Scotland in May/Jun

Family has deep Scottish roots and I have always wanted to go. Looks like that is going to happen as a birthday present thanks to my wife. Flying into Edinburgh from Newark. No definite plans other than attending the pipe band championship on the weekend. Have an endless list of possibilities…tour of Celtic FC stadium, trekking out to Isle of Skye, several sites in Edinburgh and Glasgow, on and on.

Would welcome any suggestions. Just participated in the Guinness world record breaking ‘Kilt run’ in NJ (most people wearing a kilt running 2 miles) in prep for the trip. Ran best 2 mile time since college. All good…

I’ve been twice to Edinburgh and 1x each to Skye and Mull/Oban area.

Edinburgh is great - one of the cities where the tourist places are really worth seeing, and the food can be quite good. I highly recommend Kitchin on the high-end as well the restaurant at the Witchery right near the castle. For the latter, both the Haggis and the seafood platter are a must

If you like the outdoors, Skye is great. While there are a few tourist locations, it’s really about hiking, fishing and boating. The Quiraing & Faerie Pools are great and Neist point is worth seeing if you are out that way. If you want to do some tough hiking, the Black Cuillins have a lot of variety. For food it’s all about the seafood (at least for me). Loch Bay Seafood in particular is awesome! If you are looking for a fly fishing guide, Mitchell at Skye Ghillie Fly Fishing and Guided walks was fantastic. For tours and restaurants reserve early - demand is much higher than supply in-season

One downside of Skye is that it’s pretty huge. We made the mistake of staying in a cottage at Eileen Donnan castle. The cottage itself was great, but it meant that getting to the further reaches of Skye took 1.5 to 2.0hrs. For instance, coming home from Loch Bay was over 1.5hrs. If you go, I’d highly recommend staying central on the island.

The Isle of Mull is a great place to relax and get away. There is not a ton to do, but it’s a beautiful place. The seafood is also fantastic. I could eat Langoustine at the Cafe Fish 200 days a year :slight_smile: Mull is deceptively tough to navigate - with the small roads (1 lane with pull-overs in many places) you’ll likely spend almost all of your time on whichever side of the island you stay on. Also, the Ferry makes it logistically more challenging as well as not being cheap (85 pounds-ish for 2 ways).

We spent a little time along the coast (Oban, Fort William, etc) but not really enough to give sound advice.

Feel free to ping me if you have any specific questions

Brian

You can pm if you want for more specific information, I’ve been to Scotland about 9 times, primarily central belt and west coast. Including Skye, although there is good advice on that above. Portree is fairly well located btw.

And, fwiw, my pipe band will be playing in the World Pipe Band Championships in August again this year…

Brian and John - Great feedback, especially as I am an football (soccer) playing, outdoor loving, pescetarian.

I am trying to learn how to play the pipes…last year my wife bought me a chanter. Been busy on other things so it has been a slow process. I do have some that works for me that played in the West Point pipe and drum band that has offered some coaching.

Looking forward to the trip. Thanks again.

If you need a mode of transportation and directions to Skye from Edinburgh, try this - Way Back Home w/ Danny MacAskill - YouTube

I have been 3 times and have loved it. Mostly golf trips for me but so much more.

The seafood in Scotland is really outstanding. You must have some Queenie scallops with roe while you are there. And some real kippers. Also generally try Loch Fyne Seafood’s restaurant in Leith, or if you get up towards Oban, the restaurant on Loch Fyne itself. If in Oban, try Ee-usk. In Glasgow, Crabshakk.

Or for non-seafood vegetarian just find one of the dozen superb Indian restaurants in the West End; I have had nothing as good this side of the pond.

All good suggestions. I eat loads of seafood and my wife is a carnivore, so it’s all good. We were in Sonoma last month and ate so many oysters it was ridiculous.

Piggy backing on this thread for some additional opinions. My wife and I have been to Scotland. Did Edinburgh, Isle of Skye, Inverness, Loch Ness and Loch Lomand.

My in-laws really want to go, so this July we’re going back. Starting with a 5 day Whisky tour on a train to/from Edinburgh. Then we’ll have 8 nights. Think the first 2 will be in/near Edinburgh. Trying to decide what to do after.

My in-laws aren’t highly mobile, so no hiking or strenuous stops. Likely just want to stay 2 places (after Edinburgh) to avoid the pack and move hassle. Thinking one place in the islands where we could do day trips out and back. Any advice on where is appreciated. Also where we should spend our time on the second stop. Train will go through Inverness area, so thinking about something else, but not sure what. Not so interested in big cities, more prefer country estates, gardens, distilleries, coastline, etc. okay with some historical sites but don’t have to do a ton of them.

We fly out of Glasgow, so will likely spend one last night in/near there.

TIA and slainte.

I know you said Scotland but from Edinburgh I would reserve a couple of days to go south to cover Northumberland:

  • Hadrian’s wall
  • Lindisfarne
  • Bamburgh Castle
  • Alnwick Castle
  • Berwick
  • Walkworth Castle
  • Dunstanburgh Castle (may be too far for your relatives to walk although it’s flat ground and really beautiful)

Spectacularly beautiful area with wonderful people and so much to see and do. Really unspoilt.

Dan