British people. The prime target market for Scotland's tourism

Bit by bit, VisitScotland, the quango which handles tourism for the country, is getting its act together under new management.

They’ve just released some data from market research which shows who visits Scotland on holiday from our own land. Now this is better than the stuff they usually concentrate on, getting Australians back, and attracting Americans.

The old VisitScotland management liked all the junkets in New York too much for my liking. No one said anything about the UK visitors a year ago. Yet the UK accounts for 80% of all the visitors to Scotland.

They have identified several market segments for visitors to Scotland. In the way it has been published it is almost impossible to do anything with the data. Additionally it is four years old!

Anyway, here is a short summary. Warm Affluent southerners, as they call the prime market segment. Mostly professionals, average age 49, they like outdoor activities, and have some kind of relationship with Scotland already, through family or University. They’ve got the most dosh to spend and they use Bed and breakfast and self catering.

Young domestic explorers is the next group, aged 25-45, either couples, singles, or young families. They book at short notice very often. They come from the North of England or Scotland. Rather low on disposable income but high on internet bookings.

Next are the Mature devotees. Often retired, they prefer hotels and Bed and Breakfast and go touring a lot. Usually from the North of England and Scotland, they look for offers but tend not to use the internet.

The 4th group is called Affluent active devotees, those people who are fairly energetic, in their middle years. They like the outdoors, good restaurants, and stay in hotels.

VisitScotland has also identified a couple of what they call “cold” market segments, not so good for Scotland.

These are; Southern travel Junkies, average age 45, who take most of their holidays abroad. They don’t like Scotland too much. The final group is Northern Sometimes. They keep fit, use gyms, are image conscious, not good for Scotland.

Our experience in Bayview cottage.

We have had about 200 families stay with us. All kinds, all shapes, all sizes they’ve been, and all nice bar two. We’ve made some very good friends.

Most of them, 80%, are British, with about of these 20% coming from Scotland, particularly for short breaks off season. Professional people have been very prominent, the biggest concentration of guests. They split into, families with youngsters in their teens, couples, young and middle aged, then families with little ones,

We know what they like to do on holiday, and we know how they find our cottage on the internet. We ask them, they tell us.

They do love the place, even if it rains. But they much prefer it if it is sunnier, obviously. They like the local facilities, the meals out and have no complaints about the amenities. I have not heard one complaint about a restaurant, for example. Well, I did have a couple about an expensive restaurant which closed down.

Our website receives a very large number of visitors each year, one of the biggest in the area. Many are looking for information about Glencoe not necessarily for accommodation.

We have only one cottage to let. So the visitors looking for accommodation are disappointed with us because either we are full up every week except the off peak season, or else they are looking for short term lets, on odd days of the week, and we cannot do that.

Sorry, folks, for late bookings, and short breaks in the peak season you need the big self catering complexes.

Some of these that I know of personally in the area are:
6 cottages above Onich, with wonderful views
A large complex of cottages and chalets on the shore at Onich
Loch Leven Chalets on the shore side
Different cottages owned by the Clachaig

John
Here are some other links
Different holiday cottages around Scotland in the Autumn, Winter, Spring
Bed and breakfast and hotels around our area Lochaber and Lorne
Find Holiday cottages anywhere
Wonderful photographs of Glencoe
Appin one of the glories of Scotland
Walks, 20 of them in Glencoe
Walking hills in Glencoe
Walk Ben Nevis one day?
Munroes mountains in Glencoe

Late booking visitors to Glencoe are lucky. They can have their details circulated to everyone

Up to 400 accommodation requests a year are being circulated to B&Bs, hotels, Camp sites, Caravan parks and self caterers in the Glencoe and Loch Leven area.

If you are a visitor to the Glencoe area, and your chosen hotel or B&B is already booked then with your agreement your request for accommodation will be circulated immediately to others in the area and you should be fixed up. Is that good, or is that good?

Roughly a year ago - don't hit me for the exact date - the boss of the Clachaig hotel, Ed Daynes, found a bit of software from somewhere, which enabled a mass circulation of emails. He offered it to the members of the Glencoe and Loch Leven Marketing Association. When his own accommodation was full, his girls asked visitors if they would like to have their details circulated to others in the area. Most of them said "yes".

It was slow at first, but after a while several other guests houses and a couple of hotels added their overflow to the circulation. Now, the running rate of requests is about 10 a week, and it will increase in the school holidays.

