Scottish Highlands

[Mrs Baggins]

Finally fulfilling a long held dream and heading off to Scotland in 13 days! We're renting a car and just taking off to see the sights. We want to get in lots of day hikes. We'll be traveling out of Edinburgh west to Oban, north east to Inverness, south to St. Andrews and back to Edinburgh for 11 days. Any suggestions for day hikes? We'll be prepared for all weather. I have the book Walking In Scotland but I always like to get first-hand recommendations as well. :D

[Marta]

The Isle of Skye is famous for its waterfalls. All I know is that it was pelting down rain most of the time when we were there. Bring good rain wear, and clothing that is warm when wet.

Climbing Ben Nevis is fun, if the air is clear.

[Cookerhiker]

Sounds like fun - have a great time!

[Homer&Marje]

Truly jealous. Enjoy your time (Bring back Scotch called Something Special) you wont be dissapointed

[cavscout]

Get in touch with my friend that runs the Ferintosh Guest House in Dumfries. He'll be able to provide you huge amounts of information about hiking in the area and a friendly place to stay.

http://www.ferintosh.net/photos.htm

http://www.ferintosh.net/walking.htm

[sonic]

My ancestors are from Dalserf near Lanark on the River Clyde. There are several falls in the area, just lovely, but not sure there is a specific trail of any sorts through the area. Your walking Scotland book might say more on it. I know personally it is just a lovely area. The River Clyde area is where Clydesdale horses got their start. Lots of history to be found! Have a wonderful time. Good luck driving on the wrong, er, left side of the road. And don't be afraid to venture down some of those narrow back roads. That's where I found the most interesting sites and people.

[fiddlehead]

Ahh Edinburgh! Had a great time busking in that town. I remember it was cold so this homeless guy came up and gave me a coffee. When i tasted it, it was probably 70% whiskey. Then a bunch of them came over and we sang together for hours. Love that place.

The only hiking i did in Scotland was up around Ben Nevis. Really nice. Get's cold though. Have fun.

[earlylight]

Check out Ullapool, North of Inverness. Great hiking. The Inn you want to stay at is called the Ceilidh Place. Great food, drink and live music.

[Old Hillwalker]

After nine summer visits, hillwalking in Scotland my favorite hiking base camp was at the Mamore Lodge in Kinlochleven. The hiking around there and in Glen Coe was absolutely the best. Be sure that you get to travel through Glen Coe and visit Ft William (near Glen Nevis & Ben Nevis).

During my trips I used the Scottish Buses exclusively since they will pick you up and let you off at virtually anywhere along the highway. They don't run on Sundays however.

Pictures of my travels in Western Scotland:

http://community.webshots.com/user/nh_hillwalker

[Homer&Marje]

Ahh Edinburgh! Had a great time busking in that town. I remember it was cold so this homeless guy came up and gave me a coffee. When i tasted it, it was probably 70% whiskey. Then a bunch of them came over and we sang together for hours. Love that place.

The only hiking i did in Scotland was up around Ben Nevis. Really nice. Get's cold though. Have fun.

Don't call it whiskey, they get very angry:eek: My friend, "Peter the Scottsman" used to yell at me every time they made me a drink, I use to drink Johnny Walker Black Rob Roys, extra sweet with cherry juice instead of vermouth. He said " If you ever go to scotland and order this they'll throw you through the pane glass window in the front of the pub. If your gonna mix your scotch do it with water, or more scotch"

[Mrs Baggins]

Don't call it whiskey, they get very angry:eek: My friend, "Peter the Scottsman" used to yell at me every time they made me a drink, I use to drink Johnny Walker Black Rob Roys, extra sweet with cherry juice instead of vermouth. He said " If you ever go to scotland and order this they'll throw you through the pane glass window in the front of the pub. If your gonna mix your scotch do it with water, or more scotch"

Believe me, I know it's "whisky" without the "e"! Some say add a little water to bring out the full flavor and aroma, others say that's sacrilege.......personally I like a wee bit of water in mine. We'll be driving everywhere - got a nice tiny car reserved with auto tran. Four years ago we rented a Peugot camper east of London and drove it around the England and Wales for 2 weeks - possibly the worst vacation mistake we'd ever made! Not only was it a manual tran but getting that beast down some of those country roads and through medieval town gates was horrifying. All of our visions of pulling over for tramps in the countryside completely evaporated because there were NO parking areas big enough to put the thing. And many of the regular car parks in towns would not allow campers. The campgrounds in the UK are basically nothing more than what you'd get at an old fashioned American drive-in movie theater lot - - a spot of gravel and the restroom building ("ablution block") - no picnic tables, no grills, no fire pits - nothing. We were trapped in the camper all evening because it didn't come with any chairs to put outside, and we had lucked into some outstanding sunny warm weather for most of the trip. And then there was the fuel the thing could swill in a day................we did the figures and know for a fact it's cheaper to rent a small car and stay in B&Bs and hostels than to try to camp like that. We still ended up eating in pubs once a day so we didn't save much of anything on food. Tough to grocery shop when many of the grocery stores won't allow campers, either.

We're following a route from Edinburgh up to Oban to Inverness, to St. Andrew and back to Edinburgh where we'll turn in the car and spend 3 days in walking the city.

[Skywalker]

Mrs. Baggins,

Great choice of locales. The Scots are some of the loveliest people on this planet--much more hospitable, incidentally, than their English cousins.

Skywalker '05

[sonic]

Mrs. Baggins,

Great choice of locales. The Scots are some of the loveliest people on this planet--much more hospitable, incidentally, than their English cousins.

Skywalker '05
Thank You!