6 days in Scotland

[topgunkos]

Hi,
I have friends coming over from Europe to Scotland and have asked for recommendations on what are the must-sees, they have 6 full days and starting in Glasgow and renting a car. What sort of itinerary would you propose for a 6 day trip?

[malks222]

hmmmm where to start:

Glasgow:
- weegie banter, shopping, bars/ pubs
- the 'subcrawl'
- kelvingrove museum
- transport museum
- science centre
- concert/ show on at the hydro

west cost:
- road trip up passed loch lomond way
- up through glencoe
- walk some of the west highland way
- fort william and off out to mallaig
- ferry to skye
- drive back from skye over the bridge and carry out round the north coast 500

very north:
- loch ness, have a wee stop off an try and spot nessie?

cairngorms/ speyside/ east coast:
- distillery tours?
- aviemore and go up the funiculair at the ski slopes
- braemar/ royal deeside for a wander about
- shooting/ hunting
- white water rafting/ canyoning/ or some random 'extreme' activity
- golf at st andrews or gleneagles, or a posh lunch afternoon tea at said venues

Edinburgh:
- restaurants, lots of michelin starred places to choose from
- shopping
- the castle
- arthurs seat
- the edinburgh festival for comedy/ shows/ general weird stuff in august
- boat tour of the forth bridges

central belt:
- the helix park/ kelpies @ falkirk
- falkirk wheel boat lift
- stirling castle/ wallace monument
- allan water cafe for fish and chips then ice cream in bridge of allan

hopefully there's some food for thoughts in that mix of loads of random stuff to do in scotland. suppose it depends on age/ likes/ dislikes. but plenty of stuff to do and see!

[thewhangie]

When are they coming, busy July Saturdays are not the best days for driving the A82 or A9.

Probably best to pick a few choice things and not be too ambitious with the driving.

[Robertj21a]

malks222 said:

hmmmm where to start:

Glasgow:
- weegie banter, shopping, bars/ pubs
- the 'subcrawl'
- kelvingrove museum
- transport museum
- science centre
- concert/ show on at the hydro

west cost:
- road trip up passed loch lomond way
- up through glencoe
- walk some of the west highland way
- fort william and off out to mallaig
- ferry to skye
- drive back from skye over the bridge and carry out round the north coast 500

very north:
- loch ness, have a wee stop off an try and spot nessie?

cairngorms/ speyside/ east coast:
- distillery tours?
- aviemore and go up the funiculair at the ski slopes
- braemar/ royal deeside for a wander about
- shooting/ hunting
- white water rafting/ canyoning/ or some random 'extreme' activity
- golf at st andrews or gleneagles, or a posh lunch afternoon tea at said venues

Edinburgh:
- restaurants, lots of michelin starred places to choose from
- shopping
- the castle
- arthurs seat
- the edinburgh festival for comedy/ shows/ general weird stuff in august
- boat tour of the forth bridges

central belt:
- the helix park/ kelpies @ falkirk
- falkirk wheel boat lift
- stirling castle/ wallace monument
- allan water cafe for fish and chips then ice cream in bridge of allan

hopefully there's some food for thoughts in that mix of loads of random stuff to do in scotland. suppose it depends on age/ likes/ dislikes. but plenty of stuff to do and see!

Good list, add Inverness and, possibly somewhere like Mull (in lieu of Skye which seems to now be tourist overloaded).
Of course, it really needs far more than 6 days.

[IJDW]

If it were me, I wouldn't want to spend too much time driving so I'd do something like this:

Arrive and head to Edinburgh for a couple days. Edinburgh is brilliant for tourists. Castle/Royal Mile/Shops/Arthurs Seat/Pubs etc.

Then somewhere scenic/outdoorsy for a few days. I'll suggest the Isle of Arran but there are plenty of options. 90 min drive to Ardrossan from Edinburgh for the ferry to Arran. 55 minute ferry. I go quite often and love it. Got family there.

