Planning a Scotland trip!

[FowlersFreeTime]

To my fellow Alpha Shooters across the pond, I'm heading your way in April 2022.
Heading to London first for a cousin's wedding, but since I'm going to be over there, decided to add on a trip to Scotland! Traveling with my wife and parents, so its not a dedicated photography trip, but I plan to come back with many memories and full memory cards
We'll be flying into Edinburgh and then renting a car to see as much of the country as possible in 6 days. So far the plans include:
Edinburgh
Inverness
Isle of Skye
Fort William
Glasgow
Fly out of Edinburgh

What are your "must see" recommendations along the way here?
It's almost a disservice to the land of my forefathers to rush through the trip, but I don't have the time off or budget to stay longer

 

[Brownie]

Sounds like a great trip. My Dad's side of the family is from the Inverness area, emigrated in the 1700's. My last name is a Celtic word and is so unusual as a surname here in the US that if I posted it you could likely find my home address in less than 15 minutes!

There's also British, Welch and Irish in that line, but we won't discuss that in here...

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

My ancestors are from the Scottish-British border on the Scottish side, probably near Dumfries but I would have to consult the family historian.

I have been watching a lot more YouTube content on Scotland to get an idea of the type of photos I want to take, but it really looks like there won't be a shortage of scenery unless there is fog (a very real possibility). We'll be appreciating a lot of the scenery by circumnavigating Scotland in a rental car. I have a drone, but as tempting as it is, I will not bring it. That would overcomplicate things in terms of packing and international regulations.

I am already taking my 17-70 f2.8 lens for the wedding, but not sure which other lenses will round out my backpack. I think I will take a wide lens and tripod for the scenery in general, but not sure if I take the Sigma 16mm f1.4 or Sony 10-18mm f4.

 

[Brownie]

My ancestors are from the Scottish-British border on the Scottish side, probably near Dumfries but I would have to consult the family historian.

I have been watching a lot more YouTube content on Scotland to get an idea of the type of photos I want to take, but it really looks like there won't be a shortage of scenery unless there is fog (a very real possibility). We'll be appreciating a lot of the scenery by circumnavigating Scotland in a rental car. I have a drone, but as tempting as it is, I will not bring it. That would overcomplicate things in terms of packing and international regulations.

I am already taking my 17-70 f2.8 lens for the wedding, but not sure which other lenses will round out my backpack. I think I will take a wide lens and tripod for the scenery in general, but not sure if I take the Sigma 16mm f1.4 or Sony 10-18mm f4.

Do you have anything longer? If you're already taking a 17-70, not sure why you'd want to want to take up space with other short lenses. 17 on an APS-C would be about right for wide angle unless you need to have an entire room in the shot. You may find yourself wishing you had something in the 200-300 range handy.

 

[DavidN]

Um, that looks like an optimistic set of destinations for only 6 six days and a lot of driving (On the correct side of the road!). Remember that the roads in Scotland are not wide open freeways and may take a bit longer than you think.
Maybe think about dropping the Glasgow leg and extending the time at other places. On the up side the midge season won’t have started in April. Maybe some of our Scottish members can give you better pointers of specific places.
Good luck on Skye - we went for a week a few years ago and saw the sun for about 15 minutes before it started raining, then it rained harder and the wind blew and we had to leave a day early as they were going to close the bridge the next day! My colleague at work who recommended we go said that it was always sunny when he went and it must have been because we were English.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Sounds like an epic trip Chris! A few more days would certainly make it more relaxing, but hopefully you'll still see lots. Can't offer many tips when it comes to Scotland I'm afraid, although I have spent a week on Skye and it truly is an amazing place. Maybe grab a copy of this guide to the top 50 locations on Skye. It's from the team behind the Photography Online YouTube Channel. I did a workshop with them a few years ago and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Do you have anything longer? If you're already taking a 17-70, not sure why you'd want to want to take up space with other short lenses. 17 on an APS-C would be about right for wide angle unless you need to have an entire room in the shot. You may find yourself wishing you had something in the 200-300 range handy.

