UKC

Ok so I'm a traveling engineer, I can live where I want providing I'm close to transport links to get me around the country at short notice. Where in Scotland is the best place to live given the below criteria:
-Close to the mountains where i can climb, mountaineer, paragliding etc Skiing would be great.
-Live in a vibrant comunity of enthusiastic outgoing people
-Great scenery on the doorstep
-Good Transportation links
-A few decent bars and places to hang out

Any ideas?

I thought fort william but the highstreet is not great. Inverness? Maybe I awt to be looking towards the alps?

In reply to A Walker:

Got the wrong country for that.

For the rest of the points Stirling is far enough north to be close(ish) to mountains, far enough south to have good transportation and large enough to have some nightlife and shopping.

In reply to A Walker:

" Maybe I awt to be looking towards the alps?"

Arrochar???

In reply to A Walker:

Inverness

In reply to A Walker: Inverness +1

In reply to A Walker:

Not sure anywhere fits that wishlist but Inverness & Stirling seem the best. Stirling has better transport links (trains from Inverness take forever to get anywhere) but Inverness is more in the mountains. Stirling is also well placed to visit Edinburgh & Glasgow for the day/evening - often used to go to concerts in Edinburgh when I lived in Stirling.

Where do you need to travel to for work ? Stirling is much better placed if you need to go to the Borders or England.

In reply to A Walker:

Gretna Green

In reply to A Walker:

Based on your criteria, I would agree with Inverness.

I could happily live in Fort William but it's worth noting how much wetter it is than say Inverness.

In reply to A Walker:

You say good transportation links - well that rules out Inverness. A9 has been closed several times in the last few days as people can't drive in even the tiniest bits of snow. Lorries jackknifed off the road etc. Trains are hit and miss and take forever to get anywhere. The airport will get you anywhere as long as you like changing flights.

The A9 is being dualled for the next 5-10 years (depending on who you ask) so expect disruption. For example works on the Slochd section begin at the end of January and will require traffic lights. Project is scheduled to last 5 weeks but its winter so it will take longer. Expect delays.

But for everything else in your list Inverness is great. Someone further up, Doug I think, mentioned he went to more concerts when he lived in Stirling. Me too (I was born there) and it is something I really miss as the nearest place bands play is usually Edinburgh or Glasgow and that means an overnight stop. The cost soon adds up.

But then I step out my door and look at the Moray Firth and think wild horses wouldn't drag me away from here!!

In reply to A Walker:

Perth not get a mention?

In reply to ring ouzel:

I tend to agree that Inverness as a town has the widest range of amenities of the three mentioned, other than access to the lowlands. And with the best access to the NW Highlands no doubt. In fact it's barely any further than FW from Skye, maybe an extra 20 mins.

However, the hills and scenery in the immediate vicinity just don't live up to the central highlands or Trossachs on FW and Stirling's doorstep. It's an hour's drive to any proper pointy mountains. It's not much less than an hour to the tame contours of the Cairngorm plateau for that matter.

I visit the northern corries on a regular basis. I think they and Lochnagar are wonderful. But when I hit the Cluanie Dam travelling back west I'm reminded why my heart follows the setting sun.

I'd choose Stirling btw for its access to the central belt, better employment and education opportunities. But it's all about what floats your boat.

In reply to A Walker:

Couldn't recommend FW in terms of transport links. Apart from the (pretty expensive, not super reliable, 4 hrs to Glasgow train) you're stuck with the A82. It was a joy in those rare moments in between summer tourist traffic, accidents, roadworks, autumn storms and winter weather - about twice a year in my recent experience. A9 not perfect but better, plus you have the airport in Inverness.

In reply to A Walker:

I've thought (idly) about this for years and I think spmewhere around Inverness, for example Conon Bridge or Strathpeffer would be good. Proximity to good transport links, community, skiing and great scenery. Not an abunance of good rock climbing on the doorstep, but LOTS within a reasonable drive – very central. Plus a good climate.

In reply to A Walker:

Yeah, Stirling area is hard to beat, really. Best for nothing, but near-best for almost everything.

Inverness is better for the hills and worse for the rest.

Glasgow could be very good too, and Perth would be no disaster.

Fort William's very good for the hills, but it rains a lot and transport links aren't great.

In reply to A Walker:

Jesus Christ, not Fort William.

In reply to A Walker:

To be honest you have a simple choice, either go north to Inverness but accept you lose out on a lot of city stuff or go to any central belt city: Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling are all pretty much the same travel time to mountains give or take 30-60 minutes. From Edinburgh I can be in most mountain areas apart from far west and northwest within two and a half hours, and it is a great city too.

