I’m thinking of taking a holiday in Scotland, but frankly, I have no idea what I’d be doing there (nor have I ever been on holiday somewhere else tbh, so I’d love to do some planning beforehand). I really want to enjoy the nature and landscapes there and I’m sure there must be a few not so tourist-y gems I could plan on visiting.
There’s a lot of Scotland, and don’t underestimate driving times. Argyll is good, but can be rather wet any time of the year. Going around now you should be safe from the midgies. Recommend getting onto some of the islands too, and boat rides are always nice. Kerrera is a lovely little island just by Oban. It has a very atmospheric castle, though the teashop isn’t as good as it was so pack a lunch. If you like a dram, make a tour of some distilleries, each has it’s own character. Argyll has lots of archeology & standing stones if that’s your thing. There are loads of lumpy bits of you like walking too. Pretty much anywhere is good, tourist hotspot are ok, but try to get off the beaten track once in a while.
If you’re driving, and going onto country roads, please please please learn to reverse.
If you’re lucky you may get to spot some wild haggis, but they’re quite rare now. The farmed ones are cute but have a nasty bite so be careful.
Also don’t neglect the borders, loads of history.
It may not sound your thing, but consider geocaching… It takes you to some interesting out of the way places.
Edinburgh is the obvious answer. If you’ve never been there you absolutely should stop in. Old town was amazing as a tourist, although it does get very touristy, but that was definitely a Scottish moment for me I had there. New town also had a ton of fun places to stop in, good food, and exploring.
We went to Stirling Castle, easy to get to by rail from there, and had a great tour.
We loved Scotland so much we’re going back in a few months, but this time farther north into the highlands, Inverness will be our main base. If anyone has suggestions around there I’d love to hear them! (And it’s already starting to sound like I need to go to the western side on another trip there someday…
Inverness is a great base, though not an especially wonderful city in itself. Go west to visit Ullapool, a completely charming town and beautiful scenery en route. Or head for Speyside malt country if you’re a whisky fan. Or check out Loch Ness, or Cawdor Castle, or go dolphin watching. Enjoy!
Thanks for confirming that, Inverness I’m sure is nice, but yeah it seems more like a jumping off point for us. We’re thinking about first day exploring the city and going on the boat tour of Ness & Ulquart castle, but then second day renting a car (terrified of driving on the left tho), and driving out. I’ve seen Cawdor come up a few times, maybe that, and then we’re thinking maybe Glennmorangie (because we actually have their sister distillery here in Seattle so we figured why not go see it). However we’ve been looking for other places, I’ll look into Ullapool!
Thank you so much! I think now Edinburgh would be a great starting point for my first visit there. But I totally get you when you say you’ll need another trip just for the western side, I honestly underestimated how spread out all the cool places are hahah
It’s an amazing city that I fell in love with, and it’s so easy to branch out and go from there. Like I said a trip to Stirling Castle is a great trip, just an hour away by train, Linlithgow is half hourish away by train, and if you do want to see Glasgow you can easily take the express train which is only 45 mins. Have an amazing trip!
I flew to Inveness and stayed in a place called Beauly then just drove around really. I drove around Loch Ness stopping at all these little castles, then took a boat trip. I went whale watching fom Gairloch, that also took use to see seabirds in the Shiant Islands and some white tailed eagles, then over to the Cairngorns.
I knew the places we went would be cool obviously, but every drive was amazing, brilliant landscapes everywhere. I had lunch in these cool little pubs on mountainsides, stopped in cute little villages, I was leaving like 2 hours to get anywhere so we could stop multiple times just to get pictures and stare.
I went to Inveraray a couple years ago, and really enjoyed it. There’s a place that rents out essentially entire apartments for about the same as a hotel room. Nice little town, with a lot of food options. Castle and hiking trail within walking distance. On the water. Just a great time all around.
Here’s a photo I took from the overlook at the end of the hiking trail. You can see the castle and town below.
If you’re hailed by 3 witches, think twice before you act on anything they suggest. You’ll achieve what they say but you may regret it.
