r/travel • u/AutoModerator • Aug 16 '18
Advice r/travel Topic of the Week: Scotland off the tourist trail
In this new series of weekly country threads we want to focus on lesser known travel destinations: the towns, nature, islands and other interesting places outside the known tourist hotspots.
Please contribute all and any questions / thoughts / suggestions / ideas / stories about this travel destination.
This post will be archived on our wiki destinations page and linked in the sidebar for future reference, so please direct any of the more repetitive questions there.
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Example: We really enjoyed the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. It was $35 each, but there's enough to keep you entertained for whole day. Bear in mind that parking on site is quite pricey, but if you go up the hill about 200m there are three $15/all day car parks. Monterey Aquarium
Unhelpful: Read my blog here!!!
Helpful: My favourite part of driving down the PCH was the wayside parks. I wrote a blog post about some of the best places to stop, including Battle Rock, Newport and the Tillamook Valley Cheese Factory (try the fudge and ice cream!).
Unhelpful: Eat all the curry! [picture of a curry].
Helpful: The best food we tried in Myanmar was at the Karawek Cafe in Mandalay, a street-side restaurant outside the City Hotel. The surprisingly young kids that run the place stew the pork curry[curry pic] for 8 hours before serving [menu pic]. They'll also do your laundry in 3 hours, and much cheaper than the hotel.
Undescriptive I went to Mandalay. Here's my photos/video.
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u/proseccosocialist Aug 16 '18
Fife is absolutely beautiful! Fantastic small fishing towns such as Pittenweem and Anstruther, as well as St. Andrews (beautiful university/golf town which sits between some of the best beaches in Britain. Walk on the Fife Coastal Path which takes you through all the sites. https://imgur.com/a/uLW1Wvm/
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u/michaelisnotginger Aug 17 '18
Most people go to Callander go and see Hamish the Highland Cow by the touristy shop at the end of the main street, maybe the Rob Roy museum, and go home after a 100metre walk round Loch Katrine
The Trossachs has far more!
Near Loch Katrine (where you can hire bikes and cycle round, which is very scenic) is Loch Venachar, and Loch Achray. You can hire canoes to go around Loch Venachar and the whole area is beautiful. Nearby is Ben A'an which is only about 400m tall but offers stunning views of the surrounding Lochs.
near Callander are some excellent walks to waterfalls, with dips in the ground that are remnants of the Antonine Wall. Drive onwards and just past Brig o'Turk is an excellent pub called the Byre Inn.
Also recommended places: Aberfoyle, nearby is the Queen Elizabeth Visitor's centre, great views (again) and zipwires!
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u/AF_II we're all tourists down here Aug 16 '18
So many places to recommend, so I’ll focus on one – the most remote part of the mainland, the Knoydart Peninsula.
It’s remote because it has no vehicular access, and is a largely community owned and managed ex-estate on the west of Scotland.
Getting there
You can walk in to the only town on the Peninsula, Inverie, with the shortest route being about a half-day’s trek, with the two day route being probably more popular (outlines of the walks here, but get advice from the Knoydart Foundation Rangers if you are serious – the routes are no joke, and the weather can be deadly).
Easier is the regular ferry from Mallaig – which is super convenient because it also has a significant train station, with connections to Fort William, Glasgow and beyond. I’ve seen dolphins/porpoise from this ferry, and it goes right down into the bay, so you can use it as a cheap boat tour if you want to.
Or, of course, you can hire a boat and sail it there.
Stay and Eat
Uh, there aren’t that many options, it’s tiny. Book early. You can eat in the café in the daytime, and in the pub in the evening, there’s a little shop with erratic opening hours if you need anything else. It’s not a gourmet destination, but it’ll do for a couple of lovely days. Or of course you can camp. You do get the boasting rights of having drunk in the Remotest Pub in mainland Britain and yes, they’ll sell you a tshirt to prove it.
