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speaking of scotch whisky, i have a fylde single malt mandolin made from the washback staves (oregon pine top) and spent casks (oak back and sides) from the talisker distillery on skye. i visited a few years back--it was cool to see the origin of the woods. fylde also make a guitar from these timbers--k.t. tunstall sported one for a while. scotland is full of surprises. (fylde are in cumbria, england, though)





i've been to haarlem too, tristan--i visit a friend in leiden a couple of times a year who is from there. great museums and a lovely art nouveau train station.

Cool, I love those whisky mandolins / guitars!
If you're in the neighbourhood again let me know, maybe we can meet up.
Actually, there's the incredible "De Molen" craft beer brewery in Bodegraven quite near Leiden, you / we should go there sometime.
You're welcome here too, Haarlem is a pretty nice and relaxed place and we also have two very nice craft beer breweries called "Jopen" and "Het Uiltje", besides there's the beautiful "Zuid-Kennemerland" natural park closeby near the sea with dunes, forest, old trees and some desert type landscapes, it's great hiking there.

Fort William isn't too far for you. It's about a 2.5hr bus ride from either Glasgow or Edinburgh. It's a beautiful place, and where I grew up (live in Manchester now).

If there is at all the possibility, I would recommend hiring a car, as it's definitely the best way to see Scotland. I would also recommend spending more time in the country, than in cities.

I did a little map, but I can't post to photobucket at work. Drop me your email addy in a PM and I'll send it to you.

Scotland is TINY, so you'll cover WAY WAY more than you think you could in 10 days. It's only about a 5-6 hour drive from top to bottom, so you can get round it real quick, and busses/coaches are pretty decent.

thanks--i'll let you know my next trip. holland is such a beautiful place--so much more to offer than the stereotype tourist traps in amsterdam. speaking of amsterdam, have you been to rebel relic?

ILF Bro's unite!
Never been there, it's not too special I think, goes for both Amsterdam and Rebel Relic.

Pmed ! gusman2x

OK it just occurred to me that maybe the cab ride was so nuts because I was drunk. So you have to be drunk and ride in a cab. The crazy part about it for me was actually two things.

One, they still drive on the other side of the road, which fucked me up BAD. lol
Two, the cab driver was insane. Like singing, laughing and driving like a maniac.

I'm telling you though, go to a club. That shit is so fun and hilarious. Scottish people are so awesome. Wish I could come out there too now. Ugh. Been wanting to go back for like forever. The air is better, the water taste better, the food taste better...man...if I were to move anywhere that would be it. Retire in Scotland.

THAT. IS. AMAZING.
Haven't been able to check more from the last times, I'm definitely motivated now to schedule more things there.

Thanks a lot mate, that's brilliant !

edit: So for people who are more into countryside than cities, is Glasgow REALLY worth the trip, and forget about Stirling?

Well it's only 15 miles or less between the two cities, so i guess it just boils down to preference. I haven't been to stirling since i was a child (trufact: i was born there) but i think it's a pretty junky city. Glasgow is the UKs 3rd city after london and manchester.

But yeah, i reckon with 10 days, you could cover nearly the whole country.

What's worth noting as well is, once you get out into the wilds, it's perfectly acceptable to "wild camp". Just find a nice secluded wood or river, and set up.

HorsSujet wrote:So for people who are more into countryside than cities, is Glasgow REALLY worth the trip, and forget about Stirling?

there's not much to stirling other than the castle. the views are nice, but not anything spectacular by scottish standards. glasgow is cool, but it's a city. so it depends on what you want to do with your time. you may want to be flexible depending on the weather and decide after you get there.

I'm probably much more of an urbanite but I'd definitely devote some time to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Edinburgh is arguably the most attractive city in the UK and Glasgow is renowned for its cultural scene.

I don't know exactly what your interests are but if you visit Glasgow I would recommend:

Drygate and/or Brewdog - if you want to try beers from local craft breweries.
Nice 'n' Sleazys, Mono, Stereo, the 13th Note and the Art School - if you would like to explore the music scene.
Guitar Guitar - has a pretty good range of pedals.
The Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery - one of the best museums in the UK outside of London.

A good railway journey from Glasgow might be:

Glasgow Queen Street - Balloch. This would give you access to Loch Lomond and the surrounding area.
Balloch - Dumbarton Central followed by Dumbarton Central - Corrour. One of the most remote stations in the UK but there is a hostel relatively close.
Corrour - Fort William. It's probably worth climbing Ben Nevis if you're that way inclined.
Fort William - Mallaig. I would then get a ferry to the Isle of Skye.
From Skye you can get a bus to Kyle of Lochalsh train station where you can travel on to Inverness and back down towards Edinburgh if required. You can also travel north from Inverness or across to Aberdeen.



http://www.seat61.com/WestHighlandLine.htm#.VSKmOMZH2Rs
http://www.theskinny.co.uk/events

HorsSujet wrote:THAT. IS. AMAZING.
Haven't been able to check more from the last times, I'm definitely motivated now to schedule more things there.

Thanks a lot mate, that's brilliant !

edit: So for people who are more into countryside than cities, is Glasgow REALLY worth the trip, and forget about Stirling?

Honestly not sure? I went for family reasons, so I very little knowledge of the Scotland other than Glasgow. haha. I mean if there's cool places otherwise that have fun stuff, I'd just hit those. I'm sure the experience will be the same regardless. Glasgow is kind of small too. So you may want a more hip area?

WOW.
I knew it was a good idea to post here and ask you guys. You are the greatest ! A lot of perfect advices here, thanks all.
And yeah, we'll definitely go to Glasgow

Penelope Tree's advice is spot on RE the train journey. That would actually be the nicest way to see the highlands.