In reply to A Walker:
Dundee. Good arts scene--only Rep theatre in Scotland, 3 art galleries, arts cinema, 2 multiplexes--great hills-and-estuary scenery, one of Scotland's driest climates, 2 museum ships, 2 universities in the town and another 30 minutes' drive away, good restaurants, good nightlife, friendly people, beautiful views, great travel links (airport, A90, ECML), climbing wall, skiing at Glen Shee an hour's drive away, two worthwhile wee hills in the middle of the city, 45 minutes to Glen Clova, 1hr15 to Braemar, 1h30 to Loch Muick, 1hr45 to Glen Coe, 2hrs to the Ben, 2hr15 to Cairngorm car park, wonderful cycling (wherever you live in Dundee, it's possible to cycle right out of the city in less than 15 minutes), cheap housing, V & A coming soon, Desperate Dan, Dennis the Menace, Brian Cox the elder, Michael Marra, dolpins, seals, geese, oystercatchers, buzzards, white-tailed eagles, orcas, penguins on the High Street, and two of the world's greatest fitba teams

In reply to A Walker:

How did you get a dislike for that???

In reply to BrendanO:


Three now.

In reply to Sophie G.:


Sadly not Michael Marra any longer (although his music lives on).

Re the Stirling part of the discussion, I had a dozen years in Glasgow followed by the past 20 in Stirling (well, a couple of years in Alva in between), and I'd say that Stirling is much better than Glasgow for general hill access by car - you don't have that initial 30-minute escape from the city that can become tiresome over time. From Stirling, Ben Ledi is half an hour away, the Loch Earn hills 45 minutes, Crianlarich or the Lawers stuff not much more than an hour, and the A9 options are reasonable too (although clearly it's easier in that direction if based in Perth). And from Stirling there's the endless keep-fit training ground of the Ochils on tap just 15-20 minutes away. Plus good transport links into Glasgow and Edinburgh as others have said. In Highland-access terms, I wouldn't go back to Glasgow; Stirling is much handier, and even getting across to Arrochar doesn't take long via the Kippen/Drymen road.

In reply to Sophie G.:

Great post . My wife's Mother lived in Wellbank which had all the advantages of living in the country and was only 15 minutes from the city centre.
15 minutes to Carnoustie as well and the joys of the kippers in Arbroath a mere 25 minutes away.
A great place to live!

In reply to Gone for good
".... kippers ...." ???????? ....

did you mean Arbroath Smokies?

http://www.arbroathsmokies.net

In reply to BrendanO:

It doesn't matter. Likes and dislikes are meaningless, unless of course you get a significant number..

In reply to Gone for good:

If I went back to the drawing board about where to live in Scotland I think my reasoning would go like this.

Q1. Country or town?

If country then *really* country. Somewhere totally wild, out on its own in the middle of nowhere. No point "moving to the country" but ending up still opening your curtains on a high street or a supermarket car park. So a little white cottage in Glen Etive or Glen Affric or something.

BUT I wouldn't do this because I have family and I'm the only driver, so the result would be that I spend my whole time driving to the nearest supermarket/ petrol station anyway. So town, not country.

Q2. Town or city?

If town then *highland* town. What's the point of living in Livingstone if you're free to live in Ullapool or Oban or Dunkeld?

But on the whole I like my facilities and my arts scene. So probably city, not town or village... or at least village not too far from city, and village with basic facilities (shop + garage) in situ. Otherwise you spend your whole time driving to the nearest basic facilities.

By this sort of reasoning, the main contenders for me would quickly emerge as Ullapool, Pitlochry, Dunkeld, Crieff (little places) and Perth, Stirling, Dundee, Inverness (big places). But we've already decided, judt about, to go for a big place not a little one. Of the four big places there, Inverness goes out because of the wretchedness of driving the A9 the whole time; Stirling goes out because it's not big enough and too rough; Perth goes out because it's not big enough and too posh. Which brings us back to Dundee

No doubt others would reach perfectly good other conclusions.

In reply to Sophie G.:



Heaven forbid if you think Perth is posh. I couldn't find a bottle of champagne for love nor money the last time I visited

In reply to A Walker:

As no one else has said it, at least consider NW Glasgow. You are close to the biggest airport north of Manchester, it is a proper big city with all the art and culture (low and high) that implies. If you are in the West End or further NW it's about an hour or a bit less to winter climbing and of course you have all the Western Highland opening up beyond that. Lots of nice countryside and hills closer too, just not quite as big. We used to happily do ski and climbing day trips to Glencoe on the bus when I lived there and had no car, so with transport it's very doable. It's a great city.

