Printable Version of Topic
Click here to view this topic in its original format
Celtic Radio Community > Scotland > Ceathrar Na Alba


Posted by: Aaediwen 23-Dec-2006, 09:43 PM
My folks and I are starting to work on additional plans for out trip to Scotland. Right now, we are thinking on either Spring or Fall of 2008. Fall of 2007 is a slim possability. If three go, the extra expense for the third person would throw everything out of balance. So we were wondering if anyone might be interested in comming along.

I'm planning to pin down additional information over the next couple of weeks. So far, the only location we have really set that we want to visit is Creich parish, in Fife. Personally, I would like to visit Bute, and also slip over to the Isle of Mann for a day or so if possible. Most of this information has yet to be planned. ideas welcome. The main benefit to having a fourth person come along would be to balance hotel fees, so being willing/able to share a room would be a good thing. I will be doing the math for a two week trip, with exact per person cost being what I'm about to research once I post this message. Right now, I have numbers between $2000 and $4000 /person total. When last I looked, airfare was running $700/person round trip. I will post additional information here as it becomes avaliable.

Posted by: Aaediwen 24-Dec-2006, 10:10 PM
Ok, based on some math this morning, looks like $3000-$4000 for 12 days in country. It is also likely that I may head over before my folks. Spend some time in country and then meet up with them. Now if only I could contact Kris. . .

If anyone wants to consider joining me, just let me know. Considering Fall 07 or Spring 08 based on these numbers. I doubt I could have the plans made by Spring 07. Gives anyone at least 9 months to save up.

Posted by: A Shrule Egan 25-Dec-2006, 02:57 PM
Aaed, rent a house in the general area that you wish to see. The house should cost about $1000 for the whole time you are there. Look for house rentals in the towns that you want to be near. Hotels and B&B's are way to expensive. Also, some time shares have openings and that might be a possibility too. Look into all of that before you start thinking of hotels.

Posted by: A Shrule Egan 31-Dec-2006, 06:25 PM
Andy, finally found some time to do some checking on this.

I came across a web page that has rental cottages all over Scotland, http://www.chooseacottage.co.uk/partners/SHC/index.asp Pick the area that you want to be in and seach for an available cottage. Pick out your dates and wave your mouse over the beginning date and the price will show for those dates. Then, all you have to do is find the currency exchange and you will have a rough idea of how much it will cost.

Cottages will be cheaper overall and give you more options, such as cooking, bigger rooms and most of the time, be in the exact area that you wish to be in.

Some provide towels and bed sheets, some don't, so read the fine print.

If you land in Edinburgh, see if you can rent a Seat Toledo from Nation Car Rentals. It should hold enough luggage for 3 people and still have a fair amount of leg room. Nice riding car with enough power to get you around and still get about 45 miles to a gallon of diesel.

Also, remember that Scotland doesn't have a whole lot of major roads running through the country. Sometimes, you have to go an hour or two out of your way in order to get where you want to be. That's one of the reason's you will never see all of Scotland, even over a 2 week vacation. There's just to much to see and you'll have to plan another trip to Scotland to cover what you missed.

If I think of anything more, I'll post it here.

Posted by: A Shrule Egan 31-Dec-2006, 06:30 PM
oops.gif oops.gif That's what I get for typing that right after painting the bathroom. The fumes got to me. I know your name is Anthony but for some strange reason I typed Andy. Sorry bro!!!

biggrin.gif

Posted by: Aaediwen 01-Jan-2007, 10:39 AM
smile.gif You're not the first one to make that mistake. It used to creap me out, but now I consider it an honor. It reminds me that my identical twin brother is still with me. (Andrew Creech died at birth, 07/23/1980. Rest in Peace, brother)

Thanks for the pointers. Actually, Xeryx pointed me to the website to rent the house right on the Creich estate, and I am considering it very seriously. Looks like $1200 for a week. If I took 5 days on my own in hotels, and then my folks and I rented that for a week..

The second recommendation counts for a lot smile.gif And it will help with the math if someone else decided t ocome along too. Tapadh leibh.