There is also, however, the even more remote Doune Restaurant. If you absolutely love walking, and/or you have your own boat, you can stay here. If not, it’s a TWO HOUR walk across the head of the peninsula to get there. Or, you can be driven – there are cars on the peninsula, and as far as I can tell they are all left lying around with keys in so that any and all of the local residents can use them if they need to. There’s no taxi or uber, per se, but if you ask your accommodation hosts or the restaurant owners nicely, they are likely to be able to find you a lift back, and maybe even one there too. Doune is down a steep slope, do not dress up for dinner, they are expecting you in hiking socks. Last time I walked in we ‘rescued’ a lot of toads trying to cross the road, and on the way back up the slope surprised a four point buck and his deer in the dusk. It was magical (less drive back in a really rickety landrover with six other people, lol).
The food is very good, very fresh – and they definitely can cater for vegetarians if you give them advance notice.
Things to do
TBH, the main thing is ‘nothing’, for me. Chill out, read a book. But otherwise there are a heap of walks to do around the area, a lot of wildlife to spot, a couple of Munros to bag. The Doune lodging arranges boat trips and diving excursions (again, they book up early), and if you need more organised fun the Foundation organise/can recommend group and themed walks, and offer mountain bike hire.
Secret pro-tip: This only works when the weather and the tides are in your favour but… if it’s been a warm day, plenty of sun, and high tide is in the mid or late afternoon, you can risk a swim in the bay where the Inverie river spits out. It’s an extremely shallow area with a very slow slope to the sea, so if the water has been in over the shallows through the hottest part of the day, there’s a good chance strong sunlight will have warmed it up to bathing temperature. Well, bathing temperature for Scotland, anyway.
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u/ani_svnit Scotland travel "expert" Aug 16 '18
I would so love to visit Knoydart, lovely writeup and description. I chose to take the Small Isles ferry instead to Rhum from Mallaig on the one chance that I had.
So many places to recommend, so I’ll focus on one
Could not agree more. Atleast 50% of the munros are "Scotland off the Tourist trail".
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u/Sumjonas Aug 17 '18
I recently lived in Edinburgh for five mo the, so I have some lesser known suggestions. -To eat: Queens Arms is my favorite eating pub in the city. The food is really good, they have a great Sunday roast, a sharing pie for two that changes, and one of the better burgers I’ve ever had. -the Beehive Inn also has great fish and chips. -go to Mary’s Milk Bar for ice cream on the grass market. -I also love Mimi’s bake house for tea and a cake. There’s one in leith that’s perfect if you’re going to the yacht, but also a tiny one on the royal mile. -for things to do: on a nice day, you will see lots of people hanging out in princes gardens. I actually prefer the meadows for park lounging. -you can take the public bus to Rosslyn chapel, which is the chapel from Da Vinci Code and has a good informative talk at the top of each hour. -my favorite castle near Edinburgh is linlithgow palace. It’s a 20 minute train ride from the center of the city, Mary Queen of Scots birthplace and almost always completely empty.
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u/Obligatory-Reference Aug 17 '18
It's fairly well represented here on /r/travel, but Skye was incredible, and the farther you got out from Portree the better it got. If you can overcome a natural hesitation towards remote single-track roads, there's a lot of neat stuff. Here are highlights from my all-too-short time there:
Skye Museum of Island Life: On A855 at the tip of the Trotternish Peninsula, a restored crofthold showing how families lived for hundreds of years. Cheap and interesting.
- Bonus: Just behind the museum (ask the museum tenders) is a beautiful old graveyard. It includes the grave of Flora MacDonald, who became a folk hero of the Highlands for helping Bonnie Prince Charlie escape after his failed invasion in 1745/6.
Dunvegan Castle: Off A850/A863 on the western peninsula. Said to be the oldest continually inhabited castle in Scotland. It not only has some great exhibits, but a series of gorgeous gardens outside.
Talisker Distillery: B8009, southwest of Portree. A pretty standard distillery tour, but gets points for its remote location and distinctive taste (I bought a bottle of the Distiller's Edition for the next big rainstorm, which may be a while here in California).