I don't know about you but I reckon it is a blinking good idea. 

John 

ps They've got a new visitor website now which is very modern, and looks good. There is a link to it on the left hand panel.

20 brilliant walks around our cottage area
Easy hill walks in Glencoe
Why not walk up Ben Nevis one day
Easier Munroe walks in Glencoe
Rock and Ice climbing in Glencoe
Cycling and fishing Glencoe
Spectacular wild life around our cottage
Golf in the Highlands, Dragons tooth golf course, Glencoe
Cruising the islands, using Glencoe as a base
Safe, beautiful beaches and bays in Glencoe area
Touring the Highlands by car from Glencoe
Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe
Winter breaks, Jan Feb March in the cottage
Autumn breaks November December in the cottage

Borrow our cottage clubs, use the voucher for Dragons Tooth Golf Club, Glencoe

Isn't this a totally delightful Golf Course? It is under new management and it is doing well. It is a very dry course so that is good news. Not difficult - well, it is for me, but not for a proper golfer. It sits beside the entrance to Loch Leven and is a couple of miles from our cottage. We keep some LH and RH clubs at the cottage in case guess want to use them, and we recommend it. Good meals there, as well, not expensive and visitors are welcome. Margaret, at the course, has kindly given us some vouchers so that guests can play at reduced fees. Try it. You'll enjoy it.

John

ps we have a week avalable in April still. Just go to our availability and price link and email us from there. The traditional cottage sleeps 4 and has been fully updated and modernised. Very pretty, by the lochside.

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage
20 brilliant walks around our cottage area
Spectacular wild life around our cottage
Golf in the Scottish highlands, Dragons tooth golf course, Glencoe
Weather in the mountains of Glencoe
Weather month by month in the area
Scotlands weather misconceptions
The Viking battle in Glencoe
The true story of the Glencoe massacre
Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe
Honeymoon cottages in Scotland
Find the best Scottish holiday cottages on the internet
Cut the costs of your holidays
Cheap travel in scotland
The Clachaig Inn - great atmosphere in this world famous climbers pub
The Glencoe and Loch Leven Association with 40 B&Bs
Email 14 properties with one click
The new Glencoe Skiing centre information website
Essential information for holidaymakers in Scotland, in one page
Video. Skiing on Glencoe mountain

Great! The latch is fixed. A plonkers guide to getting things done.

"What's that noise? Someone is banging about downstairs. Go and see"
"No, I'm in bed."
"So am I, get downstairs, you baby."

If Ewen wasn't a man I could have kissed him. He was doing the latch on our back door. It has taken six months to fix, I can't do it, being a plonker at DIY and repairs. Better with the chat, me.

All joiners, decorators, handymen, electricians, gardeners, builders in the Glencoe area have a unique marketing style. What Starbucks are to Carpet bomb marketing, they are to Stealth marketing. "Keep your head down lads, and maybe the customer will go away"

Here is how you find a joiner. You drive up and down, and spot one working on the house opposite Catherine's place at Fern Villa. You grab him by the arm, and sell him on the idea of maybe coming to see your job. His name is Ewen, and he does it!

Here is how you find a Glencoe decorator. You ask enough people at the stores, you'll get a name. "Oh, but he is working at the hotel for the next 50 years," they'll tell you. So you now have a name and a location. You've got to con your way past Reception, so look a bit wet, take a notebook in your hand with a pencil in your ear and march up the hotel stairs confidently like a maintenance man. Ask around up there and you'll find him.

Here is how you find a Glencoe electrician. You march into the coffee shop his wife runs, and sooner or later he'll turn up wanting a hamburger. Then you go into your sales pitch again.

Gardener? Ring, go to his place of work three times, text him, ring his home, email him, and seven days later he'll call you in his friendliest manner. From Benderloch, of course.

Thank Heavens for our housekeeper Michelle. Without her, we'd be lost. She is in love with a horse at the moment.

These folks, when you get them, are very very good at their jobs. Really expert. We can't get better ones in the South. We'd be hard pressed to find ones anywhere near as good.

All of this is true. We go to the cottage every winter to catch up with things. Hamish the lovely decorator, tells us why we usually find so little needs to be done. "If you keep your place in good order, well maintained, as you do, then the guests will look after it for you."

