So, Mr. Armadillo’s sister is spending a year teaching at a boarding school in England, and MILArmadillo wants to take me to go visit her. I’d like to fly there a week or so early and go see either Ireland or Scotland, just to travel around by myself and see the country. I’m not big on touristy sorts of destinations, if travel by car were as convenient as the US I’d imagine just renting a car and driving, stopping wherever I ended up–but I’m terrifed about driving on the wrong side of the road and the ~$62/gallon price of gas in Europe. I’m more interested in seeing small towns and countryside and meeting people than “must-see” destinations.
Any advice or thoughts?
I wasn’t crazy about Glasgow, but I loved Edinburgh (both easily reachable by train)–lots of history, atmosphere, interesting shops, castles, museums, etc. The bus system in the UK is also very good, so both those cities may be good starting-off points for the destinations you’re looking for.
Don’t bother hunting for Nessie.
The Loch doesn’t have enough fish in its ecosystem to support a breeding population of large animals.
I second Edinburgh, it really is a fascinating city. And don’t be scared of the local cuisine: it’s good stuff. Make sure you see the huge honking castle in the middle of the city, and the road leading from it to the palace.
I third Edinburgh. If you’re going this month, the Fringe Festival is on and it’s just wonderful. I suggest visiting Edinburgh Castle just for the view. It’s beautiful.
Also, Edinburgh has a pretty nifty little Haunted Walk.
The bar I went to the entire two months I was there was the Junction, nice and small and not too crazy. Good people there, too.
There are plenty of wonderful little towns nearby, as well. Take your pick. I traveled to Dundee, Sterling and Lanark, to name a few, and each one has a rich history and friendly people. Be sure to visit the churches, too, because they’re breathtaking.
It’s not 62 dollars a gallon here in rural Scotland (that’s more the price of a gallon of whisky), but it’s certainly more expensive than you’ll be used to. It’s roughly a pound a litre, so that’ll be about - ummm - 7 or 8 dollars a gallon? Remember though, a cheap hire car here will likely have very good mpg figures and be diesel to boot. Do you know how to drive a manual car (stick?), 'cos cheap hires are that way here. You will be able to get an automatic but it’ll cost more.
TBH, if you do want to drive and are nervous about it, use public transport to get yourself to Perth or Inverness and pick up a hire car there. This is easy to do. I’ve driven on the continent a few times the wrong way round, but every time I’ve started on fairly quiet roads. It’s just easier that way to adapt.
However don’t worry too much about getting around if you don’t want to drive. There are lots of really beautiful wee towns that haven’t been overtaken by the tourist hoard, but are perfectly accesible on a bus.
I’m going to my place in the even more remoteness tomorrow, but I’ll be back on Saturday or Sunday. I’ve bookmarked this thread, and I’ll be more than happy to
suggest places to go/stay. I think even as a guest here you can see my email address.
IMHO Sterling, the furniture shop isn’t really worth a visit. 
On the other hand, Stirling the town is not bad, got a castle and the Wallace Monument is worth a visit as you get a great view of the Ochil Hills from it.
Edinburgh has lots of great buildings and of course the castle.
Dundee is generally recognised (at least by those not from Dundee) as a shithole.
Wallace monument is alright if you like going up lots of stairs.
Stirling castle is nice and they used to do jousts or something like it under the rock the castles sits on.
Edinburgh is great and Pitlochry (relatively near by) has lots of nice touristy shops.
Dumbarton, west of Glasgow, has the Chivas vaults and Dumbarton Castle. It sits on a bubble of granite overlooking the Clyde. Nice place to poke about in.
Iona has a really interesting monastery, but you need to take a ferry to Mull from Oban (which has a distillery and associated tour). Which brings up the Whiskey Trail, the places to go when you’ve too much liver and a need for free drinks. 
Thanks for all the good info! I can absolutely drive a manual transmission, it’s just not knowing the rules of the road in a foreign country that worries me… but beautiful wee towns are exactly what I’m looking for ;). I think the plan is to go November or Decemberish, what’s the weather like then?
