£100 off pretty lochside cottage September, £50 off October

We have the last weeks of September available at the moment, and some weeks in October, so we have made price reductions. Email lochsidecottage@yahoo.co.uk   or click on the headline to this post and you will go through to our website. Lovely email from Hilary.
Hi John
We had a lovely time in Scotland, the cottage was great and in such a good position for exploring.  I wrote a detailed account in the feedback book. Thank you for thinking about just about everything - we borrowed a couple of wet weather items but generally the weather was really good - with 3 days full of sunshine , even had to get the suncream out on one day. Jim got bitten by midges but the boys and I remained unscathed.    Highlight of the week was the trip to the isles of Eigg and Muck with Arisaig ferries. We had brief sightings of porpoises and seals but we had a glorious 3 hours on a lovely beach at Muck shared with cows and surrounded by sheep and horses. Wonderful weather as predicted.  We then drove along the coast road to look at the white sandy beaches at Morar and had a fish supper at Mallaig before the drive back to the house. I took a million photos- quite a few of Castle Stalker in different lights.  The scenery was beautiful.  We were lucky to have a couple of baby red deer pop out of the bushes when driving back  from  Appin on one day. Would definitely like to return, lots more to see.  Good to talk with you.
Cheers Hilary

Emails from families like Hilary's keep us going. Thank you.

Cottage breaks in the Autumn, Winter, Spring
West of Scotland hotels and B+Bs
Holiday stories of Scotland
Finding good holiday cottages in Scotland
The best photographs of Glencoe
Appin, achingly beautiful
Walks in Glencoe
Hill walks Glencoe area
Ben Nevis
Munroes in Lochaber

You can get to Staffa and Iona from our cottage in Appin. Ask Nathalie.

Dear John and Gillian. The sun was shining almost every day! It was just fantastic. We even had the sun shining on our boat trip to the Isle of Staffa and Iona. That was my personal highlight of the holiday for we saw both basking sharks and dolphins on our way to Staffa. The island itself is so beautiful and kind of...scary, dont you think? My mother loved the Isle of Iona, especially the white beach. She also fell in love with Oban and our trips to that town were really really fun. We walked very much and visited both Fort William and Inverness and it was really great. Two weeks are way to little time to see everything we wanted to see but we both want to go back as soon as possible.            Nathalie and Beate

Cottage holidays Scotland in the Autumn, Winter, Spring
B&Bs and hotels in the West of Scotland
The highlands of Scotland
Holiday cottages anywhere
Gorgeous photographs of Glencoe
Beautiful Appin, Scotland
Walks around our cottage area in Glencoe
Hill walks in Glencoe
You can walk up Ben Nevis one day?
Munroes in Glencoe

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

Visitor numbers up in the Western Isles

According to the BBC, visitor numbers throughout the Western Isles are up by between 25% and 40% on the same time last year
Apparently the Scottish government's road equivalent tariff (RET) scheme, which offers lower ferry fares, has been a factor. The scheme was launched on Western Isles routes in 2008.
The subject of Island fares charged by Calmac has been the subject of local outrage for years. Oban has always been a main focus for grumbles. The cost of living on one of the Islands is horrendous, and all services from the mainland are very expensive. Imagine getting building work or contracting from the mainland if you live on Barra. Calmac do have a difficult job in profitably maintaining safe and up to date ships for traffic that peaks for just three months of the year.
But the tourists expect to pay the normal sort of holiday charges, and the accommodation providers are squeezed hard to cover costs.
So it just shows that when the ferry costs are reduced then this works for tourists.

The cost of services is a general problem in the Highlands as a whole. We may grumble about paying 32p for a 2nd class stamp, but this is based upon delivering letters to Birmingham. Can you imagine the costs of delivering even to Ardnamurchan? Or to Glencoe come to that? That is the hang up about privatising the Post Office. Whoever takes it on will be forced to charge the same rate for delivering everywhere. If they are allowed to charge differential rates then expect postal charges in the Highlands to go up to £1 for a 2nd class stamp. Ouch!

John
Local accommodation around our area
Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Short breaks in Scotland, Last minute cottage holidays Scotland, Autumn, Winter, Spring
Holiday accommodation, B&Bs, hotels in the West of Scotland
Travellers Tales from the highlands of Scotland
Find your ideal holiday cottage anywhere
The most beautiful photographs of Glencoe
The achingly beautiful area of Appin, Scotland
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
Port Appin and Lismore B&Bs
Barcaldine B&Bs and hotels
Duror b&bs
Kentallen b&bs
Ballachulish b&bs
Onich b&bs

People sometimes drive too far in Scotland, and exhaust themselves

This is the climbing wall in the Ice Factor in Kinlochleven. Good for a rainy day just to go, have coffee and watch. Also they serve food very late in the evening, - no they don't anymore, I've just checked. Why do places need chefs to be on duty for a late snack? Microwave baked potatoes sound all right to me and even I can do that. 