I have an 18-135, that's my longest lens.
I'm really only taking the 17-70 for the wedding as the f2.8 will help tremendously indoors.
I was thinking of the 10-18 for wide shots but do you think it would be better to just take multiple shots and stitch together for panoramas in editing instead?

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Um, that looks like an optimistic set of destinations for only 6 six days and a lot of driving (On the correct side of the road!). Remember that the roads in Scotland are not wide open freeways and may take a bit longer than you think.
Maybe think about dropping the Glasgow leg and extending the time at other places. On the up side the midge season won’t have started in April. Maybe some of our Scottish members can give you better pointers of specific places.
Good luck on Skye - we went for a week a few years ago and saw the sun for about 15 minutes before it started raining, then it rained harder and the wind blew and we had to leave a day early as they were going to close the bridge the next day! My colleague at work who recommended we go said that it was always sunny when he went and it must have been because we were English.

Optimistic indeed, I told my wife the same thing, Glasgow is the weakest link and if we have to slow things down, it will get the axe.
Regarding Skye, I just hope the Pagan deities favor us in April! its a beautiful place and I cannot imagine this trip without going there!

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Sounds like an epic trip Chris! A few more days would certainly make it more relaxing, but hopefully you'll still see lots. Can't offer many tips when it comes to Scotland I'm afraid, although I have spent a week on Skye and it truly is an amazing place. Maybe grab a copy of this guide to the top 50 locations on Skye. It's from the team behind the Photography Online YouTube Channel. I did a workshop with them a few years ago and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

I love their youtube channel, so relaxing. kind of the opposite of what I expect our trip to be

 

[Brownie]

I have an 18-135, that's my longest lens.
I'm really only taking the 17-70 for the wedding as the f2.8 will help tremendously indoors.
I was thinking of the 10-18 for wide shots but do you think it would be better to just take multiple shots and stitch together for panoramas in editing instead?

An awful lot of landscape shots are made by setting the camera up vertically with a long lens and stitching. Several shots wide gets you back to something you can crop to a print ratio like 8 x 10, 16 x 20, 11 x 14, etc. Using a longer lens gets you a bunch more detail too. The 135 is about 200mm, that and a travel tripod would work pretty well.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Well, I have a wee update to the plans... just found out I'm going to be a dad!
This means wife will be 4 months along when we do this trip. Thankfully, she doesn't want to cancel. However, as you can imagine, the very long days on the road that we had previously planned will have to get shortened. Timelines between stops will have to be relaxed and, regrettably, some scenic bits will have to be sacrificed. I'll post an updated itinerary once we update it this weekend.

 

[Jeff A]

Well, I have a wee update to the plans... just found out I'm going to be a dad!
This means wife will be 4 months along when we do this trip. Thankfully, she doesn't want to cancel. However, as you can imagine, the very long days on the road that we had previously planned will have to get shortened. Timelines between stops will have to be relaxed and, regrettably, some scenic bits will have to be sacrificed. I'll post an updated itinerary once we update it this weekend.

Congratulations to you and the rest of your Clan. An exciting time and your photography style will change a bit.

 

[WeeMalky]

Chris congratulations to you and your good lady wait to see what the wife has planned . There is plenty to see without going too far north the national park area has some great scenery as does the Isle of Arran Scotland in miniature . Just depends on what you like castles in Stirling & Edinburgh . Kelpies in Falkirk . let me know and I hopefully can point you in the right direction

 

[Scooter]

Oh fantastic!! First, congratulations!

When the UK put Canada on their "green" list last year, we took my mother-in-law to England (she is 84, and just wouldn't have been able to navigate the websites/logistics on her own). England is "home" for her (even though she's been in Canada for 40 yrs, and so she stayed with family there for 6 weeks. We, decided to do a road trip to Scotland. And I took the A6400. I'll share my itinerary, and a couple of my favourite shots as well. As someone said above, you just cannot drive as fast as you think on those windy, narrow roads. (We may have lost the left side mirror on the rental car to a rock wall in the Lake District).

Day1 - Arrive at Gatwick. Rent car. Drive-thru PCR for 4. Drive to Leicester.

Day2 - Visit a bit more.....then hit the road to the Lake District. Keswick.

Day3 - Fort William

Day4&5 - Pitlochry

Day6,7&8 - Edinburgh

Back to Leicester to visit with family before heading home.

