When asked what is the best and safest destination to travel to post-COVID, to keep families as safe as possible, Scotland immediately comes to mind. Unlike other destinations where you are drawn to the cities, like London, Paris, Rome – with Scotland you are drawn to the great outdoors – the mountains and the lochs of the Highlands. You can’t get much safer than that…..no crowds and easy social distancing!
So I’d like to talk to you about my favourite places in Scotland to visit and what to see and what to do there, and some of the best places to stay in.
No doubt you are going to fly into Edinburgh and so I think a day or two there is more than enough, either at the beginning or the end of your stay. It’s certainly worth visiting Edinburgh Castle and listening to the many pipers along the way, but again if you are concerned about mixing with crowds, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if you didn’t get to see the castle from the inside… there a hundreds of castles in Scotland and plenty of pipers along the way!
Growing up in Scotland, and even to this day, 3 main areas stand out for me as being very special – a. the Cairngorms – a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland, just north of Edinburgh (70-odd miles away); b. then over to the west just north of Glasgow we find Loch Lomond and the Trossachs (often referred to as the Gateway to the Highlands) and then: c. just north and to the west of this we find the Isle of Skye and the raw western Highlands.
Cairngorms
For those of you who are avid skiers, you will have heard of this area, and Aviemore more specifically. Apart from being a mountain range, the Cairngorms is also a National Park, and so, other than the walking, hiking, mountain biking or climbing its worth visiting Leault Sheepdog Farm to experience the traditional working day of a sheepdog or go along to watch the Reindeer Run, where you will find 150 reindeer running free since 1952 (not all of them were born then!). You can watch their run at different times of the day and get a chance to get up close and personal, summer and winter. Aviemore and Pitlochry are my must see towns in this area. Pitlochry is home to the Pitlochry dam and Salmon Fish Ladder. This is a unique experience, and one I loved as a young child, watching the salmon return to where they were borne in order to spawn their young. Around 5,000 salmon return to their spawning grounds each year – a journey of some 6,000 miles! The Ladder was built to help the salmon climb the dam wall – 34 pools/aquariums built alongside the dam to help the salmon navigate their way upstream. 3 resting pools give the weaker salmon the opportunity to catch their breath!
Within the Cairngorms National Park there are many castles, including Kildrummy, Corgarff, Balmoral, Braemar, Clair and Drummond Castle and even more distilleries for the scotch whisky lovers amongst you! It’s worth mentioning that on your way up from Edinburgh to Aviemore, Blair Castle is very popular.
In this area Gleneagles Hotel is my must stay property. The activities alone here make it a must stay at destination. The most popular Scottish activities here are Falconry, Shooting, Gun Dog Handling, Archery, Fishing, Golfing, Horse Riding, Off Road Driving for Adults and kids in the mini Land Rover,s and playing with the Ferrets. You wouldn’t need to leave this property for 4 to 5 days!
Loch Lomond & the Trossachs
The Trossachs (or ‘Scotland in Miniature’) is not too far north of Glasgow (about 40 minutes by car) and within a few miles you will find towering peaks, deep wooden glens, babbling streams and rivers which run into Loch Lomond. This is Rob Roy country for those who know their history or have seen the movie. In this area its worth taking some downtime to enjoy nature and experience the wildlife, from the land or from the Loch. Visit cute little Scottish towns and villages, waterfalls, viewpoints, or for older kids take a Segway Safari around the loch.
Cameron House is the best accommodation option in this area, newly refurbished and newly opened after the terrible fire of 2017.
The Isle of Skye
My last must see destination in Scotland is the Isle of Skye and the raw Western Highlands. This area is probably the Scotland of your imagination! For fans of Outlander, this is undoubtedly where you want to be.
If you have the time, then getting across to the Isle of Skye is well worth it, but Portree (the main town there) can get pretty busy with bus loads of tourists. So again if you are concerned about crowds then you can stick to the mainland and still get a sense of the beauty and history of the Highlands. On the west coast of Scotland you can experience some magnificent wildlife – puffins, seals, dolphins; a visit to the Loch Ness monster to see if he is in, and for Harry Potter fans you’ll want to ride on or see the Hogwarts Express crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct – very dramatic. Once again in this area there are many castles and distilleries to visit. Eilean Donan castle being the most iconic, most recognisable and most photographed castle in Scotland. If you’ve seen Braveheart, Rob Roy, Outlander or any James Bond movies set in Scotland, you will have seen this castle.
Inverlochy Castle or Isle of Eriska hotels would be my must stays in this area.
I think it goes without say that planning for trips post-COVID are going to be different. We would suggest planning as soon as possible because once states and borders open again there will be a mad rush. I think we are all keen to get traveling again…and with hotels not operating at full capacity, in order to keep us safe, there will be limited availability.
If you are concerned about planning a trip now, with the uncertainty of the future, please be rest assured that we are making everything as flexible as possible. So if your trip can’t take place as planned, that we can cancel this very easily, or postpone/ move it to a more suitable time, further down the track.
Our value as travel planners is that we have your back! We have a huge pool of resources to pull from. We know how best to navigate you from A to B with minimal or no stress and if you are planning a trip to Scotland sometime soon – hell, some of us even speak the language!
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If you don’t have time to plan your next vacation, and need help finding family friendly hotels, tours and activities or just want an hour or two consulting then we are here to help. We can brainstorm destination ideas with you, work with you to design a custom itinerary or simply book a resort, villa or hotel stay for your family. Follow this link and we’ll set up a time to call you and let you know how we might help or advise you on what to do next.