In reply to rubble:

In reply to TobyA:

Glasgow is indeed a great city--the only real metropolis in Scotland. But it's too wet for me... I grew up near Manchester. I've had a lifetime's worth of rain already

In reply to BnB:


Perth is definitely posh. I can't go there without seeing waxed jackets, Laura Ashley bridal shops, signs to the County Game Fair, and brand-new shiny black long-wheel-base landies with guns and labbies in the back

Surely the whole point of living in Inverness would be to AVOID driving the A9 the whole time!

In reply to Robert Durran:


Yes, but you would. Face it, you would.

Admittedly, on a good day it would be the A9 *north* from Inverness. Which, beyond Loch Fleet, is a drive I've never done...

In reply to Sophie G.:


You've been talking a lot of sense, but I'm really struggling to process this bit..!

In reply to skog:


Hah... the Hulltoon on a Friday night... Fat Sam's at 1am, any night really... I take your point

In reply to skog:

I'm getting a quiet, bitter-north-east-feuding satisfaction out of the fact that this whole thread has proceeded this far without anyone even mentioning A***d**n.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

In reply to Sophie G.:


Heh!

Surely nobody would suggest living there?

In reply to skog:


That King's Park is a dodgy part of town, though - and as for Cambuskenneth...

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

That's why decent folk such as myself choose to live in Bannockburn

In reply to Sophie G.:

Well, was just thinking about that place. Have worked on and off there and been temporarily resident. Did some great climbing there in the 2000s on the sea cliffs, on Lochnagar, Glen Clova, Moray coast.
Anyone wondering where to live in Scotland needs to look at two maps:
https://metofficenews.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/uk-rainfall-average-maps-...
Then the other one for annual sunshine totals.
The west can only be visited with success when the weather is OK, the east however, is much drier and sunnier. West Scotland has about twice the annual rainfall of the east.
So Sophie G is prob right.

In reply to Dave Cumberland:



Careful observers may note that there isn't actually all that much difference between most of the East coast, and the coasts of many of the Western peninsulas.

But, for the keen, a better solution is to live somewhere from which you can easily head East, West, North, South or central, depending on where the better weather is - which points back to Stirling and Inverness (though Glasgow and Dundee aren't so bad for heading across from, really).

In reply to skog:


Stirling is certainly very good in terms of how easy it is to head to hills any direction other than south - the only really awkward-ish direction is to the Borders, and by and large I've stopped going that way compared to my Glasgow years (and Edinburgh is even better placed that Glasgow for Borders stuff, as shown by the number of Edinburghers who have completed the Donalds).

In terms of the Highlands, as skog suggests, the options west or east (or middle-ish re Loch Tay / Glen Lyon etc) allow good weather or good snow conditions to be chased without much fuss. In terms of the walking side of things, I seem to go west rather than east (with Killin counted as west as the initial drive is by Glen Ogle / Lix Toll, same as to Crianlarich etc) around three-quarters of the time. Of 42 Munro outings this year, 29 have been west (starting via Callander or Kippen) and 13 have been east (starting via the A9 although that includes the middle-ish Ben Chonzie which I use as a pretty regular half-day jaunt, six times this year). So that's about 70% "west" for me. In 2015 the split - over 37 days - was 29 plays eight, ie 78% west.

In reply to A Walker:

Not saying you should go for Edinburgh, but a point in it's favour that no one has mentioned so far is Northumberland. For short trad, soloing and bouldering it's great and regularly dry. If your main focus is adventurous multi-pitch then obviously this is useless information, however if you like to rock climb as much as possible then it's worth noting.

Dare I also mention that the lakes are an option if you live in edinburgh/glasgow?! If ever you feel like a break from the midgies.

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

I wasn't so much thinking of the Southern Uplands, which I have to say I find a bit dreary for the most (the Galloway Hills being the main exception) - don't forget that Stirling also has day-trip access to some of the best bits of Englandshire.

The Lake District is about the same travel time as Fort William, and Northumberland doesn't take much longer than Glencoe; both offer some great climbing, which can sometimes be dry when most or all of Scotland is not.

In reply to A Walker:

I'd factor in midgies - that pretty much knocks out the west coast north and south

In reply to Lloydfletch and skog:


We're in Coniston several weekends a year and the journey from Stirling takes about 3hr20 including the traditional coffee/loo stop at Southwaite services (although it's more like 3hr30 just now while they're digging up the M74 at Raith).

In theory Glasgow or Stirling to Threlkeld and the joys of Blencathra could be done in a fairly comfortable 2hr15-ish - and a friend who lives in the west end of Glasgow once daytripped down to meet me for Helvellyn and didn't seem too wearied by the experience. Certainly something to consider at least once a year from the central belt - although some people always seem to point the car north, almost as a matter of principle.