I know this doesn't look like much on paper.......but it is an incredible amount of driving. We've done it before....So we knew we wanted to spend more time in Edinburgh, and Pitlochry. Had the weather been better, I think the GlenCoe area is absolutely stunning. We also very, very much enjoyed Stirling the first time we were there. We are Canadian, and do some epic road trips, so 6 hours isn't a big deal to us.......but relatives in England thought we were pure bonkers.

I took my 70-350 lens to try and get a shot of a highland cow. Other than that, it was never on the camera. My Tamron 11-20 got a work-out, but I found that the 16-55 was the best for the streets.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

@Scooter This is great information thank you! I will have to share with wifey when we revamp the itinerary. The photos also help me get a sense of what to expect. Do you think I would be well enough equipped with the a6400, Tamron 17-70, Sony 10-18 and my travel tripod? Might also bring a gopro for some vlogging (a6400 is a bit too shaky for that task) and hyperlapse footage inside the car.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Well, I have a wee update to the plans... just found out I'm going to be a dad!
This means wife will be 4 months along when we do this trip. Thankfully, she doesn't want to cancel. However, as you can imagine, the very long days on the road that we had previously planned will have to get shortened. Timelines between stops will have to be relaxed and, regrettably, some scenic bits will have to be sacrificed. I'll post an updated itinerary once we update it this weekend.

That's awesome news, congratulations to you and your wife Chris! You'll definitely need to plan for a lot of extra pee stops if she will be 4 months along then! We are actually expecting our second child as well, clearly the first didn't put us off! Not due till July 19th though, so we hopefully have a few more solid nights of sleep before then unless our son Josh wakes us up, or the dog!

 

[Scooter]

Just going back over the photos........and only 20 out of about 1000 were on the long lens. I do have to say, that I sometimes missed that 55-70 focal length for some of the narrower streets and closes, but you have that covered. It seemed to always be raining (or threatening to), so I had very low light, even outdoors, much of the time. I think your lens choices are spot-on. (Now watch......you'll see a highland cow along the highway, and curse my name).

I took video as the passenger in the car on the 6400......no stabilization on any of my lenses, but it kind of added to the effect imo. I also took Iphone video that we enjoy looking back on. Trying just now to see how I can upload one clip, but it's not playing along.

 

[Scooter]

• ILCE-6400
• E 11-20mm F2.8 B060
• 11.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 640

We did a ton of walking. I loved the wet streets and stone. But speaking of that.......... the rain in Glencoe was hard on my gear. Even though the camera never was out from under the umbrella, the moisture in the air was just too much. I was SUPER glad to have brought a large ziplock bag filled with all those silicon packets you get with most things. (I knew I saved them for a reason). I had to dry out the batteries and the charger too. After that scary evening, all was good though.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

View attachment 16010We did a ton of walking. I loved the wet streets and stone. But speaking of that.......... the rain in Glencoe was hard on my gear. Even though the camera never was out from under the umbrella, the moisture in the air was just too much. I was SUPER glad to have brought a large ziplock bag filled with all those silicon packets you get with most things. (I knew I saved them for a reason). I had to dry out the batteries and the charger too. After that scary evening, all was good though.

What time of year did you go? We're going to be in Scotland April 10-16, and since we're from the tropics, we've already invested in multiple layers of winter clothes with waterproof outer layers... you know, just in case.

 

[Scooter]

We went in October. Now.....I am from Canada, living near the mountains, and thought I knew cold. But that is a different kind of chill. I took the same set up as what I am wearing in my profile pic. Layers, with a waterproof shell. I also took raingear for the camera, but most times we were inside the car, unless we stepped out to do hikes. I have a great cross-body canvas purse, that got emptied out and used as a messenger bag for the camera. There were a couple of times I put the camera away, and closed the bag because of the drizzle. I wish I'd had some waterproof hikers. I am quite used to the cold......but ours is a dry cold. I was not prepared for the humidity. And I can honestly say, that I'd take -10 here, over +5 with rain and wind there any day!! That being said, we hiked up Arthur's Seat and I was way, way too hot. Wound up tucking into the bushes to change into a t-shirt.
The first time we were there, was in August. We had very lovely weather, a bit of rain, and a bit of snow in the highlands. 100mile/hr winds at LochNess, and back to sunshine.
My best advice is to plan for anything. Even a shower cap to quickly throw over your camera. The 6400's are fairly weather sealed.....but not infallible. I honestly thought I'd lost mine.

