Phatbeetle and others who know Scotland

My parents are coming this summer and we are going to take a trip to Scotland.  We are going to take the train up to Edinburgh.  Then rent a car.  My dad's must do's are Stirling, Loch Ness, and Beauly.  We will fly home from Inverness.

What else should we add onto our must see/do list?  We plan to go for a week.

Thanks in advance!

If you are going as far north as Inverness you could visit Culloden Visitors Centre, it is an amazing place and well worth a visit.

www.nts.org.uk/culloden/

Dundee is an interesting city.

I was going to say Culloden as well..

http://www.visitlochness.com/things-to-do/

http://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/searchresults?prodtypes=ACTI%2CATTR%2CENTE%2CRETA%2CTOUR&refined=1&refine-place=on&src_area=7721&refine-location=&loc_place=&loc_polygon=&loc_placeprox=&src_location=&src_pcproximity_bands=50%7C20%7C10%7C5%7C2%7C1&src_pcproximity_dist=50&refine-category=on&src_category=-1&refine-name=on&src_name=&submit=Search+

You could do a big circuit of Glasgow, Oban, Mull, Fortwilliam, Inverness, St Andrews, Stirling, Perth, Edinburgh...or the other way around or pick and chose the sites on the way.  We had relatives in October who did it in a week and loves it. You get the countryside, lochs and cities...perfection.

For me St Andrews, Edinburgh and loch lomondside are a must

I live in Scotland and do a travel blog of our adventures from the past 1 1/2 year.  you can check out some of our blogs from Perth, Aberdeen, Inverness, Skye, Arran, Bute, Oban, Stirling, Edinburgh (and much more) to get some ideas.
The newest is England and Wales but if you click on the links on the right side you can see the rest.

http://mitchellsabroad.blogspot.co.uk/

FLbeach, I love your photography! Winter sunsets on old brick!

FLbeach, I love your photography! Winter sunsets on old brick!

Thank you, beautiful scenery makes it easier!

Heheh, I made it into my own thread title!   

What is he wanting to see in Beauly?

Will write more later........    have to go back to work........blah....work......hahah 

Heheh, I made it into my own thread title!   

What is he wanting to see in Beauly?

Will write more later........    have to go back to work........blah....work......hahah 

Loch Ness and Beauly are two places my grandpa (my dad's dad) spent some time and always recalled fondly.  It's my dad wanting to go where his dad went.   

Loch Ness and Beauly are two places my grandpa (my dad's dad) spent some time and always recalled fondly.  It's my dad wanting to go where his dad went.   

Aww, lovely.  Was just surprised, as there isn't too much there, however there is a nice old priory.  And a children's farm you can go visit and pet the animals.
The Glen Ord Distillery isn't far from there. 

Stirling is a great place to start! The Castle is quite impressive, as is the Wallace Monument. 

Up the way on the A9 towards Inverness if you're coming up from Stirling, Killiecrankie is a great walk with some stunning scenery, likewise, the Hermitage.  Pitlochry is a nice place to stop off and have a bite to eat and wander (and right there is the Edradour distillery, which is the smallest in Scotland and still made traditionally).  The House of Bruar is also on the way up the A9.  Their food hall is good fun and lots of shopping and the Falls of Bruar if you need to stretch your legs

Inverness itself is a bit of a dump (shhhh) without much actually going for it (except the Castle Tavern, the Phoenix, Hootanany’s, Eden Court for some shows, and the Mustard Seed restaurant). But it’s the surrounding areas that make it worth coming up this way!

I, personally, find Culloden Battlefield boring because I find that it's just a big 'ole field, but if it's your thing, go for it.  Clava Cairns is down behind that, and that's quite interesting! 

No trip to Loch Ness would be incomplete without a visit to Urquhart Castle.  You could do a Jacobite cruise, which is quite a nice way to see the loch.  Your wee’un may enjoy the Loch Ness Monster exhibition centres. 

From the other side, Dores is a nice wee village (and they have a great pub) and the Falls of Foyers are lovely. 

