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[cheli]

I'm planning on coming up to Scotland at the start of August - at the moment I'm thinking of starting in Glasgow. I may have found accommodation in Edinburgh from the 17th and I am negotiating with someone who's making a tour of the highlands from the 22-25th ish. I just booked a tour of the Scottish Islands starting on the 29th: http://www.wild-in-scotland.com/tourdisp.php?tourid=0008 so excited!

This leaves me with about a week in the second week of August unplanned and I'm a little unsure of what I should try and see in that time. I can't drive and I'm traveling by myself, I don't have much money so I'll probably be traveling by bus. Can you suggest any places, sights or activities that could complete my Scottish experience?

[starlagurl]

I don't know much about Scotland, but I'm sure Kathryn77 will be able to help when she sees this.

Or, try messaging her yourself

www.travelpod.com/members/kathryn77

Here are my ideas: go see some bagpipers and Scottish dancers???

Eat some butterscotch???

Are you meeting up with my friend Rena who will be there at the same time? She asked me for your email, did she get in touch?

[cheli]

Yeah we wrote, but we'll just miss each other unfortunately!

[starlagurl]

That's poopy. Oh well.

[kathryn77]

Hey Cheli! That's fab that you might have accommodation in Edinburgh in August as the annual festival is on! If you left it any longer, you could be stuck, so jump at whatever you can! A friend of mine recommended this hostel to me to tell someone else about - it's near Edinburgh castle: http://www.castlerockedinburgh.com/
Here's a link to what's on at the festival: http://www.eif.co.uk/ (It's on all month!)

Try and book your transport in advance and you'll get around a lot cheaper:
www.megabus.com
www.nationalexpress.com both give you deals, (for less than £10)

Have you seen my starter kit - I've also got a Scotland blog where I've been adding pics to different places http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/kathryn77/4/tpod.html (there's a link to the starter kit on the front page)

You'll be able to get around quite easily as Scotland's not that big (it's about an hourish between Glasgow and Edinburgh by bus, and from either of those cities, to get to Aberdeen, it's about 3.5 hours. Let me know if you've any other questions, and I will have a think about what else is on, but thought I'd let you know about the Edinburgh Festival for sure!

[kathryn77]

Hi again,
I just had a look on the Visit Scotland website (www.visitscotland.com) to see what's on, and I don't think you'll have any trouble finding kilts and hearing pipes, as there are so many competitions going on! You can do a search on that site for what's on in the whole month, and see what takes your fancy, and ask me any questions if you like? There's loads of cute little towns in between the cities, a lot of seaside places etc, if you like that sort of thing too?
I'm going to be over as well on the w/e of the 23rd, but you're on your trip then, shame!

Try and get to a ceilidh - they are fab!

[captain_sparrow]

Definitely check out the National Gallery of Scotland if you're into art. Even though much smaller, the it could well compete with the big boys like the Louvre or the Hermitage. We took a tour the other day with a company called Golden Feet - they're apparently the only people that do tours of the Gallery specifically, which was nice, as we didn't feel like taking a tour of the whole city. The guide knew his stuff - definately worth the money (L4), espescially worth paying as entrance to the gallery is free. The contact details below are from the leaflet he gave us at the end - check it out or look for guys in red t-shirts outside the Gallery.

(+44) 787 647 1544
ktelejko@goldenfeetart.co.uk

[kathryn77]

Whoah! It must be a good tour! Please just post on the other thread for this. Let's keep in in one to avoid confusion - can't wait to hear all about it!!