drive scotland in 8 days

[1952aussie]

gday. originally posted going to do ireland & scotland by car but deceided to drop ireland and spend more time in scotland ,
any thoughts or suggestion on where to go (2 adults 3 kids aged 17-19-23) we would like to see a few castles and such but not spend entire trip with them .
we like meeting people not necessarily in citys ,we like country style living and humour ;good friendly pubs ,also see how the real people live outside city life (these people semm to have a different way of life to city people)as you can proberly tell we are country people ourselves, any thoughts would be great
we are going to scotland around 17th april until around 25th april any good festivals or such on? many thanks

[crystal]

How about visiting the Shetlands and working your way down. Of course there will be an addition cost issue to think about for ferries especially if you want to take a car over (although it may not be nessecary transport on the islands are good). My uncle lives there and he claims it is the friendliest place on Earth with a great country style attitude and cracking pubs!!! I can't quite remember but one of our regular boarders was there last year - could have been David? He would give you more info if you wanted.

Or you could follow one of the whisky trails. You don't have to be interested in the breweries but the will give you a handy itinerary to follow in the Highland and around the castles.
try www.castlesandwhisky.com for more info on those trails
Other places of interest might be
Stirling castle
Island of Arran
Edinburgh (of course)
St Andrews
Isle of Skye

You will find the scots very welcoming and friendly people and after 8 days you will want to go back to see everything you have missed.

[herrbert]

Also check out www.visitscotland.com

It has a lot of information on Scotland.

[Jules80]

that would be me crystal! i spent 6 days in shetland last year! it is a truly wonderful place tho next time i would take a car! although the bus system is quite good (particularly considering the small population) it is infrequent. and a car for 5 ppl is probably cheaper. that being said, the expense of getting to shetland only really makes it worth it for a min of 5 days. the ferry gets you there early in the mornign i believe and leaves aberdeen about 7 or 8 pm the day before. otherwise i would suggest stirling (2d), edinburgh (2 d), St-andrews (1), loch lomond (1)... and i'd love to go see loch ness one day and the isle of skye.

[crystal]

Oh course it was you Jules - how could i forget