Please help me plan a week in Scotland ... from this Saturday!!!

[Honeymoonmummy]

Last minute dot com as usual - we only decided yesterday that we're going to go camping in Scotland this Saturday for a week. Neither of us know Scotland v well, I have relatives in Ayr so Sat/ Sun we'll stay in a hotel in/ on way to Ayr and see relatives then move onto camping, but don't know where to camp or where we should visit (other than Tobermory!!).

Please can someone help me to plan our trip, what are must-see places to go? We have two DC, 5 and 7, so where we go will be largely dictated by places which appeal to them.

Thanks in advance!

Oh and we're coming from Cheshire, NW England so 4 hours to Ayr, perfectly do-able. In fact we could go straight to a campsite north of Ayr and then come back down for the day on the sunday...

3 hours Aviemore to Ayr - doesn't really work to go straight to Aviemore then travel back to Ayr for the day

Great suggestions on places, in addition I would add to take:

1. Avon Skin So Soft - oil (non-deet) based insect repellent, stops the midges attaching to your skin. Buy online, must be the blue bottle. Mosquito net if anyone is especially sensitive.

2. After Bite and antihistamines in case of bigger bites (esp horse flies)

3. Waterproofs, waterproofs, waterproofs! Weather changes very quickly and you're unlikely to escape rain for a week, it's been non stop this year

4. Layers for clothing, it's changes between being very humid and quite cold depending on the time of day

I can't buy online Beenaround, we're going tomorrow!! Where can I get the Avon and the mosquito net from on our way up?!?

OK, Stirling is 1hr ish from Ayr, so we could go straight to Stirling and do that first, then up to Aviemore for the rest of the holiday as a base. So Stirling on Saturday - from there on Sunday we do Ayr and also a day in Edinburgh; then go to Aviemore and explore round there, perhaps a day in Saint Andrews. Thoughts? Are we missing anything amazing? And what about the Islands??

Love the doom and gloom about the Scottish weather I must have hallucinated the 3/4 weeks of wall to wall sunshine we had in May/June!! It is occasionally nice here
Skin so soft and midge nets you'll often find in visitor centre type places. You won't need them for Ayr! Pick them up on your route north.
Around Ayr there's lots to do, I was fascinated by a place called electric brae as a kid, needs sunshine to work but basically it's an optical illusion on a road where the car appears to roll uphill. Culzean is a great place for a visit, massive country park and castle with beaches also, quite expensive to get into unless national trust members.

Enjoy. My ancestors got kicked out so that it's wild, scenic beauty be unmarred

They sell midge repellent and midge nets anywhere there's midges in Scotland.....and they have been horrendous this year, in the west anyway. You need a midge net not a mozzie one the holes are too big! Take warm clothes evenings have been cold recently.
Would also head for aviemore, Oban is nice but so much more to do with kids in aviemore. Have fun, I've escaped south for a week to escape the midges!

You will struggle to do Highlands, islands and lowlands without constantly Oving so just pick what's important. Aviemore is great but if you want to do tobermory and Edinburgh then I would do Oban and somewhere near Edinburgh. Other people suggested Stirling and St Andrews. Both good. St Andrews I such prettier town in my opinion and has a beach but Stirling is a bit easier to travel to lots of places from and the castle is good

Village shops often sell midge repellent and I saw Skin so soft in the little pet shop where I buy meal worms for our quails the other day. I suppose dog walkers buy it. You'll find it if you keep your eyes open for it. Or I could hire out dp for the week, he is so attractive to midges they ignore everyone else.

Thanks for the offer Igneococcus!!

Right, I've found what looks like a good campsite near Stirling so think we'll go there first, just over an hour to Ayr and we can do Loch Lomond and Edinburgh too. Tobermory might just have to be a drive past at some point, I'm not sure...

Have to start working now but will ring round some campsites inbetween work - AARGH!!!

Definitely Culzean Castle. There's a campsite next door - I don't know what it's like but it's very handy.
It's usually not a very long walk from the car to the pitches at Comrie Croft and there are wheelbarrows you can use. It gets booked up very quickly.
Aviemore is fab. The Highland Folk Park is worth a full day and there's a wee farm you can go to watch a sheep dog demonstration which is great.
Have you booked anything yet?

