West coast of Scotland.



Never been. My missus has suggested we should do a coach trip. Seing as we are in our sixties and our grand kids are away soon I woukd like to look into it.
Can anyone suggest a coach company who will pick up in Teesside or Durham fir such one trip ?
Take midge spray.
 
I've always drove but I did jump on the train at Rannoch to take me to Mallaig
It comes from Glasgow
You could find a hotel in Fort William on that line ? Then do the Mallaig trip,cable car , steal falls around there or grab an excursion from FW

September?
 
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Get " smidge " repellant its the best of the bunch.

I live in the SW corner, its excellent, It has a bit of everything. If you want mountain scenery go to the Newton Stewart area into the Galloway forest park, the UK's 1st dark sky area. Gatehouse of Fleet has mountains and amazing coastline. The machars peninsula is unspoilt as is pretty much all of Galloway up into Ayrshire.
Its not busy, you can have one if the hundreds of beaches to yourself.
It has its own driving route, the SW 300, excellent food etc etc.... i could go on.


I regularly visit the west coast highlands, The Gairloch / Poolewe area of Wester Ross. Sure its stunning scenery, the mountains only stop as the hit the sea, very beautiful. Thing is, its feking miles away, a pain in the arse drive up the A9, overrun with camper vans and the single track roads just simply cant handle the volume of traffic heading there. The roads can only follow the glens so everywhere is a long drive.

Dumfries and Galloway is a real gem, instead of heading northwest like 90% of visitors, turn left and come here, its a lot fekin better tbh and 3 1/2hrs from Sunderland.
 
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Motorhome or campervan, youd love it better
Not a good idea unless you do a lot of advance planning because they ban them from a lot of the car parks
Never been. My missus has suggested we should do a coach trip. Seing as we are in our sixties and our grand kids are away soon I woukd like to look into it.
Can anyone suggest a coach company who will pick up in Teesside or Durham fir such one trip ?
Try Shearings. They seem to pick up in Billingham

Joining Points - Shearings
Fort William – Cruises of the Highlands
 
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Tried Caledonian and National, nothing for the west coast. I’d like to see Glencoe. I could drive but would t see much. Always wanted to see the Isle of Skye.
Woukd I be better off getting train to Edinburgh then taking a coach ?
I need to get this sorted quickly for about two weeks time otherwise it will be the Lakes again.

Currently in a cottage on the Isle of Skye, can wholeheartedly recommend it 👍🏻👍🏻
Scenery superb, you would not regret it.
Only downfall, it is one heck of a trip😩
Portree Highland Games tomorrow - should be interesting, tickets bought 😊😊
 
Get the train all the way over there but probably have to change a couple of times. At Edinburgh onto Glasgow then presumably another train to Oban or wherever.
Glasgow to Oban and Mallaig for ferries to some of the islands Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh for isle of Skye all doable by bus straight through or train to the ferry ports.
Tried Caledonian and National, nothing for the west coast. I’d like to see Glencoe. I could drive but would t see much. Always wanted to see the Isle of Skye.
Woukd I be better off getting train to Edinburgh then taking a coach ?
I need to get this sorted quickly for about two weeks time otherwise it will be the Lakes again.
www.visitscotland.co.uk
Tried Caledonian and National, nothing for the west coast. I’d like to see Glencoe. I could drive but would t see much. Always wanted to see the Isle of Skye.
Woukd I be better off getting train to Edinburgh then taking a coach ?
I need to get this sorted quickly for about two weeks time otherwise it will be the Lakes again.
www. visitscotland.com
 
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Get " smidge " repellant its the best of the bunch.

I live in the SW corner, its excellent, It has a bit of everything. If you want mountain scenery go to the Newton Stewart area into the Galloway forest park, the UK's 1st dark sky area. Gatehouse of Fleet has mountains and amazing coastline. The machars peninsula is unspoilt as is pretty much all of Galloway up into Ayrshire.
Its not busy, you can have one if the hundreds of beaches to yourself.
It has its own driving route, the SW 300, excellent food etc etc.... i could go on.


I regularly visit the west coast highlands, The Gairloch / Poolewe area of Wester Ross. Sure its stunning scenery, the mountains only stop as the hit the sea, very beautiful. Thing is, its feking miles away, a pain in the arse drive up the A9, overrun with camper vans and the single track roads just simply cant handle the volume of traffic heading there. The roads can only follow the glens so everywhere is a long drive.

Dumfries and Galloway is a real gem, instead of heading northwest like 90% of visitors, turn left and come here, its a lot fekin better tbh and 3 1/2hrs from Sunderland.
I’m in Gairloch at the minute, arrived late yesterday. Any recommendations for walks in the area?

One difference I’ve noticed is in the lakes there is a well trodden path to the top of each hill, they seem less accessible here, or do people pick their own routes?

We have sea kayaking booked this morning and got a strong westerly wind and rain. Should be interesting!
 
We're heading up in 10 days time. A week in applecross, then a week on an island, in a cottage with no electricity, and only about 10 dwellings on the island.

To the OP, Highland Heritage has a big hotel on the on the road from Tyndrum to Oban. I guess they'd use that as a base to visit Oban, Glencoe, Invereray and Loch Lomond.

Thoroughly recommend going if you get the chance.
I’m in Gairloch at the minute, arrived late yesterday. Any recommendations for walks in the area?

One difference I’ve noticed is in the lakes there is a well trodden path to the top of each hill, they seem less accessible here, or do people pick their own routes?

We have sea kayaking booked this morning and got a strong westerly wind and rain. Should be interesting!
In Scotland, you can basically walk where you like, whereas in England you're following rights of way.

If it's a popular walk, found in a guide book, you will have a very narrow track to follow. But if you're just choosing a point to get to, you can get there by any route you want. And if it's off the beaten track, choosing the wrong route, can make the walk difficult.
 
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Most of my family lives on Skye and if you want the advice of a regular visitor its this:
  • book every hotel or campsite months in advance
  • avoid June-August as the midges with bite your face off. Most repellents are rubbish.
  • if you're driving prepare for road surfaces from the 1850's
  • if you're venturing across to the outer hebrides book your crossings in advance and don't rely on the ferry not breaking down
  • for the remoter places don't rely on anything being open on a Sunday
  • on Skye particularly every tourist destination will be packed in Summer and car parks full to overflowing. You may even get turned away from places like the Fairy Pools.
  • The food in a pub or restaurant will be twice the price you pay in the NE and will be twice as bad.
  • There's plenty of places where you can escape the hoi poloi but you'll have to walk to get to them.
  • The further north you get from Fort William the quieter it will be.
I know some of this won't be applicable to the OP on a bus tour, but it might help someone
Dumfries and Galloway is a real gem, instead of heading northwest like 90% of visitors, turn left and come here, its a lot fekin better tbh and 3 1/2hrs from Sunderland.

Also this.
 
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I was very luck to spend some great family holidays up there, between Arisaig and Mallaig. Lovely part of the world
Dumfries and Galloway is a real gem, instead of heading northwest like 90% of visitors, turn left and come here, its a lot fekin better tbh and 3 1/2hrs from Sunderland.
also 100% this. Used to stay near newton stewart a fair bit and loved it
 
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Arran gets some whopping great clegs, it's like chinook buzzing around you

I go to Oban every year for some end of season trout and salmon, and a bit if sea fishing, always September as the midges have mostly gone

You get amazing sunsets over Mull and I just love eating all the seafood available
 

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