You know what? He's right. Thanks guests. You've never let us down yet.

John
ps I suppose I ought to try and sell you something. How about the week starting April 16th? No one booked in then. No, why should we give anyone a special price, we'll let it anyway before then? Oh go on, then, if you write in the subject line of your email "10% off", then we'll give it to you. Only 'cos we like you.

Useful links.
Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage
Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe
Weather in the mountains of Glencoe
Weather month by month in the area
Scotlands weather misconceptions
The Viking battle in Glencoe
The true story of the Glencoe massacre
Honeymoon cottages in Scotland
Find the best Scottish holiday cottages on the internet
Cut the costs of your holidays
Cheap travel in scotland
The Clachaig Inn - great atmosphere in this world famous climbers pub
The Glencoe and Loch Leven Association with 40 B&Bs
Email 14 properties with one click
The Friends of Glencoe network site
The new Glencoe Skiing centre information website

Huge amount of snow in Glencoe. It is wonderful

Here is the report I've just received from Andy Meldrum at the Glencoe Mountain Ski resort. What a time for a new business to take over a ski range, huh? (We've still for a weekend break available in the cottage from next Friday, and a week available from the following Friday after that, the 12th. See the previous blog for details)

John
---------------------

It's been snowing!!! (says Andy)
If you've not already heard it's been snowing at Glencoe over the last 48hrs........
.......not just a few inches but feet at the bottom of the hill and metres at the top.
Unfortunately we don't have any pictures as everyone has been too busy digging.

The report from the hill tonight is:-

Lots and lots of fresh snow. Not only have the team spent the day digging out lifts, they intend working through the night to ensure that all runs and tow tracks are in the best shape possible for tomorrow. All runs are expected to open with the exception of the flypaper (big avalanche risk). It is possible to ski to the carpark on deep soft snow.

It looks like being an awesome weekends skiing with moderate NE winds and an 80% chance of cloud free munros according to the mountain weather information service.

I look forward to seeing you on the hill.
Andy

--------------
RANNOCH MOOR ROAD, was closed but it should open quite quickly.

If you get stuck before crossing the Moor, then continue in the Oban direction until you get to Connel. Turn North there over the Etive bridge, and go up the Appin coast, the scenery will take your breath away, go past our cottage and then you'll get to Ballachulish, Glencoe asnd Fort William. The Rannoch road is rarely closed but it has been to-day, and they clear it quickly.

The road in front of our cottage rarely gets very deep in snow. Being right on the coast helps, we have a little micro climate there. More sunshine, a bit less rain, than in the Glen.

AVALANCHE ON THE BUCHAILLE.

It is always so tragic that in the midst of all this splendour and beauty the real rish of extreme danger still lurks. New snow on top of old does the damage. It is an objective danger and there is little you can do about it apart from being very wary in the obviously dangerous gullies and steep hillsides. Terribly sad. We've had a lot this year in Scotland.

John
The Glencoe skiing new web site, looks lovely

Skiing Glencoe and Nevis range, cottage is midway between the two
Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage
Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe
Winter breaks in the cottage
Weather in the mountains of Glencoe
The Viking battle in Glencoe
The true story of the Glencoe massacre
Weather month by month in the area

LOCAL GLENCOE SITES.
The Clachaig Inn
The Glencoe and Loch Leven Association with 40 B&Bs
Email 14 properties with one click
The Friends of Glencoe network site

Fabulous February weather in Glencoe. Oh yes, entirely possible. Cottage offer

Cottage breaks in February. Short break £199, one week £295, sleeps 4 all mod cons
These are the normal rates, but we will cut them in half for you for some dates.

Click here for availability Feb/Mar/Apl

Feb 1st Fri short break, and Feb 12 Mon short break at half price. Only to readers of this blog.
Email us and put "Half Price Offer" in the Subject line, then we'll know. kentalleninfo@ yahoo.co.uk

Better than January, less wet than November and December, less rain, more daylight, this is the weather in Glencoe in February. The weather in Kentallen is considerably better even than this. Wet gets dumped in the Glen but usually it must come over the mountains behind the cottage from the South-west. When the weather is bad in our bay, we go west to Ardnamuchan. Doesn't always work but more often than not it does.

When it is sunny in February, it takes your breath away. It is such a joy to be alive.

