A few days to fill

Scotland 35

Image by LesHamilton

FourWinds Nov 5, 2008 20:01:38

I have a few (three or four maybe) days off coming up and I'm thinking of flying to Scotland, hiring a car and seeing some stuff.

Now ... should I go to Kilmartin or 'do' a load of stone circles in Aberdeenshire? Both are equally as appealing and I have thermals.

I could do a bit of both.

Any recommendations for warm places to stay welcome, too.

tiompan Nov 5, 2008 20:52:37

Replying to FourWinds

FourWinds wrote:

I have a few (three or four maybe) days off coming up and I'm thinking of flying to Scotland, hiring a car and seeing some stuff.

Now ... should I go to Kilmartin or 'do' a load of stone circles in Aberdeenshire? Both are equally as appealing and I have thermals.

I could do a bit of both.

Any recommendations for warm places to stay welcome, too.

If you Edinburgh it's a bit of a drive across to Kilmartin , Glasgow -Kilmartin is bad enough .If you did start at Kilmartin two choices are going north to Inverness ( scenic but not too much archaeology after Oban ) Clava then east to Aberdeenshire then back to E or G through Angus . Alternatively Kilmartin to Perthshire -Angus -Aberdeenshire would cover more sites . That's starting at Kilmartin .Lots missed out but two possibles . Depends on type of monument or anything specific you want to see too .

Moth Nov 6, 2008 00:33:58

Replying to FourWinds

Depends how well you wanna 'do' Aberdeenshire! :^)

Knowing you zip around, I'd say you could probably do the good 'uns in a cuppla days, but some of the more obscure/walky ones might add another day or 2.

(Did you get an email from me t'other day, btw?)

love

Moth

goffik Nov 7, 2008 13:26:21

Replying to FourWinds

Hi FW

I can't speak for Aberdeenshire (which I will get around to visiting one day soon, hopefully!) but Kilmartin is fantastic... There's just so much to see in a fairly small area! The rockart is spectacular, as are the numerous standing stones, stone circles, chambered tombs...

If you can get there - as I'm sure you know - you'll not regret it. :)

There's tons of stuff that we've been privileged enough to be shown around Perthshire as well, but that'd probably take longer than just a few days!

G x

sleeptowin Nov 7, 2008 22:33:12

Replying to FourWinds

http://www.greenbraefarm.co.uk/

this place is nice to stay at, freindly owners, nice food etc, its also secluded and away from any other houses. so no distractions and great views.
and its kinda in the center of where all the stone circles are.
its in Mintlaw, nearish to peterhead/ Fraserburgh. and about 40 mins to Aberdeen.

ive stayed there before, but that was before i knew about all the stones there. i visited all the ruined castles. which there are loads.

Hob Nov 8, 2008 00:36:19

Replying to FourWinds

If you wanted to go totally overboard, how about doing a couple of days at the RSCs first, then down to Kilmartin via the Stirling area, allowing a quick break at the Castleton RA. Spend a couple of nights in Kilmartin, then (assuming timetables allow at this time of year) to avoid the roadly faffing of getting from Kilmartin to Glasgow, nip down to Claonaig and ferry to Arran swinging past Machrie and the lovely Stronach carvings, thence ferry to Adrossan, zooming into Glasgow in time to fly home?

I've been on that Kilmartin - Arran - Glasgow route in both directions (though I wasn't driving) and it was surprisingly quick. But I dunno how frequent the ferrys are when it's not summer.

You must fit Kilmartin in. It lives up to the hype.

FourWinds Nov 8, 2008 20:33:04

Replying to FourWinds

Which Explorer maps will I need for covering Aberdeenshire and the best circles?

I'd settle for Landrangers because I'll mainly be driving, but I do love pouring over a 25,000 scale map!

I have the Kilmartin ones on order.

FourWinds Nov 16, 2008 08:18:57

Replying to FourWinds

I've now got my hols planned. I'm off to Kilmartin for four days and then of to Arran.

I have Stan B's Kilmartin book and a couple of other guides. I will head down onto Kintyre as well one of the days to look back at Antrim. I saw the Mull of Kintyre so many times while researching the Antrim book - I have to take in the view other way.

At least when I head for Aberdeen in the Spring I'll have the OS maps already :-)

Thanks for all the info and help. Any must-see recommendations still appreciated.

Tom

FourWinds Nov 26, 2008 10:53:31

Replying to FourWinds

WOO! I'm back!

What a fantastic place. I didn't see everything by a long chalk (walking to Ormaig and drooling over it [perhaps that's what the black stuff is] accounted for half a day), but I saw a lot. Plenty to go back for, anyway :-)

I whizzed over to Arran on the last day and managed to see Machrie Moor, the rock art on the ridge and another circle. Ferry times and having to drive from Kilmartin to Ardrossan to get on the ferry took a big chunk out of the time available.

After seeing the weather in the northeast 'm very glad that I didn't go for Aberdeen!

Once again thanks to all for the help & tips.