In reply to skog:


Some lovely walking down Manor Water / Megget / Talla way, though. Broughton, too. That's perhaps the main thing I miss being in Stirling rather than in the central belt proper - the drive across via Forth or round the Embra bypass is discouraging enough that I've almost stopped going that way. But you can't have everything.

I really like Galloway too, but it has the downside - in summer at least - of being Insect Central. Not so much midges, more various mad big biting things that you never seem to get anywhere else.

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

The Lakes is just as weekendable as much of Scotland from the Central Belt and certainly daytrippable. But there just always seems to be something depressing about heading south to the crowded roads and lichenous climbing. I tend to use it as a last resort weather-wise. Or midweek - but that usually means I've got time to go somewhere better anyway!

In reply to Lloydfletch:


Some of the worst midges I've ever encountered have been in the Lakes (and Wales). It is a useful myth that the midges in Scotland are significantly worse.

In reply to Robert Durran:

Yep. I've been eaten on Tryfan, and I've been eaten in Ennerdale. And I've spent a whole day on Raasay without even *seeing* a midge.

In reply to Robert Durran:

I have heard tales, just not experienced them yet much south of the border (except the peaks).

As for crowded roads, you're on the M74 most of the way which is always quiet. Compare that to the A82 in summer, which is a campervan ridden nightmare, or the A9. I'd sooner warn of crowded crags/paths. I was on Gimmer one sunny saturday and it was like an anthill, and a friend last summer counted some 140 or so people on the path between dungeon gyll and sickle tarn!!

In reply to Robert Durran:


only if you're Scottish!

In reply to alan moore:

Or seen the light.
(I am only half Scottish, so am in a good position to have a definitive and balanced perspective - heading off to the NW or heading off to the Lakes; absolutely no contest)

In reply to Lloydfletch:


That is true. But I was really thinking of the Lakes itself, which can be like one big expensive carpark - campsites, roads and the actual carparks. Only the hellhole of Cornwall in summer comes close.

In reply to Lloydfletch:


......while meanwhile other potentially fine crags are completely deserted and getting covered in lichen and moss.

In reply to Robert Durran:

>But there just always seems to be something depressing about heading south

Not if you're going to D+G

In reply to aln:


What and where is that?

In reply to Robert Durran:


Dumfries and Galloway. Keep up!

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

I was guessing perhaps Dolce and Gabanna?!

In reply to Siward:


When I worked at the Scotsman around the turn of the century, one day I was sitting at my desk writing a piece about bothying or generally dossing on the cheap in the hills, that kind of thing. The paper's fashion correspondent walked in and sat down at the desk next to me, clutching a sparkly and very flimsy handbag that she'd been sent to review (and which she then had to send back, so she was very nervous about damaging or - worse - losing it).

It was one of the most useless-looking and least practical bags I've ever seen - full of holes and apparently incapable of safely containing anything without risk of it falling out and landing on the floor. It had been designed by some top fashion house - quite possibly Dolce & Gabbana - and to say that the correspondent was excited at having this to review was putting it mildly. I asked her how much it cost: £800. I got back to writing about about bothies and bogs. It felt like a brief meeting of two completely different worlds.

In reply to Siward:

Actually, having now had a look at the Dolce & Gabbana website (as you do), the £800 bag that my colleague was reviewing appears too downmarket (although it was the best part of 20 years ago). There's a handbaggy thing for £2900, and the winter sale has a not-very-big-looking "Nylon Vulcano Backpack with patch" for £600 down from £1200: http://store.dolcegabbana.com/en/men/mens-sales/bags/#anchorBack
I seem to recall suggesting to the fashion correspondent that it'd be fun - and would make good copy - if we swapped jobs for a week, with me reviewing the bag and her plodding up some hill in the rain, but she wasn't keen.

In reply to Dave Hewitt:

Ooh! I didn't know there was a sale on. Think I'll get meself one of those Vulcanos.

Looks like I'll need to add an axe attachment though.

In reply to Sophie G.:

They've got a Tesco with click and collect in Ullapool these days, no need for the return journey to Inverness.

D

In reply to Dauphin:

I know. What are things coming to?

In reply to Sophie G.:

Less excuses, impediments for heading up there permo style.

D

In reply to Robert Durran:

As Dave Hewitt said, Dumfries and Galloway.

In reply to Dave Hewitt:


Ah, OK. I thought it might be a vote for visiting the seething hell of a well known pub in Langdale.

In reply to Robert Durran:


Been midged at kyloe in November before.