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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why Scotland isn’t more popular as a holiday destination

669 replies

N0rdicStar · 23/02/2019 07:52

Just been watching that hidden Scotland programme. I promise you I don’t work for the tourist board.Grin

I lived there as a forces child for a few years and was born there previously. Loved it but my mother hated it and refused to ever go back so we never did. Know nobody else who has ever holidayed there but oh my goodness it’s beautiful and seems to have everything- history, beaches, mountains, wildlife.....

Why do we all flock to Cornwall and the Lake District?

Is it the weather? Can’t just be the distance as the above are long distances for many.

On the back of that can you give me the best bits.

OP posts:
IHaveBrilloHair · 23/02/2019 19:00

Even the Disney cruise ships come here and there's not many of them, though I did chuckle a wee bit at some of the passengers taking an open top bus tour around Greenock Grin

SteelRiver · 23/02/2019 19:02

I live in Scotland and have never heard of a midge forecast!

The islands off the west coast are just stunning; so far we've been to Barra, Bute and Arran. Hopefully, this year we'll get to Mull and Skye, but my ambition is to see the glorious beaches of Harris and Lewis.

Use a midge repellent if you're worried and get yourselves up here. It's a beautiful place.

TitsAndTomatoes · 23/02/2019 19:05

Not RTFT but i agree.

One of my best holidays was a road trip to Scotland in december 2016.
DH and i have enough of a brain to know we needed warm clothes so we bought some lovely warm clothes from mountain warehouse.
We were in heaven. It went to minus 6 and we were cosy in our clothes in the Highlands. Glencoe, Loch Ness, Glenfinnan viaduct. Spean Bridge. Kingussie. Gosh. Just beautiful

Missmarplesknitting · 23/02/2019 19:05

The islands off the West coast are utterly beautiful. If, IF you get the weather it's a magical place.

I however, tend to have experienced a few days of damp, followed by a midge invasion (they love me).

Doubletrouble99 · 23/02/2019 19:07

The idea that we don't have tropical gardens in Scotland is rubbish. Apart from the previously mentioned one in the South West there's also Inverewe at Poolewe right up North on the West Coast.
My husband is English and he has never had a problem with being English and living in Scotland - been here over 20 years.
I would suggest Silver Surfer that the man at the bar might have had a few drinks and that you might have been in the wrong type of pub.

As for the weather, we go camping all over. The first time we went to Arisaig on the West coast, it was May bank holiday and the temp. was 30 degrees! We might as well have been in the Caribbean, the sea was a beautiful blue and the sand was soft and silvery with not a single piece of rubbish on it.

BackforGood · 23/02/2019 19:09

Beautiful though so many parts of Scotland are, the weather is a big negative, and the midges and even bigger one. Distance is a factor for so many too, despite your protestations. I think people forget how vast Scotland is, once you've got to the border, you still have many, many miles of travel to get to so many parts of Scotland. It is just the combination or all these for me. dh loves it - but prefers to go in the Winter.

notacooldad · 23/02/2019 19:11

We love Scotland.
We are about 2 hours from Dumfries and Galloway so we quite frequently go to Marie Forrest for mountain biking or into Dumfries to the Ice Bowl to watch our ice hockey team play the Sharks.
Glasgow and Edinburgh takes about 2.5 hrs on a train so I often go for the day. The last time was at the end of January and due to go to Glasgow in the next couple of weeks.

My son fell in love with Skye when he was 16 so when we went one summer holiday. We ended up going in the October half term and the following Easter and the following October for the mountain walks. Thankfully he drives himself there now!

The boys learned to ski at Aviemore had their half term holidays there every February from them being in junior school through to then end of secondary.
I love Oban, I did a lot of diving there and also like taking the ferry to Tobermory and having a pint in the Mishnish bar.

I know the Festival is done to death and every year I say I'll rest it and have a break from it but it would feel wrong to break a near 30 year ritual!

Scotland gets so much love from us!

strangerthongs · 23/02/2019 19:12

midgies
cold
wet
the sea is too cold for swimming
you can do the same here as you can do anywhere else in the UK, there's no 'newness' that comes with going abroad
its bloody expensive to holiday in the UK

Yabbers · 23/02/2019 19:12

so in July Scotland is on average 6C cooler

Yes, but that’s the difference between 33 degrees and 27. It’s not as if you need your big jacket. 🙄 And since everyone in London agrees it’s just too hot, surely 6 degrees cooler with a lovely breeze is an improvement?

We were elated to reach Glasgow- until we realised we had hours and hours until fort william. less than 2 and a half hours from Glasgow to Fort William. Did you have your handbrake on or something?

I don't like porridge Nor do I but the haggis keeps me full 😁
I hate both. How the hell did I get this fat arse?

even the most bogstandard of hotels is expensive
I know. It’s almost as if people want to come here and supply and demand means accommodation is more expensive.

