[mak.prasada]

Lovely trip. A road trip in Scotland has always been on my bucket list.

[Potenza]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Thanks for sharing this wonderful trip.
Glad to see you enjoyed the famous Scottish hospitality.
Jeroen

Thanks for the kind words Jeroen. Yes we loved Scottish hospitality. So much so that we really cannot wait to go back. There's so much to see, Shetland, Orkney, the Eastern Coast etc. We will definitely go back.

Glad you stayed at Perle Oban. Its one of the best places there and recently renovated. We really liked it. Couldn't have asked for more.

Originally Posted by humbleroadster

Hi Potenza,

Nicely done!
There are travelogues, and then there travelogues with detailed descriptions and mind blowing pictures. Yours is definitely the latter.
I actually had to open up the computer to enjoy the pictures, as the phone just doesn’t do any justice.

Cheers,
AM

Thanks for the kind words AM. Glad you enjoyed the pictures. Phone screen really doesn't do justice to good pictures. Next time you're home we'll go through some more.

Originally Posted by sukhbirST

Thanks a lot for bringing out the lovely Scotland at its best. Added to my must visit list and your trip will be the guide. You managed to get good photographs even in cold weather and details were also very nice.

Thanks you! You must visit Scotland. Its an experience very different from mainland Europe. Yes we got lucky with the pictures I think. A mix of DSLR and iPhone pictures which turned out better than expected.

Originally Posted by mak.prasada

Lovely trip. A road trip in Scotland has always been on my bucket list.

Thank you! If you like experiencing gorgeous landscapes endlessly you should definitely take a road-trip to Scotland. There's a lot we didn't see, which we definitely will.

[turbospooler]

Very nice documentation and nice photography!

Originally Posted by Potenza

Attachment 2368002

The police vehicle in the above photo, isn't it eerily similar to our Nano?
Which vehicle is this?

[Potenza]

Originally Posted by turbospooler

The police vehicle in the above photo, isn't it eerily similar to our Nano?
Which vehicle is this?

Yes it does look similar to a Nano. That is a Mitsubishi i-MIEV Police Response Car. One of the few EVs in their Police fleet.

[Dieseltuned]

Hello sir,

Excellent travelogue and brilliant photographs.

I had a quick question on Edinburgh and Glasgow. Is it worth spending 5 days in these 2 cities and could you please share the places visited in these 2 places ?

Also, would it be possible to share a ball park cost incurred per person on this trip.

Regards
Diesel

[Potenza]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

I had a quick question on Edinburgh and Glasgow. Is it worth spending 5 days in these 2 cities and could you please share the places visited in these 2 places ?

Also, would it be possible to share a ball park cost incurred per person on this trip.

Regards
Diesel

Hi Dieseltuned, Sorry for the late reply and many thanks for your compliments.

Coming to your questions-

1. Is it worth spending 5 days in these two cities?

I would say definitely yes but as usual it depends on your entire trip plan. i.e. How long is your holiday etc. As I've mentioned in my post, there are loads of people who see Edinburgh in 2 nights and Glasgow in one night. So that is also possible because neither of these cities are as big as London/Paris. We stayed in Edinburgh for five nights because that was the last leg of our holiday and we like to chill and relax in the last leg. We follow this on all our holidays and it works out very well for us. However based on our experience I would suggest a change. We went to Glasgow only for a day trip. This was a mistake since I think one needs at least one night/two days in Glasgow to see everything properly. We couldnt see everything in just a day trip.

So to summarise I would suggest Edinburgh minimum 2 nights+ Glasgow minimum 1 night.

2. Places to see-

Edinburgh- The main attractions are Edinburgh Castle, The Palace of Holyrood House, The Royal Yacht Brittania, The National Museum of Scotland, The Royal Botanical Garden, Scottish National Gallery, St. Giles' Cathedral, Scott Monument etc. All these can be done in a hectic two day marathon. To do it at leisure keep three days for it.

Glasgow- Glasgow mural trail, Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow Cathedral, George Square etc.

All these can be done in two days easily. Too rushed in one day. Also note that Glasgow is a much better place than Edinburgh for shopping. Edinburgh doesn't really have a very big shopping scene.

3. Approx. costs that we incurred for the two of us in Rupees:-

Airfare- 1,10,000
Visa- I dont really remember but should be easy to find out.
Hotels- 10,000 per night so around 1,40,000 inclusive of breakfast
Car- 40,000 with full insurance for 9 days.
Fuel- 20,000
Food- 10,000 for both of us per day. So 1,40,000 for the whole trip. This is an average price in a good restaurant. By good I don't mean high end but a upper mid-range place. If one eats just fast food it will cost half of this.
Random sight seeing- 25,000 for entry fees.

Total cost Approx Rs. 4,75,000 for the two of us so Rs. 2.38 lakhs per head- excluding shopping.