Feb 1955. Imagine a lad of 20, just out of National Service. Motor bike broken down, - there used to be a garage by the Ballachulish hotel. They order up a part from Norton in Birmingham- remember Norton? - it comes via AA road patrols within 24 hours. Wow!


Meanwhile, said young chap decides to pop up the Aonach Eagach ridge. Not the cleverest thing to do solo, maybe, but on the other hand he's climbed for four years, done the Alps, the Cuillins, North Wales, left a note of where he was going, the usual stuff. Health and Safety would have something to say to-day, so would other busybodies. ("Yes, it is all very well, John, but you put the lives of others at risk, too") Yeah right. You've got one life to live in this world. So have they. I'd be grateful but it is their decision too. ("Yes, John but what about the cost of patching you up, broken limbs, brain damage?") Ok if you want to win that much, you win, I give in.
The weather was totally stunning. Blue sky all round, slight wind. Stretch out you arms and you touch the Three Sisters, to the South East is the Blackmount, Ben Cruachan a bit to the South in the distance, Schiehallion a long way away but looking very proud to the East, to the North, the Mamores nearby, then Ben Nevis and the Aonachs, to the West the lovely area of Morven. It is an image that remained in the young man's mind for the next 54 years. You know what, these scenes are recalled from memory, and I've probably got it wrong a bit, but the image was so powerful.

(Anyway, he didn't do all of the ridge, because he was not a total idiot, up to the top and down again. Don't solo the whole ridge in Winter. You'll terrify yourself and probably die. Unless you are really good, that is. The Ice Factor people could do it)
Sunshine in Scotland in February is no less than 28 hours more than in January, virtually double. Not this year perhaps, because January has been brilliant against the average. Only an average of 14 days of rain as well in February. There is over 10% more daylight as well.
The problem is the cold particularly up high. It gets colder by 2 c degrees for every 1,000 feet you climb. The top of Bidean is 8 c degrees colder than sea level. The annual average air temperature there is –0.3 c degrees. The coldest months are January and February, once the snow falls then it stays widely on the tops until April. But the lowest temperatures in Scotland are inland and not on the West Coast.
The real trouble with height is the wind chill. As the wind rises over the hills it increases in power. In January you have 7 hours of daylight. It takes 7 hours to get to the top of Ben Nevis and back down, and you need to allow at least a spare hour in case of trouble. So start before dawn. Ugh! The temperature at the top, with a strong wind can be -20 or worse. Bidean at 1150m is slightly lower than Ben Nevis at 1344m but not all that much.
Try high level walking. It is wonderful. Otherwise crash out at the Clachaig, swap mountain stories with others, and hope it is going to clear.
John

ps Oh, and you can get a weekend break, or a midweek break in our lovely little lochside cottage about 4 miles from Glencoe. The weather is often less wild there at Kentallen.

Skiing Glencoe and Nevis range, cottage is midway between the two


Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland

Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage

Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe

Winter breaks in the cottage

Weather in the mountains of Glencoe

The Viking battle in Glencoe

The true story of the Glencoe massacre

Weather month by month in the area

HOW DID VISITSCOTLAND GET INTO THIS STATE?

On a hot day in June, Gillian and I thought to stay on Tiree for a few days. We had heard about it so often on the weather forecasts, we just wondered....

We got a Scottish Tourist Board catalogue. The Island looked nice. The book showed three self catering properties and a couple of hotels - one of them on Coll I think.

We didn't think there would be much to choose between the islands, silly us. we were young and ignorant. It was 1978 after all.

There were only three ways to find B&Bs or self catering in those days. You sent off for the Scottish Tourist board (later VisitScotland) catalogue or you called in at one of their many Tourist offices around the country. Their catalogues were then, and are to-day beautfiully designed. The third way was to go there and take pot luck in finding somewhere. That's more my style, but not Gills. We had a lovely time.

I've just looked up Coll and Tiree on the VS website. Two hotels and one self-catering. Both islands together. Then I looked up the community website for Tiree alone. 18 self catering owners and many more properties.

VisitScotland had done nothing wrong to lose that share of the market. The market shattered into fragments.

