My wife and I will be doing a UK trip, with 6 days in Scotland and 3 days in London. I am looking for some advice on what to do and see for part of the trip.
We arrive in Glasgow at 7am and will be leaving the next day, so we don’t have a lot of time in Glasgow. Any must sees? We also tend to enjoy Segway tours, but I have had no luck in finding one in Glasgow, anybody know if such a thing exists?
We will then be spending a couple of days in Oban/Isle of Mull, which I think I have planned, but any suggestions are always appreciated.
After that we have a free day in that I don’t know what we will be doing, however we do need to be in Edinburgh the day after, ie) we leave Oban in the morning of the 2nd, and need to be in Edinburgh the afternoon of the 3rd. We will be driving, we don’t want to spend hours and hours driving, so I am hoping for a fun place in between those 2 locations. Any suggestions?
Thanks for the help! Hope this is the right forum…
Stop in Fort William and climb Ben Nevis. It’ll take you most of the day to reach the top and come back down but it’s worth it. The views to the west are absolutely breathtaking.
At the same time, you can visit Glencoe and then travel along Loch Ness to Inverness. See the battlefield at Culloden.
Come to think of it, if you are only here for a few days, just go straight Oban -> Edinburgh on the way back. An extra night in Edinburgh is probably worth it.
As for where to go and what to do, all I can really say is that the entire Inverness area and its surroundings are magnificent. There’s no shortage of things to see, regardless of whether you’re looking for “touristy” or “naturey” stuff. Castles, waterfalls, villages, cliffs, bridges, etc etc. Next time skip Glasgow and just spend all your time there
You need to prepare for two things: mosquitoes on the West Coast and rain. Drop the idea of staying a couple of days in Oban. Oban has its distillery, its hospital, and is the port gateway to the Western Isles, and then it has mosquitoes. I can recommend going up the Great Glen, Loch Ness, as being very scenic, especially in good weather. Just outside Inverness is Culloden, and you can follow the A96 to Aberdeen - my home town - and then south down the A90 to Edinburgh, perhaps with a diversion to Arbroath, home of the Royal Marines and Arbroath Smokies.
How are you getting to London? It’s a full day’s drive, but there’s an overnight sleeper train from Inverness, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh. You need to book in advance.
Stirling Castle was awesome the last time I was there, but that was many years ago.
For your day in Glasgow, well, I live there or thereabouts. Part of the problem is that I never think of it as a place that has “must sees” in the way that Edinburgh does. It’s a city you get used to over time. Still, there is always:
Have a drink in Waxy O’Connors near Queen Street Station, but don’t try to organise a Dopefest there. Ask how we know this.
Byres Road is studenty and faux-hippy, but you can pass a few hours there if you’re of a calm disposition. Eat haggis with whisky cream at Oran Mor, a fine example of the fairly recent Glasgow practice of turning churches in pubs.
Really, it’s also an easy city to walk around, but to see the best of the architecture, remember to look up. Just don’t bother with the buses. There are few places in the city that are so good as to be worth that hassle.
We are arriving in Glasgow on the 30th of august, from Toronto. Plan is to leave Glasgow on the 3 1st, head to Oban, arrive around noon, visit the distillery and eat seafood, then head to Isle of Mull for a day, leaving it on the 2nd heading to…don’t know yet!
Be in Edinburgh on the 3rd, stay there until the 5th and take a train to London on the 5th, be in London until the 8th.
Nature, Oban scotch (my favourite scotch), castles and delicious food are what we are looking for.
It’s not that far, just adds to the drive is all. I wouldn’t plan a trip around Ben Nevis though. It’s not a high mountain, but it is quite far north, and is more cloudy than not. If you do decide to get away that far, might as well go to Skye.
If you have nice weather in London, we really enjoyed taking a Red Rover pass river bus trip on the Thames. You could get on or off all day at Westminster, The Tower, Greenwich, etc and enjoy a pint and good but unobtrusive (and sometimes quite funny) commentary from the tour guide.
Loved every second in Edinburgh, not nearly enough time there.
I climbed it right around this time of year, and yeah, once you near the top you’re pretty much socked in by sleet and even light snow. I was the only member of my group to make it to the summit, and I wouldn’t have known it if I hadn’t found the marker there—the fog was that thick!
Still, the climb would have been worth it for the views to the west alone. It’s easy, no special planning or equipment required, other than a camera. Bring along some corrugated cardboard to slide back down on, too.
