Log Cabin

[dang65]

And I wasn't joking. They do keep them midges a secret otherwise they wouldn't have a tourist industry.

We went on holiday to the Highlands a few years ago and I'd read up on the midgies and was getting a bit worried. My missus is one of those people that goes, "Stop fretting about it, it'll be fine...", then completely freaks out when it actually happens, so I wanted to be prepared. I even bought some of the legendary Avon Skin-So-Soft, which is claimed to be used by the special forces as the only genuinely effective midgie repellant!

Anyway, got to the place (a log cabin not far from Fort William) and only saw about three midgies the whole time we were there. Unbelievably lucky from what I understand. They have whole books about dealing with midgies in the tourist shops there, so they must be killer when they strike.

[Torran]

Midges can be a real problem from late may to September on the West coast.

Jungle formula applied everyday when we go walking up there.

The east coast is thankfully pretty midge free and they lack the ferocity of their West Coast cousins.

[expat]

Midges can be a real problem from late may to September on the West coast.

Jungle formula applied everyday when we go walking up there.

The east coast is thankfully pretty midge free and they lack the ferocity of their West Coast cousins.

But alas the east coast lacks the spectacular scenery of the west coast.

[Torran]

But alas the east coast lacks the spectacular scenery of the west coast.

aye true. Only ever go to the West Coast in April early may or late September these days. Less tourists and midgies.

Cairngorms, Highland Perthshire, parts of Fife while not spectacular are extremely beautiful though

[expat]

Do they have the same midgies in Norway's fjordland? Or the same rugged scenery, and sparse population, anywhere else in Europe that doesn't have a plague of insects?

[expat]

There's always mid Wales... not much in the way of population, but the scenery isn't so rugged...

I suppose what really gets me about NW Scotland is the fjords: craggy mountains right down to the sea. Wales certainly has its mountains but perhaps keeps them inland, as does Scotland except for the NW coast.

I wonder about NW Spain, or are there any craggy EAST coasts?

[Torran]

A9 North of Dornoch Firth looks quite craggy. Never been up that far I'm sad to say

[expat]

A9 North of Dornoch Firth looks quite craggy. Never been up that far I'm sad to say

It's not bad but it always seems to me like the entrance hallway to the real thing, my beloved west coast that I will not be retiring to.