Wife and daughter headed to Scotland in June. She has a bunch of questions:

1) Should they do the tours
2) Should they rent a car
3) Are vacation rentals worth it
4) Areas to stay away from
5) Any must see/do

Help us out here.

I went to Scotland and stayed in a B&B in the Highlands. Husband of the owner is a gun guy and let me shoot his suppressed 7mm mag. Pretty cool. He had a Glock too (rare in Scotland)....anyway....I rented a car and explored the Highlands a bit, flew into Aberdeen. The Highlands are really cool, and Loch Ness is too of course. I would recommend renting a car probably but driving can be a bit sketchy due to narrow roads and driving on the wrong side.
I didn't have a ton of time there unfortunately.

Try the haggis.  Have a meat pie.  Drink some dark pints.  Why would you not be going along to show them the way?  

Nothing else matters.  

Been there many times. I love Glasgow but you'll hear many others bad mouth it. Edinburgh is beautiful at night. The islands, Stirling and Aberdeen have totally different feel than the border towns. Bike tours are popular but I never bothered. May is best but early June is nice.

My wife and oldest two kids went there last June. Absolutely loved it. We flew into Edinburgh and took the tram into the city center. Edinburgh is very walkable. 

Obviously, Edinburgh Castle is high on the list of things to see. The Royal Mile runs from the castle down to Holyrood (one of the Queen's homes). Lots of touristy stuff on the Royal Mile. St. Giles Cathedral is right there. Pop in there. It's worth a look.

The Scott Monument is right on the edge of Waverley train station and the surrounding park. Pay the 5 Euro and climb to the top. The last few twists of the circular staircase are pretty narrow. If you've ever watched the hilarious tower scene with the fat Americans from In Bruges, that's a good representation.

Go eat at the Elephant House cafe. That's where J.K. Rowling would sit and look at the castle while writing Harry Potter. Good food. Reasonably priced. I don't drink, so I can't comment on the Scottish pub scene. But I do have Scottish heritage and I'm sure it would've served me well.

Just outside of Edinburgh, near Holyrood, is Arthur's Seat. It's a 1,000 foot high peak that overlooks the city. You can hike to the top in 60-90 minutes and there's a great view. You'll see the ruins of a church part way up, from 1200 AD or so. The thing that gets you (as an American) is that there are buildings and churches and ruins everywhere that are 800-1000 years old. We've got nothing like it. 

We took a train from Waverley to Stirling for a day trip. Seems like a round trip ticket was 15 Euro or so. It took about 45 minutes with a couple of stops along the way. Stirling is small. You can walk from the train station up through the streets to Stirling castle in 30-60 minutes. The William Wallace monument is in Stirling, but it's not near the castle so you'll have to plan a way to get there.

My wife and daughter love art, so we stopped at the Scottish National Gallery, which is free.

There's also a statue of A. Conan Doyle a few blocks from Waverley. Good for an "I was here" picture. 

We only had 4 days in Scotland, so we didn't go to the highlands. My wife is already making noise about wanting to take a highlands tour in the near future. Beautiful country. Wonderful people. We were there just before the Brexit vote. It was interesting to hear people talking. 

We didn't rent a car. 

I bought a Sim card from a "3" store. There's one on Princess Street, which is near the train station. The data plan was really cheap, something like $10 for 2 GB of LTE data. When I told the girl at the store what Verizon charges for data, she exclaimed, "That's extortionate!!" I used most of my data running Google maps. Make sure your cell phone is unlocked and supports GSM. Most new phones do.

And make no mistake. The Scots are generally cordial towards the English. But they don't really like them. Don't make the mistake of calling a Scotsman, "English". It just wouldn't do. If he's nice, he'll strongly correct you. If he's not nice, you'll probably get punched. You can call him British, which he is. There's a very strong distinction. 

Enjoy. I wish I was going back sooner.

Thanks for the replies so far!

If you get a chance swing by the Highland wildlife park by Aviemore, you'll get to see some of my handiwork.

I've made two trips. I rented a car. If I can drive in Scotland, anyone can. You get used to driving on the left after a couple of hours. I stayed in B&Bs. If you do your home work, you shouldn't
have to pay for tours. I took a tour around Loch Ness but mostly drove myself. A good book is Frommer's Driving tours-Scotland.
The people are friendly. If you have questions, I'll help as much as possible.

As much as possible, use a credit card for expenses. You'll get the best exchange rate, and mostly avoid fees for converting currency.

More good suggestions. Any and all input welcome.  Well maybe not all.

They've been watching Outlander haven't they.

They have, but to be fair, my wife has talked about going there for many many years. Its nothing new or trendy. She can now afford it, so now is the time.

Wasn't there another thread on this recently?

Bring an interpreter. Scots speak with A LOT thicker brogue than you hear in US and UK TV and movies.

If there was I missed it.

You're welcome.

@agent_funky speaks the truth!

The Medical Museum in Edinburgh is neat, as is the national museum of Scotland.

Back in the late 80s I went to Scotland and the Northumberland county with Uncle Sam. It was an exchange program with our National Guard and their Home Guard (or whatever they're properly called).  First time I had fried bread, beans and tomato for breakfast!  We had two days off to go to Edinburgh and had a great time.