Finish with the last day/2 days in Glasgow. Museums/Shops/Pubs etc. The transport museum is great.

If they were happy to do a lot of driving, the NW up near Ullapool is beautiful.

[tim0409]

Having lived in Edinburgh most of my life I only recently visited Mary Kings Close for the first time; it's a close that was sealed and built over after the plague, and it really is worth a visit.

[yellowbentines]

If they're feeling spendy...

Dinner and drinks in the quaint little town of Dunkeld, then one of the experiences at the Land Rover offroad centre nearby, the location is stunning and they'll get to go up into the hills for great views, see deer etc. Could be combined with clay pigeon shooting, quad biking, rafting or various other things nearby?

Lunch at the Boathouse on Loch Lomond followed by the seaplane tour. It covers an amazing amount of ground and on a good day they'll see lots that would take days to cover in a car.

[eein]

I would suggest two differernt approachs, depending on the appetite for long road trips or not:

1
A short road trip (eg 3 days) and then some day trips from Glasgow.
A 3 day short road trip could be to drive up to Braemar (less rain on the eastern side of the country). A half day drive up there, spend a couple of days doing things around there (eg walk up Linn of Dee, speyside distillery visits - Glenfarclas easily the best).
Day trips from Glasgow can be:
- Glasgow itself (places as listed in other post above),
- Edinburgh - easiest by train that takes you right in to Waverley so you can walk to the royal mile and castle,
- Stirling to see the Castle and Wallace Monument (for a nice day trip style drive there take the back road over the Campsie Hills to the north of Glasgow crossing over to Fintry - there's a car park on the way up to the pass which great views back over Glasgow if it's clear),
- Loch Lomond - drive up to Rowardennan and fouter about a bit, if you want a decent hike walk up Ben Lomond (proper hill so only do if you do 'proper' hills). For a much easier hill walk up The Whangie - more of a 30 min 'dog walk' with a cracking view up along Loch Lomond for classic pictures.

2
For a longer road trip avoid the NC500 - it's got too popular. I'd suggest getting to Orkney and back. Can be done many ways, here's just a suggestion. These are mostly full days driving, but not too hard and plenty of time to stop to see the veiws along the way. The below covers a huge variety of 'Scotlandness'.
- day 1 - drive up the A9 to Wick. Stay over there. There's lots of stop options on the way - I'd suggest Dunrobin castle.
- day 2 - visit the Old Pulteney whisky distillery and then set off to John O Groats, get the ferry from nearby to the St Margaret's Hope on Orkney and then drive along the Churchill Barriers to the 'main' islands'.
- day 3 - Do Orkney stuff - Scara Brae, Ring of Brodgar, Scapa Flow Musuem, Fluke Jewellery for some truely local trinkets (learn about Grotie Buckies!)
- day 4 - Ferry back to the mainland, maybe the main one to Thurso to mix things up. Drive west along the north cost to Bettyhill and then cut down the 'wee white roads' directly south to avoid the NC 500 and find equally amazing roads. Cut down via Bonar Bridge and work your way to Inverness. Stay somewhere around there.
- day 5 - drive down loch ness, visit the castles, views, look for nessie. Continue on to Fort William and drive along Glen Coe and over Rannoch Moor. If there's time side trip to Glen Etive for the most classic valley view in Scotland. Drive on down the side of Loch Lomond and stay somewhere near Glasgow.
- day 6 - Glasgow stuff and pick up some cheesy tourist stuff.

[nigelonich]

topgunkos said:

Hi,
I have friends coming over from Europe to Scotland and have asked for recommendations on what are the must-sees, they have 6 full days and starting in Glasgow and renting a car. What sort of itinerary would you propose for a 6 day trip?

Ben Nevis
Skye
Loch Ness
Edinburgh

Done. Just add some restaurants and hotels to fit that.

[Davie_GLA]

If you go to Oban make sure you eat at Ee-Usk, if you like seafood that is.

[Mr Roper]

Applecross for the views.