(no subject)

[winterbadger]

OK, lucky people, you get to participate in a nonbinding, straw poll and it isn't even primary season in Iowa!

I'm looking at five possibilities, so far, for accomodation for my trip in September. They are

Torcroft Lodges, near Glenurquhart and Loch Ness
the Junipers, in a village near the mountains
Cragievar Cottage near Cromarty, in the country near the Moray Firth
the Woodlands apartment, near Stratpeffer, a former spa town west of Inverness
Hedgefield Corner Cottage, in Inverness itself

[Poll #1436423]

ETA: I should probably have included the link to my list of Blas feis locations, which is a major consideration in location choosing.

Just click on one of the location links on the left to center the full map.

Comments

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

For no reason at all, except it's the prettiest.

[winterbadger]

Pretty is important if one is spending a week in the same place.

[wolfette]

Inverness makes a good base for lots of stuff, and has lots going on in town these days. check out Moniack Castle winery nearby

[winterbadger]

Thanks for the tip!

Being in town has its disadvantages (a bit more traffic for the novice UK driver to deal with), but I would also be able to walk to many of the venues in the city, and it would be more like actually living in a place as I shall be (wherever I land I imagine it won't be in a country cottage, at least not for a while), which after all is the point of renting one place for a week.

[wolfette]

I've driven in Inverness as a novice driver (one of the first places I went after I passed my test). It's not London or Edinburgh - and yes, it's a small enough "city" to walk to a lot of places.

[winterbadger]

Just checked, and it's a ~25 minute walk to the Eden Court Theatre, the main in-town venue. Probably less if Google Maps could comprehend the footbridge about a block south of the theatre (instead of making one go all the way up to the road bridge at the aptly named Bridge St.)

[kmusser]

Junipers in Aviemore would probably be my recommendation - absolutely gorgeous area, lots to do without feeling crowded. Dangerously close to my favorite distillery :-)

Cromarty and Stratpeffer are pretty similar in their distance to other stuff. Black Isle was on our list to see but we didn't quite make it there, if I was picking for myself it would probably be Cromarty just because it's closest to the ocean. It's also the most remote of your choices if that's what you're going for.

The Glenurquhart area I found very touristy, I'd avoid.

Inverness itself doesn't have a lot going for it other than the convenience of being in a real city rather than the boonies.

[winterbadger]

Cromarty and Strathpeffer are actually close to a concentration of the more northerly events. I realised I didn't reproduce the link to my map of feis locations, so I've added that.

Yeah, I've never been north of Inverness, especially on the east coast, and the history program I was thinking of joining is in Dornoch, so I'll probably travel up that way even if I'm not staying there.

[kmusser]

Yeah, if your headed north of Inverness anyway the Black Isle would be nice - looks like Strathpeffer would be very convenient location-wise.

[cmlc.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I just looked at the pictures! And the Woodlands looks by far the least like a wee modern box. Second best is Hedgefield Corner Cottage because that at least looks vaguely cottagey.

[winterbadger]

Excellent--thanks for your input!