They lost their monopoly on accommodation, because more and more property owners started to do their own marketing using the web. As a visitor to-day you can still take the VS catalogue, you can still respond to small ads in the Travel Sections of the papers, you can still get referrals from friends, and pick up leaflets, you can still drive past and hope for luck - well, not for self catering maybe, but for B&B certainly. But the proportion of visitors doing things in this traditional way is getting smaller by the minute. One large modern commercial holiday facility with a world-wide reputation reports that only 17% of its business involves "literature" For them, and for most, past users and referrals are still big, but the biggest is the web.

Even the web itself is fragmented. You can find agencies which will book you into properties, charging owners from 25% to 35% and making a surcharge on the buyers as well. VS does this, but at lower cost. Owners often don't like agencies. We got shot of the only one we ever used within six months.

You can find directories which list the property details and the website together with photos and you can contact the owners direct. For this owners only need simple and cheap websites but the owners rely heavily on three or four listing directories plus repeats and referrals.

You can find community sites where everyone gets together for marketing their
area. Or you can search Google or Yahoo and find property owners websites for yourselves.

I love it. I've spent 53 years full time at the highest levels of marketing, around the world and I've never ever imagined a medium so rich, so quick, so responsive to ideas.

I made a change to our website last week and already I am excited to see the initial response. Last week? The web is wiping out industries as we speak and will wipe out more. VS was caught in the turmoil.

It is no good owners complaining that VS does not get them as many bookings as they feel it should. It can't. I can list our site openly on Undiscoveredscotland.com for about £70 a year, and also give them our late availability weeks to push. If they get me only three bookings a year that is an ad cost of under 4%. Sign up to three or four others and I'm in business with that kind of cost ratio. I'd still rather get my own visitors.

Are visitors who use VS happy with the grading facilities? I think they are very happy indeed in the main. We use it ourselves to find B&Bs, (but we do not book through it) My pal booked a two week tour of Scotland for four people through it, and each of us was very happy with the properties.

But practically all owner-members have complaints about VS, and these days if VS inspectors start getting stroppy with what they want, then owners tend to shrug their shoulders and
leave. When they do so they tell everyone they know about it, so the rot spreads.

The VS marketing and the grading systems need re-engineering. At one time so did ship building, textiles, gas lighting, candlestick makers, monocles, coal mines, horse and carriages, peat gathering, girdles, snuff taking, musket balls, right back to flint knapping. It never comes back in the way it was.

I'll suggest how to re-engineer in another piece.
John Winkler
bayviewkentallen.co.uk

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Fort William and the accommodation to the South
Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage
Honeymoon cottages in Scotland
Weather in the mountains of Glencoe
Cottages Scotland and Coastal cottages
Scotland, how to find them
Weather month by month in the area
Last minute, short breaks, in Scotland, owners sites direct
Scotlands weather misconceptions
Facts about self catering holidays
Short holiday breaks, special last minute deals, self catering Scotland
Special self catering offers in Scotland
Advice on driving in Scotland
Skiing in Glencoe

Where does VisitScotland go from here?

I'm not known to be VisitScotland's best friend in their Facebook entry.

Some people have campaigned against them, others have petitioned the Scottish parliament, everyone has a story to tell about them which makes them look silly.

I'm not a member of VS but I'm one of their best friends.

Listen.

Gillian and I knew Scotland and its accommodation thirty years ago. To say that standards were pretty awful gives a new meaning to the word pretty.

We've just had a week at B&Bs in Orkney with Dumfries and Sutherland on the way. They were all brilliant. Standards were matchless. You won't beat them anywhere in the world.

They don't get many bookings from VisitScotland, and three out of five of them have pulled out. The last one said that their inspector wanted them to have furniture all with dovetail joints.
Another, in an old traditional building, had walls which were not at right angles. Another did not put parsley out with breakfast. Another did not have an underlay in some minor room which no one used. The inspectors use personal whims and fancies so they say.

In the Golden Mile in Fort William there are 38 B&Bs all doing well. In every one the standard will be world-class I'm sure. Only 9 of them are now in VisitScotland. But nearly all of them used to be in membership in days gone past.

That's the problem. VisitScotland without a doubt has set the standards for hotels, B&Bs and self catering. Without any doubt. But once the standards are set, then there is no point in being in membership. I believe that the standards they have achieved in the past are the envy of the English and Welsh Tourist associations.

So VisitScotland should be universally admired. But the words "by" "sell" "past" and "date" come to mind.

Unless, of course, members get bookings from VS. Now there is the rub.