Shocked at how profoundly green it was, and how old stuff was (like Hadrian's wall).

I don't think there is a wrong way to see it.  Eventually it becomes like Monument Valley, with one breathtaking view after another. I hope go back with the wife and kids in the next year or two.

There is a castle in edinbourough in it there is a museum exhibit with a big stone in it as it's best piece.

The should try somewhere with culture and heritage like England.

I really enjoyed the Culloden Battlefield.

The highlands are beautiful, especially around Glencoe.

Guys thanks for all the input. Anyone been to Inverness?  Thoughts?

Territorial Army

I'll be in Fort William and the Highlands in April. I'll give you a trip report

They're still keeping you out with that border wall huh?

I've been there twice now.  I have loved it each time.

Like any place, you can run into some bad apples, but by and large everyone I've encountered has been friendly to a fault.  

Take some time to go into a supermarket.  It's surreal in a way because so many things are alike, then you see something that makes you say "WTH?"  For me it was prawn flavored Pringles.

Onions or onion chutney are a main sandwich filling when paired with a little shredded cheese.  And you'll see Heinz baked beans for breakfast and most every meal.  There's some kind of unholy alliance between Heinz and the crown which is advertised on the cans and bottles.  Yes, try the haggis and black pudding.  For Haggis think a mild sausage with oats mixed in with the meat.  Black pudding has an earthy, slightly metallic flavor, as one might expect if you think about it, but still comes off like a specialty sausage.

Don't expect the scotch drinkers to give any credit to American whiskeys...even though they sell whiskeys and bourbons at all the bars.  They are very particular about their scotch...as you might expect.

They still have a lot of that tea and pub culture where they know people in their community and like to sit around and talk out in public while sharing a cup or pint.  The homes and cars are small so I think that tends to push them out into the community for socializing.  Tea and biscuits (cookies) were forcefully offered in every home we went to.  It is interesting to kinda absorb how the tea culture affects the pacing of the day and maintains a hospitality culture.

I went no further north than Fort Williams and Glenfinnen.  But the drive up there through Glencoe is amazing.  It is a truly beautiful country.

The good thing is that compared to how far we are willing to drive in the States, you can actually get around to see a lot in Scotland.  In what amounted to about 2.5 days of sightseeing, from Glasgow we were able to take in Stirling Castle, Edinburgh, Glencoe, Fort William, Ben Nevis and Glenfinnen, which gave a pretty diverse exposure to both city life and the countryside.  And all villages in between the main touristy stops are gems all unto themselves.  

Be prepared to discuss American politics if you get friendly with them.  They were fascinated, not in a good way, about the Trump run.  They really couldn't get past thinking it might be a hoax.  You have to remember that they are half socialist at this point.  They assume that government paid for healthcare is as right as rain and are incredulous that anyone might think differently.  You might (I did) see an openly socialist union member sharing a pint with a conservative, and then they'll both look at you and think you're daft for actually voting for Trump.  And they do think we gun-owners are absolutely crazy and don't understand how anyone can justify owning one.  They really do think that cops just go around shooting black people over here.  You'd think given their history that the idea that a populace being armed would be an asset to maintaining independence, but the point seems lost on them.  I ran into a couple of guys that would admit to being intrigued by the idea of going to a range and shooting AR's and AK's, but they almost took a pride in not having guns at the same time.

I didn't see any real anti-English bias.  There are enough English living north and Scots living south that I suspect that rivalry is overstated.  In fact, I think the socialist mindset has near guaranteed that they stay wedded to England because they wouldn't want the upset in governmental services that independence might bring.  I think they get more back than they pay in, so to speak, and they realize that.

Outside of the politics, I could go live there in a heartbeat.  Lovely people and a beautiful country.

That's not a wall.   That's a "cut here" line.

I'm just waiting for them to have another referendum and decide to leave the UK......then I'm gong to rock up with this bad boy angle grinder, hack the whinging jockinese bastards off the top of my Beloved England, and float them of in to the socialist abyss.

They still have a coal industry to use that?

I lived there for several months on a project.

If you are going to see a lot of the smaller and more isolated villages and areas a car is worth it.  For the bigger cities like Edinburgh or Glasgow you are better off using the public transportation and walking.  

Some more places to see: Castle Glamis, Meltose Abbey, Loch Lommand, the Highlands, Isle of Skye, St Andrews, Scone Palace, Linlithgow Palace, Robert Burns House etc.  There are a TON of places to go and plenty of history all over the country if you look.  Get a Historic Scotland pass.

Get out and walk around.  Drink beer in a pub with the locals and you will have a great time.

You complete me.

This thread now belongs to Bagger 288.

When I mentioned that the Scots are cordial to the English, but don't really like them? Well, you can see it goes both ways. I've got Irish, Scottish, English and Welsh heritage. So I guess and I like and dislike everyone over there. 

Awesome responses, by the way. 

So will I.

Dad and I are going April 18th to the 28th. See you there

Any areas of London to stay away from?

St. Giles cathedral.   Camera Obscura.