To head up further north, Ullapool is a nice place to go to (great scenery and a really good chippie).  Or go up to Gairloch or Aultbea. 

For a fun drive, head to Applecross!! If the weather is good, you’ll get some cracking views and a really fun curvy road and a cozy Scottish pub to visit.   
Or drive over to Skye and go drive around there (pretty darn impressive).  On the way you’ll get to see Eilean Donan Castle, which is the quintessential Scottish castle.   Then you can visit the village of Plockton (which has palm trees) and there’s another fun petting zoo there (hehehe, you can tell we’re into booze and animals). 

Loads to do. Let me know if you want more ideas, I’m full of em. 


 

Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone!  We are excited to lay out an itinerary.

I'm in a similar boat, but trying to come up with a proper itinerary for my little sister (16) and grandma (83), who are planning on visiting together this summer. It's really hard to think like a tourist, because honestly, the big attractions when I get to the mainland these days are things like supermarkets, American franchise restaurants, and cinemas.  So, sadly, Braehead is now my favourite Scottish holiday destination.

All in all, I think a lot depends on their main interests.  But in addition to some great suggestions already (I'll heartily second Stirling & Culloden), here are a few other suggestions:

Stuff to do:

• Walking tours of Edinburgh.  Lots of different ones, and they've all been great.
• Roslyn Chapel is very cool.
• New Lanark village/Falls of Clyde-- very neat industrial/social history museum, plus walking trails.  Plan to spend most of the day, 'cause it's big.
• Highland games-- they have them all over the place, but the smaller ones aren't always very well advertised, so you might have to dig a bit.  They aren't always at the weekend, either, which can make it easier to fit them into your itinerary
• Lots of smaller museums & galleries, which can be more interesting than the big ones sometimes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_in_Scotland#Museums
  
• The Sea Life Centre in Oban, dolphin/whale/etc watching tours, or even guided SCUBA or snorkelling tours.  There's also lots of RSPB sanctuaries and the Highland Wildlife Park in Kingussie.
• Concerts/ceilidhs -- local arts groups tend to sponsor loads of music, and not just trad/folk groups (unless you're in the islands!).  Also, a lot of hotels/pubs will have music in the evenings, esp. on weekends, so wherever you stop for the night, ask around.  It's better than spending all evening in your room.

'Must Do' stuff that, honestly, you could probably skip:

• Edinburgh Castle/Holyrood Palace (or pretty much any other castle/'stately home') -- yeah, they're famous, so go and take a photo, but skip the extortionate ticket prices and long lines.  They have some lovely collections, and if you love art & antiques, go for it.  But, basically, it's like walking around the Queen's attic-- lots of fancy stuff that no one ever uses, and she's got a dozen more like it.  And so does every other head of state.  There are lots of Faberge eggs in the world, but all they really tell you is that the person who owned them is a) loaded, and b) possibly related to a Tsar.  If you want to experience the unique culture & history of a country, you're not usually going to find it in places like these.  Stirling Castle is an important exception to this, because they've done a really good job restoring/interpreting the site to reflect how it would actually have been used.
• Distilleries-- not that I don't enjoy them, but unless you're really into whiskey, it's kind of a seen one, seen 'em all deal.  It's a lot of metal vats, big pipes, weird smells and barrels, and then you get to drink things.  If you want to go to one, try to book the tour well in advance, because they fill up fast, and do some comparing on review sites, because some are better value/experience than others.  (Oban gives you a nice souvenier glass.) But if you can't fit it in, don't feel too bad.       

Also, just in case someone mentions it and it sounds like a good idea, skip the islands.  It's not that there's nothing good here-- there's some really great stuff-- it's just not practical to make them part of a larger itinerary.  If you want to see the islands, plan to just see the islands.  And don't plan to see them this summer, because they've buggered up the ferries and it's going to be hellish.

Lololololol... Braehead. Love it, woadgirl!!

Lololololol... Braehead. Love it, woadgirl!!

Two words:  Buffalo. Wings.

Lololololol... Braehead. Love it, woadgirl!!

Hahaha, we are flying into Glasgow in April, so we might have to stop at Braehead on the way to Dundee