Scotland Holiday Advice

We're planning on going to Scotland as well, SJB!

The West Highlands are lovely, try around Loch Lomond.
It rains a lot though!

How far North?

We have travelled to Scotland at least once a year for 15yrs or more but tend to be Loch Lomond at the 'lowest' and usually the far north/west (such as Skye, Ullapool etc).

The coast of the West Highlands around places such as Gairloch, Torridon etc is magical-but it is a long way. Glencoe and Fort William and surrounding areas are good for family holidays, Oban would be another pick. You have some things to do if wet in these parts, and beautiful places to see if not. Loch Lomond area is nice but quite busy in summer because of the proximity to Glasgow etc. That may be part of the appeal though-a good city to visit for a few days if you like museums etc.

One thing to be aware of are midges. The great Scottish 'secret'. June/July are probably peak times and they can be truly unpleasant if the wether is damp and muggy. The costal NW is not so bad with the breeze, but not immune.

Bruce

The pic taken in May 2008 is looking towards Ullapool from Melon Udrigle. It does not always rain!

I usually go to the NW Highlands, (my old home being Strathoykle), around Ullapool or the Summer Isles, but Skye has it in a neat package too. My favourite hotel is on the East; Dornoch Castle, but if you want something small (cheap)and friendly that only a few fishermen know about, and too much food, try the Achness Hotel on the Cassley river (midway between w&E coasts).
Good luck with the teenagers, mine hated it at that age.

Western Highlands and the Islands. Bruce's suggestions are good.

Though a long way to go, Assynt (area north of Ullapool around Lochinver) is very special indeed. I'm Scottish and I thought I knew what my country had to offer until I went there. Marvellous place.

Arran is often called 'Scotland in Miniature' and is much less remote with a fairly user friendly mountain to walk up.

My teenage kids love it, but then visits to family and friends and holidays in Scotland were part of their childhood and being half Scottish is part of who they are, so they've always been keen to go there.

The west coast is all beautiful from the Clyde up. You can't really lose - given the weather!

David

Try to get to Glencoe. It's one of the most beautiful, eerie places I've ever been. I'm a very unsuperstitious person but on my first visit there were times when the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up as it all seemed so familiar even though I'd never been there before. Being a descendant of both MacDonalds and Campbells I guess there's a chance some of my ancestors were involved in the massacre.

Glencoe is indeed atmospheric. Without wishing to minimise the events I always remind myself that 38 people were killed, not the vast numbers that the word 'massacre' sometime conjures. The scots do rather revel in their violent history-and the Mel Gibson/Braveheart school of historical accuracy sometimes!

If you want a great place to stay near Ullapool than try this. Very friendly folk, good location and they have a small farm which the kids can get involved with. You can fish in the river with equipment provided by the owner.

Bruce

As a Scottie myself I'd suggest Plockton as a good base to explore the surroundings.

Good luck

Graeme

quote:

As a Scottie myself I'd suggest Plockton as a good base to explore the surroundings.

I am not a Scottie but have been north of the border often enough to agree that Plockton (or Lock Dubh ) is a good location to explore the West Highlands from, and Skye too.

Julian

ps - this year Mull and Iona, last year Eigg and Muck

My maternal family come from Lewis & Sutherland.
I've spent lots of time in both places on holidays, but my favorite part of Scotland is Orkney.
In fact I loved it so much I now live on Orkney! (Sorry Mum )

When are you visiting SJB?
The driest sunniest months are May & June.
If you are tied to school holidays I would visit as early in the summer as you can.

quote:

The great Scottish 'secret'.

Remind me never to tell you a secret Bruce!
In SW highlands of Scotland the midges are usually bad later in July & get worse until the first frost.
The further north & east you go the lower the level & later of midges.
Midges like cloudy weather, warmth, moisture & still air, so the SW highlands suffer most.
Ultimately the levels of midges varies greatly year by year depending on the preceding winter/spring, & that summers weather.
Midges are at there worst around Sun rise/set.
Here in Orkney midges are rarely a problem; last summer I didn't encounter any & the one before that there were very few.

Scottish iconic visitor destinations like Gairloch, Torridon & Glencoe are spectacular,
but too busy for my tastes in school holiday periods.
Sutherland is amazing, but there aren't many poor weather activities for teenagers so make sure they bring ipods, video games, etc.

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Sloop Senior is going to the "Gaeltacht" to help with her learning Irish (Gaelic) so our holiday can't start until after 17th July.

I think from your descriptions so far it's far north I want to head to.

How long a drive is it from Stranraer to Ulapool? Can anyone recommend a good over night stop-over over the way.

For our 5- 7 days ideally I want a 4 star, 3 bedroom self-catering house that pets and smoking are not allowed (I hope George doesn't read this!) We have 2 girls and a boy and they are no longer at the age where they will share.



SJB

quote:

Stranraer to Ulapool

Conservatively (without stops) approx' a seven hour drive.

IME for the summer hols self catering is almost always Sat - Sat, & a minimum stay of one week.

There's lots of nice places to stay around Lochinver,
& it's much quieter & IMHO more scenic then Ullapool.
I find Lochinver is a better base, as it's centrally located for exploring south to Ullapool & to the far North West & North Coast. It's a conservate eight hour drive from Stranraer, but noticeably less midges.



You can learn more about the Highland Midge, & starting in May get a midge forecast from Scottish Midge Forecast.

My personal favorite self catering option around Lochinver is Glendarroch House.
In peak season the choice accom' gets booked up early!

quote:

Originally posted by JWM:
We're planning on going to Scotland as well, SJB!