People say they are not getting bookings from VS. In Stromness they tell me that their local VS office is far more important to them than the central booking service. Of course it is. They can grab the local girl by the throat if she slips up and they can't do that with a call centre.

The world has moved on from the days of hard copy directories and leaflets. Most people are Googling what they want. I can go to Google maps. Enter . I can then drag the map to Kentallen along the coast and find a nice cottage there. Where I want it. Ours. How easy is that? For hotels and B&Bs I can read visitors' reviews through Trip Advisor.

VS is trying to re-create the past. It is not at the forefront of the internet.

It is still very good at what it does traditionally, i.e. inspecting properties and creating booklets. Although these days it has not recognised the fact that most properties meet the standards they have set and they don't need now to go over the top.

It is very good at promoting Scotland generally. We've had masses of television programmes in England about Scotland. That may be due to Vs, or not. Don't know.

But it is all overbloated. Too many committees. Too many centralised managers. Stuck in past marketing ideas.

Slim it all down lads, take it easy. You've done most of the job that had to be done, so settle down to maintenance. Just bed in the new owners properly. You do that well.

John
ps We've put up two new pages in our site. Technical stuff really providing these links.

Fort William and the accommodation to the South
Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage
Several cottages in the Fort William, Glencoe and Appin areas

Buy your own ski slopes in Glencoe

I ski like a haggis.

In my book salopets are nice tame little animals which need no feeding or cleaning and love you for ever.

Gondolas are for lazing in, attached to Italians, punting.

Buying the Glencoe skiing slopes is as far removed from my imagination as cycling fish. It is Scotland's oldest ski resort.

But someone will do it, you can bet. The slopes were in administration last year, brought back to life and are now being offered for sale.

According to Ski forums;
"I believe they've costed a gondola system as well as other improvements and also have plans for on-site accommodation and other facilities"

"it's an awesome place ... but then do we really want the general population to know about it and crowd the slopes ... not sure"

"It has some steep runs and great scenery. "

Here is the link to the details; http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1125170?UserKey=


Even late in the year, now, there is snow for skiing on the tops. Here is the Nevis Range ski report for to-day:

Date: 06-04-2009 at 08:32
Current weather : CURRENT WEATHER Dry & clear with good visibility. Wind/temp top station: SW 10-20mph, 4CWeather Forecast : FORECAST FOR MONDAYDry, bright morning. Rain or snow above 750m. Wind/temp at 900m: SE 15-20mph > 30-35mph, 3C < 1CSnow level : 800Vertical runs : 400Runs : Weather looks settled until mid afternoon. Fresh soft wind blown snow on summit, upper Goose and Warrens runs. Goose from tower 4 up is complete.Access/downloading on Goose chair. Dry slope for beginners & lower abilities. Back Corrie off-piste and unpatrolled; the walk out is about 25 minutesTerrain Park - features for all levels of ability.

John
ps Someone just said that you can eat haggis. That must be where I'm going wrong.

Skiing in Glencoe and Nevis Range
Our lochside cottage near Glencoe
Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage
Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe
Weather in the mountains of Glencoe
Weather month by month in the area
Skiing in Glencoe
New website to help find holiday accommodation in the West Coast, Oban and Fort William areas
Tourist and visitor information, this is the biggest Glencoe information site, hotel and cottage accommodation
Events in Glencoe Appin Lochaber Oban and Ballachulish
Last minute, short breaks, in Scotland, owners sites direct
Find the best Scottish holiday cottages on the internet
Cut the costs of your holidays
Cheap travel in scotland
Scotlands weather misconceptions
Rain in scotland
Summer weather in Scotland
Autumn weather in Scotland
Winter weather in Scotland
Spring weather in Scotland
Facts about self catering holidays
Advice on driving in Scotland
The Demand A82 upgrade campaign site

A walk up the Pap of Glencoe in Winter

This lovely mountain is the Pap of Glencoe. It is about 2500 feet and at a leisurely 1,000 feet an hour you can tell how long it would take up and down. Easy stuff, but brilliant view from the top.

Legend has it that a MacDonald piper broadcast a lament about the Massacre to tell the other clans about it - that would be just after February 14th, in 1692.

Here is a report from two of our friendliest returning guests, who stayed with us in January.

