Scotland Trip - Planning Tips

This is the 2nd long trip that we planned the entire itinerary, booked air-tickets/accomodation/day trips etc on our own and we self drive. We went in June during the Kids' school holidays. 

Weather

It was late spring to summer and weather was cooling varying from below 10 to 20 degrees. When raining, it can go down to below 10 degrees and pretty chilling. Locals wear scarf and thick jackets especially in early morning and evenings.

In Scotland, Rain is a daily occasion.

Why Scotland

We love scenery and nature. It is well known that Scotland is similar to New Zealand.

In a crowded city (Singapore), open spaces and nature are hard to get. 

As formal British colony, we have many things in common such as driving on the same side of road, common language (English).

Culture and history is also one of the reason which set it apart from New Zealand (commonly believed to be similar in terms of scenery).

Our general view of Scottish is that they are well mannered (at least those that we met) and family oriented (we often see families travelling/dining together, unlike our other travels). Their favourite word is "lovely" which is similar to "nice" (often used in Singapore).  This is purely my view from my visit in Scotland. Some of the other travellers I have met do differ in their opinion from mine.

Planning and Cost saving Tips

1) Air-line

To book a trip during summer/winter holidays, it is expected to encounter higher costs and prudent to book way in advance. 

We book our air tickets 6 months in advance to enjoy good deals.Flight is about 13-16 hours including transit to Edinburgh.

There are a few airlines to Europe from Singapore. Singapore Airlines is one of the most expensive. Other alternatives include British airways (BA), Dutch airline, Swissair etc. The easiest route will be either Singapore airline or British airway since Scotland is in UK and transit at London is the fastest.

As we intend to stay at London at our last week, we book BA under multi-city/stopover option. It is much cheaper than Singapore Airlines.

Under multicity/stopover option, you can choose the dates and plan your route. Different timing will have different pricing. Usually early morning flights and mid-night flights are cheaper. Sundays and Mondays can be more expensive. Try out the various options.

Look at the carrier company as different timing may be run by their subsidiary airlines especially internal transit flights.

KLM (Dutch airline), Swissair and other airlines also have similar multi-city options.

We gotten air-tickets for 2 adults and 2 kids at approx SGD$5800. Singapore airline was then displaying prices at SGD$8000.

I pay for seat choosing, and chose a good seat near toilet (for ease of going to toilet especially for my kids).

We encounter some hiccups with BA (details on our next post on the first day) as they encounter a major IT issues and many flights were delayed.

See news article on IT issue 

On high sight we probably should have book another airline, but other Europe airline also has some hiccups here and there. So, do get travel insurance once you booked your air-line and accommodation in case of any hiccups.

2) Car Rental

We read on travel forums and gotten Sixt Car Rental, which has good reviews. 

We booked a 4WD car with space for 3 medium luggage. It is advisable to get a 4WD car as Scotland roads are bumpy and can be windy at mountain areas. 

Make sure you check the luggage size and choose automatic drive. Most rental vehicles in Scotland are manual drive and not many automatic drive available. For SG drivers, it is advisable to get auto drive as we are not used to more challenging roads. 

M gotten an upgrade on the spot by getting a build in GPS. This is useful as the wifi/phone signal in Scotland is almost non-existent and google maps don't work well except in Edinburgh and Inverness city. GPS works by using postal codes in Scotland, so do check up the postal codes of places of interest prior to visiting.

Photo of our rented car taken in Skye

Car Parking is mostly NOT free in Scotland. Even in rural areas, parking is still always chargeable, sometimes below 5 pounds or so. 

3) Accommodation

Our Cottage near Inverness

Most accommodation in Scotland are small cottages, motels, B&B. In Scotland, they may named it as "Hotel" but it is more like a Motel, with only less than 20 rooms. They fill up super fast during June. We started booking in March and many places are already filled up. It is also difficult to get family rooms in Scotland. Many people ended up booking 2 rooms in B&B or entire cottage for whole family. Many places do have their own online booking facility and its pretty easy to book on your own. I use facebook to communicate or ask questions, which I get faster response than using emails. With the difference in time, I find it most useful to enquire with them around 4-7pm Singapore time. 