As Western Highlands virgins, we were thinking of going here



in late(ish) July, might have to stretch into August.

West Coast/Road to the Isles.

We're going to have two teenagers in tow. Aiming at two weeks. Camping.

Good idea weather and midge-wise?

James

I was up at Glencoe and Fort William at New Year.

Absolutely beautiful and the weather was so perfectly clear that when driving back at sunset we passed a loch that was so still it provided a perfect mirror image of the mountain above.

Upon turning the car around and driving back to get a picture the moment had gone - even though it was only 2 minutes later! A slight breeze had started and rippled the surface.

B***er!

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by munch:

Are now we know.
Head hurt by any chance in the morning?

Actually Stu, I was in Edinburgh for New Year's Eve.

Wandering along the Royal Mile in the freezing cold at 4 in the morning looking for a taxi with only a beer coat to keep me warm was no fun!

And yes - it did hurt in the morning!

Scotland is so vast that it's difficult to recommend only one area to visit. The whole place is so bloody beautiful and unspoilt.

We are lucky enough to have family in the Trossachs and I usually manage to get up a couple of times a year.

I'm into climbing/mountaineering and the Scottish mountains are something to behold. If like us you're into active holidays then get yourself some decent kit, a good guild book and head up into the mountains. Winter walking in Scotland is especially magical, here’s me in November doing the Three Sisters in Glencoe with my son. We had four days of glorious blue skies following a period of heavy snow, it’s days like this that you live for! It's just a shame I’m 8hrs away or I would be up there every weekend.

And the following day, doing Meall nan Tarmachan in the Lawers Group

quote:

we were thinking of going here

I don't recognise your piccy; where's that James?

quote:

Good idea weather and midge-wise?

The earlier you go the better.
Camping is risky IMO, because if you are unlucky enough to meet clouds of midges it's not much fun being stuck in a tent. But you can reduce this risk by not camping in areas which are ...

sheltered (eg woodland)
near farm animals
near standing water

Midges don't like smoke, so a camp fire & joss sticks help.

A few drops of citronella oil in a base oil is a very effective anti-midge cream.
Take some Witch Hazel gel with you; it's very effective at stopping the itch of midge bites.

So far this winter has been bad for midges (cold & dry),
so fingers crossed for low midge levels in 2009.

Quite near Arisaig. The campsite under consideration is just behind the beach, the type of location we enjoy. So, coastal, tidal, etc.

It's a lovely looking place James, but sadly I've not visited.
Have you been there before?
If not the South West Highlands have the highest midge levels with Oban & Mallaig at the epicentre,
so I would be cautious.





Some hotels, B&Bs, campsites, etc have midgeaters which really keep levels down locally.
But even if well set up they only have an effective range of roughly 100 - 200m.
If you aren't tempted to head further North or visit a bit earlier,
I'd look far a campsite that's fully tooled for the bloodsuckers onslaught!

My personal favourite location in Scotland is the Gairloch/Poolewe area. There is quite a but to do around there so it'd be one good option as a base. Ullapool is also worth consideration as a base.

There are a couple of good campsites in both areas. In the Gairloch/Poolewe area I'd recommend Big Sands as it's a good site right on a nice beach. The Camping & Caravanning Club site in Poolewe is also good and within walking distance of the lovely Inverewe Gardens.


SWMBO on the beach at Big Sand.


Campsite at Big Sand.

There is a decent site close to the centre of Ullapool however I'd recommend Ardmair Point which is a couple of miles to the north. Very friendly and with excellent views however nothing other than the campsite shop within walking distance.

Further south then Oban is a good base, plus it has lots of options for getting out and visiting various islands - from small ones like Kerrera or Lismore to Mull and Iona. There are several good campsites both in the town and a few miles to the North.

We usually stay at campsites right on the coast and have rarely had problems with midges as there tends to be enough of a breeze to keep them away.

quote:

Originally posted by Bruce Woodhouse:
The coast of the West Highlands around places such as Gairloch, Torridon etc is magical-but it is a long way.

I've been going up to Gairloch a couple of times a year and it's not too bad as the roads are good nearly all the way now, with just the last few miles into Gairloch being singletrack. It's 3 to 4 hours drive from Edinburgh, with the upper end only really applying in the height of summer when the A9 can get a bit slow in places. Once past the Cairngorms the traffic is usually very light.

The Lochinver area I'd also agree is lovely. We're planning to purchase a house up north at some point and it'll be either in the Lochinver area or in Gairloch.

If in the Lochinver area then I'd recommend a visit to the beaches near Achmelvich, Handa Island and also to the area around Achiltibuie. Durness and Cape Wrath are also not that far away.

We're also likely to be holidaying in Scotland this year and we're talking about taking the motorhome from Oban to the Western Isles then returning on the Ullapool ferry then working our way down the west coast from there.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve G:

If in the Lochinver area then I'd recommend a visit to the beaches near Achmelvich, Handa Island and also to the area around Achiltibuie. Durness and Cape Wrath are also not that far away.

And don't forget the Lochinver Pie shop ! - fantastic selection of savoury and sweet pies to get that layer of insulation built up. Handa Island is magical on a good day.

Ian

quote:

Originally posted by Ian G.:
And don't forget the Lochinver Pie shop ! - fantastic selection of savoury and sweet pies to get that layer of insulation built up.

Very good point - the haggis, neeps and tatties is my personal favourite. We use their mail order service (pies by post) from time to time as well.