Yudster wrote:I am hoping to go to Scotland this year, I don't really know where to head for though. Loch Lomond always looks so lovely, but the islands also seem amazing, and my parents went to the Kintyre peninsula years ago and had the best holiday of their lives. Can one of you people with local knowledge give me advice?
Hope this helps
http://www.loch-lomond.co.uk/That place was lovely, Yuds. Not the most exciting of towns (Luss) but just darling and an absolutely gorgeous location. It is right on Loch Lomond. Our room (a Corbetts) had a stunning view and had a sauna in it. At night it was wicked as the moon reflected off the loch and into our room. So pretty! Good food, too.
Others? If you want to go to the Road to the Isles (either drive or take the round trip Jacobite Steam train
http://www.steamtrain.info/ from Fort William to Mallaig. It's gorgeous and well worth it. Then you could take the ferry to Skye, which is stunning.) On the Road to the Isles you can stay at either of these places, which were marvelous:
http://www.glenfinnanhouse.com/This place is right on Loch Shiel. It is gorgeous and if you get a view of the loch you'll most likely also have one of the Glenfinnan Monument. It is right near the Glenfinnan viaduct and has superb hiking all around. Plus, the young man that checked me in was wearing a kilt and managed to carry all of our enormous luggage up the huge staircase whilst simultaneously telling us about the hotel in the sexiest accent. I nearly died. I swear my jaw was still on the ground floor when he was showing me the room. It was such a show of He-Man strength that my son even said something to him. Crazy! Anyhow, the food here is excellent and a lot of the locals come to the bar at night to hang out. It’s very cozy and has this old world estate feel to it.
http://www.glenfinnan.co.uk/This place is located a stone's throw from the above hotel and is right on the Road to the Isles. It is lovely and has a superb menu. The chef is incredible and the people that run the place are so nice. Plus, I liked how the sign was in Gaelic. We had the Stuart Room. It was very nice. Again, it is tough to beat the hiking in this area.
Lastly, I had really liked this place
http://www.kildrummycastlehotel.co.uk/ as the view we had (years ago) was of Kildrummy Castle ruins out our window. It was in a stunning location with lots of lovely walks and probably the best Cullen Skink soup I'd ever had.
I also found that the area of Oban was gorgeous. It was right on Loch Etive. I'm not sure about hotels in that area though.
Also, as for Islands, Lewis is superb and that's a fairly easy ferry ride from Ullapool.
And, as if this wasn't enough information, I do know that these two hotels were recently awarded the most luxurious in Scotland, but they are pretty flipping expensive:
http://www.fivestaralliance.com/luxury_ ... chy_castleand
http://www.fivestaralliance.com/luxury_ ... idon_hotelCheck any questions you may have with these great resources:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/index.html and
http://www.visitscotland.com/and
http://www.tripadvisor.com/and
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I posted only one on Tuesday. Besides, this may make for a good holiday discussion.
It was a long reply as well.