Should I visit Loch Lomond or Glencoe with a 1yr old?
Posted by FlargMaster@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 11 comments
My wife and I are visiting Edinburgh with our 1 year old for a couple weeks, but we want to travel elsewhere in Scotland for a few days. We’d like to see the Highlands but our limit is a 3hr drive and we want to avoid nerve wracking, high altitude drives with the baby in the car.
We’re deciding between Glencoe and Loch Lomond & The Trossachs for our outing.
Glencoe seems like it has some classic Highlands views that are a short distance from the city center, but it’s further from Edinburgh and the hikes may be more rugged. Seems like hikes are all there is to do there.
Loch Lomond looks less epic than Glencoe (to me), but still pretty. It’s easier to get to from Edinburgh. It might have more accessible hikes and family friendly restaurants.
Do I have the right impressions here? Anyone have an opinion between the two in the context of my situation? I don’t want to regret not visiting the highlands but I also don’t want to force a long drive on the family in a place that’s not baby friendly.
Thanks for any input!!
Bigfootsbooots@reddit
If you want to avoid stressful driving then Loch Lomond might not be a good fit. There’s a specific stretch of road that is very narrow and heavily trafficked - a lot of visitors find it quite scary and damage their cars trying to hug the rocky edge of the road. IMO it’s hairier than any of the high passes further north.
I’d say both are very outdoors-based so it depends what your wee family are capable of or want to do. I guess Loch Lomond could involve a boat ride. Glencoe has the ski lift up to the top of the mountain which could be fun.
I’m not sure you have the right idea of Glencoe as you say it’s close to a city centre. It’s 3ish hours from Edinburgh and maybe 2.5 from Glasgow, so pushing the limits of your drive time. Loch Lomond is by far the shorter drive.
A couple of weeks a long time for Edinburgh! Are you visiting family? There are shorter trips that might be less stressful and just as fun. e.g. Fife has some fabulous beaches. You could always save the highlands for when the kid can enjoy hiking with you.
Rexel450@reddit
I got chased by an HGV once!
He wanted to go way faster than I did.
Bigfootsbooots@reddit
Yeah you’ll get a lot of that in highland roads - best thing to do is to pull over and let faster traffic clear, keeps it flowing safely for everyone. On this specific stretch there’s nowhere to do that, so obviously not cool to try and pressure someone to go faster (I mean that’s never ok, but here there’s not even anything they can do about it!)
Rexel450@reddit
It's not like I could have gone faster anyway, I had cars and vans in front of me.
Houseofsun5@reddit
What city center is near Glencoe?? Is this a new Glencoe I don't know about?
FlargMaster@reddit (OP)
Ha. Sorry, I meant “town” of Glencoe. I know it consists of like one road.
Houseofsun5@reddit
I think town is very much over stating it too, the population is in the low hundreds, if you're expecting a high street with a supermarket and Starbucks you're going to be disappointed.
herne_hunted@reddit
The epicness of Loch Lomond depends on where you're coming from. Coming from the English midlands we thought it was spectacular but as we went further north we realised that it was only average in Highland terms.
Having said that, it's very pretty, the paths are easier, there are toilets and cafe, and there's even a beach.
The roads around the loch can indeed be crowded but only by comparison with the rest of the Highlands. We went by train and dodged that issue but we were based in Glasgow and it's an easy trip up to Balloch - coming from Edinburgh would be a longer and more expensive journey.
xxjonesyx99xx@reddit
I prefer Loch Lomond personally but Glencoe is also really nice
FlargMaster@reddit (OP)
Oh cool. What do you prefer about it?
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