 

[Ma23peas]

To my fellow Alpha Shooters across the pond, I'm heading your way in April 2022.
Heading to London first for a cousin's wedding, but since I'm going to be over there, decided to add on a trip to Scotland! Traveling with my wife and parents, so its not a dedicated photography trip, but I plan to come back with many memories and full memory cards
We'll be flying into Edinburgh and then renting a car to see as much of the country as possible in 6 days. So far the plans include:
Edinburgh
Inverness
Isle of Skye
Fort William
Glasgow
Fly out of Edinburgh

What are your "must see" recommendations along the way here?
It's almost a disservice to the land of my forefathers to rush through the trip, but I don't have the time off or budget to stay longer

Oh my goodness! Hi cousin! HA! We must be related- our family is planning our trip to Scotland in September- pretty close to your itinerary to top it all off- we're genealogy nuts and Fowler is my great grandmother's name All 4 sides of my grandparents hailed from Scotch/Irish/English- maybe a 2% Scandinavian or Prussian.

Our trip starts in Edinburgh- then on to stay a night in a pseudo castle then heading to Loch Melfort then Oban, to ferry over to Mull/Iona- then drive up to Fort William to treat our new son-in-law to the Jacobite train- drive up to Portree stay 2 nights and hike through Skye- back down to Cairngorm for one night- then drive through the fishing villages around St. Andrews and back to Edinburgh- we don't have time for Glasgow- but our daughter has some great suggestions there I can get for you! She studied for 2 years in Scotland- just graduated in December- we could never travel to see her with Covid- so this trip is to make up for that.

My must sees would be the Fairly Glen/Fairy Pools/Dunvegan castle/Quiraing in Skye- prebook your dinners here - you can even prebook the food trucks there- I'm trying to create a list of those for us if that would help you. Some good cafes that prepare packed lunches for you for hikes- just order the day before...for Edinburgh- you should be able to book tickets for the castle for April- dates after that haven't opened up yet. Our daughter did the NC500 last May- she knows more about Inverness and other spots. You've probably already planned it all out- and we'd love to hear and see your highlights!

Have a great trip!! Our Fowlers came in through VA/NC and settled then through NC-GA-AL- but, I think most stayed in GA. It would be funny if we are actually cousins!

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Oh my goodness! Hi cousin! HA! We must be related- our family is planning our trip to Scotland in September- pretty close to your itinerary to top it all off- we're genealogy nuts and Fowler is my great grandmother's name All 4 sides of my grandparents hailed from Scotch/Irish/English- maybe a 2% Scandinavian or Prussian.

Our trip starts in Edinburgh- then on to stay a night in a pseudo castle then heading to Loch Melfort then Oban, to ferry over to Mull/Iona- then drive up to Fort William to treat our new son-in-law to the Jacobite train- drive up to Portree stay 2 nights and hike through Skye- back down to Cairngorm for one night- then drive through the fishing villages around St. Andrews and back to Edinburgh- we don't have time for Glasgow- but our daughter has some great suggestions there I can get for you! She studied for 2 years in Scotland- just graduated in December- we could never travel to see her with Covid- so this trip is to make up for that.

My must sees would be the Fairly Glen/Fairy Pools/Dunvegan castle/Quiraing in Skye- prebook your dinners here - you can even prebook the food trucks there- I'm trying to create a list of those for us if that would help you. Some good cafes that prepare packed lunches for you for hikes- just order the day before...for Edinburgh- you should be able to book tickets for the castle for April- dates after that haven't opened up yet. Our daughter did the NC500 last May- she knows more about Inverness and other spots. You've probably already planned it all out- and we'd love to hear and see your highlights!

Have a great trip!! Our Fowlers came in through VA/NC and settled then through NC-GA-AL- but, I think most stayed in GA. It would be funny if we are actually cousins!

