Scotland in new year

[user1475317873]

We are planning a trip o Scotland from the 29th of Dec to the 2nd of January. Any advice regarding where to go and stay would be appreciated. We are planning on renting a car and drive around.

Scotland is a big place i think you need to be more specific. You could spend all that time just in Edinburgh. Accommodation will be difficult and pricey in the city though. It is cold and gets dark very early in late December - spring time or now is the best time for a road trip.

Which part are you intending on visiting?

I'm from Central Scotland originally, by Loch Lomond, and it's good if you want quite a busy atmosphere with lots of shopping opportunities with a bit of sight seeing in between.

Now I live in the Highlands and it's a much quieter, more relaxed atmosphere and there's more to see but perhaps a bit less to do in the dark evenings/wet weather.

That's not the best time of the year for a road trip in Scotland. Cold and dark and possibly icy. Maybe visit a city? Hogmanay is a big thing in Scotland so you may find getting accommodation both scant and pricy by now. Both Edinburgh and Glasgow would be good places to have a look at.

Thank you. It doesn't look like the best time to visit.We have not made any plans yet as were planning to go to Denmark instead but the people we are going with can't go to any schengen area as they would have already spent a lot of days there and they have a limit.

I thought the Highlands and Edinburgh but perhaps is getting too late and expensive to organise this trip. I heard about a wildlife park too but have not looked into it.

I think you probably mean the Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore. Edinburgh at New Year is lovely and there is lots going on - skating rink, big wheel, Christmas markets etc. To get to Aviemore from there is about a 3 hour drive north on a major route which they try to keep open even when it snows.

Depends what type of holiday you want - if you're looking for a cosy cottage break with a log fire, good food and time with your friends and don't mind so much about potentially bad weather and it getting dark by 4pm then Scotland would be perfect. If you want to be out seeing things and doing things from 9am to 6pm then maybe not.

Edinburgh is lovely in the festive period but like i sad before, probably expensive. I wouldn't go to the highlands then. If it snows you will be stuck. Also i think wildlife parks tend to close over winter. Come in the spring before it gets too busy and when everything is coming back to life.

I would pick Edinburgh, Aviemore or Gleneagles at that time of year. It is not a cheap time to be on holiday though as Hogmanay puts the prices up a lot!

Highland Wildlife Park open year round, but fewer hours in winter.

Thank you. So will a couple of days in Edinburgh and a couple days in Aviemore to see the wildlife park be a good option if we find reasonable price accomodation?. We are happy to do things during daylight and go to the accomodation when it gets dark. We are happy to stay in London as that time of the year is expensive but our friends want to do something different as they are traveling from Australia and have been here a few times. Any other cities in the UK perhaps?

Just to saw that it does get dark about 4pm at that time of year. Aviemore is about 3 hours from Edinburgh and has a fair bit to do, as long as there aren't any issues with getting there because if the weather.

Aviemore

Hilton in Coylumbridge?
MacDonald in Aviemore?
The Cairngorm in Aviemore?
Dalfaber in Aviemore?

Glasgow is good. We used to drive up between Christmas and new year.
Was lovely

I would stick to cities at that time of year. The weather could be bright and crisp, in which case the highlands would be amazing. On the other hand it’s more likely to be dark, damp, cold and on the slightly miserable side. Glasgow and Edinburgh will both have lots to do at that time. Maybe St Andrews would be interesting for a day or two? I would tend to avoid concrete immovable plans to drive long distances at that time of year, although snow isn’t that likely it can make driving unpleasant.
I love the highland wildlife park, but it’s not special enough to tempt me out on a cold, wet January day, I wouldn’t drive from Edinburgh to Aviemore just to go there. It is significantly colder in Aviemore than Edinburgh. You could go and see the pandas at Edinburgh zoo instead.

We've found that shops shut and buses stop running quite early on new years Eve and compared with England that near enough everything is shut on new years day - and that's even in decent sized towns in the central belt. The emphasis seems to be spending time with your family, unless you have booked for a big ticket event.
If you're travelling through the Highlands then you may find that the police close the snow gates. (We were last off Rannoch Moor and they closed them behind us because of a blizzard ).

Also when looking at accommodation many places have a minimum number of nights stay over that time usually 3 in hotels and 3 or 4 nights in self catering.

There is lots open in Edinburgh on New Years day as so many tourists are in town- i believe you can even go to the castle.a quick check of booking.com and airb&b says it will be ~£1k or more if you want an apartment for the 4 days. Glasgow will be cheaper prob.