Planning holidays

Today my family and I started to planning our next holidays. Then we have  argued for a long time. We decided to visit Scotland.
Some our friends were there last years. They told us that it is was a beautiful place with a lot of landscapes as castles, amazing mountains and that people is are friendly. They stayed in at a room in one of the castles that they had booked.
They recommend us to booked before to avoid to paying more money.
I hope we may go when there is some holiday days. I would like to knowing more about their culture.
I am forward to coming these days.

Planning holidays

Today my family and I started to plan our next holiday. Then we argued for a long time. We eventually decided to visit Scotland.
Some friends were there last years (either: 'last year' or 'some years ago'). They told us that it is a beautiful place with a lot of landscapes with castles, amazing mountains, and that the people are friendly. They stayed in a room in one of the castles that they had booked.
They recommended that we booked early ('before' is ok but early is clearer without context) to avoid paying more money.
I hope we may go when there are some holiday days. I would like knowing to know more about their culture.
I am looking forward to going on this holiday/vacation.

red is correction and what has been added and changed

blue is optional but I felt it added better to the flow of the story

green is because I wasn't sure which one you meant and to add extra explanation.

Hopefully this is helpful. I'm from Scotland, so feel free to ask me any questions. I'm glad your friends enjoyed their visit.