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Hello, New Year in Scotland is the big celebration, more so than
Christmas (but then I expect that's why you're going !).
January 1st and 2nd are public holidays in Scotland, and public
transport is very limited and unpredictable, so a car is must if you
intend going any distance at all.
Lots of people go to home to see their families at the turn of the
year (including me) and in general though there's lots of parties
going on (staying up all night on the 31st is normal) they're
normally family / neighbourly affairs. In the cities there's noramlly
a place where a big crowd will gather to hear the bells. The pubs
shut early, and the serious drinking is usually done after midnight.
What part of the country are you staying in ? I can easily check up
what's on in or around Glasgow (European city of culture 1990).
John
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| Hi Paulette,
only God Almighty can predict the weather we will have
at the festive season.
I've seen it snow very heavily one year and the next year it's been
like the mildest of autumn days.One thing I think you can depend
on is the rain,so come prepared.
If you are driving at that time of year please be very carefull,the
last few years the police have been doing random breath testing
in an effort to reduce the number of drunk drivers.
No matter what they do there is always heidbangers who take the
chance and end up killing people.
Unfortunately I can't help you with events during the festive season
in Edinburgh ,I'm a west coaster and my allegiance is to Glasgow,but
as our friend said in the previous reply mentioned,Hogmanay tends
to be very much a family and friends thing in Scotland,though most
big hotels do tend to have New Year parties.
One thing I can say is that you will have a great time and you will
meet a lot of new friends,and more than probably have a massive
hangover.
So welcome to Scotland and have fun.
Awrabest
Kenny.
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Hello, I'm another Glaswegian, so I can't tell you much about
Edinburgh either ! it's only forty miles away but I've probably only
been there five times in my life (well if you lived in Glasgow why on
earth would you want to go east anyway . . .) Mind you now I'm living
in ENGLAND so even Edinburgh would be an improvement !
Kenny's right about the weather, be prepared for sun, snow, plagues
of locusts and sandstorms - all in the one day. The cities don't get
too bad in terms of the roads, but it's more your journey up and down
from England that you want to watch.
There's a road up the west side of England which takes you to
Carlisle (near the border). If you came that way you can either
continue up to near Glasgow and go east on the M8 (this way is boring
but is over low lying land) or cut across country (more intersting
but hillier). If there's snow around, I'd be inclined to stick to the
boring way.
If you're coming up the east of England you also have a choice; from
Newcastle you can go across the centre of the the border country
which is very nice, but will be prone to any bad weather on the go.
The alternative is the coast road which is a lot longer, and also
worth seeing; I would tend to go this way if there's snow forecast as
you're it's less likely to get blocked being lower lying.
The main roads will be VERY busy on the 30th / 31st with exiles
streaming back home for the festivities, so give yourself plenty of
time - and enjoy yourself.
John
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