Three of my friends and I are headed to Scotland for about 10 days this July, with the primary goal of visiting some of our favorite distilleries and drinking a bunch of whisky. Of course, we’re also planning to take in as many other sights as possible. So far we just have a general plan… fly into Edinburgh and spend a day there, drive over to Cambeltown for a day, then spend a bit of time in Islay (the highlight of the trip for most of us), then hit Oban, Portree, and hopefully make it over to the Speyside area.
I’d love some recommendations about the trip in general, but right now we’re mainly trying to figure out the Islay portion since we’re worried that hotels might fill up. We’re debating between staying there for 2 or 3 days… any opinions? We would like to have time to really explore the island and go to all the distilleries. We realize this means sacrificing time at other places. Any hotel recommendations? We’re debating between whether it would be best to stay at a more touristy hotel in Bowmore, or to seek out more of a rustic place away from town. Finally, tips on visiting distilleries?
Of course, we’ll be doing research too, but would love first hand experience from trusted Berserkers! Thanks!