Scotland Trip Recommendations

[Colby TS]

Hi All,

I have a non-sports question I’d love to get your input on. We’re planning a friends trip to Scotland next March, and I wanted to see if anyone has any must-see recommendations— food, sights, and hotels.  Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[Raistlin]

Take a bus tour with Rabbies.  They have numerous tours.  The Glen Coe tour is great.  See Edinburgh Castle, walk the Royal Mile, and visit Sterling Castle.

[Kevin C]

We rented a car this summer with Edinburgh as home base.   The Harry Potter tour is great, even for adults.   A must is driving from Edinburgh to St Andrews then do the half-day tour, starting at the infamous 18th hole.    Chocolate making tour in Edinburgh was excellent.   So was the High-end Whiskey tasting tour.

You can book them through AirBnB ‘Experiences’.   Pretty cool feature we started using on travel the past couple years. 
 

 

[Bobby Burton]

Never been. I want to do Scotland and Ireland sometime. Been to England numerous times and Wales once.

[HookemHammer]

42 minutes ago, Kevin C said:

We rented a car this summer with Edinburgh as home base.   The Harry Potter tour is great, even for adults.   A must is driving from Edinburgh to St Andrews then do the half-day tour, starting at the infamous 18th hole.    Chocolate making tour in Edinburgh was excellent.   So was the High-end Whiskey tasting tour.

You can book them through AirBnB ‘Experiences’.   Pretty cool feature we started using on travel the past couple years. 
 

 

This is exactly what the wife and I did!! It was amazing!!  
 

I also worked out in the North Sea out of Aberdeen. 

[Colby TS]

26 minutes ago, Bobby Burton said:

Never been. I want to do Scotland and Ireland sometime. Been to England numerous times and Wales once.

If you ever need help planning a trip to Ireland, I’d be more than happy share our full itinerary to help. My wife and I spent a couple of weeks there in 2017, making a full loop around the island. It’s still one of our all-time favorite destinations—stunning landscapes and some of the friendliest people we've ever met, especially in the smaller towns.

[.45s]

go up to the highlands and visit scotch distilleries.  visit Loch Ness and stay in Inverness. Edinburgh is a great place with lots to do.  skip the haggis. i tried it prepared 2 ways and both ways were bad.  bring a rain jacket.

[Austalgia]

Urquhart  Castle on the banks of Loch Ness is breathtaking on the way up to the Highlands.  My wife got out and had to take some pictures with some highland coos and I got to have and interesting conversation with a Scottish farmer informing me of the history  between the Catholics and Protestants in Scotland.  Don’t forsake the highlands, Glen Coe, and just seeing the countryside, he rivers and mountains on the way up are breathtaking.  

[Kevin C]

2 hours ago, Bobby Burton said:

Never been. I want to do Scotland and Ireland sometime. Been to England numerous times and Wales once.

In addition to Scotland being one of our favorite places to visit, the other ‘must visit’ trip I highly recommend is Switzerland.   We’ve taken the family twice now in the past few yrs.   Couldn’t get enough of it the first time.    So many incredible places (Lake Lucerne, Zurich, Bern, etc) but our absolute favorite is the slow pace chilled out simplicity of Innerlaken with small town atmosphere, great food, bright green rivers, paragliding down to the park, all surrounded by the Swiss Alps.  Absolutely amazing.  Can’t wait to go back again.  

[.45s]

I don’t recall off hand all of the hotels in the places we stayed, but the George Hotel in Edinburgh was very very nice.

[TravelingHorn]

I actually run a travel company. If you have any questions give me a call Monday to Friday 9:00 to 5:00 361-452-2012. I actually have a group trip going to Scotland and Ireland in April of next year.  Ask for Mike. I am happy to help you answer questions and figure out what you want to do.

Edited 11 hours ago by TravelingHorn

[TravelingHorn]

20 hours ago, Kevin C said:

 but our absolute favorite is the slow pace chilled out simplicity of Innerlaken with small town atmosphere, great food, bright green rivers, paragliding down to the park, all surrounded by the Swiss Alps.  Absolutely amazing.  Can’t wait to go back again.  

This is one our traveler's favorite trips!  Everyone loves it.  We take the train and stay at a 5* all-inclusive hotel.  Everywhere you look is a post-card worthy view 

 

[LTHorn]

Spend some time on the west coast and visit the islands especially the Isle of Skye

[Bobby Burton]

On 9/19/2025 at 8:55 PM, Colby TS said:

If you ever need help planning a trip to Ireland, I’d be more than happy share our full itinerary to help. My wife and I spent a couple of weeks there in 2017, making a full loop around the island. It’s still one of our all-time favorite destinations—stunning landscapes and some of the friendliest people we've ever met, especially in the smaller towns.

I’ll take you up on that!

[Rick]

There are the obvious stops like Edinburgh (castle is a must, and do a walking tour), but definitely get out into the countryside. Take a day and just drive through the highlands. If you can find a festival going on when you’re there, they are great fun.  
Hike a section of Hadrian’s Wall., it’s an incredible experience.

If you’re golfers, play a course, any course.

If you can get to Aran Island, it’s a great day trip - take the ferry over in the morning, rent a bike and go around the island, buy a sweater that’s way too heavy to ever wear in Texas, and then ferry back in the evening. 
Eat the local dishes - British food is much better than its reputation, although they do eat some disgusting stuff so if you’re not sure what something is, ask. 
have a great trip!

[.45s]

Be forewarned that you drive on the left side of the road in a right hand drive car there.  Takes a bit to get used to it.  We had an automatic but it would have been really frustrating to have gotten a stick and having to shift with my left hand. on top of that.  Also, the country roads are often really only one lane with occasional small pullouts to let oncoming traffic through.  Lots of traffic circles/roundabouts there too and that takes a bit getting use to.  We did not use a car in Edinburgh, but did when we took of the highlands and the islands.  There are some really nice scenic drives in Scotland.  We drove the length of Loch Ness on the way to Inverness and were not lucky enough to see Nessie.  😀