The have Skin so Soft and presumably nets in Tiso's in Stirling - just along from McDonalds before you get into the shopping centre from the Station end, or if you are parking in the shopping centre car park then it's at the Debenhams end but outside the centre.

And yes, we did have lots of sunshine in May but bugger all since :)

Although as it's been quite cool I didn't think the midges have been that much in evidence, not around Loch Lomond area anyway where we were last week.

I'd be a bit wary of those driving times though OP I'd say it's closer to an hour and a half to Ayr from Stirling and about 2 and a half from Stirling to Aviemore.

As for missing something, you are always going to be missing something as Scotland is pretty big :) The far North west is stunning with lovely beaches and dramatic mountains, Skye is a total wonder, but there is no way that you could cover that in a week. You also have the fishing villages of Fife, the smaller islands of the west coast etc etc. Each area has something to offer and you really can't fit in everything. remember that although it may not look far, roads can be small and windy. It took us near an hour to do 20 miles last week as two Lorries were unable to pass on a tight bend, so lots of shuffling ensued only for the same thing to happen a few bends down the road, there is nowhere to go and no room to turn so you just have to wait it out. Nothing of that kind on your planned visits though but just something to keep in mind.

Oops xpost!

And yes, it's a pretty straight forward drive to Loch Lomond from Stirling though I'd probably recommend Loch Katrine as an alternative. They have a steamer boat tour too and you can hire bikes to go for a cycle round - you could also go to Aberfoyle (David Marshall lodge visitor centre as mentioned above) on a loop drive and do both in a day. In fact, I'd do Stirling to Aberfoyle for the morning, head up to Loch Katrine - lovely wee drive, stay there for afternoon and the come back via Callendar for Fish and Chips and ice cream or straight back into Bridge of Allan for the Allan Water café chip tea and ice cream.

For somewhere different to stay near Ayr - boat in troon We stayed here a few weeks ago for one night - kids are loved it!

I love Mull, but if you've only got a week I'd skip Tobermory. If you really want to do an island have a look at ferry departures nearer Ayr maybe e.g. From Wemyss Bay or Gourock. But your itinerary looks good, as others have said you can't do Scotland justice in a week, so don't wear yourself out trying!

Oh and if you are staying in the campsite at Stirling that I think you are, the Coffee Bothy is nearby and excellent for food though I don't think it does evenings, just lunches and cake etc. Has a farm shop too, but you are also not far from a big Morrisons or drive round the back of the monument and it'll bring you out at causewayhead for Corrieries.

Ginmakesitallok I could kiss you - booked that for Sat night - so excited to see kids faces!!!

So I'm now thinking we could do the SAt night in Troon, perhaps Sun night in a hotel near Oban so we can then do Tobermory on the Monday and then travel somewhere else (Stirling/ Aviemore) for the rest of the week.

If you are going to base yourself for much of the week, as much as I love Stirling and the surrounds, I'd probably say Aviemore. However if it means that you are missing a day in Edinburgh to do Tobermory, I'd do Edinburgh a million times over. But I guess we aren't all the same and I think you'll have a brilliant time whatever you do OP. Let us know what you finally decide on and if you need any hints and tips. We've been in Aviemore many times (my sister used to live there too) and I'm from Edinburgh and live in Stirling. I am better on Further North West than Oban but have travelled quite a bit of Scotland in my time. And there will be locals on here from most places - also worth posting in Scotsnet which is under other stuff to catch some more Scots once you've decided.

Skin So Soft is often recommended on here, but it doesn't always work for everyone. OH us a midge magnet and if it doesn't contain deet it doesn't deter the biting insects. He always reacts badly to bites as well so we can never holiday in Scotland after May, and there is absolutely no way he would even contemplate camping.

The suggestion of buying insect repellant locally is an excellent one as it will deal with the pests local to the area.

tbf - there really isn't much that deters midgies. SSS is really just a body oil that makes it harder for them to bite - you could similarly use baby oil. Smidge gets good reviews too but I've heard others say it doesn't work. I think you just need to be careful where you go. Stay away from foresty areas and it tends to be better. DH (keen hillwalker) assures me that once you get above a certain height you don't get them. we didn't see any in a forest position near Loch Lomond last week as it's been quite cool.