Thejuggler

Despite visiting Scotland on regular visits for almost 30 years it's about 25 years since I was last in Torridon. This year may be time for a revisit!

If you have the time and want to see some of the best of Scotland go out of your way and see Torridon. Kyle of Lochalsh to Stromeferry, around Loch Carron, Shieldaig, Torridon, Kinlochewe, Garve, Inverness. For an even fuller day go up to Gairloch. The road alongside Loch Maree is breathtaking. Over to Poolewe then across to Dundonnel and on to Inverness. It will be a full day, but in May it will be daylight until at least 9pm.

You now have to pay to pick up and drop off at Manchester Airport. SIL may have to find somewhere near the airport to wait. You can call them when you know where you are.

One of our best trips, but we went with Celebrity. Didn't rate Reyjavik, loved Akureyri. Northern lights highly unlikely, it won't be dark for that long, even in August.

We did this trip a couple of years ago and the only time I wanted cash was in Germany, our last port of call. I withdrew 50 euros from an ATM and still have some of it for our next Euro trip. Everywhere else I used card.

Norway is so expensive it is difficult to spend less than £5 in any transaction! Use a credit card. Don't forget if you spend over £100 on gifts etc you can claim the VAT back. Ask the store for a form and compete it. If you spend in mre than one store Use one envelope for all your VAT refund forms as there is a surcharge per envelope. I don't know if it is still the case, but Norwegian customs used to board at last port of call to do the refunds.

St Petersburg main cruise port is in the middle of a 1960/70s Russian housing development, across the water is a huge power station and industrial area. It isn't pretty. The modern Holiday Inn looks quite out of place. However it does at least look like I imagined Russia would look!

Compared to your location York is on my doorstep, about 20 miles from where I am currently sitting. Not much we haven't done so if you need any tips shout out.

Regarding the trains. You can book the cheapest Advanced ticket for specific services, but if for whatever reason you miss the outward service you can pay an excess fare before boarding the next service. It will be the difference between what you have paid and a walk up fare. Advance single is currently showing at £7.50. An off peak single is £26.70.

Stavanger and Bergen easy to DIY, lots of info online on what to do. Flaam, Norway in a Nutshell full day tour is excellent. Olden we did the lake cruise and glacier, but its about 8 years ago and since then the glacier has receded so much I'm not sure its the trip it was.

Easy to do the main city ports DIY. Once you get into the fjords the choice of private excursions may not be as extensive as you get from P&O. There are limited options in Olden and Gerainger.

If you are only there for one full day don't try and do too much, there is no way you can give anything justice. Maybe buy a travel pass or HoHo ticket and just go around on the bus and tick things off. It is quite possible to spend almost a full day in St Pauls or Westminster Abbey or the Tower. You could possibly do 2 main sights in a day, to try and do 7 is impossible.

April is very early in the season and if the snow is down the trains may not run. Book with P&O you don't pay, go independently and you need to ensure you get refunds in case of cancellation. However the full day Norway in a Nutshell tour, which includes the railway, is one of the best value trips we have ever done.

The potential for passport checks after Brexit is no different as to now. Any port can ask you to show a passport before allowing you ashore. Two years ago we had to show them at some EU ports to get off and get back on, it was hardly a problem, a matter of a few seconds. It was certainly quicker than trying to get back into the UK last year at Manchester Airport, almost an hour.

Agree with Tartanexile. Having visited Scotland for many years if anyone who has never been asks me where to go for a first visit I always say Pitlcohry area Loch Tay etc. If you don't mind driving (which is easy as roads are generally quiet) you can reach Ben Nevis on west coast, St Andrews on East, Cairngorm mountains to the north, Loch Lomond to south, Edinburgh can be reached by train and there are plenty of distilleries to visit!