Jaxhog · 23/02/2019 19:13

It is lovely. But it is also wet, cold and full of midges.

We used to go there as children, and it now reminds me of the miserable time we had camping there.

extraspoons · 23/02/2019 19:13

I lived in Edinburgh for almost 30 years and its news to me that Scotland is not a popular tourist destination.

MaggieAndHopey · 23/02/2019 19:15

Edinburgh's not really representative of Scotland as a whole, though. (thank god)

WindsfromtheNE · 23/02/2019 19:19

We've been up in Scotland for the last two weeks. Not seen bagpipes or tartan, not been told to fuck off and there's been virtually no rain . It is truly the most beautiful country, and we love the variation of scenery. Mountains, valleys, lochs, castles, rolling hills, there's really nowhere like it. People have been incredibly friendly and generous too.

Flying into Barra and landing on the beach will stay with me forever, it was a few years ago now but it still makes me smile thinking about it. We're hoping to move up here one day.

UsedtobeFeckless · 23/02/2019 19:19

You need a wet suit but then l need one in Cornwall too! I've never had seals in the surf with me in Cornwall, either ...

TheSpamCounter · 23/02/2019 19:26

Been holidaying on and off up the West Coast since I was a kid.
I've only ever experienced a problem with midges once.
It was horrendous and the camping was abandoned for a B&B in Ft William as a result but it was the same time of year I always go and it wasn't something I'd experienced before or since.
Weather wise, I've had a few bad experiences with rain but far more where it's been absolutely glorious.
I've travelled Europe and I've experienced worse weather down the West Coast of France/ The blackforest than I have up North in summer so driving holidays can be a bit hit or miss unless you are willing to do some serious miles.

JockTamsonsBairns · 23/02/2019 19:28

I'm a Scot, been living in England for 17 years (seven years in Sussex, two years in Lincolnshire, eight in Yorkshire). In all those years, I have been told to fuck off home to Scotland on three separate occasions - but, I don't deduce from that that there's an anti-scottish feeling in England. Just that I've ran into three arseholes in the past 17 years. I've been regularly visiting family up in Scotland during this time, and my English DH has never experienced any anti English feeling.

I agree with Redglitter and other pp, the tired old stereotypes on this thread are awful. However, lovely to hear from people like Mollymawk who love Scotland - you're very welcome up here Smile

JockTamsonsBairns · 23/02/2019 19:30

WindsfromtheNE we're hoping to move up here one day

It'll be lovely to have you. As the saying goes, we'll get the kettle on! Grin

WindsfromtheNE · 23/02/2019 19:31

Can I ask a quick question? Which areas of Dumfries and Galloway would people recommend? We love dramatic scenery if that helps? Thinking about nipping over to that area for a few days to potentially add it to our potential areas to move to list! Thanks.

icannotremember · 23/02/2019 19:36

I have had really good luck with the weather in Scotland. Every time I've been to St Andrews I've been sunburnt! We're going to Scotland for our summer holiday this year, my middle son is obsessed with Scottish history and wants to see the Wallace Monument and Stirling castle, and I want to take him to Linlithgow and if DH is up for it try and find the beach at Gullane friends took us to when I was a child, because I have such wonderful memories of rockpools and swimming there. I love Scotland. My dad is Scottish but I'd love it anyway, there's such beauty there and people are friendly and funny.

Stopwoofing · 23/02/2019 19:42

I love it here and don’t especially want more tourists but 6 degrees isn’t just it - there’s often a cold north wind here so even when the temperature is higher it can feel colder.

ssd · 23/02/2019 19:46

We went to the East Neuk of Fife today, St Monans, Elie absolutely gorgeous and not a midge in sight

likablum · 23/02/2019 19:47

Staggering ignorance on this thread.

Scotland is an incredibly diverse place. We have regular holidays in the borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Aviemore, Edinburgh, Skye and Mull and each location is completely different from the other. Angry at Lazy generalisations re bagpipes and midges.

StoneofDestiny · 23/02/2019 19:47

I adore Orkney but looking at mountains in the pissing rain has its limits

I was in Orkney recently and it was mild and dry and I never went near a mountain. Visited Skara Brae, the sunken vessels at Scapa Flow with the Italian Chapel, St Magnus Cathedral, the stunning arts and crafts galleries, Maeshow, Ring of Brodgar etc................and I don't work for their tourist board. Out accommodation was fantastic as was the welcome and the food and drink was superb.

StoneofDestiny · 23/02/2019 19:52

I recall occupying my teenage sons at Nae Limits - they white water rafted, did canyoning and drove quad bikes. Later we booked them into an off road driving centre and clay pigeon shoot. Brilliant time had by all.

littlemeitslyn · 23/02/2019 19:53

It's the weather ( I live in Scotland)