Posted by: A Shrule Egan 01-Jan-2007, 12:07 PM
Well, if your looking for a place to spend your first time in Scotland, I would say Isle Of Skye. We wished we had spent more time there. The scenery was endless and we got there to late in the afternoon to tour Dunvegan Castle (Clan McCloud).

If you land in Edinburgh and it's early morning and you plan on staying in Skye, along the trip north, swing over to the Falkirk Wheel and then further north, go into Stirling and see the castle and also the Wallace Museum. Both are worth the few hours that you will spend there but don't take all day. It's about a 4 hour trip to Skye from there. That's one of those areas that there is no direct route and you have to circle up.

If you stay on Skye, you can easily leave the island and do some touring of the western part of Scotland and there are a few castles out in that area to check out, plus many other historical areas.

By the way, you need more than a week vacation in Scotland. Anything under 10 days, your only cheating yourself. If you have to, stay at a B&B or hotels for a couple of days and then fill the rest of the time in with a cottage. Better yet, stay at the cottage for 2 weeks. Then you don't have to keep packing and moving about.

The picture below, is the Eilleen Donan Castle that you will pass along the way to Skye.


Posted by: Aaediwen 01-Jan-2007, 02:19 PM
You're filling me with hope, my friend. 4 hours for the long route across the country sounds promising. Means that Inverness would not only be mangable, but could be conisdered along the way. Get in, rest for a while in Edinburgh. Then head north as you prescribe, targeting Inverness. There's 2 days, Next day, head on South to admire the world famous lake (perhaps monster sighting?) On my way to Skye... Spend the night there Day 3... Head South to Bute, spend the night there. Day 4. Day 5, head to Fife. Meet up with my folks, and start the period during which we rent our namesake's ancesteral home for another 7 days.

Means it's not likely I get to any of the other Celtic nations, but something to consider.... And with those 7 days, anything could happen. Looks like a 2 day trip to get to Douglas and back from Fife. I'm trying to be liberal with times, but I fear I may not be doing a very good job of it. This description may need to be seriously curtailed.

Posted by: A Shrule Egan 01-Jan-2007, 10:17 PM
We didn't make as far north as Inverness. We turned west when we got to Loch Ness and headed to Skye as fast as we could. We were pressed for time to get to Dunvegan Castle but we ended up not making it before they closed for the day. We did walk the grounds and got some nice pictures. We didn't get back to Aberfoyle till about 10 PM. That was a long day driving but we did take many pictures along the way as we drove through the Highlands. Doesn't sound like you won't be near Glen Coe till you start heading south again. Make sure you don't pass that up. That's a neat little town and make sure you locate the Glen Coe monument down a very narrow street at the far end of town.


Posted by: A Shrule Egan 01-Jan-2007, 10:44 PM
Oh yea, if you plan on checking out Edinburgh Castle, there aren't any signs to tell you where it is. You have ask the locals and get directions. We thought it was very strange that they didn't have signs for that. Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument had signs all over the town of Stirling, showing you how to get there.

Edinburgh is a bit of a confusing town to drive through. Not much in the way of signs telling you even how to get to the major highways. Bring a very good map of Edinburgh.

About 2 blocks below Edinburgh Castle, stop at Deacon Brodie's Tavern for lunch, upstairs. Excellent food and nice wait staff.


Picture of Edinburgh Castle


Posted by: fredtheted 09-Jan-2007, 07:25 PM
Hello Anthony,
A Very Happy New Year to you and your family
It is great to hear that you and your folks are planning a holiday in Scotland.If i can be any help in supplying web address's or local info for your holiday please PM me and i will try to help.Try and avoid July and August as they are the most exspensive months for accomadation and vehicle rentals.If i can help let me no

fred

Posted by: A Shrule Egan 10-Jan-2007, 07:46 PM
Aaed, if your planning on taking the A-82 up to Loch Ness, make sure you stop in Tyndrum, at The Green Welly Stop. It's a few retail stores, food, gas and just a simple place to stop and stretch before you get into the Highlands, cause there's no place else to stop, once your in the Highlands. You can do a bit of Xmas shopping there. They have a nice selection of Scottish goods. http://www.scotchwhisky.net/retail/retailers/green_welly.htm

