Hi There, Thanks so much for your help! Not sure if this is where I continue our conversation (introductions) so let me know if I'm suppose to post future blogs elsewhere. Our plan is to fly to London & travel up west coast as far as Inverness then start heading back down the east coast till back in London & catch train to France. Hopefully our Scottish itinerary will look some thing like this:-
Day 1- Travel up from Lakes District through Carlisle, Gretna and then stay in Dumfries or New Galloway that night.
Day 2- Continue to Maybole, Turnberry, Calzean Castle, Ayr, Troon, Dundonald Castle, Kilmarnock & (Rowallan Castle) and stay somewhere in Glasgow that night.
Day 3- Look around Glasgow in morning then onto Dumbarton & Castle, Loch Lomand, Inveraray Castle, Oban (Dunstaffnage Castle) and drive along the coast to Glencoe that night.(thinking I'd like to stay in Clachaig Inn).
Day 4- From Glencoe to Fort William, Spean Bridge, Invergarry, Kyle of Lochalsh & stay on Isle of Skye at Portree that night. (would like to see Dunvegan Castle but not sure if time)
Day 5 & 6- Leave Isle of Skye back over Kyle of Lochalsh (stopping at Eilean Donan Castle) and drive to Invermoriston. Back track a little to see Fort Augustus (told Clansman Centre here is good) then along Loch Ness to Drumnadrochit (Urquhart Castle) & stay in Inverness for 2 nights. While in Inverness I'd like to see Culloden, Clava Cairns, Castle Stuart, Cawdor Castle, Fort George, Brodie Castle, Bunchrew House, Beauly Priory. ( would have like to see Dunrobin Castle but I think it's too far in other direction!)
Day 7- Leave Inverness & head to Elgin Cathedral then down to Duftown (Balvenie Castle) then onto Huntly Castle towards Fyvie Castle. Then down to Castle Fraser then drive back to Granton on Spey to stay the night.
Day 8- Look around before driving to Carrbridge, Aviemore etc to Blair Atholl & Blair Castle, Killiecrankie & Pitlochry & staying overnight in Perth.
Day 9- While in Perth area want to see Elcho Castle, Balhousie Castle & Black Watch museum, Scone Palace, Huntingtower Castle & Balvaird Castle. Then drive south to Doune Castle and stay over night in Stirling.
Day 10,11 &12- While in Stirling see Stirling Castle, Argyll's Lodging, Dunblane Cathedral, Bannockburn, Airth Castle then onto Falkirk and maybe Linlithgow Palace staying in Edinburgh for 3 nights. While in Edinburgh want to see the Castle of course!, Holyrood House & the city it self, plus on one day travel to Fife to Dunfermline to see Palace & Abbey & town of Culross. (Would love to see Kellie Castle , Falkland Palace, Loch Leven Castle, Blackness Castle & St Andrews but again it's the time thing!) I think I need to come live over there for a while!!!! Infact I think my Mum's scared I won't come home!
Well people, I feel tired just writing about it!! Is it possible to do all that, will we be able to travel those distances in that time frame? (Remember we're Australian, it takes 9hours driving to get to our next Capital, Adelaide to Melbourne) We do that on weekends just for a football game!!! Looking forward to your reply s. Cheers Australianlass

I've moved this to the Travelling section for you Australianlass... and now I am gonna have a wee look over your plans that, if I am honest, look like way too much to try to attempt in a couple of weeks!

Australiangirl, Bruce is absolutely right. You try to cover way too much territory to do more than point at a place. "Hey look, there is Dundonald.... now lets move on." I tend to cover a lot of ground, far more than most people would recommend, but your schedule would make me dizzy.

Nine hours a day driving may be your idea of a vacation, but you can't compare Australian roads with those in Scotland. (I am only guessing that yours are more like those in the US) where you can easily average 70 miles an hour). There are some four lane motorways in Scotland, but very few. They connect the major cities, like from the Borders to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Perth. After that is gets sketchy and you won't average more than 45 mph. In the Higlands, were many roads are single track, with pull off places to allow oncoming traffic to pass, cut that down to 25 mph.

Your schedule is drivable, but doesn't allow time to stop and enjoy what you came to see. Speeding through Scotand would make you miss so much that is worth seeing, like the incomparable scenery. It would be impossible to stop at all the places you wish to see if you spend all day driving. No time left over.