Average cost per night is about SGD$350. Our most expensive is $650 per night at Cameron House Loch Lomond.

Read up reviews on tripadvisors before booking. Look at photos submitted by tripadvisor members and not the hotel themselves. Actual photos say a thousand words. 

Do a simple list of hotels/accommodations so that you can give to the airline in case of luggage loss / misplaced.  

One tip is to book cottages with kitchen (can cook breakfast and save cost dining), laundry facility (can wash clothes along the trip and bring less clothes = save space), wifi (very important due to poor service coverage in Scotland).

It is cheaper to book direct than using booking.com or third party sites, in general. However, for some accommodations they may have release rooms to third party sites so you may find cheaper deals at third party sites instead.

Kitchen with Washer and dishwasher - one of our cottage stay

4) Packing

Years ago, I tried packing by putting same category together in same compartment or bag. And I had a hard time at the hotel every night having to open all luggage and searching all around. 

3 years ago I learnt some tips from colleagues who travel with kids and have to pack for whole family. From there on, its a breeze. 

Here are my packing tips:

• I do a simple packing list - this is important so that you can always look back at your own list for the next trip. Things like sunblock, insect repellent, medicine, clothing etc. I even wrote down important instructions to do before travelling, e.g to change money, buy travel insurance etc. 
• I packed by day instead of category. For the same bag or compartment, I group everyone's clothes for Day 1 into the same area. Day 2 in another bag or compartment. So I do not need to open all the luggages in the hotel searching and opening everything. Especially if you are stuck in a small room with compact luggage opening space, you will want to only open one luggage and not all of them.
• I used ziplock airseal bags from SKP shops or online Qoo10. SKP is the cheapest and good quality. Jackets can be compressed and take up less space. 
• Make sure everyone has some clothing in each luggage case. In the event of luggage delay or lost in transit, this is important so that everyone has some clothing (at least) to last a few days.
• Get luggage case with good wheels. If you travel with kids like us, its a good idea to get smaller luggage case where they can help to wheel around. 
• For liquids, toothpaste etc - pack in a ziplock box as liquid may escape due to airflight pressure. 

Useful Things to Pack

• I like to use Uniqlo or similar down jackets which can be compressed to a ball size, waterproof and warm. Uniqlo can be quite expensive so I get from online such as from Aristine Little Closet, with down jackets selling less than $35 and can be even more durable than those from Uniqlo. The colours are also vibrant and I can spot my kids from far. Buy those with hood so that can use during rain. Especially Scotland which rain is common.   
• Pack some foldable handcarry bags. This is used for your purchases during the trip.  
• In most Europe countries, it is common to pay a little for bags at supermarket. So its useful to pack some shoppers bags or recycling bags.
• Trekking stick is useful for Scotland walks as the ground are usually uneven terrain and many slopes.
• Foldable Tripod or selfie stick - useful for taking family photos as most places hardly any travellers and unlikely to get people to help take photos.
• Toiletries, laundry powder etc - some accommodation do not provide, especially B&B
• Diapers, milk powder etc - I usually buy them on my first day in supermarket near airport so that I can save space in my luggage. Google the location of supermarkets prior to travel. My kids eat table food and I don't have to bring milk powder, but I know some of my friends do buy during travels instead of bringing along. In Scotland, there are plenty of huge supermarkets such as Morrisons and Tesco.
• Small backpacks are good for walks without carrying too much weight. Can try Aristine Little Closet

Tips to survive long flights with Kids

• Eye masks and ear plugs - to block light and noise on airplane as I am a light sleeper. Its a long flight anyway.
• For Kids with ear pressure issues - can consider getting from Earplanes from Amazon. It can relief pressure and works! Otherwise, traditional methods such as sucking sweet or giving water do help too. However, I find that giving water is tricky because some airline may not allow bringing drinks up on flight and they only give water after airplane has taken off. 
• Download some new cartoons on your ipad prior to travel. Recommend new ones so as to catch their interest. Some aircraft cartoons or Kids shows are not that many.
• For young kids you may consider a soft toy (for sleeping) or some interesting small toys.
• Let your kids wear a diaper on flight, even for kids who are toilet trained. This is because not all times you can get them to go to the toilet, during turbulence or when they fall asleep during flight. Even during long road trips, I let my kids wear them in case of urgency. 

