Hi Everyone - we are on the week in Scotland trip beginning June 29. We're arriving a day early and would like to tour Glasgow. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!
It's 40 years since I lived in Glasgow, but it's full of great architecture and museums. A quick look at what is available theses days, and I would head for McKintosh house in the Hunterian Museum, all New since my time there. In the same area is the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Botanic Gardens. You will just love the strong Glasgow accent, I dare you to understand it!
Hi Everyone - we are on the week in Scotland trip beginning June 29. We're arriving a day early and would like to tour Glasgow. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!
When do you actually arrive- how many days early? The tour starts at 1 PM. If you arrive the day before you'll be pretty tired and depending when your flight gets in you may not have much time. Are you going by car, bus, or train, on your own or with a tour company or driver/guide? There is an old thread or two with info about a highly recommended driver/guide who was a retired policeman(?).
The schedule was different when we went. We arrived late morning after an overnight flight from the US, the day before the 6 PM welcome dinner. Though we were tired, we decided to stay awake in an attempt to help acclimate our body clocks, so in the afternoon we used the efficient public bus system to visit the former Royal Yacht Brittania on the waterfront. We had lunch in the adjacent mall, took the bus back to the hotel, walked around town just a bit before having dinner and turning in early. The next day, the day of the welcome dinner, we left the downtown area but stayed close to Edinburgh. We used the bus system again to take us to Craigmillar Castle, a very nice, lightly visited castle ruin associated with Mary Queen of Scotts (we had seen it on The Amazing Race). It is located 20 min. away, by the Royal Infirmary (Medical School), on the southern edge of town. After the visit (great views of Edinburgh from the battlements) we caught another bus to Rosslyn Chapel, made famous in Dan Brown's Davinci Code. It is located a bit further south (20 min.?) in the small town of Rosslyn. We returned to the hotel and had about 2 hours rest before the welcome dinner. That was more than enough for one day.
I know most US flights land in Heathrow London and then you catch a flight to Glasgow or Edinburgh. Yes, for me, I'm tired after arriving in a new time zone when I have basically missed a night's sleep and jumped forward 5 or 6 hours, whether business class or coach, it makes no difference to how I feel. Maybe Alan's idea makes more sense for you, since you will have to be up fairly early the next day to organize yourself for an early day tour start. I am sure there will be some in the group that just got off a plane too.
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When do you actually arrive- how many days early? The tour starts at 1 PM. If you arrive the day before you'll be pretty tired and depending when your flight gets in you may not have much time. Are you going by car, bus, or train, on your own or with a tour company or driver/guide? There is an old thread or two with info about a highly recommended driver/guide who was a retired policeman(?).
The schedule was different when we went. We arrived late morning after an overnight flight from the US, the day before the 6 PM welcome dinner. Though we were tired, we decided to stay awake in an attempt to help acclimate our body clocks, so in the afternoon we used the efficient public bus system to visit the former Royal Yacht Brittania on the waterfront. We had lunch in the adjacent mall, took the bus back to the hotel, walked around town just a bit before having dinner and turning in early. The next day, the day of the welcome dinner, we left the downtown area but stayed close to Edinburgh. We used the bus system again to take us to Craigmillar Castle, a very nice, lightly visited castle ruin associated with Mary Queen of Scotts (we had seen it on The Amazing Race). It is located 20 min. away, by the Royal Infirmary (Medical School), on the southern edge of town. After the visit (great views of Edinburgh from the battlements) we caught another bus to Rosslyn Chapel, made famous in Dan Brown's Davinci Code. It is located a bit further south (20 min.?) in the small town of Rosslyn. We returned to the hotel and had about 2 hours rest before the welcome dinner. That was more than enough for one day.