Vacation help! - Scotland

[Eden]

So, we've got a heap of airline miles and we've decided we are going to spend Christmas in Scotland.... but dang it, that's about as far as I can get as to what to do and what to see.....

We are definitely going to spend some time in Edinburgh and Edinburgh Castle is on the list, but we're open to spending time in other places as well.

What should absolutely not be missed if you take a trip to Scotland in the winter? How hard is it to get around (will places be snowed in/closed for the season?) outside of the bigger cities? Should we rent a car for at least some of the time or can we get by with the trains?

I'm looking for pretty broad stuff right now.... I'm hoping to get some guide books from the library so that I can do a bit of research, but I'm at a loss at where to start.... I'm also into things that are a bit more off the beaten path - I'm much more of a walk around a pretty village person than walk around a wax museum type.

[salsabike]

Eden, do you still know how to get in touch with Bruno? If not, send me a PM with your email and I'll send it to her, if you want. I can't think of anyone who could give more expert advice!

[indysteel]

I'm sure Edinburgh will be lovely at Christmas. I spent a few days there in June of 2002. It was rainy, blustery and cold then, so I can't imagine what winter would be like. I regret that I didn't make it to Glasgow, as it was in the middle of a resurgence. Didn't make it to the highlands. I'll defer to others as to what it will be like weatherwise in December.

[Chicken Little]

Help! I need to plan my Christmas vacation in Cleveland.

[zoom-zoom]

I will ask my DH when he's back from running errands. He lived in Aberdeen for a year and did a fair amount of traveling.

As far as snow, I was there from Jan-April. And, while they don't get snow like the upper Midwest of the US, when they do get snow they freak the heck out and don't have the equipment to deal with it well. I recall it was wet, heavy stuff, too.

I spent a few weeks in Aberdeen...I LOVED that city. It's not far from Dunotter castle and has the BEST fish-and-chips joint in all of the UK (IMO), The New Dolphin.

[Eden]

No reason to be a snippy Little Chicken..... I happen to know that there are some ladies from the UK and Scotland as well as some well traveled women here. Usually I decide to go somewhere with an idea of why and what I want to see already in mind - this trip is a bit more nebulous and I really have been having a hard time getting a whole lot of information.

[ciao_bella]

Best travel advice:

Tripadvisor.com

Have fun.

[Roadtrip]

I don't have specific Scottland travel advice, but I'd check phones for international use if you need service-- data charges are really expensive so if your not going to use it, make sure data roaming is turned off

Check any electronics (laptops, etc) and make sure you have proper power cord converters. The plugs/recepticals are different pin (type G) I believe and it's 220v DC, which is different then here is the US.

If you plan on renting a car, you may want to research specifically local rules/regulations on foreign divers and insurance/liability coverage customary as your own ins may not cover you overseas.

Check into medical coverage and if your current provider and plan covers you while your away, but its something to look into in the off chance something unforeseen would occur.

Check any prescription medications and make sure you make proper refills in hand before leaving. I've read it's possible something be legal med here and not so in other countries.

Never a bad idea to carry one change of clothes in your carry on incase something horrible happens and your luggage is lost, that way you can have clean clothes while you find/shop for something else.

Passports can take 4-6 weeks so prepare if you don't already have them.

That's what I'm thinking of right now... Unless you have a spare ticket to Scottland and I can become a member of the family for the Holidays :)

Shannon

[Reesha]

Oh man! My dream wedding is an Xmas/New Years elopement in Fort William. So stunning in the wintertime!

[Cataboo]

Scotland's gorgeous. I just got back from my cousin's wedding there last week.

I will tell you - that Scotland in December is miserably wet & cold.

Are you sure you don't want to go in September or August instead? Because really, September or August are gorgeous in Scotland.

But anyways - if there's 2 of you, you probably will do better with trains or public transportation than renting a car. If you want to rent a car, most credit card company's car rental insurance doesn't apply to driving in the UK & the same for your car insurance... If you sign up for American express premium rental car protection (it's an extra $25 a car rental), they will cover you in scotland... Other credit card companies might have similar programs... But you will not be able to rent a car unless you prove you have insurance - if you can't do that, they will charge you a ton for car insurance. Gas is also really expensive.

If you want to get outside of Glasgow or Edinburgh and get up into the highlands... You've got to keep in mind that there's only a couple of roads up into the Highlands (and they are twisty and windy and not quite what we think of as highways)... They're gorgeous drives... But they do get snowed in frequently - so if you want to go up into the highlands, I would go up there first during your trip... Just to make sure that you can get back down to Glasgow or Edinburgh before your flight leaves. The loch lomond road from Glasgow up the west coast is beautiful - I don't know if you can still catch the ferries in the winter, but if you go to Oban, you can go on a ferry/boat tour to Iona, Staffa and some other island... Staffa is like basalt hexagonal columns and is just amazing looking (it's like being in the Qbert game)... You could drive all the way up to the Isle of Skye... I could totally tell you who to go kayaking with, but I don't think you want to do that in December.

