I was told to try the elder scrolls games since I love fallout 3 /new vegas and beat the main story on both countless times. Could not get into them at all.
The Elder Scrolls and Fallout games are very different beasts, despite the same engine and surface similarities.
Fallout is a more traditional story-based RPG.
Elder Scrolls is a true open-world "be who you want, do what you want" experience.
Exploration is the key, and the ability just to wander and stumble across hidden treasures.
The main quest is often incidental to many people's playthroughs. In Skyrim, I've played characters who aren't the dragonborn, and live a purely pacifist life as a farmer.
I love Fallout and Elder Scrolls, but for me, mods maketh the game - I play the sort of game *I* want to play on that particular playthrough, on my terms and my conditions, thanks to mods.