Visiting Scotland Tips?

[Laird_M]

come see us i' Dumfries... there is loads tae see an dae in Dumfries an' Galloway... an' I'm sure I've got some single malt Scotch aroon here somewhere ya can taste!!!

Watching this thread as we're staying in Newton Stewart next August, so if you still have that single malt...

[cessna152towser]

come see us i' Dumfries... there is loads tae see an dae in Dumfries an' Galloway... an' I'm sure I've got some single malt Scotch aroon here somewhere ya can taste!!!

I would second that. Assuming you are travelling by ferry between Stranraer and Northern Ireland you are going to be arriving in or departing from south-west Scotland so Dumfries would be an obvious choice of base while in Scotland. There are lots of historic sights to visit in Dumfries and Galloway and in the Scottish Borders. The rolling Southern Uplands of Scotland is a vast sparsely populated area and is a delight for walking in or driving around and you really need go no further. If you must visit the central belt then Glasgow is under two hours by train from Dumfries. If you only have six days in Scotland I would leave Edinburgh and the Highlands for another time, in my opinion they are too touristy and you wouldn't be seeing the real Scotland.
Oh and be sure to wear the kilt. Many Scots like to see our visitors from North America wearing the kilt and it is always a good conversation starter. There is a saying here that a kilt is a garment worn by Scots while visiting America and by Americans while visiting Scotland.

[federkeil]

Help us out a tad. What parts of Scotland are you actually visiting? Are your interests, more town and city, rather than country? What is your means of transport? Where is your trip starting and ending for the Scottish part of your trip?

how things stand is we have about 22 days for the islands, with 6 in England at London and Bath. We want to do ~10 days in Ireland which leaves no more than 8 for Scotland, possibly closer to 6 depending on what we decide in the end.

From Bath we'll be heading up to Edinburgh, we want to see the Castle, Royal Mile and Arthur's Seat. I want to stop by Rendall's and get a traditional Colquhoun Tartan tank (obviously measured with delivery home when it's finished).

Aside from that our general interests lie in topography and natural history. We love hiking and castles and such. We aren't so much interested in art, music, literature, etc...

Transportation will probably be the Ride and Drive pass. And we will be going from West Scotland to N. Ireland