St. Andrew's a beautiful city as well...

Dundee's got the artic explorer ships if you're interested in that sort of thing.

If your up by the Cairngorms, you can take the furnicular railway up the mountain for some gorgeous views.

Edinburgh - the town center'll be all lit up and decorated for Christmas - do the castle there. Do the castle in Stirling & the Wallace memorial as well. Glasgow, lots of museums, if you like Charles Rennie MacKintosh - there's some architecture to see, go see the university...

The problem with Scotland in the winter is that your days are goign to be very short, so it does limit your sightseeing... It got light at like 4 am and got dark at around 9 pm when I was there last week.

[Savra]

When I went to Scotland in March we traveled from Edinburgh up to Inverness to Elgin. Made the mistake of renting a car. I would second the notion of relying on trains. As one Scottish gentleman said - why drive when you can sip whiskey on the train, talk to people and see the scenery go by? A lot of castles as well as whiskey tasting places are closed in the winter. But the major ones are open, such as Sterling as one person said. I recommend seeing the cathedral in Elgin. Elgin also has a lovely (but expensive) wool factory. Roslyn Cathedral is lovely as well. It's only 20 min. south of Edinburgh. Oh, you can also sign up for bus tours from Edinburgh to major spots in the highlands etc. Just go to the big tourist place by the river.
Have a great time!! I loved Scotland and look forward to going back!!

[bmccasland]

I rented a car and like the freedom of going where I wanted when I wanted. But when I got to a town/village where I wanted to stop, I parked in the first car park I came across and walked - it was safer for everyone! I did one commercial tour, at the suggestion of my B&B hosts - Oban to Iona with a pass by Staffa Island via ferry/tour coach (bus)/ferry.

Some of the more interesting places aren't on tour bus routes, and/or you can't be spontaneous. But then I don't do well in large groups either. Follow the leader never was one of my favorite games. :cool:

I ordered a tourism book from the Scottish Tourism Board (pre-internet days), and listed out places that sounded interesting, then plotted them on a map, knowing my plane would be landing in Glasgow. After that it was where the whim took me or the suggestion of people I met along the way. I used the tourism offices to help book B&B's if I had trouble getting one on my own. Their fee was nominal, and the service was wonderful.

[woohoo]

Lots of funs stuff to do in Scotland in December, as long as you expect it to be cold and wet! :D

I'd say Oban is a good bet - it's a fishing town on the west coast, scenic & interesting. It's accessibly by the west coast main line train - one of the most scenic rail journeys in Europe, even if I am biased ;)

As others have said, Glasgow and Edinburgh are a must. They're only an hour apart by train, so you could stay in either one and still see the other.

Fort William is good, and has the advantage in winter of being close to both Glencoe and Aonach Mor (Nevis Range) ski areas. At nevis range you can take a gondola up as a pedestrian if you aren't skiing/boarding. Both Glencoe and Fort William have some pretty serious downhill bike tracks, although you'd need to check winter opening. Ft. William's is in the UCI world cup calendar.

Weather wise we might have snow. It's not normally that serious, but the last two winters have been much snowier than usual, with maybe 4-6 weeks with 6-12inches in Glasgow and more in the highlands.

A good website to checkout is visitscotland.com - it's just the tourist board, but it's pretty comprehensive and caters to a lot of tastes...

:)

[Cataboo]

Re power converters - if you look at most electronics lately (laptop power supply, camera battery chargers, etc) - look at the input on the power cord - if it says 100-240 volt input, then you don't need a voltage converter, you just need the plug adapter. I just take a couple plug adapters and a 3 or 6 outlet plug to plug into that - then all my electronics can go into charge on that. I still carry a voltage converter, but very rarely do I actually have anything that I plug in that needs conversion.

[Eden]

Super info! Thanks all - now I have some places to start checking out.

I haven't downhill skied in years, but my husband was thinking renting some cross country skis or snowshoes could be a fun thing to do for our "alone time" We are going with two friends, one of whom is paralyzed - so some of our time will need to be relatively accessible activities - he's pretty adventuresome, quite flexible (mentally I mean) and more mobile than one might think though.

I'm not super worried about the weather - It will probably be not much different than what we will be leaving behind in Seattle.... yeah it might be nice to go somewhere tropical and get away from it...., but it also seems a rather romantic place to spend Christmas. We don't have any family where we live, so we usually don't do too much.