However do note that these are for a rather leisurely (but not lavish) holiday. All our hotels were comfortable ones (upper mid-range hotels) with breakfast and all amenities. None of them were budget hotels. If on a budget, One can easily shave off 1 Lakh out of this (50,000 per head) by choosing cheaper hotels and eating at places like Wetherspoon which will cost a lot less.

Hope this helps you to travel. Do PM me if you need any more information. And if you want to plan a holiday do watch Rick Steves' videos on YouTube.

Thanks!

[Dieseltuned]

Originally Posted by Potenza

Hi Dieseltuned, Sorry for the late reply and many thanks for your compliments.

Coming to your questions-

Hello sir,

Thank you for a quick revert. I am planning a holiday sometime next year probably May June time frame. The idea is to either cover Scotland/Ireland OR England/Wales.

My family is more inclined towards spending a few days in London (call it the lure of the big city) so I might have to do an england/wales first.

Looking at the current increase in air fares, I am estimating atleast 2 Lakhs per person as an estimated cost for 15 days.

I am planning to cover London -> Cardiff -> Swansea -> Bristol -> Bath -> Penzance -> Isle of Wight.

Regards
Diesel

[A_Basu]

Originally Posted by Potenza

Do PM me if you need any more information.

Thanks!

Thank you for this informative thread

Would you be able to share any info on the public transport (rail, bus) in Scotland and Wales? If we don't hire a car like you did, and instead opt to take trains and buses, how difficult will that be?

[Potenza]

Originally Posted by A_Basu

Thank you for this informative thread
If we don't hire a car like you did, and instead opt to take trains and buses, how difficult will that be?

Thank you for your kind words.
I’m not sure about Wales but can definitely tell you about Scotland. Public transport is great in Scotland as long as you’re travelling between the bigger cities/towns. ScotRail has an extensive train network that is super convenient and comfortable. We travelled to Glasgow from Edinburgh and back by train and quite liked the experience.

However if you want to travel to the isles or explore the Highlands in detail you will need a car. The isles are remote and we didn’t see any form of public transport there. Isle of Skye for example is only accessible by road/ferry and hence you will need a car to travel on the isles. Taxis are available but those are super expensive. All the research that we did prior to travelling told us that it is best to have a rental car.

Alternatively, there are day tours from Glasgow/Edinburgh which take you to the Highlands by bus. Skye is accessible by such bus tours as well. They usually cover the most popular bits and they’re quite popular too. A few of my friends have taken those tours and their experience has been quite good.

But if you ask me, just hire a car. Its right hand drive anyways and hence it’s not that tough to drive there. And as has been our experience, once you have your own car you’ll see far more interesting places on your own by just exploring unknown paths. No public transport can get you that

[Potenza]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

Hello sir,
The idea is to either cover Scotland/Ireland OR England/Wales.

My family is more inclined towards spending a few days in London (call it the lure of the big city) so I might have to do an england/wales first.

Looking at the current increase in air fares, I am estimating atleast 2 Lakhs per person as an estimated cost for 15 days.

Regards
Diesel

Hi Diesel, yes England and Wales will be a great idea. I can understand the draw of a big city. Its a great experience and something that no place in Scotland can match. Do keep sufficient time for London. Ideally spend a week there. Dont rush it. There’s a lot to see.

I’ve never been to wales but I’ve heard it’s really pretty too. Try to see if you can visit the Cotswolds as well, from what I’ve seen on TV its a beautiful area. England’s Lake District in the north is also extremely beautiful and easily accessible. Do make that a part or your research as well. There’s a place called Grasmere where William Wordsworth lived. That and nearby Windermere are supposed to be incredibly pretty.

Your cost estimate seems okay at first glance although I think 2.5 lakhs per person is more realistic.

Also note that you can travel to Northern Ireland on the same UK visa as England and Scotland. But Ireland needs a seperate visa. So thats an additional cost as well.

[A_Basu]

Originally Posted by Potenza

But if you ask me, just hire a car. Its right hand drive anyways and hence it’s not that tough to drive there. And as has been our experience, once you have your own car you’ll see far more interesting places on your own by just exploring unknown paths. No public transport can get you that

I agree Sir, especially because both Orkney and the Isle of Skye are on my list. But the problem is the IDP. My RTO (UP-70) is not exactly known for making things easy. I'll try for the IDP anyway when the travel plans start firming up.

[Potenza]

Originally Posted by A_Basu

I agree Sir, especially because both Orkney and the Isle of Skye are on my list.

Well it’s great that you’re planning to go to Orkney and Skye. I wish we’d had the time to visit Orkney. We want to combine that with Shetland during our next visit to the Highlands. Shetland is also an incredibly pretty island. We first saw it on the Netflix series by the same name. The vistas are absolutely breathtaking and it’s accessible by air as well as ferry. Do check it out, you might want to go there as well.

The IDP thing is a bit vague. I drove all around Scotland without an IDP. I had checked the Visit Scotland website before going and it clearly said that you don’t need an IDP if you’re a tourist. Avis accepted that and I drove freely without any hassle. But do check the rules once again before you travel.