"We had a good week despite poor weather as it forced us to relax a bit - we had a wet wander near Port Appin, a fun visit to the Oban Sealife centre, a day on Beinn Sguilaird (near Creagan) (v windy), a walk up the Pap of Glencoe, a day on Garbh Bheinn (over the Corran ferry) and a lazy day with a swim in Fort William."
Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe
Last minute, late availability Glencoe, self catering cottage
Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Weather in the mountains of Glencoe
Weather month by month in the area
Skiing in Glencoe
New website to help find holiday accommodation in the West Coast, Oban and Fort William areas
Tourist and visitor information, this is the biggest Glencoe information site, hotel and cottage accommodation
Events in Glencoe Appin Lochaber Oban and Ballachulish
Last minute, short breaks, in Scotland, owners sites direct
Find the best Scottish holiday cottages on the internet
Cut the costs of your holidays
Cheap travel in scotland
Scotlands weather misconceptions
Rain in scotland
Summer weather in Scotland
Autumn weather in Scotland
Winter weather in Scotland
Spring weather in Scotland
Facts about self catering holidays
Advice on driving in Scotland
The Demand A82 upgrade campaign site

Amazing weather in Glencoe - right now

Picture shows the Pap of Glencoe from the Kentallen road. Isn't the whole place stunning?

Here is the most amazing thing. Right now, the UK news bulletins are full of horror stories involving cold weather, deep snow in the East of Scotland, cars benighted, emergency services at full stretch, and worse to come. The worst snowfalls in the UK for 20 years they say!

What have we got in our little micro climate at Kentallen? Well, nothing but peace and calm. And we have quite high temperatures.

I've just looked up the weather station report from Mark our neighbour. This is what it says:

Dry, wind wnw force 1, no gusts humidity 55% (quite low). Temperature 6.9C no windchill at Kentallen cottage on 2/2/09 at 20.55.

It is very very much warmer here on the Scottish West Coast than on the East. It is the Gulf Stream and all that which does it.

Here at Kentallen, we have a different climate from Glencoe itself, because Glencoe, although it is just around the corner, is just over the hill. A 3,000 foot hill. And our climate in Kentallen is different again from that on Rannoch Moor. Now the Rannoch plain is one where you definitely do not want to be stuck overnight. Not unless you have a duvet sleeping bag, plenty of spare clothes, and a hot thermos. They'll get you out ok, but you want to be warm and still breathing when they do.

But here at Kentallen, all is peaceful bliss. Snow on the hills of course, brilliant skiing both at the Glencoe centre and at Nevis range. Brilliant high level walks.

By the way our cottage this month costs only £290 for the week. That is half the standard price

John
ps We can sometimes, very occasionally, get horizontal rain driven with the force of an AK47. Oh, very occasionally, of course. "A wee bit damp" they say.
pps. Here is a link to a page which gives you all the weather information, month by month for the region. Weather month by month in the area

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Skiing in Glencoe
New website to help find holiday accommodation in the West Coast, Oban and Fort William areas
Tourist and visitor information, this is the biggest Glencoe information site, hotel and cottage accommodation
Events in Glencoe Appin Lochaber Oban and Ballachulish
Last minute, short breaks, in Scotland, owners sites direct
Find the best Scottish holiday cottages on the internet
Cut the costs of your holidays
Cheap travel in scotland
Scotlands weather misconceptions
Rain in scotland
Summer weather in Scotland
Autumn weather in Scotland
Winter weather in Scotland
Spring weather in Scotland
Facts about self catering holidays
Advice on driving in Scotland
The Demand A82 upgrade campaign site

February Ski Report Ben Nevis area, Nevis range

Another ski report, if you are thinking of flying high. These two months, February and March are the best for skiing in Glencoe or the Nevis range.

If you read it you'll see how you can learn to ski for less than half the usual price, with plenty of other offers.


