Honeymoon - 3 weeks in Scotland - What to do?

[cessna152towser]

Well I am biased being originally from the west coast of Scotland and now living in the Southern Uplands near the English border and I have to admit that I have no love for Edinburgh.
Glasgow, with its fine architecture, beautiful parks and vibrant waterfront is a must visit and in recent years some modern hotels have sprung up near the city centre and along the waterfront. Have afternoon tea in the Willow Tearooms on Sauchiehall Street and take tours of Glasgow University and Glasgow Cathedral. For the wife Glasgow is also good for shopping.
Glasgow is a good jumping off point for days out to the Clyde and Argyll coastlines and a trip to Dumfries, the largest town in the south, where Robert Burns spent his last years. You can visit Burns house in Dumfries, also the 400 year old Globe Inn where Robert Burns was a regular customer and where you can enjoy a dram. Ferintosh Guest House in Dumfries is directly opposite the railway station and is owned by an xmarksthescot member, Pour1Malt, who offers discount rates to xmarkers, although he is not very active on this forum.
Here in the Southern Uplands is a large concentration of tower houses and castles, testimony to years of strife with the English. If you are here during late March our Border Reivers Festival is a must see. Guests come here every year from all over the world. You could even take a short trip across the border and visit Carlisle Castle where some of the Scottish Reivers were imprisoned and be retold the story of the Reivers from the English perspective. The fastest trains from Glasgow reach Carlisle in just an hour and there are bargain fares to be had if you can book in advance.

[Standard]

At least 2, preferably 3 days on Skye, a couple of days on Islay, don't miss Inverness and Culloden, hiking at Fort William up to Ben Nevis, the "Harry Potter" train from Fort William to Malig and back. There is a great lodge north of Fort William named Corriegour Lodge that is very nice and has wonderful views.

[Jock Scot]

At least 2, preferably 3 days on Skye, a couple of days on Islay, don't miss Inverness and Culloden, hiking at Fort William up to Ben Nevis, the "Harry Potter" train from Fort William to Malig and back. There is a great lodge north of Fort William named Corriegour Lodge that is very nice and has wonderful views.

Well done Standard, you have done a super job of "selling" my part of Scotland! I could also add that Glencoe is only 15 miles from Fort William, Oban about 30 miles away with some stunning sceneary in between. If one really wanted to push the boat out, there is also just outside FW, Inverlochy Castle Hotel(not to be confused with the ruins of Inverlochy Castle) a sumptuous establishment with a fine menu, views and rooms and would most definitely meet your "luxury" requirements!

For the rest of Scotland, you have had good advice, but the far North of Scotland and the Borders of Southern Scotland should not be ignored. Personally, I would not spend too much time in Edinburgh as it is, generally speaking, not these days "real" Scotland.

[gealach]

Thanks for all the suggestions. We'll try and have dinner at Inverlochy Castle Hotel. I had no idea the Roux are cooking there.

I researched travel expenses a little and came up with a figure of around £110 per person, per day. Would you guys say that's reasonable?

[Nomad]

Depends on what you mean by travel expenses, if that includes hotels, meals and stuff to do in the daytime it is probably quite reasonable. If my memory serves me right I paid between £80 - £110 for B&B last June at most hotels/B&Bs so that would leave around £110 for everything else which in most cases will be fine. There will be exceptions for posh dinners etc but as long as you have a fund for "special" events that is probably OK.

Thanks for all the suggestions. We'll try and have dinner at Inverlochy Castle Hotel. I had no idea the Roux are cooking there.

I researched travel expenses a little and came up with a figure of around £110 per person, per day. Would you guys say that's reasonable?

[Kiltedjohn]

There's always the risk of trying to visit too many different places. In the end, you may spend so much time travelling between one place and another that you have too little time in each place ("This is - that was - Edinburgh"). Be selective. Difficult to advise which places to select! So much depends on interests and preferences. There are so many places to choose from.

[neloon]

There's always the risk of trying to visit too many different places. In the end, you may spend so much time travelling between one place and another that you have too little time in each place ("This is - that was - Edinburgh"). Be selective. Difficult to advise which places to select! So much depends on interests and preferences. There are so many places to choose from.

Solution: Come back again - many times.

Alan

[gealach]

Thanks John

This is exactly why we try to get as many suggiestions from either real Scots or people who have real experience with Sctoland.

Travel guides can only tell you so much. In my experience they're mostly geared towards the 'standard' tourist and thus, are rather superficial. The comments in this thread have already given me some very useful hints as to what we could be doing. In the end, we will be very selective, taking our time.

I have also thought about staying at the same place for five days at a time and making day trips in different areas. How would you go about it?

EDIT @neloon: That's already a given.

[Jack Daw]

I won't tell you where to go, but I have some logistics to consider as you are "hiring" a car:

• Print out and learn the road signs
• Instead of stop lights, Scotland uses roundabouts - give way/yield to the right, as you enter
• In the Highlands, a lot of roads between cities are single lanes, and you will, at times, have an approaching car - the first car that reaches a 'lay-by" on the left turns into it and lets the other car pass (Don't play 'chicken', it upsets the natives)
• There are no guard-rails when driving through the mountains; so, the passengers get to enjoy the view, not the driver (until you pull over into a scenic spot)
• I was in the Highlands for 3 weeks and drove: Go to the "i"s to get information on B&Bs, if you have not already made reservations

Some additional points:
- B&Bs are definitely the way to go, and a 'star' grade is used to rate the quality - a four-star B&B is the cleanest and nicest, if I remember correctly.
- There are right ways and wrong ways to tip. Read up on it.
- If you stay at B&Bs for three weeks, you will eventually need to do laundry: In 2003, laundry mats were scarce in the Highlands, and I sometimes had to coax a B&B manager/owner to let me use their washing machine/dryer. Hotels will let you use their machines, based on my experience.

[The Q]

We don't entirely use roundabouts, in the cities and larger towns we do have traffic(stop) lights, remember that it does mean stop, no turning left or right on red, unless there is a green arrow light beneath meaning you can turn left or right.

If you are visiting Edinburgh and not staying in it, then use one of the park and rides. ( there is one at the airport I use) where you can get the tram or bus into central Edinburgh. if you are staying Edinburgh then a day pass on the bus /tram system is very cheap too.
It's very cheap for those who use it, very expensive for the citizens of Edinburgh...