Planning a Trip to Scotland, need some help
Ok, well here is the catch I have to stay at a hilton hotel (I have points so its free) Which one of these is better?? I can split them up as well. Basically I want to see some castles, I want to do the distillery tours and sample any places such as castle forbes for shaving products. I dont know my geography well, so I am not sure how spread out things are. Also any particular time of year to come and things I need to book far ahead of time?? Im thinking sometime between the next 8 - 14 months.
Here is the list:
Scotland
Aberdeen
Hilton Aberdeen Treetops
Aviemore
Hilton Coylumbridge
Ballater
Hilton Craigendarroch
Bellshill
Hilton Strathclyde, Nr Glasgow
Dundee
Hilton Dundee
Dunkeld
Hilton Dunkeld House Hotel & Country Club
Edinburgh
Caledonian Hilton Edinburgh hotel
Hilton Edinburgh Airport
Hilton Edinburgh Grosvenor
Glasgow
Hilton Glasgow Grosvenor
Hilton Glasgow hotel
Anyway any tips, pointers, or places to go would be great thanks!!!
RE: Planning a Trip to Scotland, need some help
Edinburgh's certainly worth a visit - the castle's well worth a look, there's good night life and plenty of shopping opportunities. Eilean Donan castle, near Kyle of Lochalsh, is probably the most picturesque in Scotland (see http://www.eileandonancastle.com/) and is about 2 hours drive from Aviemore. Kyle is also at the Skye bridge so I suppose you could take a trip over to the Talisker distillery. Aviemore's not too far from the Dalwhinnie distillery either but it's more of a ski resort than anything (if there's any snow) and I suspect Dunkeld might be a better base for distillery visits.
Glasgow's very lively with good museums and architecture and isn't quite as touristy as Edinburgh - I would probably go for the Grosvenor hotel as it's right in the West End and where I tend to gravitate to when visiting. I wouldn't voluntarily go to Bellshill for a holiday, or Dundee for that matter, although I'm sure I've offended somebody with that.
As for season, I prefer Spring or Autumn as they're a bit less busy although they could be a bit cold and wet for some folk. They also have the advantage of fewer midgies which can be an issue in the West Highlands particularly.
If you're not absolutely set on Hiltons, then Orkney's a great place with plenty of historical stuff to see, 2 distilleries and a good atmosphere.
You might want to have a look here to get a good idea of distillery distribution - http://www.whisky-distilleries.info/...eMaxi_EN.shtml in case there were any whiskies you were particularly interested in (NB, don't call it Scotch when in Scotland - you'll put people's teeth on edge).
If there's anything else you wanted to ask about, let me know!
RE: Planning a Trip to Scotland, need some help
Apart from the 2 I mentioned, Stirling castle's impressive and, if you're a fan of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you may recognise various parts of Doune Castle. Culzean Castle (pronounced Cullane) is more of a stately home if you prefer that sort of thing. There are loads more but I'm no expert so someone else may be able to recommend their favourite.
As to Castle Forbes, I've never seen any of their stuff for sale so I suspect you'd have to get it from the net or go there directly - it's in Aberdeenshire, somewhere I've never really been, except in transit so I don't know if there's much else to see there.
