Quote Originally Posted by MacKay71 Wife View Post
First, we are hoping to go for a minimum of 10 days. From what we're hearing, any shorter than that would be a waste for our first trip.
Second, LOVE history. Not really into museums per se, but really love to visit historical places. And, I am really looking forward to visiting places so much older than we have in the states.
Third, The Tattoo is definitely on the list, which is the other reason for considering going in August.
Fourth, Scott has been talking about visiting a particular island (sorry, the name escapes me at the moment) where there are several distilleries, so I'm sure that will be a must-see as well!
Fifth, yeah, Nessie might be fun!! I don't mind a few tacky tourist things, I just don't want most of the trip to be that!!!!
The island will be Islay probably (ignore the y and pronounce it like that actress Isla Fisher). Islay whiskies are excellent, in a class of their own. If you are going to Islay from Glasgow (or even Edinburgh), the trip up the west coast of Loch Lomond is very beautiful and the Loch Fyne Oysterbar (at the top of Loch Fyne) has great seafood. You can get a ferry to Islay from Kincraig on the Mull of Kintyre, or (AFAIK) a stopoff one from Oban. Someone else might be able to recommend a preference on that, I've not done both to compare them.

If you are already in that neck of the woods, the trip up through Rannoch Moor to Glencoe then Fortwilliam would be a shame to miss, spectacular scenery. The Clachaig inn in Glencoe is a nice place to stop off for a dram, and there are a range of inexpensive and more expensive places to stay in Glencoe (it is a big destination for what we call walkers and you call hikers ). Ben Nevis, Scotland's tallest mountain, is just outside Fortwilliam.

There are many hidden gems in Scotland, so when you have a finalised or even vaguely finalised route plan, post it and I am sure you will get some nice recommendations to see or do on your way.

My other piece of advice is to accept that you are not going to get it all done and plan a relaxed itinerary accordingly. I have seen tourists rushing around trying to get to everything by spending 2 minutes in each place, and they really don't look like they are enjoying their holiday! Leave plenty of time for travel because there will at various points be roadworks, slow traffic, late ferries, people gone for coffee just as you wanted to check in or various other delays.