# Scotland Travel Journal



## WinniWoman (Jun 25, 2012)

*Well, we finally made it back from our first trip overseas to Scotland and, as promised, here is my synopsis of the week. I have posted a review on TUG, and well as pictures, of Kilconquhar Castle Resort, so they should appear on the site in the next few days. I had planned this trip for over a year, agonizing over all the dirty details of overseas traveling and now it’s over in a heartbeat!

The first day that we arrived at Edinburgh airport it was pouring rain with very strong winds and, after picking up our rental car at Hertz and  checking in at the resort,  we headed out to Anstruther to the Food Cooperative to purchase some groceries. We were jet-lagged from the flight, and slightly stressed from our first time driving on the left with a right steering wheel, etc., so we just unpacked and relaxed the rest of the day.

Second Day- We visited St. Andrews. Again, it was raining on and off. We didn’t let that stop us! We walked the Old Course and went to the St. Andrew’s Castle and Cathedral ruins, which sit on the edge of the town overlooking the sea. We also walked the town/university and had an early bird dinner at the Doll’s House Restaurant at the recommendation of another TUG member here. Was very good and reasonably priced. We also bought a few more grocery items at the TESCO food mart here. On Sundays, there is no parking charges, so we didn’t have to worry about the meter.

Third Day-There were not enough guest sign-ups for the Edinburgh tour, so we hired the driver privately to bring us in. I would not recommend driving in Edinburgh if you are not familiar with the overseas and urban driving. There is a train out of Kirkaldy, about a 30-45 minute drive from the resort, but we did not want to hassle with figuring out the schedule and such. Paying for a driver was a bit of an expensive option, but we felt it was the best one for us. Plus, we wanted to visit the Roslyn Chapel afterwards and then we would have had to figure out the bus schedule from Edinburgh. The tour owner, George, picked us up at 8:45 am right at our villa and gave us the run down of all the sights on the way, which you would not get on a train. The trams are all down in Edinburgh due to reconstruction and there was lots of traffic and bottlenecks. He dropped us off right at Edinburgh Castle and met us near the Olympic Rings later on for pick-up. We had lunch outside at the Scottish Café and Restaurant and walked along the streets. Yes- the sun did come out that day! We then asked George to take us to the Roslyn Chapel, which was fascinating and then we returned back to the villa. A full day. We didn’t get to see the Holyrood House, which George said was overrated anyway, due to lack of time.

Fourth Day-Beautiful weather! We drove to Sterling Castle and the Wallace Monument, and then drove out to for a very brief look at Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. It was a long day and a lot of mileage and I would have liked to stay in the Trossachs because I basically like natural wonders as opposed to cities, but it was a long way back, and my husband was getting tired of the concentration he needed to drive, so we took some pics and left to return to the resort. It was a full day for sure!

Fifth Day-Again, there were not enough sign-ups for the Glencoe/Loch Ness tour, so it didn’t happen. They were 2 people short and in retrospect, we should have asked if the other individuals would have been willing split the difference with us of the loss of the 2 paying guests to the driver, but I didn’t think of it until later. It is too far to drive in one day round trip, (an eleven hour day) which is why we wanted someone else to do the driving. The tour operator decided to move the following day’s tour to Glamis Castle, a distillery and the Pitchoury area to this day, but we didn’t want to do that tour, so I don’t think that happened either as they would have needed our participation to proceed. But- it worked out for us ok. It was again, a sunny day, and we visited the quaint village of Culross and then the Falkirk Wheel, which I highly recommend. An amazing feat of engineering. We took the boat ride up to experience it for ourselves. Then we headed back to the village of Ellie and had lunch at the Ship’s Inn right by the beach. Wonderful! And, we then visited the Ardross Farmer’s Market between Ellie and Pittenween and purchased some delicious Reid of Caithness Shortbread and Toffee cookies. And then back to Anstruther for a few more groceries.

Sixth Day- Weather was going to be miserable and we decided early on to stay locally. We had originally planned to drive the 75 miles up the eastern coast to see the ruins of Dunnator Castle near Stonehaven, but with the weather being bad and wanting to give my husband a break with the driving, we visited Crail and walked along the coastal path and the town a bit. Then, we headed for an indoor excursion to the underground Secret Bunker, which was right near Crail. Very interesting for history buffs. Hey- might be needed again soon the way the world is going! Afterwards, we went to the famous Anstruther Fish and Chips Bar everyone has recommended. Because it was early and the weather wasn’t good, we got right in. Very enjoyable and reasonably priced. The young woman at the ice cream counter shorted me 5 pounds, and I went back in to tell her and she gave me my correct change with no questions asked. We then headed back to the villa and stayed in like couch potatoes the rest of the day and eve, as the rain was steady and the winds were gusting!

Seventh Day- Again, gloomy weather, although the rain held off. We were short a day of planned activities because of the Glencoe tour cancellation, but were thinking of taking a boat trip out to the Isle of May. But, because of the weather, we did not book it and, wouldn’t you know, at about the time the boat was supposed to leave (2:30pm) the sun was out! Oh, well….We just took a walk into the quiet village of Kilconquhar to get some exercise, sat in the sun out on our patio near the horse pasture with beautiful views,  and prepared for our trip back home the next day. 

Eighth Day- We left at 4:15 am for the Edinburgh airport. It was, of course, raining, but, as it was a Saturday and so early, there was no traffic. We filled up with gas the day before, and with the diesel engine (we had an automatic) the gage barely moved for the 42 mile journey.
Car rental desks were not opened at that time, but an employee came in around 6:15 am and we handed him the rented GPS and the keys and he said they would send a receipt to us. Our flight was delayed an hour, but we amazingly arrived back to Newark airport on time. Unfortunately, our car hire was not there due to a death in the family and the replacement company she sent was 2 hours late because of traffic! We tried to rent a car before we knew what was happening and there wasn’t a single rental car available with any company! How this could be at a big  airport like Newark is beyond me. Talk about stress! Thank goodness we finally hooked up with the replacement driver and got home sweet home!


Here are just a few insights I found to be applicable to our personal experience:

As many experienced overseas travelers had advised- you cannot rush around to try to see everything in a week, or 2 weeks, or whatever. For a newbie, It takes a lot of concentration, especially for people over 50 who have developed many years of habits. You have to go slow because you have to double think about everything you do. Like with the driving- you drive on the left; the steering wheel is on the right; the signs are all different. In Scotland there are speed cameras everywhere, even in the rural areas and when the sign says 30, you had better be at 30 exactly at that sign marker. Even with a GPS, it really took the 3 of us to “drive”. My husband had a hard time glancing and listening to the GPS, plus trying to understand the signs and trying to navigate those darn annoying roundabouts, which come up like every mile or 2 in some places! Our son would hold the GPS and instruct him and I, being in the front seat,  would look ahead to advise what was coming up. The car rental GPS, just like the ones in the US, was great to have, but it also lead us down some crazy paths and could be aggravating at times, but we wouldn’t drive without one overseas. I am a big map person, but I couldn’t make heads or tails out of some of the road maps! The driver also cannot really enjoy the views as he has to concentrate on driving (and so do the passengers!). And, in Scotland, with all the hedgerows and stone walls on the narrow roads, you cannot pull over to take pictures, etc. My husband and I both agreed that if we go overseas again, like to Italy, we would go on a tour- less work, less thinking, less planning. Might even use a travel agent. But we are torn, because we do like having a timeshare unit - with the space and the kitchen, etc. - and are not particularly fond of hotel rooms and living out of a suitcase either! We were tired when we started the trip from our jobs(we are not retired and drive a lot on our jobs) and the driving was a bit stressful in terms of that you couldn’t really relax as you drove. Although planning the trip was exciting, it was also somewhat wearing for me mentally, at least.

This all said, my husband did a wonderful job driving. Only hit a curb like once or twice. Took our time- obeyed the speed limits; stayed in the left (slow) lane on the highway, etc.

In keeping with what I said about slowing the travel experience…. We also decided that we did not want to see hundreds of castles and churches in just the week we were here, so we picked a few key ones- Edinburgh and Sterling and the ruins at St. Andrew, St. Giles Cathedral and the Roslyn Chapel - and then decided on some different types of things like the Falkirk Wheel and the Secret Bunker to break it up. 
We also felt we did not want to go to things like art museums and concerts or amusement parks- we can do that kind of thing in NY. We wanted to just experience things that were uniquely Scottish. Would have liked to visit the Scottish Museum in Edinburgh (which is free) , but again, not enough time.

I did feel at about the 4th day that I wanted to go home! Not that I didn’t like Scotland, but because I always had this subtle stress level underneath, and my husband felt that way as well. We didn’t feel relaxed or even exhilarated. Strange for us, because we have traveled independently to a lot of places in the US, like Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Arizona- always very invigorated and relaxed at the same time. Again, I think we were just tired from working for the past 6 months with no time off and I do believe there was a small bit of anxiety every time we got in the car to drive somewhere. We did look at it as an adventure, but you still have to be careful. I guess we were too much out of our comfort zone in a small way? If you read my resort review, even having to do things like turn all the electric breakers on and off several times a day in our villa added to this. Not really a big deal, but when you add everything up it is a bit of work! 

The currency is different, of course, but similar to ours. The exchange rate was awful. We used our Capital One Card for everything, since there are no foreign transaction fees. It was taken everywhere, even though it is a swipe card. One gas station attendant said she doesn’t see many swipe cards anymore! So, all my work in obtaining the chip and pin card from Andrews Credit Union was not necessary in Scotland. In fact, none of the gas stations were pay at the pump - we had to go inside to pay anyway. (By the way, Discover card is making inroads into the UK - where you see Diners Club, they take Discover, and there are no foreign transaction fees. We, however, did not notice Diner’s Club logos where we went). VAT taxes were on practically everything except the food store. I was surprised there were VAT taxes at the attractions and restaurants. I thought they would only be on retail purchases. When asked, no one knew about giving me a retail scheme form (407) so we could get reimbursed. Annoying.

Also, we had purchased Identity Protection Sleeves for our credit cards and passports, but found them annoying to have to pull out the cards and documents every time we needed them. Scotland is a safe country and I don’t feel they were necessary. The money/neck belts were fine. Felt more secure with those, really so I didn’t have to worry if I lost my bag.

The International Mobal cell phone we bought for $39 and no monthly service fee, was good to have, although we only used it once to make a dinner reservation.

The Welcome Pak we ordered at the resort was really unnecessary as we found the supermarkets ok and some items in the pak were not used, so wouldn’t order that again if we had to do it over.

The food in Scotland leaves a lot to be desired. We felt like we were going through food withdrawal. We didn’t eat out too much, but felt we weren’t missing much with the menus at the restaurants. Pheasant, duck, venison, haggis, cheese and onion sandwiches on sliced bread- no thanks! Pastries and cookies were excellent. I was dying to have just a tuna fish sandwich! When we got back home, the first thing we did was order a lot of Chinese food! Even McDonalds would have sounded good to us and we are not fast food type people! Fish and chips were great- things like salmon and chicken and beef dishes were good. They eat potatoes with everything!

All in all, the trip went well. Always wanted to visit Scotland and the country is beautiful and the people are nice. The history is amazing. I don’t like flying, or airports or crowds, or cities particularly, (we live in a rural area in NY), so staying in the quiet countryside was lovely. I was very impressed with the gigantic farms and large amounts of farm animals throughout the country. I didn’t realize that farming was on such a massive scale there!

I do think for the total cost of this vacation, and the type of vacation it was, you get a much better value for the same type in the US. But, there is only one Scotland and I had  to see it for myself! My husband and I agreed the only place we would probably travel to overseas in the future would be maybe Italy. Other than that, we will travel in the US/Canada and mainly to our home resort in VT. 

PS We traveled only with carryons and it was very freeing and fine for just a week’s trip.

Sorry this is so long, but it also serves as my journal for the trip.

I want to also add that it does not get dark this time of year in Scotland, so our bodies were probably tired from adjusting to pretty much 24 hours of daylight! Even when we woke up at 3:30 am to leave for our flight, we could see out perfectly- like dusk would be here in the US. 

Another thing- we could not have a "Wee Dram" in the pubs because of driving.
 









*


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## Passepartout (Jun 25, 2012)

Thanks for the synopsis. I thought it would be fun to read about your first adventure overseas. See, we told you it is a civilized place, they sort of speak English, and are helpful. What more could you ask? Oh yeah, tuna.

Now for that agriturismo in Tuscany. Ready? 

Jim


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## x3 skier (Jun 25, 2012)

Very interesting to read a first time traveler's experiences in Scotland. I spent a few weeks working in East Kilbride near Glascow and have been back a few times. 

My wife and kids still remember being startled by the "noon gun" in Edinburgh.  (Which actually goes off at 1300 )

The Chip and Pin card seems more required on the Continent than the UK. 

Cheers


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## Talent312 (Jun 25, 2012)

I know that hub+spoke sightseeing is popular, especially among the TS folk. But IMHO, that means a lot of back+forth over the same roads. IMHO, if you want to see a number of places at great distance, a more linear approach works better.

In Europe, I prefer to travel from place to place, stopping to sightsee at one or two spots along the way. I like to plan my own "tour" (by train or car), than pay other peep to take us to shops where they get a kickback.


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## Pompey Family (Jun 26, 2012)

x3 skier said:


> The Chip and Pin card seems more required on the Continent than the UK.



Not at all, I use chip and pin everywhere I've been in England.  Pretty much all the petrol stations in the South have Pay at Pump facility, no doubt it's the same for the rest of the country.

There seems to be a lot of worry from some people about how they're going to cope with the money situation when in Europe but the simple fact is there aren't really any changes to make.  When I go to Europe I take my wallet and use my Visa debit card with no problems.  When I go to the States I also use my Visa debit card with no problems.  I take my mobile phone abroad and it works fine.  If you try to plan things right down to the real nitty gritty then you're in danger of being tied too much to schedules and plans and some of the enjoyment of travelling in a foreign country is lost.


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## x3 skier (Jun 26, 2012)

I have used a "swipe" card all over the UK with no problem but in Holland, for example, the railroad system would only take a Chip and Pin or cash. 

When the ticket machine would not take my swipe only card, I went to the ticket window but the clerk would not take my card either. 

Thus my comment about the continent "requiring" a Chip and Pin vs the UK where I have used a swipe card in train stations for tickets. 

Cheers


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## Chrisky (Jun 26, 2012)

Thanks for your report.  Interesting comments.  It's unfortunate that you felt so stressed about so many things.  From your comments, I believe you're really not suited to take that type of vacation in another country, and as you say perhaps should stick to your own country.
When we visited Scotland, we stayed for one week in a timeshare, but in a more central location, Moness Country Club in Aberfeldy, so our daily excursions driving to the different venues we wanted to visit were quite short and not stressful at all.


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## WinniWoman (Jun 26, 2012)

Chrisky said:


> Thanks for your report.  Interesting comments.  It's unfortunate that you felt so stressed about so many things.  From your comments, I believe you're really not suited to take that type of vacation in another country, and as you say perhaps should stick to your own country.
> When we visited Scotland, we stayed for one week in a timeshare, but in a more central location, Moness Country Club in Aberfeldy, so our daily excursions driving to the different venues we wanted to visit were quite short and not stressful at all.



I didn't mean to come across that we were THAT stressed. It was more of a subtle undercurrent-a small bit of anxiety- different from how we usually "feel" on other vacations - maybe because we were a bit out of our comfort zone with all the logistical differences? And being our first time overseas?  It felt a bit more like "work" to get out and about - not relaxing- but we were only there for a week and wanted to fit in as much as we could, so that could have been part of it, too. It also felt like "work" to me in the planning stages, but at the same time it was exciting as I planned it. But, we loved the country and I have always wanted to go because of the history and the culture and the beauty of the land and it was a great experience.

I guess it was one of those vacations where, although we would have liked to see a lot more when we were there, we were also glad to come home, and I have never felt like that on vacation. I NEVER want to come home from our vacations!


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## WinniWoman (Jun 26, 2012)

x3 skier said:


> Very interesting to read a first time traveler's experiences in Scotland. I spent a few weeks working in East Kilbride near Glascow and have been back a few times.
> 
> My wife and kids still remember being startled by the "noon gun" in Edinburgh.  (Which actually goes off at 1300 )
> 
> ...



We stood right by that noon (1pm) gun when they fired it.


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## Timeshare Von (Jun 28, 2012)

Thanks for posting your trip report . . . I was wondering how it went for you.

Travel abroad can be tiring and stressful.  My hubby will not travel long distances (overseas, Alaska, Hawaii, etc) for less than two weeks largely for the reasons you cited in your summary.  Jet lag plus the getting used to driving on the opposite side of the road/car can add to the time to let down, relax and enjoy the sights.

As someone else commented, we too stayed at the Moness Country Club in Aberfeldy when we did Scotland back in 2006.  From there we did Sutton Hall in Yorkshire, England . . . for the second week.  That really made the difference in terms of accessing many points of interest in a variety of directions.

Hopefully you'll all have some time to catch up on your sleep and relaxation!


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## lscott (Jun 29, 2012)

*Thanks for reporting*

You were brave to drive in Scotland.  My husband won't try it and he has been a professional driver. Afraid he would veer in wrong direction in emergency. You sure kept busy and got around a ;lot. Too bad about the weather.  We have always been to Eng and Scotland the last of Apr and first of May and never had bad weather!


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## WinniWoman (Jun 29, 2012)

lscott said:


> You were brave to drive in Scotland.  My husband won't try it and he has been a professional driver. Afraid he would veer in wrong direction in emergency. You sure kept busy and got around a ;lot. Too bad about the weather.  We have always been to Eng and Scotland the last of Apr and first of May and never had bad weather!



Yes, the locals said it was very unusual this year- it had been raining constantly for months.(and even snowed in April/May).


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## optimist (Jun 29, 2012)

Thank you for posting, I really enjoyed reading your impressions.

I know what you mean about driving adding stress to a trip. We just came back from Barbados where the driving is also on the left and though I am comfortable enough with it (I actually learned to drive that way a century ago),  just the fact that it is not automatic, and you have to always be aware of it and cannot just let your instinct take over, makes it stressful.  My family was making fun of me because I would inadvertently turn on the wipers every time I needed to make a turn. So they would all chime in Oh, it must be raining again!".  

The other thing I have noticed about traveling is that you have two options where you come to a new place, the macro or micro approach.  I just commented on that in another post about New Zealand. You can do it macro, which is to try and see as much as you can in the time that you have, which means a lot of driving, scheduling, moving from one hotel to another sometimes and having some stress in the process. Or you can do it micro where you zero in on a part of the country and see it the way locals would, not run around much and just relax and be flexible with the schedule. 
It sounds like you did a macro vacation when you probably needed a micro one!


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## WinniWoman (Jun 29, 2012)

optimist said:


> Thank you for posting, I really enjoyed reading your impressions.
> 
> I know what you mean about driving adding stress to a trip. We just came back from Barbados where the driving is also on the left and though I am comfortable enough with it (I actually learned to drive that way a century ago),  just the fact that it is not automatic, and you have to always be aware of it and cannot just let your instinct take over, makes it stressful.  My family was making fun of me because I would inadvertently turn on the wipers every time I needed to make a turn. So they would all chime in Oh, it must be raining again!".
> 
> ...



Ha! I understand your point, - that's why we chose to stay in a timeshare unit in one place instead of driving from one hotel to another. but I felt that we were doing a Micro one because we really only saw a very small part of the country, as opposed to a tour which would take you to Glasgow and the Highlands and Isles and maybe southern Scotland. The farthest we drove was the one day out from Sterling to the Trossachs/Loch Lomond. It was just that you had to drive everywhere because we were not staying in a city (thank goodness for that) where you could walk or take a bus/train. We did spend the last day lounging about. But, because it was expensive airfare and we were only there for a week, we wanted to see what we could, as we will never be able to go back again. A lot of the driving we did was fairly local, however. Just very full days.


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## klpca (Jul 4, 2012)

Thanks for taking the time to post your trip report. My daughter has a friend in Edinburgh and her family wants us to visit so I'm thinking about planning a trip next year. 

I couldn't agree with you more about the stress of driving. While it's not a big deal it certainly isn't relaxing, especially for the driver. We spent a week driving around Germany and I was happy when we turned the car in and switched to the train for our week in Switzerland.


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## stmartinfan (Jul 4, 2012)

I can understand about your stress with this type of vacation - lots of things to concentrate on, plus the challenge of jet lag when you're only there for a week.

There are so many wonderful things to see in Europe, that I'd encourage you to think about trying it again.  We don't try to timeshare in Europe, but instead pick a destination and rent an apartment.  We usually stay several days to a week in major cities like Paris, Barcelona, London, etc. and rent an apartment.  That gives us the comforts of a timeshare, the ability to eat some meals in, and when we travel with our two daughters, it's not that much more expensive than getting 2 hotel rooms (since many European rooms are for only 2 people).  

Since we're in cities with great public transportation, we use the subway or buses and spend leisurely days seeing some of the highlights of the city and/or taking a local tour that gives us an overview.  We savor sidewalk cafes or other local places were locals seem to gather. Since we used to be in stressful jobs, we didn't pack our vacations with trying to see everything, but just relaxed and enjoyed what was different from home about where we were.  Even visiting the local grocery stores was fun for us.

We are comfortable driving in Europe, so would rent a car to go between major cities, but also used trains and for long distances, planes.  My husband was comfortable driving in England, but our routes usually had more freeway type roads, where driving on the left wasn't as challenging.  I think taking on more rural Scotland for your first overseas driving trip was very brave and can understand how this got in the way of relaxing!

Of course, there are lots of amazing things to see in the U.S., but I just wanted to suggest another approach for European trips that might given you a more relaxing vacation.  I've done a bus tour of Italy (way too many years ago, in an unairconditioned bus with a mix of Americans and Germans...it was an experience!), and it was ok as a way to get an overview of the country.  But looking back, it was WORK, having to move every night or two, packing and repacking, eating where someone else picked, and keeping to a schedule.  I'd do an organized trip again for somewhere I didn't feel safe or confident to travel on my own, but most of Europe doesn't seem like it's in that category.


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## pkyorkbeach (Jul 5, 2012)

Thank you for the post.  Scotland is on my list of trips.  Both of my grandparents were born in Scotland. The driving is something that I can not see myself doing so maybe going with a tour would be best for me.  I enjoyed your daily review of the places you went.  It was very interesting and will help future Scotland travelers.

Pam


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## WinniWoman (Jul 5, 2012)

stmartinfan said:


> I can understand about your stress with this type of vacation - lots of things to concentrate on, plus the challenge of jet lag when you're only there for a week.
> 
> There are so many wonderful things to see in Europe, that I'd encourage you to think about trying it again.  We don't try to timeshare in Europe, but instead pick a destination and rent an apartment.  We usually stay several days to a week in major cities like Paris, Barcelona, London, etc. and rent an apartment.  That gives us the comforts of a timeshare, the ability to eat some meals in, and when we travel with our two daughters, it's not that much more expensive than getting 2 hotel rooms (since many European rooms are for only 2 people).
> 
> ...



Thanks for the input. Much appreciated. We do want to visit Italy sometime. Either will do tours or the public transport, or a combination of both as you mentioned. If we do a tour, which is likely, we will leave our clothes in our suitcase. We only did one or two in our lifetimes and one was for our honeymoon (we were 21 years old!)and that's what we did. We never unpacked! One thing about us- we like countrysides and nature, national parks, oceans and lakes and wide open spaces- not much for cities or crowds. (That's why we chose the Scottish coast). But, we still would like to see Rome and some smaller towns, etc., places like Cinque Terra, Capri, Tuscany, Umbria, Sicily, etc. Since it would be a once in a lifetime trip, we would want to see as much as possible. When you have to pay these high airfares and such, would want to take everything in. Organized or not, I would never even go on a vacation to somewhere I didn't think was safe to travel-that's for sure. That definitely wouldn't be relaxing!


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## WinniWoman (Jul 5, 2012)

pkyorkbeach said:


> Thank you for the post.  Scotland is on my list of trips.  Both of my grandparents were born in Scotland. The driving is something that I can not see myself doing so maybe going with a tour would be best for me.  I enjoyed your daily review of the places you went.  It was very interesting and will help future Scotland travelers.
> 
> Pam



Scotland is a beautiful country. Driving is manageable, but, like I said, you can't look at the scenery, etc., so it's just not as pleasurable as when you are driving in the states on country roads. A tour would enable you to see a lot more of Scotland , like the Highlands, which I would have liked to get up into, but was too far from where we were staying. However, I would say that all in all, we got a nice overview and sense of the place in the short time we were there. Hope you get there soon!


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## Blues (Jul 6, 2012)

Thanks so much for your journal!  DW and I are going to Scotland in a month.  Can't wait!  DW's chorus is one of the very few in the world invited to perform at the London Olympics!  So I'm tagging along.  The tour is a few days in Paris and 6 days in London, including performances at Olympics venues.  After the choral tour, DW & I are taking off for Scotland -- 4 days in Edinburgh, 2 in Inverness to see Culloden and Loch Ness, and then 5 days in Ballater at HGVC Craigendarroch.  Can't wait!  Reading journals such as yours just adds to the anticipation.  Thanks!

-Bob


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## WinniWoman (Jul 6, 2012)

Blues said:


> Thanks so much for your journal!  DW and I are going to Scotland in a month.  Can't wait!  DW's chorus is one of the very few in the world invited to perform at the London Olympics!  So I'm tagging along.  The tour is a few days in Paris and 6 days in London, including performances at Olympics venues.  After the choral tour, DW & I are taking off for Scotland -- 4 days in Edinburgh, 2 in Inverness to see Culloden and Loch Ness, and then 5 days in Ballater at HGVC Craigendarroch.  Can't wait!  Reading journals such as yours just adds to the anticipation.  Thanks!
> 
> -Bob



Have a great time! That is so cool about your wife's chorus! What a wonderful experience it all will be!


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## terryfic (Jul 7, 2012)

*Scotland*

Thank you for your report of your trip to Scotland.  We are planning our second trip to Scotland in 2013, with timeshare accomodations at Moness and the Hilton Craigendarroch for a total of two weeks.  In 2008, we did a ten day trip based around the British Open Golf tournament and stayed at a variety of places: castles, hotels, B&Bs from Glascow & Edinborough to Narn in the highlands and Montrose on NE coast to Fife.  I did all the driving, hit the curb more than once, did not have GPS and got lost more than I can remember, but had a grand adventure.  That's the reason for next year's trip.  We chose to book timeshares in order to avoid the living out of suitcases.  What we will miss by not staying in hotels or B&Bs are the wonderful Scottish breakfasts which are normally included in the rates.  The Scots are very friendly and hospitable as are the Brits, and they do speak a brand of English, so all in all, it is a beautiful country and a fine place to visit.


