RT113 Loc: Tennessee

My family will be making our first visit to Scotland this year (probably early Fall). Three of us are avid photographers, mostly landscapes, birds, and other wildlife. We will also want to visit some of the historical sites. What are the "must visit" sites you recommend? Isle of Skye is on our list. What is the minimum amount of time we need to plan for there?

lrm Loc: Sarasota, FL

My favorites -- Best city is Edinburgh, Most photgenic are Glen Coe, and Isle of Skye.. More remote are the islands of Orkney and Shetland. go in spring or fall. Summer will bring Midges.

jeffhendy Loc: El Dorado Hills, CA

Remember that the Scots have a saying "There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes"
Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Orkneys are places that I have visited and recommend. But check the weather forecast!

R.G. Loc: Scotland

For history, Edinburgh, but you'll find bits and pieces of history literally all over the place.

For landscapes, the west coast heading north starting at Loch Lomond and all the way up the west coast plus along the north coast as far as Tongue. Two areas of special interest are Glencoe and Assynt.

The Inner and Outer Hebrides are popular but I would recommend leaving them for a return visit (except Skye which now has a bridge connection to the mainland). The mainland has more than enough to keep you busy.

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

All these are favorite spots. Been to Orkney four times and looking forward to the next trip. We rented a house on Skye a few years ago. Found that about five or six days to explore felt about right. The drive along the coast, North and South as far as you can go is great. Long ago one side of my family came from Scotland and I saw my name on many signs. That was kind of fun.

mffox Loc: Avon, CT

Don't miss Edinborough!!

Old Coot

Isle of Islay. Famous for the best Scotch Whiskey ever.

mr spock Loc: Fairfield CT

If you’re a golfer St Andrews is a must. Also be sure to visit a distillery or two.

Otterbug

May is the least crowed month. Gorse is blooming everywhere and it is the driest month. Skye needs at least 4 days. Glencoe is a good day, along with whatever castles you want to see along Loch Lomond and Loch Ness (Eilean Donan) is great. Urquart is in ruins. Sterling is wonderful. Not only the castle, but monuments to William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. Obama is nice. To be honest, I don’t remember anything that I didn’t like.

Otterbug

Not Obama, Oban. You gotta watch this AI bs constantly.

Gourockian Loc: New Port Richey, Florida

You'll spend days just trying find Edinborough.

However, Edinburgh should be no problem (and it's pronounced Eddinburrah).

Gourockian Loc: New Port Richey, Florida

Yes, it's Stirling, not Sterling - that's the local currency as in pounds sterling.

Otterbug

Aye!

CKAlbion Loc: Mendocino, CA

We've been to Scotland many times, and it's always a wonderful trip. Three weeks will barely be enough. If you want to photograph historical sites, go to https://www.historicenvironment.scot/ and start taking notes. If you want birds in the fall, https://www.the-soc.org.uk/get-involved/where-to-birdwatch . We also popped into RSPB offices. The Fat Birder's website usually has good information, too: https://fatbirder.com/world-birding/europe/united-kingdom/scotland/

The scenery in Scotland is amazing. We toured the Great Glen last time, and it was gorgeous. As for cities, Glasgow has a charming older area as well as one of the coolest old cemeteries around, the necropolis. Edinburgh's Royal Mile is worth the stroll. Do head over to check out the very weird parliament building Holyrood, which looks completely out of place.

Driving is a little scary for Americans and others who drive on the right; however, the Scots are usually very good drivers. Many of the roads are very narrow, so keep an eye open for small pullouts.

And do ask questions. Scots love to help. As a people, they're the friendliest, happiest people we've ever met. Stand in front of a window display and someone will stop to see what's interesting, start up a conversation, and invite you over to visit. Open a map and the whole town tries to help you find where you need to go.

Now I want to go back to Scotland.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

The minimum trip to do a good job of covering Scotland would be 3 weeks. A longer time would be better. This would allow enough time for some historical sites along with the wildlife and landscapes. And how good are you at driving on the "wrong" side of the road? On the Isle of Skye, when the roads are narrow, do you know how to let a tour bus get by? And there are other narrow places other than Skye.

To give you an idea of what is possible, look at the 14 day Scotland tour at Globus or other tour agencies. My wife (retired travel agency owner) and I did the Globus tour and many of the sights before visiting my wife's ancestral castle. It was a very good tour and offered more than my three week 1975 climbing trip of Glencoe, Fort Williams with Ben Nevis, and Isle of Skye with the Coolins. Needless to say many of the dirt roads of 1975 in Skye are now paved and still narrow. And small villages are now small towns. But Scotland is still Scotland with all of it's castles and rich heritage. It is rich with photographs for the taking.