What an amazing coincidence! You make the 3rd person on the forum making a pilgrimage across the Atlantic to Scotland in 2022 and planning to take some photos along the way. Truly a beautiful country when the weather cooperates (and still beautiful even when it doesn't!).

My itinerary is in flux at the moment: family obligations in London are shortening my planned time in Scotland and we're going to take things easy with my wife who will be 5 months pregnant when we're there. At the very least, we will spend time in Edinburgh and Inverness and take in what sights we can along the way to and from.

I will live vicariously through the lens of other members who will see the other parts of Scotland I won't reach this time around.

 

[Ma23peas]

Congratulations! I traveled with all three of our pregnancies- 5 months is a good time to go. She may like walking the sites around Edinburgh and taking in an afternoon tea- beautiful gardens there- there should be beautiful buds and blooms in April- but bet it'll be beautiful! If she's not up to the Scotland trip- so much to do in London, too- or just take a short jump over to the Cotswolds and enjoy beautiful walks through the villages around there. April has some of the prettiest day, look forward to seeing all the Scottish travel pics from the travelers.

 

[ZaboAA]

Count me in we are heading there also in mid october. Learning some great stuff on this thread.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

UPDATE
We had a wee scare and thought the trip was off, pretty much canceled every booking we had made previously
Thankfully the Mrs. has gotten the approval from the doctor, so the trip is back on!

Day 1:3 - London (arrive, attend wedding/family-reunion). I might see if there's a night I can sneak off solo to the Thames and get some long exposure shots.
Day 4 - Afternoon arrival in Edinburgh: Whisky tasting for Dad and I, maybe some half-drunk sunset shots around town?
Day 5 - Solo trip to Calton Hill for sunrise/panorama photos, Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile and for wifey: high tea with mom.
Day 6 - Leave Edinburgh and head up to Balmoral Castle. Decided not to try and squeeze anything else in this day. Spend night in Pitlochry.
Day 7 - Leave Pitlochry. Distillery tour in nearby Aberfeldy. Drive up to Urquhart Castle. Drive to Portree on the Isle of Skye.
Day 8 - Leave Pitlochry, tour Skye, then head south to Fort William for the night. (yes, I know, so much to see on this day, so little time).
Day 9 - Leave Fort William, pause in Glen Coe, lunch and walk around Stirling castle. Head to Edinburgh airport and fly back to London.
Day 10 - Leave London, fly home.

Still aggressive, and lots of driving, but no single leg of the driving is slated to be longer than 3hrs.

 

[Tim Mayo]

You definitely don't need any of those wee scares, they aren't good for the nerves! Glad to hear your wife has been given the all clear now and the adventure can still go ahead. It certainly sounds action packed! Don't forget to plan for about 10 pee stops each day for your wife! When do you fly?

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

You definitely don't need any of those wee scares, they aren't good for the nerves! Glad to hear your wife has been given the all clear now and the adventure can still go ahead. It certainly sounds action packed! Don't forget to plan for about 10 pee stops each day for your wife! When do you fly?

Good point about pit stops! I will have to make sure we look at rest stops along the way before we head out each day.
We fly on April 6th, an overnight flight, so consider April 7th as Day 1.
I really hope I can get something better than the typical tourist photos.

 

[DavidN]

Hope you have a great trip and the weather warms up a bit for you. Looking forward to seeing the holiday snaps.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Hope you have a great trip and the weather warms up a bit for you. Looking forward to seeing the holiday snaps.

The good thing is we stocked up on warm clothes and made sure we had waterproof shoes because we were including Skye in the trip. Turns out that gear will be useful throughout the entire trip!
I am a bit concerned about using my a6400 in the rain though. I may have to settle for Cellphone and GoPro photos/footage if the weather keeps being snotty.

 

[Brownie]

The good thing is we stocked up on warm clothes and made sure we had waterproof shoes because we were including Skye in the trip. Turns out that gear will be useful throughout the entire trip!
I am a bit concerned about using my a6400 in the rain though. I may have to settle for Cellphone and GoPro photos/footage if the weather keeps being snotty.

Get one of those plastic bags that screw onto the filter threads. They're kind of sloppy but they work.