotel up Lothian Road at night: that
road's infamous for late night drink-fuelled violence. Just up the
road there's also a new Novotel and Premier Lodge.

I'd guess that if you're going to stay in the city centre you might as
well stay in the (nicer) Old Town at somewhere like the Travelodge or
Jury's Inn or Ibis. (Again book car parking before you arrive though.)

--
-- Chris.

On Thu, 11 Mar 2004 22:02:06 GMT, "Karen Walker"
wrote:

We are planning a 15-day vacation in Scotland in late April. I would
appreciate suggestions for driving itineraries, hotels, unmissable sights,
good bases for stopovers, etc.



Our "skeleton" schedule is:



April 20 - Arrive Edinburgh. I haven't made reservations yet, but I'm
considering the Best Western Edinburgh City Hotel on Lauriston Place (south
of Old Town). If you've stayed there -- or if you can recommend other
hotels in this price range (60-75 pounds per night) within walking distance
of the city center --

A fair old walk to the city centre. Tuesday I spent a night in the
charmless but convenient and affordable Travelodge in St Mary's St.
More or less on the Royal Mile. for £54.95 /night. Excellent++ Italian
Restaurant right opposite. Restaurants pubs and night clubs abound
around there, it's also close to the Royal Museum (Must see the
millenium clock in there strike the hour, entrance is free). They have
rooms available on your dates.

www.travelodge.co.uk

can you offer a recommendation? Is it possible to
find reasonably priced restaurants in this area of the city?


Plenty.



April 23 - Rent a car and drive in the general direction of St. Andrews,
Perth, Aberdeen, Inverness, Inverlochy and Oban. We'd like to stay at least
2 to 3 nights at a time in towns or villages that would be convenient hubs
for day trips. We prefer small, b&b-style hotels, but private-home b&b's
are okay, too.



May 5 - Return car to Manchester Airport and celebrate our 25th anniversary
on the flight back to Chicago. If there's time, we may include a few days
in the Lake District and/or York on the way to Manchester.


Hmmm, Lake District = just more green countryside, hills and lakes
directly after 10 days in the Scottish Highlands, it's quite rainy
there too.

OTOH York is much too good to miss, Harrogate is also worth a look,
there are many small market towns in North and West Yorkshire which
are very pleasant, traffic is minimal on the country roads. Google for
Ilkley, Otley Knaresborough and Ripon.



How chilly will the weather be in the Highlands in late April? Too cold to
spend extended periods outside?


No. Around that time is when we used to have a full day city wide
childrens party in one of the parks when I was a kid, the boys wore
short sleeved shirts. We used to pray for sunshine, and once or twice
we got it.

IOW It's not like Chicago where the wind can freeze your ears solid
and break them off in seconds.

Bring warm clothing appropriate for your intended activities esp. if
it involves serious mountain walking.

DG

On Thu, 11 Mar 2004 22:02:06 +0000, Karen Walker wrote:

We are planning a 15-day vacation in Scotland in late April. I would
appreciate suggestions for driving itineraries, hotels, unmissable sights,
good bases for stopovers, etc.

I lived in Scotland for about 10 years and the places that stick in my
memory are Glen Coe, and the Assynt coast from Ullapool via Lochinver
(don't miss the pie shop!) up as far as Durness.

If you have time, and the weather is clear, Skye is fabulously beautiful.

J;

--
Encrypted e-mail address. Click to mail me:
http://cerbermail.com/?nKYh3qN4YG

On Sat, 13 Mar 2004 10:23:59 +0100, Jeremy Henderson
wrote:


I lived in Scotland for about 10 years and the places that stick in my
memory are Glen Coe, and the Assynt coast from Ullapool via Lochinver
(don't miss the pie shop!) up as far as Durness.

If you have time, and the weather is clear, Skye is fabulously beautiful.

J;

I certainly second those suggestions, but it really depends what kind
of scenery you like. Also distances in the NW especially might not
look very great, but the roads are narrow and twisty, and driving time
is longer than you expect. Why would you want to rush through such
wonderful areas anyway? :-)

Other fantastic areas a
Torridon
Loch Maree (magical place) and Gairloch,
Applecross
The whole of the road from Kyle of Lochalsh down Loch Duich, then the
dead-end stretch southwards over the Mam Ratagan pass, and round to
Glenelg and Loch Hourn.

If you don't go that far north, you can drive down Loch Ness from
Inverness (fun for the monster-spotter, but not that exciting as far
as loch scenery goes) then down to Fort William and on into Glen Coe
which is a must.
If you want to stop a day or two in Fort William (not very pretty but
extremely well situated) you could then take a train out to Mallaig
along what must be the most scenic rail journey in th UK. Glorious
mountians, a stop at the Jacobite memorial at Glenfinnan en route
(Bonnie Prince Charlie and all that) and then stunning views out to
the islands of Rum, Eigg, Muck and Skye. Better still take the boat
trip from Arisaig or Mallaig out to one or two of those islands -
fantastic views on a good day.


Just a note on midges which somebody mentioned - these can be a real
problem in late May, through to August, but unlikely to trouble you
much in April.
(It might sound like a small thing to whinge about, but believe me,
although they are tiny, they fly in their billions, and when you can't
avoid inhaling them, and they're crawling all over all your exposed
flesh, it's no joke!! Still, not in April.....)

Weather just tends to be very changeable - shouldn't be that cold, but
you need good waterproofs if you want to do any sort of walking.

You're in for a treat.

Paul
Leigh
Lancs
UK

Following up to Karen Walker

April 23 - Rent a car and drive in the general direction of St. Andrews,
Perth, Aberdeen, Inverness, Inverlochy and Oban. We'd like to stay at least
2 to 3 nights at a time in towns or villages that would be convenient hubs
for day trips. We prefer small, b&b-style hotels, but private-home b&b's
are okay, too.

drive up the west coast to Skye
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
Walking, Wasdale, Thames path, London etc "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Spain, food and walking "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap