My Scotland Travel Itinerary

Old Jun 14th, 2011, 05:18 AM
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My Scotland Travel Itinerary

Hi! We'll be in Scotland to coincide with my son's theatre group performance at the Festival Fringe. We arrive the morning of August 6th into EDI and plan to travel around until the morning of August 12th (in time to see a morning performance of my son's show in Edinburgh). We would need to spend the evening of the 11th relatively close to Edinburgh so we can turn in the car, check into our hotel, and get to the show in time. There are 4 of us--my husband & I and 19 yr daughter & 12 yr son. I'm trying to create an itinerary that is a mix of everything. Walking/hiking, bagging a munro, castles, lakes, islands, history, highlands, lowlands, quaint villages, whiskey, a rugby game, the "must-see" sights, etc. Without being too crazy & chaotic. We will then have almost a week in Edinburgh and can take at least one day's trip from there...so, I don't need to include Edinburgh in my itinerary from 6-12 August. I also wouldn't mind mixing up where we stay. A b&b, a castle, and/or any other unique or recommended lodging arrangements.

Any thoughts/recommendations? Thank you.
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Old Jun 14th, 2011, 06:06 AM
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Only the most important suggestion: secure a place IMMEDIATELY. All hotel rooms in and around Edinburgh sell out months before the Festival starts (in other words, around right now).

Also, be prepared to pay 2x (or more) the normal rack rate for any given room. The longer you wait the worse it will get.

PS, Good for your son. You must be very excited (and proud).
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Old Jun 14th, 2011, 06:15 AM
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Seriously - I would contact each and every one of these until you find something suitable (and, again, the prices for your dates will be much higher than the average prices shown in these lists). These listed below have been vetted by the editors (and in Eurocheapo's case, have been actually stayed in recently by the editors):

http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/s...m_alpha:a.html

http://www.eurocheapo.com/edinburgh/...-new-town.html

http://www.frommers.com/destinations...50_indacc.html
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Old Jun 14th, 2011, 09:12 AM
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Bardo: I think the OP has accommodations in Edinburgh already booked -at least I hope so I read it as asking where to stay elsewhere.

Gail: You have 6 days essentially. Enough time to see quite a bit but not half of Scotland. (You don't want 'Whiskey' BTW -- That is Irish - or kentucky. It is Whisky in Scotland)

Highlands/islands/munros/castles are easy in 6 days. But to cover the Borders/Lowlands - you really don't have the time. But if you keep the car an extra day or two after returning to Edinburgh (or rent a car for one day during that time) you can do a day trip down into the Borders to see Abbeys/St Abbs Head/Tantallon Castle, etc.

Castles -- they are everywhere. The "Castle Trail" is an area in Aberdeenshire. And places like Craigevar and Dunnottar are AMAZING. But they are on the opposite side of the country from most of the other places/islands you'll want to go -- so really tough in less than 10-12+ days.

If you concentrate on the central and western bits you can squeeze in most of what you want. Edinburgh through the Trossachs to Skye to Inverness (NOT the city itself but the region) and down the A9 through Blair Athol to Edinburgh is about a 6 day loop w/o a screaming rush/Tartan Blur.

After you start to refine you itinerary we can help you w/ accommodations.
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Old Jun 14th, 2011, 12:03 PM
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Okay, thanks. JanisJ is right--we do have accommodations in Edinburgh already. Not perfect rooms (2 singles with extra bed in each) for half our time there, but went for the reputation & location. And, availability!

Re: the travel around Scotland...I have tourbooks, etc.. It does seem overwhelming to digest, but I guess I just need to decide on the most important things we want to do/see and then, place them on a map.

I just googled rugby games and found out there is a Scotland vs Ireland game the afternoon we arrive in Edinburgh! That creates a dilemma - see the game, which should be amazing & my daughter (who is our rugby player) REALLY would love to see it -- at the cost of a day's travel around the countryside! I imagine there are other games at the local/regional level, but now that I've mentioned the Scotland vs Ireland game to my daughter, it will be hard to beat that with something else. Would there be anything between our flight arrival (about 8 am) and the game (2:15 pm) which we could fit in & not be a total loss? Again--we have almost a full week in Edinburgh from the 12-18th...so, we have plenty of time there. And, if I'm looking at the schedule correctly the next Scotland game is against Italy...after we leave.

Any thoughts?
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