This is an intensive schedule, and you are not going to be able to give some of these castles the several hours they deserve to get to known them properly.

But having said that, this is in my view a reasonably do-able schedule if you accept that you are going to have to pay fairly fleeting visits to most of the places you mention. Liz's comment about single track roads is a fair one, but in thinking through your proposed itinerary, I don't think you will encounter any. So long as you accept you are going for breadth of coverage rather than depth of coverage, this doesn't seem a bad way to get to know the country.

One thought to bear in mind is that some of the castles you mention are private or hotels and may not be readily open to the public: you will need to check. Bunchrew House and Castle Stewart spring to mind, while Rowallan Castle seems to be a focal point for a golf development rather than a visitor attraction in its own right.

Finally, you can find out more about many of the castles you are hoping to visit via the links on this page:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/u ... stles.html

All the best

Hi There, Thanks Ken for looking over my itinerary I really appreciate it! I'm glad to hear that the routes we have chosen you think are fairly good ones as I am one of the designated drivers on this tour!!!! Thanks to Liz for replying too! I do understand what you are saying about stopping to enjoy what we are seeing, and believe me I have thought long and hard about it. What I had to decide was this; ever since I was a young girl (more than twenty years ago now!!!) I have read about all these amazing places and the long history of Scotland. And Yes, I'm a Braveheart movie fan, and I'm sure I was a Jacobite in a previous life!!! I have also started tracing my family tree (Murray), which accounts for many of the places on the list. As I said in my first post I had six A4 pages of places I'd read about & would love to see, & I don't know if the places we've finally decided on are the best to look at, but I've managed to cut it down to 3/4 of 1 page. I've tried to plan a realistic route to see things on the way to the next. There are places that I'm disappointed I won't see but they were just too far away. I live on the other side of the world!, we have nothing like this in Australia. The world (according to my "history" teacher at school) began in 1788, with Capt. James Cook arriving!!! I was never taught world history at school, my love of this came from my Dad. While I would like to think that I will be able to come back again one day, this could very well be my trip of a life time!!( unless I win the lotto!) So I had to decide; do I want to see a few things and spend lots of time at each, or do I push to try & see as much as I can. Rightly or wrongly I have opted for the latter. Thanks again for replying, if there's places on the list that you think we shouldn't bother with so we could spend more time else where, please say. Also if there's any tips on accommodation in the places we've chosen, would greatly appreciate any ideas. Cheers Australianlass

If that is the case then go for it... as Ken says, it is a reasonably do-able schedule and as you say this could be your trip of a lifetime for you (tho hopefully you will have a chance to return!) so make the most of the wonderful scenery we have to offer: Scotland from the Roadside at its best!

Can I suggest an alternative for Day 4?

How about Glencoe - Fort William - Glenfinnan (look it up!) - Mallaig - ferry to Armadale, Isle of Skye - Portree.

This is an excellent alternative, so long as the ferry times can be worked in. The roads from Fort William to Mallaig on the mainland and Armadale to Broadford on Skye are excellent these days (it wasn't always so, even up to pretty recent times). The ferry costs will need to be factored in, but you will be saving (some) fuel on a considerably shorter road trip. You'd probably have time to work in Inverlochy Castle near Fort William (the ancient ruined castle, not the confusingly similarly named 5 star hotel nearby), and maybe the ruin of Armadale Castle on Skye, though this might have more resonance for a MacDonald than a Murray.

And, best of all, there is something magical about going "over the sea to Skye" and however fantastic the bridge is as a practical link to the island, it can't beat the ferry for romance.

This history thing is funny. As a kid at a British military primary school in Singapore in the early 1960s I can distinctly remember how the entire world started with the landing of Sir Stamford Raffles, whereas now I know that the ultimate origin of life, the universe and everything was an Egyptian woman called Scota:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/u ... scota.html

While looking around Glasgow, Bothwell castle might hold some special interest for a Murray. They are the ones who built this castle, even though it later changed hands repeatedly. It is still a very impressive ruin.

