Going to Scotland - what are some must-sees?

[California Highlander]

I spent 30 days in Scotland and still didn't have enough time to see everything I wanted to see. I am planning another trip for 2020. I just want to say that you will go back again. Maybe you will even go back two or three times for good measure. The country is beautiful, the people are genuine, I couldn't find anything to complain about.

My favorite place was quite possibly the Isle of Skye. If you have to see anything in Scotland, I say, "See all of it". You won't be disappointed.

If you are in Portree, visit the Lower Deck restaurant on the pier and order the Cuillen Skink. The best soup I have ever had by far.

Edinburgh is quite possibly my favorite city in the world.

Don't muck up the place like other tourists. Be respectful and leave things looking the way they did when you came. Don't start stacking up a little cairn to say that you were there and leave your mark.

Agree there! I was in Scotland for 3 1/2 weeks and barely touched everything there was to see and do. Breakfast stack of salmon, potato scones, and haggis on "The Granary" deck right after a rain really started the day on the Isle of Skye right.

[Chris Hills]

Hello all, we are travelling there as well in the spring. I saw some discussion last year but haven't found it since. Any recommendations as to who I rent a car with please? Will be in country two weeks. Flying into edinburgh with a quick couple days in old town. visiting clan sites south of there (staying at Wedderburn) then off to visit my son in law's family near Ayr. Off to Isle of Skye back around through inverness and then south to our other clan's lands (staying at Loch Rannoch) then back to the airport.

Starting to get it all figured out but no clue on the rental car. Your help is appreciated.

[ThistleDown]

Eurocar for best prices, but be absolutely certain that you understand UK insurance requirements/regulations when you book. These are usually extra to your agreed-upon fee and can be fairly steep. Be prepared to bargain, too: a sizable upgrade for the price of mandatory insurance, for example. I don't know but am fairly certain, that airport agents are on commission based on insurance values. I'm in the UK three or four times a year and have yet to find a way around this negotiating process, except by way of guaranteed aggregate prices for which you must pay a premium.

Car hire agents have you over a barrel when you arrive jet-lagged and are desperately wanting to get out of their crowded hire centres. A few years ago I actually had an agent agree: she had offered a free up-grade, but clarified that she had to charge me a higher insurance premium for the up-grade. When I agreed she advised that the revision was additional to the basic 'additional' for the lesser vehicle I had originally ordered. When I worked out the difference (actually, my wife and her ever-present i-phone/cum calculator, did that), it was equal to the value of the upgrade and a higher insurance rate. The agent admitted that this was the case, but that they didn't have class of the car I ordered, did have the up-grade, and that she was paid based on insurance premiums on the up-grade. I know that sounds confusing, but there it is.

Just so you know all the facts: 'In that case,' I told her, 'I will take the original vehicle and its 'undeclared insurance premium'. She answered her phone and excused herself, returning to say that we had been given the offered up-grade with the original insurance package, in gratitude for our long-standing patronage.

I do still deal with Eurocar, but I am much more aware and cautious in my bookings.

[Steve Ashton]

Please plan for the extra time needed to get anywhere in the UK. On my trips I find that I can get only half as far in an hour that I can in N. America.
We are sometimes spoiled in the number of miles we can put under our wheels here. In the UK the roads are smaller, narrower and it takes about twice as long to get anywhere than you first plan if you are used to driving in N. America. Even the "A" motorways are slower in the UK.

[ThistleDown]

Please plan for the extra time needed to get anywhere in the UK. On my trips I find that I can get only half as far in an hour that I can in N. America.
We are sometimes spoiled in the number of miles we can put under our wheels here.

Yes, that is true, Steve.

.In the UK the roads are smaller, narrower and it takes about twice as long to get anywhere than you first plan if you are used to driving in N. America. Even the "A" motorways are slower in the UK.

If you discount the Motorways (Ms), which get you to your destination without seeing anything except horizons in between.

Something else to always -- always -- keep in mind is that the left side of the motorway is for driving and the right side is for passing. Always watch your mirror, cars come upon you very quickly if you are in the right lane; flashing headlamps remind you that you must be considerate and mind the basic rules. Move left and you will usually receive a 'thank you' wave.

