Are these places we could easily visit on our own? Scotland looks beautiful but I honestly don't know much about it. (I usually research wherever we're going and even take language classes.) However a school trip for DD came up so we both signed up. It only goes to Edinburgh in Scotland so we'd either explore Scotland beforehand on our own or perhaps do the ABD first...
It depends on your own interests, like for me Edinburgh castle is the famous one but Stirling is better. Edinburgh is set up with all the touristy stuff, its not authentic, but i suppose its fun enough. St Andrews is lovely to visit, id rather spend a night there than Edinburgh (even if you dont like golf theres loads to do). Yes we have decent enough transport infrastructure, you can fly to Barra (flights from Glasgow land on the beach, google it, spectacular landing), some of the beaches on the western isles are amongst the most beautiful in the world. You can plan routes all over, have a look at the ‘North Coast 500’ which is like the Scottish version of route 66. You can drive over to Skye very easily there is a bridge from the mainland. Id say have a look at the Western Isles, Highlands (inverness, loch ness, cairngorms, aviemore, oban, glen finnan viaduct (harry potter train bridge) glen coe), Fife for St Andrews, Carnoustie, etc, Stirling is between Glasgow and Edinburgh and you can drive up to the highlands from there. Ayrshire has some beautiful scenery too and nice golf courses. If i was planning say a week here id recommend getting out of the cities and into the Highlands and Western Islands. Have a wee night in Edinburgh after yer flight if you want, but get out and explore. Its an incredibly safe country, driving is easy, there are good accommodation options and planning a route/vacation itinerary would be easy. The ABD seems nice enough but some of the places they choose to visit leave me scratching my head its all a bit twee, ‘come make shortbread’ and plays to a false image of Scotland, i mean i dont even own a kilt, it kinda plays up the ‘outlander’ vibe but neglects that Scotland led the world in technology and science from creating phones, tvs, tyres, modern medicine, antibiotics and cloning animals. So i mean i get the romantic notions but its not ALL we are. (I mean its beautiful, its stunning, it is romantic, but its got a lot of substance too). I looked at the ABD pricing, circa $8000 per adult for a week is an absolute fortune and you could easily do something cheaper, why not hire a camper van and do the North Coast 500, or drive to skye and sleep on a beach with not another soul nearby for miles… or walk up Ben Nevis, our highest mountain, just feel some of the activities are a bit like me coming to America and thinking everyone goes about with a Cowboy hat on?
I’m LOL about “well Calypso said …” 