G'day everyone, it's just after midnight here in Australia so it is officially Mother's Day. I assume Scotland celebrates Mother's Day the same time we do, 2nd Sunday in May, so Happy Mother's Day to all the Mums!!! Thanks Guys for your replies, to Liz thanks for the heads up on Bothwell Castle & to Ken & Brodie I agree I think the Mallaig road & ferry would be the way to go. Plus we would get to see the famous viaduct from the Harry Potter movies on the way, & we wouldn't be back tracking the Shiel Bridge road. Unfortunately we have a chicken amongst us!!!! One of my fellow travelers (a 47 yr old man no less!) can't swim & is none to keen on a ferry trip, but I am working on him!!! I feel better knowing a few of you think this is a do-able trip! Have a good day all, be kind to the Mums; I'm taking mine to a football match today!!!
Cheers Australianlass

Tell him that even in summer the water will be so cold that not being able to swim will be no disadvantage if the Coruisk sinks...

...just don't mention the sharks! (Actually, there are sharks in those waters, but I don't think any of them are a danger to anything bigger than plankton).

You post gave me a momentary fright that I'd forgotten Mothers Day, but I'm assured that in the UK it was back on 14 March.

Tell him the ferry is very large, with room for several Buses, trucks and loads of cars. He should feel safe on it. The road from Fort William to Mallaif is very lovely and you shouldn't miss it.

If you are a Harry Potter fan, there is a wee cottage in Glencoe, not the village, but the glen itself, called Signal Rock Cottage, they do B&B and it is right by the spot where Hagrid's cottage was filmed. We stayed there last September and enjoyed it very much. Deer came right up to the door.

Hi there everyone, haven't posted anything for ages I've been incredibly busy at work. But I still keep thinking of things I want to ask you all! The weather here has being yuk!, we just had our wettest day in May for 11 years. We've been talking about when exactly we want to travel, none of us can come before mid July because of work commitments & my fellow travelers aren't too keen to arrive during your 6 week school holidays. They're thinking perhaps we arrive at the end of August, which will mean we will be in Scotland in September. I was wondering what the weather will be like at that time of year? Also it means we will get to Edinburgh around the 12th Sept, which is about 2 weeks after the Tattoo & Festival finishes. I'm not so worried about missing all of that, as it's the city it's self I want to see. It's more I was worried that some places might be closed (like the castle) to dismantle the stands and the like. Is this a concern? How long does it take them to pull all of that stuff down?
The other thing I wanted to ask was I've read about your Highland Games, and more specifically the "Gathering" and "torch light ceremony" at the Opening. I've looked on the net and I can't see any mention of it at any of the Highland Games held in Scotland, however there's several of them in North Carolina in America!!!!! Please tell me they still carry this tradition in Scotland!!! The home of Highland Games! Thanks Ken for the heads up on the "Undiscovered Scotland" web site, it's fantastic!!
Cheers Australianlass

Australianlass, the summer season in Scotland runs until the end of September so Edinburgh Castle and other attractions around the country will be open at the same times as they would during July and August. To be honest I haven't visited the castle itself while the stands are being set up or dismantled, but the castle will be open to visitors.

As for Highland Games, these do still take place in Scotland; here are details of the events in September, including The Braemar Gathering. If you want to take in one of these events you should check the official websites (where they exist) for up to date information!

As for the weather in September, generally it can be quite nice (warm, but not too hot); however, like any other month of the year we get rain so bring some waterproofs with you (tho that would apply to July and August anyway!)

Hi Bruce, thanks for the reply. It's funny you mentioning the raincoat because that's exactly what I bought while I was out shopping yesterday!!! Thanks for the web link for Braemar Games, but it was the "torch light ceremony" that I was particularly looking for. I believe they also call it "raising the Clans" or "calling of the Clans", and it was performed on the night of the opening of Highlands games. I have read about it in several books, granted they were all historical novels set in the 17th and 18th century!!!! Then I read a book set in the 1980's in America & the characters went to one, so I did a bit of research on the net. I could find ones held in America ie. http://www.grandfather.com/media/gmhg_hi_res_photos2.php. But I couldn't find any that were still performed in Scotland at any of the Highland games around the country. They just sounded so spectacular and seeing they originated in Scotland I thought for sure someone, somewhere in Scotland still did it.
I only asked about the castle because my Aunt & Uncle were there in 2006, he can't remember how long after the tattoo they had arrived in Edinburgh but the castle was closed to dismantle the stands. So hopefully if we arrive 2 weeks after, we'll be alright!!
Cheers Australianlass