I have seen a lot of people (in here and elsewhere) planning scotland trips, and they often tend to favour the west... is there a reason for this? Is it more scenic, more to do, nicer sites, less midgies...
I was only wondering, as although I have no firm plans to go, I would really like to visit a friend who lives in the East, but would only really go if there was plenty of other things to do/see/visit :-)
Just wondered, what is the advantage of west, over east.
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I much prefer the east to the west ... which goes against what most folks think.
For me the east is just a scenic, quieter and most areas are easy to access. There is a great selection of sites in East Lothian, Fife, Perthshire, Tayside, and last but not least wonderful Aberdeenshire.
What area are you looking to visit?
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You won't find many midges on the East side of Scotland. They prefer to hang out on the West It really depends what you want from your visit?
------------- 2015 Trips
January - Red Squirrel
February - Red Squirrel
March - Gimme Shelter
April - Elie
May - Noah's Ark
May - Riverside, Skipton
May - Blair Castle
June - Braithwaite Bridges
July - The Star
July - Witches Craig
July - Scone
August - Highburn House
September - Gimme Shelter
The West is best. I only say this because I live on the fantastic East and want to keep it to myself !
As Krazykamper says, it depends on what you want.
The West is more beautiful, rugged and wild. Being exposed to the Atlantic, it has (statistically) 3 to 4 times the rainfall of the East and is somewhat cooler. The midgies can make life hell for some.
The East is more gentle but has some great beaches as well as dramatic rocky coasts. Definitely not as touristy as the West, but with plenty of good campsites, places to visit and things to see.
Recently I was talking to a fellow incomer who had moved from the West coast. As he put it, "You can live on the East, but you only survive on the West"
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If you are bitten alive by any kind of insect then the East is the better coast in the summer months (May to end Sep) as the midges can be very, very bad especially if we have as much rain as last year. Although I do agree the West is more scenic, but the East has its merits - North Berwick is just lovely.
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Oooh thanks for the replies.. Nice beaches, milder weather and no midgies sounds very inviting.. I think I might investigate a bit more :-) I'm thinking of a week in August, if I can find reasonably priced sites. Petrol is the main barrier really, as it is sooo darn expensive now, and I am finding our new gas guzzling car pretty pricey to run!! If I could find some cheap sites though that would balance things out a bit :-)
Melpa, it all depends what you want from your holiday I guess. In general, the West coast is much more vertical, with steep hills, forests and lochs, while the East is a flatter, rolling countryside which is more agricultural. If you like dramatic scenery, the West coast is the place to go.
I would recommend to anybody to go to both sides and get the best of both worlds. Scenery and tourists to the west, civilisation and weather to the east
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Don't let the midges put you off the West! We live on the west coast and have very little problems with midges but if you go 2 miles from our site, they're terrible!
It really depends on the location of the site. If it's nicely sheltered, close to water etc, then it's midgey heaven. We aren't close to water and always have a nice breeze so less problems with midges.
All areas of Scotland have their own, unique and can be very different beauty. For example, SW Scotland where we are, isn't rugged, is very mild and has a beauty all of it's own.
My suggestion would be, pick one area and spend a week there, then next time another area. Too many people try to cover for example, West Scotland in a fortnight and they miss sooo much as a result.
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Topic: Scotland West Vs East?
It really depends what you want from your visit? 