(A bit like wearing the kilt : the 'rules' of proper, traditional behavior are there for all to read, but you may wish to ignore the norms and be thought of as a numb-skull. Continue driving in the right lane on a Motorway and may-the-gods-be-with-you.)

[OC Richard]

Apart from avoiding Edinburgh at all costs, I agree with much of what you say.
I have travelled Scotland extensively, including many remote areas...and I still find interesting sights and items that lurk often unseen and often unknown...

Exactly what happens here in Southern California. There was a family from Wales here yesterday who had- what did they say? four weeks? and they were only seeing things in the Los Angeles area. Then they will go home and "Los Angeles equals United States" for them.

As crass and noisy as Las Vegas is, the drive from Greater Los Angeles to Vegas is beautiful, through wild desert scenery that sometimes looks like it must be another planet.

Not all that far is Yosemite, whose breathtaking beauty can only be appreciated in person, and defies being captured in photography (sorry Ansel) and ditto with the Grand Canyon- once seen never forgot. And San Francisco! And the largest and oldest living things on earth! All right here, but the tourists don't bother; they just go to Disneyland and Hollywood. (Except for the Germans. They do all the nature things.)

[California Highlander]

Hello all, we are travelling there as well in the spring. I saw some discussion last year but haven't found it since. Any recommendations as to who I rent a car with please? Will be in country two weeks. Flying into edinburgh with a quick couple days in old town. visiting clan sites south of there (staying at Wedderburn) then off to visit my son in law's family near Ayr. Off to Isle of Skye back around through inverness and then south to our other clan's lands (staying at Loch Rannoch) then back to the airport.

Starting to get it all figured out but no clue on the rental car. Your help is appreciated.

I used Celtic Legend http://www.celticlegend.co.uk/car and worked with...wait for it...William Wallace aka Willie. Very helpful, fulfilled my request for an automatic transmission, and had good advice throughout. Price was fair. I started in Edinburgh, took the train to Inverness and picked up the car there. Drove all over the north east from Foggieloan to Thurso then back down through the Cairngorms to Edinburgh where I dropped it after 2 1/2 weeks and then used busses and walking in the city during the last few days of the trip.

[Jimmy]

I would fly into Glasgow, head for Loch Lomond , only about half an hour from the airport, some first class hotels there .
Then head up to Oban , beautiful west coast town with a great variety of hotels, and the seafood is first class. Take a day trip over to the Isle of Mull, about forty minutes on the ferry, you can then decide when you arrive at Craignure whether you want to head to the holy and sacred Isle of Iona or go on the opposite direction to fascinating Tobermory, bbuses will meet you for both destinations once you disembark the ferry.

[Tomo]

Hello all, we are travelling there as well in the spring. I saw some discussion last year but haven't found it since. Any recommendations as to who I rent a car with please? Will be in country two weeks. Flying into edinburgh with a quick couple days in old town. visiting clan sites south of there (staying at Wedderburn) then off to visit my son in law's family near Ayr. Off to Isle of Skye back around through inverness and then south to our other clan's lands (staying at Loch Rannoch) then back to the airport.

Starting to get it all figured out but no clue on the rental car. Your help is appreciated.

As Thistledown says Europcar are pretty good, however Sixt are generally my go to option in terms of price, availability and service (although) they have recently bumped-up their deposit costs.

If you want to use debit (rather than credit) cards for the booking and deposit then Indigo Car Hire (an online agency) offers this as well as regular bookings and has found me some fantastic deals in the past.

I am also in the process of booking with a local independent firm Clarkson Car & Van Hire as I need a 17 seater bus for forthcoming tour - but they offer a full range including camper vans.

It's usually cheaper to book ahead and also to pre-pay the rental rather than on collection and I never bother with the insurance upgrades as I rent about 10 times a year and what I have saved in the premiums will more than cover any excess I would be liable for on the basic insurance.

[WillowEstate]

If you've not already done so, might I suggest you browse the current version of the UK Highway Code?

https://www.gov.uk/browse/driving/hi...de-road-safety

It does change periodically, so always worth a quick review.