Moving to Scotland – Best Town?

Closet gravel fan, always knew it.

Well something has to be the new golf…

Dunblane is nice but more of a settled life kinda town IMO

And you escaped to the shires very own open-air care home!

I’m not sure it’s been mentioned, but daylight and sunshine is a factor you shouldn’t discount.
I’m not a fan of Inverness – it’s a small town bursting at the seams with significant traffic issues and crap weather. If you are going that far north, I’d be looking at The Black Isle – it gets a decent amount of sunshine and has easier access to the coast. You’ll still be in striking distance for a social(ish) scene.
The East coast probably has more sunshine – don’t discount Dundee with a mix of coast, relatively easy access to the Cairngorms and a decent cultural scene.
I still think Dumfries is worth a punt though.

I was up in Aberfoyle at the weekend – forgot just how nice it is around there & there’s plenty of riding / paddling on offer, not too far west of Stirling – still plenty of tourists about but seems an equal mix of blue-rinse mafia / walkers / cyclists / kayakers

The daylight issue is a real one & shouldn’t be discounted – maybe not so bad if you can pick & chose when you go out but i’m just outside of Glasgow & even here it’s been dark when I leave for work & getting dark when I get back for the last week or two… if you get a few bad weekends in a row it can get a bit frustrating

West definitely is best. I’m also a 20 something person in Scotland and I’ve lived North, East and Central. Wouldn’t go anywhere else in Scotland now given a choice. Oban and Fort William are both great for outdoors access and you’ll quickly find a group of likeminded people to join in with like I did. As to points that have been raised, you’ll quickly get used to/not bothered by tourists and while the winters can get a bit long some years, all it takes is a good dump of snow and you get on the skis or into the hills to lift your mood.

And you escaped to the shires very own open-air care home!

Don’t I know it!