SKI REPORT
Nevis Range
Date: 01-02-2009 at 08:06
Current weather : CURRENT WEATHER Dry & Clear, windy. Wind & temp top station: SE 15-45mph, -1C Weather Forecast : FORECAST FOR SUNDAYDry day with some clouds and bright spells. Wind & temp at 900m: SE 30-40mph, -2 < -4CSnow level : 300Vertical runs : 550Runs : RUNS Set up firm overnight, grooming is coming up well. Wind speeds are still high. Lower lifts only to start with - will review as day goes on to try and open more lifts. Despite the recent thaw, most main runs are complete with good cover. Lower area has most runs complete with groomed snow but there are some bare patches.
Gondola expected to open Trainer Rope Tow expected to open Great Glen Chair closed Snowgoose Chair expected to open Summit Button expected to open Braveheart Chair closed
Linnhe/Lochy Button expected to open Alpha Button expected to open Rob Roy T-bar closed Goose T-bar expected to open Warren's T-bar expected to open
Additional Comments: : If you have never, ever skied or boarded before LEARN NOW for £100, less than 1/2 price! Includes 'any 5 days in the season' lift pass, 3 lessons + equipment hire on tuesdays and thursdays in January or February. Phone 01397 705825 for details.CLIMBERS GONDOLA 8am sharp. GONDOLA open 9-4.30.Access roads : ROADS Clear


John
Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Weather in the mountains of Glencoe
Weather month by month in the area
Skiing in Glencoe
New website to help find holiday accommodation in the West Coast, Oban and Fort William areas
Tourist and visitor information, this is the biggest Glencoe information site, hotel and cottage accommodation
Events in Glencoe Appin Lochaber Oban and Ballachulish
Last minute, short breaks, in Scotland, owners sites direct
Find the best Scottish holiday cottages on the internet
Cut the costs of your holidays
Cheap travel in scotland
Scotlands weather misconceptions
Rain in scotland
Summer weather in Scotland
Autumn weather in Scotland
Winter weather in Scotland
Spring weather in Scotland
Facts about self catering holidays
Advice on driving in Scotland
The Demand A82 upgrade campaign site

Mountain lectures Glencoe start

Thought some of you would be interested in these free Clachaig lectures.

Tuesdays, 8.00, February until mid March.

The Clachaig, at the end of the Old Road, Glencoe, (through the woods) has the best and most framous climbers bar in the world. Everyone in climbing ends up in this bar sooner or later.

Good for a bar meal as well.

Recommended.

John

John
Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Weather in the mountains of Glencoe
Weather month by month in the area
Skiing in Glencoe
New website to help find holiday accommodation in the West Coast, Oban and Fort William areas
Tourist and visitor information, this is the biggest Glencoe information site, hotel and cottage accommodation
Events in Glencoe Appin Lochaber Oban and Ballachulish
Last minute, short breaks, in Scotland, owners sites direct
Find the best Scottish holiday cottages on the internet
Cut the costs of your holidays
Cheap travel in scotland
Scotlands weather misconceptions
Rain in scotland
Summer weather in Scotland
Autumn weather in Scotland
Winter weather in Scotland
Spring weather in Scotland
Facts about self catering holidays
Advice on driving in Scotland
The Demand A82 upgrade campaign site

Good outlook for self catering holidays in Scotland this coming summer

It is unbelieveably beautiful in Scotland at the moment. This shows the Pap of Glencoe, picture taken in November.

Because self catering offers the finest value for money holiday you can buy, and because the Summer weather is forecasted to be good this year for Scotland, this should turn out to be a good year for Highland visitors.

For example our cottage would cost you only £21 per head per night at peak season. The comparative costs for hotels and B+B would be higher. Ok, so camping would be cheaper, I grant you that.

The USA weather prediction centre has pointed out that the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic has stablilised for the first time in years, and also that the warm waters of the Pacific, La Nina, which affects the winds in the upper atmosphere will push the cold air stream much further North. This bodes well for Scottish weather.

So many cottages will be full in the Summer. With money being tight, people will book later and later, but our advice is not to leave it too late.

Have a lovely time wherever you go, though.

John Winkler

Lochside cottage for self catering in near Glencoe
Availability for the lochside cottage near Glencoe always up to date
Autumn Breaks October November December Glencoe< Winter breaks January February March in Glencoe
Spring breaks, March April May Glencoe
Tourist information glencoe and ballachulish
Facilities for visitors to glencoe, appin and lochaber
Prices in the cottage including low season rates
How to lower your holiday costs
Events and entertainment in Glencoe and Appin
The best way to find your holiday cottage on the internet
News and stories of Glencoe, Appin and Lochaber
Travellers Tales of the Highlands of Scotland blog site
Short holiday breaks in 12 top properties, special last minute deals, self catering Scotland
Special self catering offers in Scotland blog site
Misconceptions about Scottish weather
Wonderful walks in the Glencoe area
Helpful guide for holiday home owners with their web sites blog site