Best time of year to visit Scotland

[jsrnephdoc]

Thanks for the tips.

Looks like Spring or Fall is the consensus. Agreed that a little cool weather is far better than fighting (bigger) crowds.

I hope to see the big cities, play golf, and visit Islay to tour Lagavulin and Ardbeg's distilleries. Apparently it takes half a day just to get there, so that will consume a day or two on its own.

Cragganmore in Speyside is another must-see distillery for me. Those are the three I share with friends and family on occasion.

Any other recommendations ?

I disagree about August. Yes, it's busy, but not NYC busy. I was able to put my nose 2 feet away from the Stone of Scone at the Edinburgh Castle, and I suspect that if/when I go back it will be in August, because the Royal Military Tattoo is spectacular (I'd suggest trying to go during it's second week, because when we were there for the first weekend in 2023, the light shows were not as cool as later in the run (based on You Tube videos I've watched since returning home), and with organizations from all over the world participating, I suspect there's still a bit of "beta testing" in the first few performances.

We did a self-drive tour. We were plunked into a HUGE Mercedes SUV, and many of the rural roads in Scotland are barely wider than paved sheep's paths. We blew a tire hitting a rock at one of the little aneurysms in those tiny roads the Scots call "passing places." The narrow roads also meant we arrived at Glennlivet an hour late, so we had a very nice tasting flight session but lost our chance at a tour. Among the things I really liked in Edinburgh was a self-guided tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia, and it's just a few blocks away from the Kinloch Anderson clothier. The only escorted tour we did was a small bus trip from Inverness out to Skye, but it lasted all day and we did some of the same pavement on our own getting to Ft. William from Inverness. We also went to the Scottish Borders, where one of the real treats was a tour of Lochcarron Mills in Selkirk. Although we had two nights in Glasgow, we didn't see much there because the World Cycling Championships were on, and that caused us a great deal of inconvenience (trying to park in center city).

We also went to Culloden; the museum is VERY good