Scotland For 4 days

alexlyons

Thinking of heading to scotland in the last week in october. Just wondering what people think, is there anything I should see or do, or places I should go. Going with the OH, we're thinking of driving around and staying in B&B's etc. We're both into photography, me more than her, so that could be a focus of the trip RE where to go etc. Would prefer to steer clear of the big cities, with the exception of Glasgow as we have to drive straight through it, so may as well see it.

Plan is:
Day 1: arrive Stranraer approx 2pm
Drive to glasgow (2 hours)
Stay in glasgow that night, maybe go out? probably hotel it for the night

Day 2: Drive up to point B on the map, or anywhere in that general direction (2 hours approx)
tour that area for the day, bit of R&R really...
B&B that night

Day 3: Much the same as day 2, not sure where to go though
B&B that night

Day 4: Make an 8pm ferry from Stranraer

A few questions about it
1. What is the drive like from Stranraer to Glasgow?
2. Is my timing right for said drive?
3. Hotel suggestions for glasgow?
4. What are the roads like from Glasgow to point B?
5. Any places around there worth seeing etc?
6. Any other suggestions?

Day 4 is pretty open ended. Wouldn't want to drive more than 3 or 4 hours to get to the ferry, but don't mind between an hour or two's driving each day. So on day 3 we could start making the way back down, but not to far at all so we're still on holidays!!

Money wise, the boat is about €220 return. How much would you people reckon a night in a B&B would be in this day and age? and would we need to pre book?

All in how much do you reckon? and I mean all in, except drink money, which there won't be much of.

I've definitely forgotten something, but fire ahead with suggestions and questions!

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=A77&daddr=56.764768,-3.933105&hl=en&geocode=FR7fRQMdRLOz_w%3BFWApYgMdT_zD_w&mra=mift&mrsp=0&sz=9&sll=55.174162,-4.430237&sspn=1.355242,3.944092&ie=UTF8&ll=56.838457,-3.718872&spn=1.298097,3.944092&t=h&z=9

scotchannie

You could try this route from point b, http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=A77&daddr=56.764768,-3.933105+to:A9+to:A82+to:A77&geocode=Fd7xRQMddNOz_w%3BFWApYgMdT_zD_w%3BFbgYbQMdyAnA_w%3BFfpEYwMdbpmy_w%3BFcAjRgMdjuaz_w&hl=en&mra=mi&mrcr=3&mrsp=4&sz=9&sll=55.09723,-4.930115&sspn=1.01679,2.447205&ie=UTF8&ll=55.279115,16.962891&spn=32.788652,78.310547&t=h&z=4 inverness and fort william are nice....

alexlyons

that leaves out a stop in glasgow unless we go for an extra day. Which also means a much longer drive the first day. it looks like a good route though, might stretch the extra day!

big b

Scotchannie's route is good, although the A9 is a pretty boring drive north.

£50 a night should get you a decent B & B in the Highlands in October, and not much more for a decent clean hotel in Glasgow.

I'd suggest driving to Glasgow 1st day, about 2 hours. Google for a hotel deal, Travelodge, Holiday Inn Express & many more offer affordable city centre accomm.
Plenty good restaurants & cheap lively pubs in the city centre, and great shopping. Buchanan and Argyle Streets will cover those needs.

Next day, head for the A82 north. You'll pass Loch Lomond, plenty of stopping places for pics. Heading further north, you'll drive across the stunningly unspoilt Rannoch Moor then the awesome Glencoe before arriving in Fort William. That drive takes 2 hours without pic stops, so it'll probably take you at least 3. Apart from a 10 mile stretch around Loch Lomond, it's a pretty good road.

Fort william the town is a fairly unattractive place, but the surrounding scenery is world class. Pm me if you want a recommendation for accomm there. From there, a 15 minute drive to Glenfinnan is well worth it, especially if the skies are clear. Further along the same road you'll pass lots more stunning scenery. Don't worry about taking the same road back to Fort william, it looks very different in the other direction, with stunning views of Ben Nevis on a fairly clear day.
again, if weather permits, the ski gondola is open all year & offers amazing views & photo opportunities, it's 10 mins north of the town on the A82.

You can easily use Fort william as your base for your couple of days, it's unlikely you'll have to book accomm in advance at that time of year unless there's some big event on. Drive in any direction for stunning scenery, the roads are rural but absolutely fine.

On your last day, you could leave FW early enough & maybe take in Culzean castle or Rabbie Burns cottage in Ayrshire before heading the last stretch back to Stranraer, or maybe just let the Mrs hit the shops in Glasgow for a few hours as you won't have much time the 1st day.

Pubs & restaurants are generally cheaper than here, pubs in particular. try "The Goose on Union Street" and "The Counting House" in glasgow city centre, both decent pubs. The Counting house is a pretty cool building right on George square.
On the road north (A82) there's a great wee hotel/restauarant/pub on Loch Lomond called the Drovers Inn. It's near the end of the twisty bit of road & i recommend it for lunch.

Fire away with any questions.

alexlyons

That sounds good! That sort of info is a great help, thanks for the time taken

What do you think of going to Inverness? Would it be better to stay 2 nights in Fort WIlliam and just tour around that area? In a sense I kind of like that idea, of stopping for two nights, not living out of a suitcase completely for 3 days. Being able to stop is quite an attraction now that I think of it! Is Inverness a big miss? Is it doable as a day trip or part of a day?

If you drop us a PM with that accomm tip it'd be great!
All in its shaping up to be expensive enough between fuel, boat and B&B. Is a figure of €100 for 3 dinners plus a bit of food on the boat on the way back realistic? €200 for 3 nights B&B, €234 for the boat... €150 in fuel ball park.. is this a mad idea?

big b

You can drive FW to Inverness in 90 mins + any stops, half of it along Loch Ness side. Urquhart castle is a great photo spot.
Inverness city centre is nice enough, but you could easily make do with a couple of hours there & spend the rest of the day heading towards Kyle of Lochalsh, buy sambos for lunch & stop anywhere nice along the way. The scenery's pretty stunning & there's not many places to spend money;)

€100 for grub for the days is do-able alright, if a bit restrictive. Eat in pubs, keep an eye out for restaurants doing specials, stock up on soft drinks, crisps & whatever from Morrisons supermarket in FW. I reckon you won't spend that much on fuel, unless you're very heavy footed, so your overall budget should be ok.

Will pm you accom info tomorrow, don't have it to hand here.

alexlyons

Thanks for that. Might look at FW as a base, see how we feel and maybe hit Inverness if we feel like it.

The reason I'm going with €150 for fuel is because I just did ~300 miles a=on about €50 and this round trip is about 3 times that in miles....

I'm sure i'll have more questions in a while!!