Also, will I need anything special to rent a car? Sorry if this is a really stupid question, but I have a passport and US driver’s license, will I need some kind of furriner license to legally drive there?
Ps: “tbh”?
C’mon Dougie Donnelly recommends it! He’s pretty much my furniture maven - with his electrostatically charged orange hair, and his chequered action-slacks!
You’ll just need a credit card to hire a car, and some kind of licence. You’ll be fine with what you have.
I hadn’t really realised that you were thinking about going so far north in November/December. Don’t get me wrong here, you may well see some astonishing things, and certainly in pubs - but there will be hardly any light. Dark at half three in the afternoon and only light again at ten the following morning.
It’s just “To be honest”.
Cold and wet.
And dark by 5pm most places.
Obviously we need you to rush to Fort Augustus or Drumnadrochit and tell everybody it is just a myth! “It’s a myth, run, run away you stupid people!”.
But nearly all your countrymen and women that make it to Scotland are smarter than that/you.
It really depends on what kind of stuff you want to do. If you want a lot of history then Edinburgh is a good starting place. Plenty of night-life if thats your thing. The further North you go the more rural and mountainous things get. Aberdeen area has a wealth of castles to explore and you can do car tours that will cover half a dozen in a day. Also there is the whisky distilery tours which may or may not float your boat.
Getting up to Inverness and you are in the Highlands proper and if you like spectacular views then you can drive up the East coast, round the top and back down the West coast in a day, I would stronly recommend that for a day trip.
If by chance you stop in Golspie say “Hi” to my Mum.
Derailing the thread a bit, when would be a good time to go to Scotland?
Not too cold, not too many people going into Edimburgh for festivals. If I ever do go it’s probably going to be with Mom attached, perhaps with Littlebro as well (he’s 30 this year but will be the youngest all his life, you know how it is). He speaks English, she looks all nice and foreign and plump and lost and doesn’t speak much English beyond “gracias, uh, ¿cómo era?, ah, ¡thank you!” (yes, Mom’s English includes opening exclamation marks, her grammar isn’t so good). None of us can drive on the left; she can’t move fast or climb lots of stairs.
The weather is always going to be a crap shoot. November through March is usually cold. April through June is usually wet. July through October is mild with a bit of cold and wet thrown in.
Tourist season sits in the June through September area.
You will get used to the driving thing fairly fast, but if not Public Transport (trains / buses) runs almost everywhere.
My girlfriend’s sister-in-law is from Athens and she finds it cold almost any time she visits! She dresses warm, even when we’re wearing t-shirts… I’d suggest July because August is the main Festival month. Driving in Edinburgh isn’t much fun, even for locals but public transport is generally pretty good. The city is built on hills, so climbing slopes and steps to see all sorts of stuff is unavoidable, I’m afraid. This will help keep you warm, though!
Don’t expect temperatures above 25C - over 20C is warm for us…
Mixie; if you come to Edinburgh, North Berwick is a cute little town a short drive/bus/train journey away with a Seabird Centre, or Falkirk has a wheel! (A state-of-the-art canal boat lifter which transfers boats from one canal to another, higher one.) Dunfermline has interesting historical stuff as well…
If you come here outside Summer, a lot of attractions and hotels, etc. will be closed and, as said by others, daylight hours will be much shorter than you’re used to.
Both of you, feel free to e-mail me if you want more info on Scotland, or Edinburgh in particular. And look me up if you come.
Sorry if this seems a bit rushed; it’s nearly time to go home!
Nope, that’s all you need. You’ll sometimes get erroneous advice to get an International Driving Permit, which actually just functions as a translation of your documentation, and is required in some non-English-speaking countries.
If you’re worried about road rules, take a look at the Highway Code - the only things that’ll really be unfamiliar are signage (mostly self-explanatory), some road markings, and roundabouts (not as bad as you may think). And outside of the big cities, you can expect to encounter fairly sedate and courteous driving from most other drivers.