1st in the "Are you ready to check-off “Visit my Clan Homelands” on your bucket list?" series
Hi! I’m Gwen McNeill – I have traveled to the Scotland/UK and Ireland since I became a member of CMAA and experienced my first Clan Gathering on Barra in 2006. I now go every year to year and a half for my holidays to our homelands and still haven’t been everywhere! Join me as I share useful travel tips so you can start planning your travel adventure! You can also contact me directly at any time for assistance at gwenmcn.cmaa@gmail.com Let’s get started with the 3 basics questions first.
Where you wish to go in the UK or Ireland? This sets a goal to work towards. Will you be visiting multiple cities and/or Isles such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Isle of Barra? Map it out, literally pull out a map or use Google Maps and see where you wish to visit. This will allow you to pace yourself to determine how to answer the next question below.
What is the length of your holiday? Remember to take into account that the main travel time across the “Big Pond” will be included your days. If you have decided on multiple cities and/or islands, how long will you want to stay in each location? Transportation (trains and buses or driving yourself) between each location will also have a bearing on the length of you stay. Each venue of transportation can have a different travel time. Or do you wish to combine your personal time with a tour group during your visit?
When do you want to go? Think about the time of year you plan to travel. What will the weather be like? (UK overall is known for having 4 seasons in one day, even during the summer pending where you are) When is low versus high tourist season? High tourist season usually has higher costs for flights and accommodations.
Stay tune as next blog will cover the Travel Budget portion of your trip. In the future, I will also cover areas such as Customs/Passports, Luggage/Clothing, Currency/Credit cards, and many more topics.
Looking forward to more info on traveling to Scotland!