Scotland has accommodation to suit every budget and every taste. During our travels to Scotland we generally choose to stay in self-catering accommodation as our home base but we have also used Bed and Breakfasts for shorter stays in between regions. Scotland is so small, it's possible to see much of the country on day trips from a central location. It allows you the luxury of unpacking everything and leaving it all at your flat or cottage when you leave for day trips. Self catering offers a sense of freedom and gives us the feeling of being a "local" instead of a tourist. We enjoy shopping in the local shops for groceries which allows us to become a regular face to the locals. We find that we spend far less money on food because we don't have to dine out all the time. It gives us the freedom to come and go as we please without time constraints like with meals as you have with a Bed and Breakfast or messing with check in and check out times on a daily basis. With some bed and breakfasts, breakfast is served very early and sometimes only for an hour. We also find it to be a bit more budget friendly. With self catering accommodation you can rent a flat in a major city, as we have in Edinburgh, a castle, or a cottage in a small village or in the countryside. There is a wide range of self catering accommodation in Scotland to choose from. My husband and I have stayed in small cottages in the country, a self catering suite in a castle, and we have even rented a castle for two. They have all been very well equipped with washers and dryers, microwaves, ovens, towels, linens, telephone, TV, and all have been furnished with essential local information. We love the sense of independence self catering gives us. Below is a list of some great websites to use for booking self catering accommodation and Bed and Breakfasts. We use these to book our accommodations prior to leaving the States.
Self Catering Accommodation - You can choose from a short break or spend a week or two.
1. Vivat.org.uk - They have approximately 20 historic holiday properties in their portfolio, available to rent year round for short breaks and weekly lettings. They range from tiny romantic cottages sleeping just two people to a defensive tower sleeping 7, a Georgian manse sleeping 8, and a Scottish gentleman's residency sleeping 14.
2. cottages4you.co.uk - With more than 15,000 quality holiday properties for family, group of friends, or just two, they've got a cottage for everyone.
3. unique-cottages.co.uk - This site has unique cottages for holiday lettings in the country in stunning locations.
4. cottagenet.co.uk - CottageNet has approximately 3,000 cottages in all regions of Scotland.
5. scotland-holiday-cottage.co.uk - They offer quality self catering holiday cottages in Scotland for romantic breaks or for family vacations. From a secluded log cabin and loch side cottages to luxury cottages and Scottish castles.
Bed and Breakfast accommodation throughout Scotland
1. Scotland's Best Bed and Breakfast - All of the Bed and Breakfasts on this website have been awarded four and five stars for quality of service and accommodation.
2. Bed and Breakfast Scotland
3. Visit Scotland
4. Active Hotels
5. Best B and B
For booking reservations for either Bed and Breakfast or Self Catering accommodations we usually start anywhere from two to six months in advance. We have always been able to e-mail information back and forth with the above websites. In some instances we have had to go to our bank to have an international bankers draft drawn up in British pounds to mail to the individual proprietor but most of the time we are able to use our credit card on line for booking our room or self catering accommodation. Just remember June, July, and August are the busy tourist months so if you are planning a vacation to Scotland during this time you will need to make reservations well in advance. We prefer the shoulder months of March, April, and May in the spring and September, October, and November for the fall. The weather is great and witnessing the change of seasons is breathtaking. Not to mention the fact that there are hardly any tourists during these months which makes driving the country roads less hectic and no lines or crowds at the sites you are visiting. Also, the price for your accommodation is a little bit cheaper during these shoulder months. We were able to tour Scotland with a rental car using self catering accommodation and two bed and breakfast stays for right around $5,000, two people for two weeks. This amount also included our airfare, food, and ticket purchases for the sites that require a fee, and gas. Remember there a lot of ruins that don't cost a thing to visit but some of them do have a donation box at the entrance if you would like to leave one. As you can see we travel on a small budget and have found ways to do this without feeling like we are suffering in any way by using self catering and small rental cars. We have enjoyed every single one of our trips to Scotland and love the independence this type of traveling allows us.
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