Scotland trip starting next week - some questions

[Dr_Grip]

I have booked a flight to Glasgow on September, 10th to reward myself with a sponteneous holiday after my exams.

Armed with wikipedia and the Lonely Planet Scotland, this is what i have planned so far:
-Visit Glasgow from 11th to 13th
-Watch the Italian Grand Prix in some pub on sunday the 13th, enjoying a weekend off from the nuisance that is german commentator Heiko Waßer ("A german driver in a german car - that's every german F1 fan's dream)
-travel on to Loch Lomond then, continue to Oban and the Isle of Mull
-spend the last weekend of my Trip in Edinburgh, take a ride on the Bo'Ness Heritage railway on Sunday (one way steam-powered, one way diesel), then continue to Glasgow, where my flight will leave on Monday morning.

As you see, there's a whole week of not-exactely-spelled-out plans in the Loch Lomond/Oban/Mull-area, where i am open to suggestions.

Do you think there might be a way to get up to Rua Reidh Lighthouse without taking a taxi for 13 miles? That would be quite a romantic one-night stay...

I am not planning on renting a car as a) public transport is much cheaper and b) my girlfriend is uncomfortable with driving on the wrong side, so i'd have to do all the driving by myself.

Oh, and can anyone recommand a prepaid mobile phone provider? Given the spontaneous nature of this trip, i think having a mobile will make lots of things like hostel reservations more comfortable.

And of course, any forum user who'd like to join me for a beer when i am in the neighbourhood is welcome to do so.

[Cobol74]

One point - cell phones are American - you will get a blank stare if you ask for one! Mobile phone is what you ask for. Get a pay as you go from Tesco probably the cheapest - unless someone knows better?

Oh just found this : http://www.prepaymania.co.uk/category/Virgin.html

or you could try this: http://www.prepaymania.co.uk/mobilep...as-you-go.html

[Dr_Grip]

Originally Posted by Cobol74

One point - cell phones are American

Damn Hollywood for screwing up my vocabulary!

Thanks for the cellphone rate infos, too! If Virgin mobile offers a decent rate i will go with them just because i really like Richard Branson. Tesco has to have a really good deal to beat them

[Cowboy]

I would reconsider that no car renting thought though

from loch lomond it's not far to the pass off the Glen Coe......and that is something you just have to see once in your life, its actualy on pretty much the only road from loch lomond to fort William (A82), if your going to mull anyway its realy worth the detour.

[salguod]

Best way to appreciate the whole journey would be to rent a car, it means that you are able to go at your own pace and are not constantly relying on public transport in order to make connections.

Going by bus from Glasgow to Oban should be fine, then the CalMac ferry to Craignure on Mull is also fine, but once on Mull, from what I can remember, public transport is pretty much non existant, it's very sparce because people rely on their cars as all the houses are generally spread out across the whole island, though not as much as in the Outer Hebrides.

The Lighthouse is also alot further North than Oban and Mull and it would take a good few hours of travelling to get there from either, in fact is is further up than Fort William and even Skye so it is a fair trek up. So if you decided to go up there, possibly just taking a day trip to Mull would be sufficient depending on what you want to do there, the CalMac ferry is 40 minutes each way, or you could come off via Fishnish, smaller ferry, shorter journey, but it would cut off a reasonable chunk going north, but the roads would be smaller, and I can't remember if they were single track with passing places or not.

Even if you just decide to go as far up as Mull, you would be able to see some of the most beautiful scenery this country has to offer, also, the route up to there is quite touristy anyway, so the chances of being able to take public transport is much more likely, also you won't have to spend too much time wondering where you are if you get lost.

That should cover the main points, hope this helps

Edit: Forgot that you could always take the train from Glasgow up to Oban, can't remember where the stops are so if you wanted to stop off Loch Lomond somewhere it should be ok.

[captain_70s]

LOL!

Going to Glasgow... for enjoyment!!!

[/Frankie Boyle]

Seriously, last time I went there I got food poisoning, although thats probably more McDonalds fault. Edinburgh is cool though, and the countryside is very nice. I haven't been to Oban for ages though, to the point I can't remember any of it...

[teeb]

Originally Posted by Dr_Grip

Armed with wikipedia and the Lonely Planet Scotland, this is what i have planned so far:
-Visit Glasgow from 11th to 13th
-travel on to Loch Lomond then, continue to Oban and the Isle of Mull
-spend the last weekend of my Trip in Edinburgh, take a ride on the Bo'Ness Heritage railway on Sunday (one way steam-powered, one way diesel), then continue to Glasgow, where my flight will leave on Monday morning.

As you see, there's a whole week of not-exactely-spelled-out plans in the Loch Lomond/Oban/Mull-area, where i am open to suggestions.

Isle of Mull bus timetables, for starters. I'd listen to your Lonely Planet guide somewhat, it probably has some decent suggestions.

As for Loch Lomond, it'd be weather-dependent. There are boat trips around the Loch, as well as some decent hikes (Ben Lomond, for example).

Oh, and can anyone recommand a prepaid mobile phone provider? Given the spontaneous nature of this trip, i think having a mobile will make lots of things like hostel reservations more comfortable.

Do you currently have a mobile of some kind? If you do, and it's unlocked, I've an unused free Vodafone SIM card lying around you're welcome to.

