Road trip to Scotland with teens - ideas please?

[StrongerThanIThought76]

Just that - planning a staycation this summer. We're in Yorkshire and I'll be doing all the driving, reasonably tight budget so happy to hostel/camping pod but don't want to camp this time.

So, what to see and do? Fancy Edinburgh and Nessie, furthest I've ever been is Stirling. Give me your best suggestions please!

How old are the teens and what are they into?

Would hey like water sports, go ape that sort of thing?

12 and 15, into playing on phones and Xbox!

We can be quite outdoorsy rather than art gallery types, might be up for a mountain or too!

3rd largest whirlpool in world - corrylaken ( can’t spell it ) on a RIB , great fun, also an opportunity to see local wildlife
RIB on Loch Ness Also fun
We went horse riding on a beach
Isle of Skye beautiful, kayaking around the coast
Bag a Munro
Lots of lovely food

Dolphin watching in the Moray Firth:
www.north58.co.uk/

(Great for teens, and a good test for your pelvic floor!)

Ghost Walk in Edinburgh? Dungeon also in Edinburgh? Secret Bunker in Fife?

There are several Go Ape locations.

Highland Wildlife Park?

Go to Red Point and be amazed at how few people are on this amazing beach.

What sort of mountains? There's Conic Hill and The Cobbler, both near Loch Lomond. You could walk some of the West Highland Way.

Mountain Biking in Glentress near Peebles, or Ae Forest.

I've seen electric brae mentioned, sounds interesting

The whirlpool is the Corryvreckan, and the rib rides are pretty good fun: www.seafari.co.uk/oban/

Definitely Aviemore, so much to do and see. Reasonable priced accomodation in the Park guest house.

Posted too soon. There are always the chalets at Hgh Range.

Climb Arthur’s seat in Edinburgh.
Trossachs are beautiful for walking/driving through.
Climb Ben Nevis if you’re feeling adventurous! Not far from Ben Nevis to the glenfinnan viaduct which is used in Harry Potter.

I took my teens to St Andrews last summer and they really liked it. It’s a small town but has a cosmopolitan feel because of all the young students. Lovely spot on the coast, lots of history.

Kingussie is cheaper than Aviemore (& nicer) IMO.

Loads to do in Edinburgh, the Museum of Scotland is free and has a real space capsule and formula 1 cars and interactive things too. Walk to the top of the road, see the statue of Grey Friars Bobby and pop into Grey Friars church yard - very eerie. Then walk down to the Grass Market loads of pubs and outside eateries. then up Victoria Street with all it's interesting shops and eateries.
Up the High St to The Camera Obscura and up to the Castle at the top.
At the bottom of the High St/Royal Mile is Dynamic Earth which is behind the Scottish Parliament and is near Holyrood Palace and Park with Arthur's seat in it.
Edinburgh is great for Iconic views too. don't forget to Princes St for views of the Castle , Ramsey Gardens etc. on to George St and look the other way you get fantastic views of the Forth road bridge and Fife. I could go on!!

If you go to Greyfriars in Edinburgh and your children like Harry Potter you can try and spot the graves with names of the characters.

My kids are younger than yours but they keep asking to go back to jump off the piers into Loch Lomond and swim in Falls of Dochart.
We stayed in wigwams just north of Lomond.
They might enjoy the Falkirk wheel too.

We have also done a walk around Ben Nevis that had a cable bridge across a river en route. We had to turn back as it was when the kids were smaller and couldn't reach but we will go back one day! Also swam in the river there too!

If you're driving from Edinburgh north to Inverness, the hermitage at Dunkeld is a nice place to stop for a wander.
Old, huge trees.
Weird follies including one where you hang over a waterfall from a balcony.

Lots of hotel offers on itison.

Scottish Youth Hostel page will give you the options of hostels.with private rooms - some in amazing locations. I'd also recommend taking out a family Historic Scotland annual pass - Edinburgh Castle alone will cost nearly as much as the year for one visit, and you can access loads of other places even in the nearby area for nothing- Linlithgow Palace, Blackness, Craigmillar Castle etc. Often they'll have entertainment on e.g jousting festivals or historical reenactments which can be fun, and free.with the pass, so worth checking dates and what's on for planned visits. Maybe also check out a family & friends rail card as there's some great trips on train from Edinburgh if you fancy a break from driving- North Berwick is a lovely wee seaside town, Portobello in Edinburgh also great for fish and chips at the seaside (with chippy sauce!).
I love Perthshire, Crieff, Pitlochry, Aberfeldy, Blairgowrie are all lovely wee places to stop or stay nearby. Check out Moness lodges for cheap deals on nice lodges with a pool (and spa) on site if you fancy this area for a few days. Very good value, always have deals, and the houses are lovely.
Enjoy!

Aviemore has quite a bit to do but I don't think it's the nicest town in Scotland.

Comrie Croft is fantastic

Unashamedly place marking as we are thinking the same for Easter

I'm biased but Inverness is great to have as a base. There's a decent caravan park. Also a hostel but not sure on quality but plenty of bed and breakfasts.

There's the Edinburgh festival which is popular but will be very busy and expensive.

Back to Inverness.On July 2-4 there's the belladrum festival. It's very popular. Other than that. You can get ferry to places like Skye and Harris. If you come to Aberdeen. You could get the ferry to Orkney/ Shetland. Beautiful places. Loads of water sports and you get to see the northern lights.

Aviemore has quite a bit to do but I don't think it's the nicest town in Scotland

No I think it's a bit overrated too - we stayed in Newtonmore when we were in that area (where Monarch of the Glen was filmed for those old enough to remember it). The area around Loch Lomond is lovely (and the Trossachs) and there is obviously loads to do in both Glasgow and Edinburgh that would keep teens occupied.

Pitlochry is a tourist honeypot full of tour buses of people of a certain age so I think I'd avoid that. Dunkeld is nice and so is Castle Campbell near Dunblane. As someone else said, a Historic Scotland membership is a sound investment as there are so many places you can then visit for free.

I would recommend the Kingussie area, Highland Wildlife Park and Landmark Forest park are both fantastic, and en route to Inverness.

I have always found Loch Ness a bit of a disappointment but Inverness itself is lovely but tiny for a city.

I also second Edinburgh, so much to do. You can easily spend a day on the Royal Mile alone. The Museum of Scotland is also brilliant, and free. You could easily spend half a day or more there. The art gallery on Princes street is also fantastic and one part free, the Museum of Modern art is also good and a shuttle bus takes you there from the centre.

The Dungeons, Mary Kings Close and Ghost walks are all great.

Edinburgh has excellent public transport, which is really reasonably priced compared to other areas. I've just looked it up and you can get a 2 day family pass for £17.

"I've seen electric brae mentioned, sounds interesting". The Electric Brae is just south of Ayr town (about 9 miles), fascinating and fun!

Ayr is a nice town on the coast with a lovely, long sandy beach. Just south of the Electric Brae is Culzean Castle (pronounced Cullayne). It's a fantastic castle to look around also with fabulous gardens and grounds - well worth a visit. There's also Ailsa Craig, an island still privately owned by the Marquess of Ailsa, but I believe there are boat tours from Girvan.

The youth hostel at Loch Lomond is fab and could provide a base for visiting the Loch, bagging a Munro and seeing Glasgow.
Kingussie is beautiful but there are more activities in Aviemore eg skiing, snowboarding, sledging, tubing.
There are lots of great islands to choose from eg Arran, Mull, Skye with great campsites.
Dundee has the new V&A, fab beaches along that coastline and they could grab a pic outside 4JStudios office games developers