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## KevJan (Jul 9, 2012)

Really enjoyed your report. We are going in September and staying at the Moness Country Club. Never been to Scotland before. Does anyone have any must-do information or anything that we should know? Thanks/


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## Gtscot (Aug 24, 2012)

An invaluable book is "Scotland the Best" , the author is Peter Irvine.
It lists and details all the best places to see, what to do, where to eat etc.
I live in Scotland and find it very useful for day trips.
Where you are staying it would be best to hire a car. Driving on the right is not difficult, I have driven in the USA and there is not a lot of difference.


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## WinniWoman (Aug 24, 2012)

We used the Discovery Channel Insight book on Scotland.


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## Gtscot (Aug 24, 2012)

The great thing about Scotland the Best is that it is an annual book and not just useful for "foreign" tourists, it's equally as good for us locals and has a huge amount of detail


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## jme (Aug 28, 2012)

*Scotland*

(me, wife, and 2 kids, ages 13 and 16)

We spent 2 weeks in Scotland a while back, in July, and luckily it never rained once. It was quite cool, never real cold, altho my wife is always needing a coat. We had a few overcast days, maybe five or so total, but they were great too, and pleasant. 

We stayed our second week in Edinburgh at the Balmoral Hotel (no timeshare involved there), just to enjoy the city. Was awesome. Did a couple out-trips from there. 

Our first week was more "in the country" at Loch Lomond at Cameron House....all I can say is fantastic!  2-story cottage was impressive and plush, and we did a few out-trips from there too. We had a rental car, and had visited UK the previous year for 17 days, so driving was never a problem. We visited St. Andrews, Stirling, Glasgow, and many other towns all over the country, but the off-the-wall highlight was a one-day trip up the west coast, thru Oban, to the Isle of Skye, where we went across on a ferry and drove all around the island, stopping to enjoy the spectacular views. 

Since it was sunny, it was as good as it could get. We visited the Quiraing (if you don't know what that is, Google it and even look at Googlemaps-----click on little yellow man, drag to a road at top of Quiraing and look at view------ and also see online videos that people have uploaded). 

It was without a doubt the most beautiful scenery I've had the pleasure of witnessing. Like from a storybook. We also stopped at various roadside lookouts to see the cliffs, the sea, whatever...just amazing as we went around the island on a narrow little one-vehicle-wide road. The whole day was amazing.  In order to get there to Skye, we traveled thru the Highland mountains, and that was spectacular too....I will always be glad we did that. 

The vistas around every corner just blew me away, and my wife was having a duck every moment because I was taking shots with the camera continuously. Deer and Highland cattle were everywhere....very cool. We were back "home" at Cameron House just after midnight, after a long day of driving, BUT it was worth it. 

 During our two weeks in Scotland, the stops "along the way" were wonderful----we saw castles, mountains, valleys, rivers, bridges, fields, farms, pubs, beautiful cottages on hillsides, the glorious sea, and met so many intriguing and friendly people. I'll always have a love for Scotland. We used various guide books and online advice, but the bottom line is just "go for it". Try to see as much as you can, and don't be afraid to drive anywhere. 

I'll never forget, for example, the beautiful seaside town of Oban-----we had a wonderful lunch in a fantastic little restaurant...very colorful inside. I remember a ton of flowers in bloom everywhere----in gardens and in flower boxes in windows. Seems like a castle rose up out of every hillside as we drove around the country.  

Seeing Scotland is truly a unique experience---sometimes almost a primitive and raw experience for lack of better words. It's a cold and often barren land, but seeing how the people lived and dealt with it over the centuries was educational. The beauty is truly unsurpassed, albeit quite different than any other country I've seen. For that reason, it's a must. Funny---another highlight was when we found the Hard Rock Cafe in Edinburgh----Ahhhhh, that cheeseburger, fries, and Coke!!! YEAH!!!!!!


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## WinniWoman (Aug 28, 2012)

Sounds wonderful! I was hoping for the same weather in June, but it didn't happen. I originally wanted to stay in the Cameron House, but no private rentals had come up. I do regret that we couldn't get into the Highlands as that is what I think of when I think of Scotland (and I prefer natural wonders during my vacations) and I would have preferred to be up there rather than the east coast. (and I bet there are less roundabouts up there!)


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