I also want to give a non-Skye mention to the rarely-mentioned Museum of Edinburgh. It's small, but right in the heart of the Royal Mile and has some great artifacts, including an original copy of the National Covenant.
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u/geotraveling Chicago Love Aug 22 '18
It boggles my mind the number of people who go to Skye and only go to Portree and see the Old Man of Stor! You gotta go west! I did the seal boat excursion at Dunvegan and it was very memorable. I still have the poster I got at that museum on my wall.
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u/bucketlistofstamps Aug 20 '18
I absolutely loved Scotland! The people are so kind both in and out of the cities. My favorite area of Scotland was northern Scotland. The Orkney Isles are stunning, on the top of the world, and is home to beautiful cliffs and the standing stone circle that inspired Stonehenge. The little town of Kirkwall reminded me of Harry Potter. I recommend getting a guide if you can afford it, not because they can get you in and out of crazy touristy areas, but because the local stories that accompany this area are priceless.
If you've read anything about Loch Ness, you'll want to go to Invergordon and Inverness. Yes, it's a popular topic of conversation, but I had all of Loch Ness to myself when I went. Perhaps I was lucky, I truly don't know. I read a book about the history of Loch Ness which I felt enhanced my trip greatly.
But my favorite part about being in Invergordon and Inverness wasn't Loch Ness. It was the distilleries. I recommend the Glen Ord Distillery and Glenmorangie. After you've learned about the whiskey, I recommend visiting a pub and conversing with locals. The Scots are very friendly, but especially when talking about whiskey. I found the locals were more than eager to share with me how they drink their whiskey.
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u/stradivariuslife United States Aug 20 '18
My now wife and I spent 7 days driving around Scotland and that within itself is a treat. I highly recommend the Isle of Mull. We stayed at a small, two room B&B called the High Oatfield where the meals they served were all from their own garden and livestock. Tobermory is a very quaint harbor town and the distillery is excellent.
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u/purplelattice Aug 21 '18
The Scottish Borders are definitely underrated and overlooked. There is so much to see south of Edinburgh and Glasgow!
My favourite? Dryburgh Abbey
It is a beautiful ruined abbey in the most idyllic, relaxing spot. Built as part of a campaign of abbey building in the Borders by King David I in the 12th century, it never reached the level of prominence as some of the other nearby abbeys. Its downfall, like that of other abbeys, was due to the Reformation of 1560 not long after which it fell into ruin. Sir Walter Scott, a friend of the romantic who bought the abbey to conserve it, is buried there.
I would recommend combining a visit here with Melrose Abbey (where Robert the Bruce's heart was buried) and Abbotsford House, the home of Sir Walter Scott. Makes for a great day out in the Borders!
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u/Username89054 Aug 19 '18
My wife and I are planning on Scotland next year or the following. One item on our list is a night in a castle with fancy, old style decor. Any suggestions? Preferably near Edinburgh.
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u/ani_svnit Scotland travel "expert" Aug 20 '18
Dalhousie castle in the outskirts of Edinburgh has suites: https://www.dalhousiecastle.co.uk/rooms/
If you want to go full luxe but are ok with not being within a castle per se, I cannot recommend the Witchery enough: https://www.thewitchery.com/stay There's the luxe Balmoral as well but I think the former will suit you better.
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u/midnightmoonfey Feb 24 '23
Hi all! Married couple traveling around Scotland this Spring for 12ish days. Any suggestions on places to stay, restaurants, bars, itinerary anything? We have not booked any places to stay or tours/etc. yet, just our flights!! Hoping our last minute planning won't screw us for booking things since it'll be earlier in the touristy season? But I want to do a little more research before setting anything in stone.
This is our first time in Scotland so hoping to try to see a little bit of everything. We love hiking, eating, bars, sightseeing, Scottish history, movie/show filming spots, yoga, etc.. We are pretty easy going travelers and like mostly everything. Non-touristy/funky ideas welcome as well. We are renting a car too. Below is our current *rough* plan, any suggestions/criticisms/advice/etc. are all welcome!! Thanks in advance.
