Advice sought planning travel to Scotland in 2020

[CMunzel]

I am planning a holiday in Scotland in 2020 and would appreciate any advice or opinions.

I have booked leave for July and early August. I can make it earlier but no later. I’ve read it can be very busy especially in  the capital. 

[Ryewolf]

Early August in Edinburgh will be very busy as both the Edinburgh Fringe and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo both start on the 7th August 2020. The UK, including Scotland, will always feel a lot busier than say the state of Victoria purely because there are a lot more people in a much smaller space. The whole of the UK (which includes England, Wales and Scotland) is roughly the size of Victoria, but has a population of 66million - compared to 25million for the whole of Australia. Scotland's population is around 5.3million but gets around 14million visitors a year...

Have you got things in mind that you want to see? How about getting around?

If you can drive, we drive on the left with the steering wheel on the right, most rental cars will be stick shift (manual) rather than Automatic.... Fuel is dispensed in litres with Green Pumps for Unleaded and Black for Diesel. Roads Speeds are indicated in miles per hour. Fuel is generally a lot cheaper from larger Supermarket Gas Stations such as Asda, Tesco and Sainsburys than on Motorway Service Stations. Fuel Prices vary quite a lot at the moment it's around £1.20 or 2.28AUD per litre

If you plan on visiting several castles and historic sites it probably worth joining Historic Scotland as an International Member which costs £58 or 110AUD, it costs £19.50 to visit Edinburg Castle and £15.00 to visit Stirling Castle and £12 to visit St Andrews Castle and Cathedral

https://members.historic-scotland.gov.uk/prices

[Ryewolf]

Driving: The North Coast 500 is probably similar to doing the Great Ocean Road in Victoria

https://www.visitscotland.com/see-do/tours/driving-road-trips/north-coast-500/

A visit to the Kingdom of Fife is well worth a visit.... As is a visit to the Borders such as Berwick-upon-Tweed, Lindisfarne and the Farne Islands (especially if you want to see Puffins, you can get trips to the Farne Islands from Seahouses) in Northumbria.

Weather: It's Scotland and even in mid summer it's going to rain at some point, June, July and August are normally the warmest months in Scotland, with average maximum temperatures ranging from approximately 15°C (59°F) to 17°C (63 °F). The further north you go in Scotland the longer the days will be, so the Shetland/Orkneys it will be around 17-19 hours of daylight in mid summer.

[CMunzel]

Thank you for putting so much time into giving me some travel advice, Geoff. That’s is really helpful. I’ll check out all your suggestions of places to visit. I’ve subscribed to a couple of newsletters/blogs: one from Orkney and another from Scotland too which is helpful. We will do some driving: the fact that you drive on the left hand side of the road makes that an easier option than the USA where even crossing the street threw my brain into confusion. 

[Ryewolf]

A couple of other suggestions I thought of where Glencoe - Fort William is not far, the mountain Buachaille Etive Mor is a classic vista of the region, Oban and Loch Ness which are all worth a visit, it's worth pointing out that some of the roads on the North Coast 500 are single track roads with passing places.

If you're feeling adventurous then a visit to the Corryvreckan Whirlpool, there's plenty of videos on Google, there are boat trips that take you there:

https://www.seafari.co.uk/oban/our-tours/whirlpool-specials/

Whilst there aren't very many dangerous animals etc in Scotland - Deer in rutting season can be - rutting season is between Sept and Nov so you should be okay, the Adder is Scotland's (and the UK's) only venomous, snake bites are very rare and in most cases there is a negligible reaction or only local effects. The others are more of a nuisance such as midges which you'll find in the Highlands especially during the summer months and are tiny flying insects - it's only the females that bite they tend to prefer wet and warm weather with little wind, they also seem to prefer early mornings and late evenings. The other is Clegs, as they are known locally, which are horseflies and are quite large flying insects and can give a nasty bite.