Edit: Forgot that you could always take the train from Glasgow up to Oban, can't remember where the stops are so if you wanted to stop off Loch Lomond somewhere it should be ok.

There are direct hourly services to Balloch, at the south end of Loch Lomond. For further north there are stops at Tarbet and Ardlui on the Oban/Fort William line.

[Dr_Grip]

Thanks for the suggestions, so far, i am looking into the car rental thingy again now... so far the cheapest compact car i found comes from Avis for 230 Euros/7 days (Saturday to sunday). Are there any britain-only rentals i should check out?

[teeb]

Originally Posted by Dr_Grip

Thanks for the suggestions, so far, i am looking into the car rental thingy again now... so far the cheapest compact car i found comes from Avis for 230 Euros/7 days (Saturday to sunday). Are there any britain-only rentals i should check out?

I was searching Sunday to Sunday, mainly as I suggest not getting a car for when you're in Glasgow (ample buses, trains and underground), and a week is cheaper than 8 days.

AutoEurope will hire you a car for £116 for the week, a chunk lower than your 230 euros quote. I used www.kayak.co.uk to search a number of hirers at once.

[Dr_Grip]

Originally Posted by teeb

I was searching Sunday to Sunday, mainly as I suggest not getting a car for when you're in Glasgow (ample buses, trains and underground), and a week is cheaper than 8 days.

AutoEurope will hire you a car for £116 for the week, a chunk lower than your 230 euros quote. I used www.kayak.co.uk to search a number of hirers at once.

That's what i was looking for - a metacrawler for UK rentals, thx! I mostly looked for a rental starting saturday as at least Avis' Glasgow office is closed on sundays...

[Soup?]

Originally Posted by Dr_Grip

As you see, there's a whole week of not-exactely-spelled-out plans in the Loch Lomond/Oban/Mull-area, where i am open to suggestions.

There's a CalMac island-hopper ferry that goes from Oban to Islay, where they make the best Whiskey in all the worlds.

[waydee]

Have fun, I can't really offer you much info since I live in the East but I've always liked Oban and some of the scenery around that part of Scotland is very nice.

Definitely hire a car for that part of the trip, it's the only way to do it justice.

[Greatgraddage]

I too would reconsider the not hiring car thing, public transprt in the uk is fairly poor (excluding london), in scotland it's probably worse. Having a car will make everything easier and shouldn't cost the earth.

Originally Posted by Dr_Grip

-Watch the Italian Grand Prix in some pub on sunday the 13th, enjoying a weekend off from the nuisance that is german commentator Heiko Waßer ("A german driver in a german car - that's every german F1 fan's dream)

May have a job to find a pub playing the f1 too, most will show the football.

[Soup?]

Originally Posted by Greatgraddage

public transprt in the uk is fairly poor (excluding london), in scotland it's probably worse.

Thanks muchly.

My experience is that in cities and between cities, public transport is fine. But getting anywhere even a little bit off the beaten track and you're far better hiring a car.

Having a car will make everything easier and shouldn't cost the earth.

This I agree with.

[Dr_Grip]

Originally Posted by Greatgraddage

May have a job to find a pub playing the f1 too, most will show the football.

Glasgow is the biggest city in scotland, it is not impossible

[Greatgraddage]

Originally Posted by Soup?

Thanks muchly.

My experience is that in cities and between cities, public transport is fine. But getting anywhere even a little bit off the beaten track and you're far better hiring a car.

Not an anti scottish thing, just a fact that scotland is sparsely populated over a fairly large area. It's bad enough in wales and we're not that big! Within cities should be ok but I wouldn't like to rely on it cross country.

[Cowboy]

1 more thing, If your looking for a b&b in the loch lomond area, call Hillary http://www.the-old-school-house.co.uk/home.htm , its in Gartocharn , witch is about 5 miles from Balloch centre , along the southcoast of the loch.
Its a nice and beautiful little B&B with reasonable rates, and convienient for your situation the Balloch/Stirling busline has a stop 50 meters from their doorstep so you can go everywhere from there


If you do tell her hello from the Big Belgian with the american accent and the huge car who was in last summer

[stiggles]

There's a YHA on the western side of Loch Lomond about a mile or so from Balloch, which is in a very pleasant old castle...

[homer-jay_simpson]

As you are already thinking about renting a car ... don't worry about the driving on the wrong side of the road ...

I spent two weeks in England last month and it was really easy ... once I figured out how to use a multi lane roundabout correctly everything else was easy

And I must really say that the english drivers were all very patient and very polite ...

AND without the car the trip wouldn't have been half as good ... I really enjoyed the parks (Dartmoor, Exmoor, Yorkshire Dales, Lake District) and their single lane roads. I liked England very much ... I'm going to try Scotland next!

Have a nice trip!

Greetings
Michael

[salguod]

Regarding the pub and F1 thing, it shouldn't be too much of a problem, unless there is football on, or any other sport, since Formula One is pretty low down in the sporting chain here, in fact that is the case with motorsport in general. The chances are though, that even if there is nothing on, they will will have it on Sky Sports News, but you could always try and request it but I don't know how that will turn out.

Especially in Glasgow, in some places, I've always found that unless you talk football, people will give you a blank stare.