We do get guests from Europe who find us by searching around the websites. They are all really nice. They tend to do too much driving very often. Petar and Jurgen did the right thing in staying in Skye. It is too far to go there and back in a day.  People do it, though. We always advise against it.

Advice on driving in Scotland. Several Scotland driving pages are linked to this

Hallo John,
We had wonderful holiday in Glencoe. The weather was not so bad. Sun and rain change very quickly, sometime it was very warm. 
Now we are on the Isle of Skye for one week and then we want to go for one week to Inverness and Loch Ness. 
The cottage was o.k. for us and we say thank you. 
Petar und Jürgen


John
Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Short breaks in Scotland, Last minute cottage holidays Scotland, Autumn, Winter, Spring
Holiday accommodation, B&Bs, hotels in the West of Scotland
Travellers Tales from the highlands of Scotland
Find your ideal holiday cottage anywhere
The most beautiful photographs of Glencoe
The achingly beautiful area of Appin, Scotland
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

FISHING AROUND GLENCOE MONSTER LANDED BY 13year old GIRL

Fishing off the old pier by tghe Stone holuse, Kentallen, Appin

Fishing story Glencoe, fishing Oban,  fishing West coast of Scotland,  fishing Loch Linnhe,  fishing Firth of Lornbe, fishing Mull
Eat your heart out fishermen of Glencoe. Bet you've never caught anything like this.

A 13-YEAR-OLD girl has landed a monster skate weighing 225.5lb on a charter boat from Oban – one of the largest caught by rod and line.

Fishing story Glencoe, fishing Oban,  fishing West coast of Scotland,  fishing Loch Linnhe,  fishing Firth of Lornbe, fishing Mull
Erin Cherry, who was on holiday with her family from Lennoxtown, near Glasgow, was fishing from the Gannet in the Firth of Lorn between eastern Mull and Easdale when she hooked the huge fish.

The female skate, caught using mackerel as bait on June 19, measured 91in from its snout to the tip of its tail and 70in across at its widest point. It was caught at a depth of 425ft.

Fishing story Glencoe, fishing Oban,  fishing West coast of Scotland,  fishing Loch Linnhe,  fishing Firth of Lornbe, fishing Mull
Adrian Lauder, owner of the Gannet, who comes from Barcaldine in Appin said: “She was very young to land a thing that size, 235lb is the biggest ever landed by a rod and line".

“I was telling her to let it run when it needed to, I didn’t want her to tire herself out. It was a good two-and-a-half hours she did landing it.

“The poor wee soul was exhausted, she staggered off the boat. Her legs must have been like rubber. Any well-built man would be doing well to land a thing that size. The pressure they put on the line, it’s like fighting a grand piano down there.”

Fishing story Glencoe, fishing Oban,  fishing West coast of Scotland,  fishing Loch Linnhe,  fishing Firth of Lornbe, fishing Mull
Erin said: “I knew it was going to be a real big fish by the tug and the gear I had to use as I’ve never used a harness to catch a fish before.

“Reeling it in was the best bit. When I saw the skate I thought, wow.

“It would be better to have more girls take up fishing,” she added.
Fishing story Glencoe, fishing Oban,  fishing West coast of Scotland,  fishing Loch Linnhe,  fishing Firth of Lornbe, fishing Mull
Mr Lauder has submitted all the information about the skate, which was released back to sea, to the Scottish Shark Tagging Programme and the Scottish Sea Anglers Conservation Network scheme

John
Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Short breaks in Scotland, Last minute cottage holidays Scotland, Autumn, Winter, Spring
Holiday accommodation, B&Bs, hotels in the West of Scotland
Travellers Tales from the highlands of Scotland
Find your ideal holiday cottage anywhere
The most beautiful photographs of Glencoe
The achingly beautiful area of Appin, Scotland
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

£100 off 28th August holiday lochside cottage Glencoe Fort William

If you are looking for 2/4 people in a pretty holiday cottage beside the loch for the last week in August look no further.


£100 off 28th August holiday lochside cottage Glencoe Fort William
Glencoe is the most famous and most beautiful glen in Scotland. Fort William is the home of the renowned Ben Nevis.


£100 off 28th August holiday lochside cottage Glencoe Fort William
The self catering cottage is equipped with full mod cons, new kitchen, new bathroom, everything you could want

£100 off 28th August holiday lochside cottage Glencoe Fort William
The wild life outside the cottage is spectacular, there is a wonderful nearby, and the famous Glencoe massacre took place just up the road. There are 20 locals walks of all kinds in the self catering cottage area

£100 off 28th August holiday lochside cottage Glencoe Fort William
The usual price for August is £595, but we have reduced this by £100 because the children have gone back to school and it is all going quieter then.

Email; kentalleninfo@yahoo.co.uk or look at the website for all the details.
Lochside holiday cottage between Glencoe and fort William in the Highlands of Scotland
John
Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Short breaks in Scotland, Last minute cottage holidays Scotland, Autumn, Winter, Spring
Holiday accommodation, B&Bs, hotels in the West of Scotland
Travellers Tales from the highlands of Scotland
Find your ideal holiday cottage anywhere
The most beautiful photographs of Glencoe
The achingly beautiful area of Appin, Scotland
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

A two centre holiday on the west Coast of Scotland? How about Glencoe and Arisaig?