5) Itinerary Planning tips

Useful Websites to use when planning:

a) Tripadvisor - for Hotels, restaurants, places of interest

b) Google maps - planning distance travelling in between places

c) Earth Trekkers Blog - useful for skye

d) Isle of Skye Booklet - compact to carry and super useful 

e) Youtube Videos - good to see how narrow or windy certain roads are. 

The postal codes in Scotland covers a wide area and its common to lost the way.

When planning using google maps, check the travel time and allow allowance for unexpected hiccups. Don't jam pack too many places in one day. You are here on a holiday and suppose to relax. With kids, we normally plan about 2-3 places a day, and total drive 1-3 hours a day. In Scotland, most places are quite near so driving take up less hours than as compared to New Zealand. But as SG city dwellers, we will still find the windy and narrow roads challenging.

I find it difficult to plan for Scotland because there are not many long itinerary plans to copy online or guides available. Blogs are more useful during my planning. 

I prefer to plan more details so that I don't have to waste time searching more places last minute. And I dislike going places which turn out to be not so interesting so I spend a lot of time reading reviews on tripadvisors and blogs, even youtubes videos. Its really up to individual. 

My Typical Itinerary Plan - super detailed

Our Itinerary Summary

1st Day (Hotel: Apex Edinburgh) 

• Gyle Shopping centre (to buy sim card and necessities)

• Edinburgh Castle

• Edinburgh old town

• Elephant House 

2nd Day (Hotel: Cameron House Loch Lomond)

• Bracklinn Falls (1hr 30mins drive)

• Loch Katrine Cruise by Sir Walter Scott 

• The Meadow at Callander

3rd Day (Hotel: Cameron House Loch Lomond)

• Luss Village

• The Lodge Forest Visitor Centre - Waterfall and Squirrel lookout

• Three Loch Forest Drive

4th Day (Hotel: Glengarry Castle Hotel)

• Inveraray Castle

• Glen Etive Drive and Loch Etive

• Glencoe Lochan

5th Day (Hotel: Glengarry Castle Hotel)

• NevisRange Mountain Gondola

• Jacobite Train to Mallaig

Accommodation in Skye:  Foxwood at Skye (4 nights) 

Skye is an island connected by bridge and boat to mainland. Scenery is beautiful and rugged. Walks include slopes, uneven terrain and unpredictable weather. My trekking stick is a saviour. Kids were better than me during these walks. 

Day 6 

• Eilean Donan Castle (just outside Skye)

Day 7

• Talisker Distillery Tour

• Neist Point Lighthouse

• Claigan Coral Beach

Day 8

• Bella Jane Boat trip to Loch Coruisk

• Fairy Pool

Day 9

• Fairy Glen

• Kilt Rock Waterfall viewpoint

• Portree Town (Shopping)

Day 10

• Dun Scaith Castle ruins 

• Kylerhea Otter Hide

Accommodation in Inverness: Highland Farm Cottage (Dingwall)

Accommodation in Fife: Balmeadownside Cottage (Fife)

Day 11

• Loch an Eilein (Aviemore) 

• Inverness City Sightseeing

Day 12

• Jacobite Freedom Boat cruise around Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle

• Shop at Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition

• Chanonry Point Beach - Trying to spot dolphins / seals

• Inverness City Shopping (around Bridge Street)

Day 13

• Highland Safari (Aberfeldy Perthshire) - Red deer experience and Gold Panning

• Explore Duck Pond in Balmeadownside farm

Day 14

• Briarlands Farm (Stirling) - PYO Strawberries, Go Karts, Feed animals, Archery

Day 15 - 20

London