Then, a 1/2 mile up the road, the road splits, go to the right and you begin to enter the Highlands. About 3 miles out, a sign will be on the left, letting you know that you have entered the Highlands and you have to stop and have your picture taken like this idiot did. biggrin.gif


Posted by: A Shrule Egan 10-Jan-2007, 07:57 PM
This is what a Seat Toledo looks like. It was much cleaner when we picked it up at the airport but we ran into a bit of snow the first 2 days. laugh.gif


Posted by: Aaediwen 10-Jan-2007, 08:09 PM
biggrin.gif ohh, great ideas. I'm going to have to plot some of these in Google Earth (or whereever else I decide to log ideas)

ASE: Cool ideas smile.gif Keep it rolling, I'll be checking in here. The more ideas the better. Many many thanks. Those are perfect examples of what I would be looking for.

Fred: I'm canvasing for ideas right now. I'm thinking the most likely months are either March-April or September-October. I hope that would be off season enough to avoid having to deal with as many Americans out and about. Yet, still warm enough that I can enjoy myself. Sound right? Recent developments on the home front mean it won't be until '08 that I'll be able to make the trip.

I'm starting to think that I may try to arrange a trip of longer than 2 weeks too. I should be able to get 3 weeks off from work pretty easy, and maybe even 4. I'm not sure yet how much more that would cost. I am hopeful that it would not double the price, although airfare is the only thing I have come up with so far that wouldn't double. So it probably would mean another couple thousand. . .

Posted by: Aaediwen 10-Jan-2007, 08:12 PM
QUOTE (A Shrule Egan @ 10-Jan-2007, 08:57 PM)
This is what a Seat Toledo looks like. It was much cleaner when we picked it up at the airport but we ran into a bit of snow the first 2 days. laugh.gif

Looks like it would be a good car for that kind of travel. Looks like it's similar to the Subaru Outback we rented in Seattle. For two guys our roaming the American NorthWest, that was a great car. no shortage of room for us, our luggage, and anything else we collected. Not bad on the gas either. Specially when heading down some of the hills they have up there... such as say.... Rainier... But honest. it wasn't bad uphill either.

Posted by: Iain A.D. 16-Jan-2007, 01:13 PM
One of the best websites you can use for planning your trip is this:

http://http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/index.html

If you plan to visit Edinburgh it might be best to do this at the start or end of your trip, thereby avoiding having a hire car in the city. Believe me, you dont want to do this ! biggrin.gif And for your stay in the city you dont need a car wink.gif

Please also try to fit in a couple of days in the Borders - too many visitors head straight for the highlands and miss out on what the Scottish borders has to offer wink.gif


Posted by: A Shrule Egan 21-Jan-2007, 10:09 PM
QUOTE (A Shrule Egan @ 10-Jan-2007, 08:46 PM)
Tyndrum, at The Green Welly Stop. It's a few retail stores, food, gas and just a simple place to stop and stretch before you get into the Highlands, cause there's no place else to stop, once your in the Highlands.

Aaed, there is one place to stop along the road to Glen Coe, roughly about half way. Sorry, don't remember the name of it but I do have a picture of it. When you recognize the place, just keep driving, unless you are really desperate. The place was smelly and filthy. They do have gas pumps but try to avoid going inside. It really is nasty!!

Posted by: Aaediwen 12-Aug-2007, 05:24 PM
Ok, the clock is ticking!! I am still hoping to make this trip, and am currently thinking about this time next year. I really would like a friend to go along. It looks like my dad at least isn't really too interested in going though. So I'm hoping it'll be me and at least one friend. I'm trying to decide between 1 or 2 weeks, and hope for the latter. Anyone want to come along? Right now, I'm thinking a day or two in the St. Andrews area, then across to Skye and down. If I can, I'd like to slip over to the Isle of Mann for a day or two as well. Edinburgh seems the most likely place to fly in and out of, so Stirling and Falkirk should be convenient visits as well if I remember the map right.

Powered by Invision Power Board (https://www.invisionboard.com)
© Invision Power Services (https://www.invisionpower.com)