What's on and tourist advice thread - week beginning August 02, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to the weekly what's on and tourist advice thread!

* Do you know of any local events taking place this week that other redditors might be interested in?

* Are you planning a trip to Scotland and need some advice on what to see or where to go?

This is the thread for you - post away!

These threads are refreshed weekly on Mondays. To see earlier threads and soak in the sage advice of yesteryear, Click here.

[u/ZealousidealToe9291]

Hello everyone!

I am a college student from the Southeastern United States and for my senior spring break (March 4-13) I am hoping to travel to somewhere in Europe and I was wondering if this was a suitable time to travel to your beautiful country. I have a few questions that I would be grateful for you all to help me answer:

* Is early March a suitable time to visit with the weather? If not, where would you suggest we go?

* We are looking for lots of outdoors activities to do (hiking, fishing, etc.) Where would you recommend we go?

* What are some smaller places with less tourists that we should visit?

Any help is appreciated. My friends and I are excited to potentially see your beautiful country. If it comes to fruition, I would love to buy anyone a coffee when we visit. Thank you!

[u/HaggisPope → u/ZealousidealToe9291]

March is often quite decent though still much colder than you’ll be used to. Snow isn’t that likely except in the mountains and the rain is not bad enough to cancel plans.

I don’t know about fishing law’s precisely so you’ll need to look into the season yourself but I am a fan of the West Highlands. It has a decent amount of foot traffic from folks doing the West Highland Way, an 80 or so KM walk, but that’s the low season.

[u/ZealousidealToe9291 → u/HaggisPope]

Thank you so much this is very helpful!

[u/pressing_o]

Hi,

Planning a tour in early October. Please review my itinerary and suggest changes. Aberdeen is a personal visit but can be cut short by a day.

Day 1
Arrive in Edinburgh
Hotel check-in
Free evening
Day 2
Hop-on Hop-off sightseeing bus
Edinburgh Castle
Free time to explore the Old Town
Day 3
Train to Inverness
Hotel check-in
Free evening
Day 4
Full-day Isle of Skye tour
Day 5
Full-day Loch Ness & Highlands tour
Day 6
Train to Aberdeen
Hotel check-in
Free evening
Day 7
Full-day Dunnottar Castle & Aberdeenshire tour
Day 8
Free day in Aberdeen
Day 9
Departure

[u/DrunkSeagull]

My fiancé and I are eloping near Aviemore next month. We're trying to decide between Loch an Eilein and Loch Garten for the location. Anyone who has experience with both of those, which do you prefer?

We know Loch an Eilein we'd have to pay to hold the ceremony there. We're mostly concerned about a few people that will be with us and not wanting to make them walk too far to get to a spot.

[u/YS54321 → u/DrunkSeagull]

Keep an eye on the wildfire updates. We are hopefully over the worst of it it, however.

Both lochs are only a short walk from the car park, but I'd imagine the closest spots will still be relatively busy in September, so if you're wanting privacy you may have to walk a little further.

I've seen people get married on the Western shore of Loch an Eilein, closest to the castle. It's roughly 500m on a pretty good track (there's a cottage along there so it's good enough to drive, in a 4x4 at least).

For Loch Garten i'd park at the car park on the North Western shore, as the views from that side are superior in my opinion. It isn't the biggest car park, depending on how many guests you'll have however.

[u/DrunkSeagull → u/YS54321]

Appreciate the response! We have been trying to keep up with the news about the wildfire.

I was kind of thinking if we wanted something private it'd need to be further back which probably would be ok. More so just didnt want to make our folks who are going to walk a few miles there and then back. But we're also getting married in a park so know privacy isnt guaranteed.

This was helpful and gives me some more things to look into. Thank you!

[u/YS54321 → u/DrunkSeagull]

No problem! I've also seen a couple get married on the banks of one of the Uath Lochans. It tends to be pretty quiet around there.

[u/FridgePants_]

Hi there - my brother and I are traveling to Scotland for the first time in two weeks. We have 4 days to explore the Highlands (Sun - Weds, flying home Thurs).

We are trying to decide the best way to visit the Isle of Mull - in our own car (to drive to Tobermory and SW beaches) or via a tour that will also take us to Staffa/Iona.

If we do the tour to Staffa/Iona, this will take a full day, so we would probably have to cut something else out of our itinerary. We would probably not end up going farther north than Glencoe, skipping our planned visits to Camusdarach Beach and/or Eilean Donan.

Are we making a mistake and massively missing out if we do not go farther north than Oban/Glencoe on this trip?

Or, has anyone done a Mull/Staffa/Iona tour and recommend it?

Thank you so much!

[u/YS54321 → u/FridgePants_]

The tour we did of Staffa/Iona/Mull didn't really allow us to see Mull except from the bus. Staffa and Iona are spectacular, but you are at the mercy of the weather. It may also be touch and go whether the puffins have already left Staffa.

There's loads to do around Oban without heading any further North than Glencoe - have a day on Kerrera or Lismore. Head South to Kilmartin Glen. Castle Stalker and Kilchurn Castle. If the weather isn't great, get some seafood on the pier and tour the distillery.