Scotland, where to go

[MegBusset]

Looking for summer holiday 2019 ideas and considering Scotland, but have only been to Edinburgh. Recommendations would be brilliant for somewhere (general area or specific location / accommodation) that ideally has:

• peaceful setting with stunning scenery
• not too many midges in July / August (if that's even possible)
• possibility of whale watching nearby
• lots of lovely walks (mountains a bonus)
• couple of things to do if/when it rains to suit pre-teen DC

Open to mainland or island ideas.

Thanks!

Outer Hebrides are amazing but have got quite popular lately.
SW Scotland, especially Dumfries and Galloway, has much less midges than other parts but if you're by the sea, where it's windier, they tend to get blown away anyway.
Why not do a road trip up the west coast and back down the east, or vice versa?

Aviemore area. Fantastic walks, lovely scenery, in national park, lots of mountains. Funicular railway, landmark forest Park, feed the roaming wild reindeer in the mountains. Watersports and beach at Loch morlich. No whales but not too far a drive to Inverness for dolphin watching.

We’ve not got many midgies up here in Shetland & it’s great for preteen families but it’s very expensive to get here

MrsAmaretto just priced up flights from our local airport to Shetland - over £2k for four of us! I don't think I'd persuade DH to spend that much going somewhere you have to pack fleeces and waterproofs for a summer holiday I would love to go though... maybe one day!

D&G was on my radar but wasn't sure where would be good to base ourselves.

Aviemore looks great - any recommendation of where to stay?

We'd have to drive a long way to get to Scotland in the first place so once there would rather be based in one place than drive around.

East Neuk of Fife is beautiful. Lots of wildlife/walks/ harbours/ice cream/restaurants/ fish and chips. An hour from Edinburgh, 20mins to St Andrews, 40mins to Dundee and an hour and a bit to Perth/Aberdeen. Dundee has an airport, so you might get flights.

Get a day on the May Ferry to see puffins and porpoises, visit the Secret Bunker, Crail raceway, St Andrew's aquarium/Botanic Gardens/ beaches. Shopping in Dundee and Perth acceptable and the V and A is opening a bit later in the year. Dundee Science Centre if your kids are under about 15.

Isle of Arran.

We drive to Skye from South England on a regular basis
It's not so bad and Skye is amazing!

Aviemore is good. We fed reindeer.

Argyll is stunning. Campbeltown/Southend have amazing beaches, you can visit local islands, has cinema and swimming pool etc for rainy days. Plus, being actually sea-side means midges are much less of a nuisance. Lochgilphead and Helensburgh are also lovely but don't have the huge golden sandy beaches with sand dunes etc that Campbeltown area has.

Skye will be heaving july-September (we're having a bit of a problem and currently upgrading infrastructure to cope with high volume of tourists)

Check out the NC500 route around the west coast and up to the likes of Durness etc.

Aviemore has lots of activities and walks etc so would tick those boxes. It's a short drive from a loch where you can rent kayaks etc and a half an hour from inverness.

How long would you be going for OP?

lots to do on East coast, St Andrews would be a good base

Inverness also a good base, although it's been a while and ours were younger

Just remember if there is any expectation of driving then once you are past civilisation the roads are diabolical...slow, winding, hilly, narrow, and you will come round a corner face to face with a juggernaut at least once. Distances on the map that look like an hour or maybe two will probably be 3-4 hours minimum.
And tbh the A9 A90 are not much better!!

Dornoch Firth is amazing, dolphins and whales aplenty (sometimes), whisky trail and unspoilt beaches. Seafood and deserted roads. Love it.

North east coast Aberdeenshire/Buchan- no midges, endless sand dunes, small towns nestled at the bottom of cliffs, guaranteed seals and dolphins, distilleries and the Cairngorm National Park for mountains if that's your thing.

South East Skye stays fairly quiet. We have a place out of the way though.

As a Fifer myself I'd recommend Fife. So many different beautiful places nearby. Close to Edinburgh if you want a day there and if you pick your base right you're not that far from Perth, Stirling or Glasgow. Plenty of gorgeous beaches here and we don't have many midges that I've noticed! Try air b&b for a property in a village to use as your base. I know there are a couple near where I am! East neuk of Fife is particularly lovely and where we choose to take our touring caravan to for short breaks with our children.

West is best Op. Got to be the west coast 😂
The Galloway Forrest is a lovely place for walking and cycling. I'm always there with my dogs.
Beside the sea Dunure would be great to stay, it's a tiny fishing village, they were filming Outlander there recently.

Both places are roughly 40 mins in the car up to Glasgow if you fancied going there for the day too.

Loads of places to stay in aviemore. Have a look on the visit aviemore website. We rent a fab wee cottage just outside the town when we go.

Thank you - lots of great ideas here - too many to choose from! Will get googling.

Meana - feel free to PM me if you fancy sharing your cottage details

I live in Helensburgh. To the PP who thinks it's lovely I would love to see it from an outsiders perspective! Funny how we see things differently

Assynt! Stunningly beautiful but midges are rife away from the coastal parts.

Check out Mull too.

Dumfries and Galloway I see a great place to go. It has nice beaches and good forests (Ae, Mabie and Dalbeattie) so great for walks and cycling and nice days on the beach. The boys used to love going to the Cream o Galloway. The Dark Sky park is fascinating on a good night.
There's nice caravan parks or cottages to rent all over.
Lovely place.
I love Skye but out of the main season as it can get very busy but lots of walking and climbing to do.
Around Aviemore used to be our February holiday when we would go skiing and I just loving being on the Cairngorms. Loads for kids to do in that area as people have already mentioned.
I like going up to Oban and getting the ferry to Tobermory. The boys used to like it up there but it's years since they've been.
Choice is yours and there is so much to choose from!

West Coast for sure - Lewis/Harris, Ardnamurchan, Mull. Aviemore and around has loads for kids, East Neuk of Fife is lovely.

A lot of places will be booked up by now though, and if you want to take a car on one of the bigger ferries to the islands you'll struggle to get booked, especially at the weekend.

Ah thanks for more ideas! You're not making it easy

We're looking for next summer so hopefully plenty time to book.

I do like the idea of getting a ferry to the islands. Want to go somewhere that is really recognisably Scotland and nowhere else.

I do like the idea of getting a ferry to the islands. Want to go somewhere that is really recognisably Scotland and nowhere else

Would definitely recommend Mull then, but book sooner than later (accommodation and ferries).

Try www.isleofmullcottages.com/
We've stayed in a few, all excellent and the website has good ideas for things to do.