You may not believe this, but it happens to be true. The weather on our side of the Glencoe mountains is significantly better than on the East side.
And if you go further West towards Arisaig it is better still. It is because the prevailing South westerlies have not yet been pushed high to dump the rain they carry - something like that. I am to metereology what mice are to jam making.

Here is another funny thing - November is not too bad a month. Wet yes, but the colours are lovely and it is not cold. Wonderful for touring around. No traffic. Gillian and I brought our parents up here in November some time ago and it was grand. The nights are getting short, true, but you can bathe in the browns and yellows of Autumn. Accommodation is cheap, too. Lowest prices of the year are offered at this time.

You can even find self catering cottage owners willing to break up the week into short stays of a few days. Well, Sheila does and so do we.

Sheila is lovely and I strongly urge you to stay with her some time at Ach na skia Croft. Her chalets are in a stunning location, they share this view towards Skye. I've pinched her picture from her site - hope you don't mind, girl.

How about a few days in our cottage, and a few days in Sheila's cottage?
Sheila's website for her cottages

John

Pretty cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands
Cottage holidays Scotland in the Autumn, Winter, Spring
B&Bs and hotels in the West of Scotland
The highlands of Scotland
Holiday cottages anywhere
Gorgeous photographs of Glencoe
Beautiful Appin, Scotland
Walks around our cottage area in Glencoe
Hill walks in Glencoe
You can walk up Ben Nevis one day?
Munroes in Glencoe

At last, we get sense out of Visit Scotland

Chap called Mike Cantlay has taken over at Visit Scotland, the quango which handles Scottish tourism.
So far he has made three good moves since he took over in April. He is talking about modifying the grading system - good.

He has sacked the previous Chief - another good move.

He is now talking about getting all of us to concentrate upon our prime market, the UK, and the UK  holidaymaker.  80% of the tourists come from the UK - they are the target market that no one can afford to neglect.

Forget USA, forget the Commonwealth, forget most of Europe except for Germany, France and Italy.

Here is an extract from him. He is concerned that the Icelandic ash cloud may come back and disrupt travel again. Maybe, maybe not, but if it achieves the primary aim of getting everyone to focus on the core market that is ok with me.


"The whole country needs to get behind the idea that holidaying in Scotland is a good thing to do. It's a good time for the industry to be looking at their databases to be making hay of the 'staycation' phenomenon. I'm not saying you should use scare tactics [to remind Scots of the risks of flying abroad] but it's an opportunity to tell people that it's a safer bet to be in Scotland this year."

"Imagine the Edinburgh Festival with the airports closed! It would be the tourism industry equivalent of rain at harvest time. We need to put our marketing emphasis on the 'close market"

Ok, you've got my vote, Mr. Cantlay. You need all of us in tourism to help.

John
Pretty cottage in the Highlands
Holidays Scotland in the Autumn, Winter, Spring, last minute
Bed and breakfast and hotels in Oban, Fort William, and Glencoe
Tales of Hghlands of Scotland
Find the best holiday cottages anywhere
Photographs of Glencoe
Lovely Appin, Scotland
Walks around our cottage area in Glencoe
Hills in Glencoe
Walk Ben Nevis one day?
Glencoe munroes

It's strange, this West of Scotland Weather

Since I was a little lad, tramping over the Rannoch moor from Glen Nevis Youth hostel or climbing the Cioch in the Skye Cuillins, it has never, ever been drier than in the past few months. 1929 was the last time it was so sunny for this long. Sunny, warm, Scotland? Pah! No one would believe it, well not with gales lashing outside as they did last week.

JULY, THE THUNDERSTORM MONTH, BUT NOT HERE.

July is usually wet, everywhere, not only in Scotland. It is thunderstorms that do the damage. But there are far more thunderstorms in the East of Scotland than there are in the West. If you have brontophobia, a fear of thunder, then the best place for you is on the Islands off our West Coast of Scotland. The bombs go off in warm air, and that is more to the east. The warm air detonates the cold air coming in.

So be thankful for these gusts of rain and wind we are getting. Not only do the gardens need it, not to say the water supplies, but it also helps to push the thunderstorms over to Fife. Poor them. Tough. 

Be sorry for Mull. Many of the water supplies there are private, and all are suffering. It usually just drains off the hill streams straight into the houses. But not last month. One hotel owner has had to go to Oban to buy bottled water. And tankers carrying 80,000 gallons of water have been sent to Tobermory.

Scotland is a strange place for weather, truly.

John

Pretty cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands
Cottage holidays Scotland in the Autumn, Winter, Spring
B&Bs and hotels in the West of Scotland
Travellers in the highlands of Scotland
Holiday cottages on the web
Glencoe photographs
Appin, Scotland
Walks around Glencoe
Hill walks in Lochaber
Ben Nevis one day?
Munroes around here