Current Rough Plan:
Day 1 - Glasgow, landing around lunchtime: Land, Get car, Lunch, check into a hotel/airbnb, dinner
Day 2 - Glasgow: Day hiking trip to/around Loch Lomond area? Back to Glasgow for dinner etc.
Day 3 - Glasgow --> Oban (driving day): Loch Lomond > Oban (check-in) > Glencoe, back to Oban
Day 4 - Oban --> Isle of Skye (driving day): Glencoe, Glenfinnan, Fort William stop in on the way?
Day 5 - Isle of Skye: *where to stay?*,explore/hike, rough plan based on this itinerary- open to advice!
Day 6 - Isle of Skye --> Inverness(driving day): Check into hotel, Culloden/local historic day tours?
Day 7 - Inverness: day trip to Orkneys?
Day 8 - Inverness: Hiking around Cairngorms national park area?
Day 9 - Inverness: Guided Whiskey Tour (Rabbie's Speyside Tour- if available for booking)
Day 10 - Inverness --> Edinburgh (driving day): St. Andrews on the way? (long drive which is fine, but is it worth it? My husband likes Golf/History, could be a good combo of both?), check into Edinburgh
Day 11 - Edinburgh: Day trip to Stirling, Perth? Or just explore Edinburgh or both!?
Day 12 - Edinburgh --> Glasgow (or drive to Glasgow early next morning for flight to get more time in Edinburgh/visit museums/etc.): unsure of how to approach this day, Glasgow or Edinburgh?
Day 13 - From Glasgow flying Home: (big travel day- no activities, just food!)
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Oct 16 '18
One of my favorite ways of experiencing foreign places vicariously is through reading mystery novels set in that country. There are several great series set in Scotland. Malcolm Mackay writes well about Glasgow. Denzil Meyrick writes about a fictional small town on the west coast that's based on Cambeltown. But my favorite is Ian Rankin's Inspector John Rebus books, which are set in Edinburgh.
Inspector Rebus's drinking hole is The Oxford Bar in Edinburgh. I went to Scotland with my friend and his wife, and we had to stop there for the night. Ian pops by there from time to time (not while we were there). We stayed there for several drinks with the regulars, including the Uruguayan bartender that gave my wife some great advice for her trip to Barcelona soon afterward. It has history, both real and in fiction, and it was off the beaten path but still walkable from our hotel on Hanover Street. I'd suggest everyone read a couple Ian Rankin books (Tooth and Nail is the third in the series, and where I think Rankin really starts getting his own unique tone down). The Ox is a great place to go for a drink because it has history, but doesn't advertise it. They'll tell you about time that Ian and JK Rowling came in for a dram if you ask, but they're not going to put up signs to that effect to bring in customers off the street. They wouldn't have room for them if they did - the place can only hold about 15 people if you include the side room. The only souvenirs they have are bookmarks and postcards, which they hand out for free but don't display. Rebus has been drinking there for 22 books, and their website wasn't even working last I checked. It's an authentic place that doesn't brag about itself, but is well worth a visit.
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u/naomiiix3 Oct 23 '24
Hey all- on our trip to Ireland we are making a day stop in Scotland and looking for advice! What's there to do in a full day trip? We will not have a car so things that are accessible from public transport or other transport means. We love anything historic, hiking, scenery & bonus if there is a Game of Thrones tour!
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u/ani_svnit Scotland travel "expert" Aug 16 '18 edited Aug 16 '18
As hard it may be to believe, the majority of Scotland I have seen in person is off the tourist trail and that is what makes travelling across the country quite special. I've previously created a thread in this sub titled "25 places in Scotland worth visiting but not enough people do" (inspired by and completely different from this Scotsman article) and most of that list is definitely off the tourist trail. Here are 8 more. Bonus: (Almost) All spots are accessible by public transport
I can genuinely keep going. I dispense bespoke travel advice on the r/Scotland sticky tourism thread, feel free to drop by.