Loch Torridon Hotel

Right location, right kind of place, rugged scenery galore nearby as well as not far from Inverewe gardens.

I am jealous that you are going to Wick. I still have that trip ahead of me.

I love Fort William - breath-taking scenary

Walk in the footsteps of Hamish Macbeth in the insanely beautiful village of Plockton. http://www.plocktonhotel.co.uk/

"between these two cities... " Hardly cities.

Loch Torridon would be wonderful. The problem w/ Plockton is -- by the time you were there you'd be w/i 5 miles of Skye.

Ft William is 1) not on your route, and 2) a dump. Pretty scenery, tacky nothingness sort of town.

...Loch Torridon would be wonderful. The problem w/ Plockton is -- by the time you were there you'd be w/i 5 miles of Skye.

That's true, although it's not that much farther from Torridon to Kyle.

The problem with going via the west coast is that it's a much longer route, which is why Ullapool is a logical place to break the journey into two roughly equal pieces.

Personally, although it would involve a lot more driving, I'd go via the north coast then down the (un-numbered AFAIK) road that runs through Strathmore from Loch Hope down to Lairg, past the Dun Dornadilla (aka Dun Dornaigil) broch - http://g.co/maps/jeaut - then from Lairg out to the coast, which would, indeed, put you in the Ullapool area.

The Strathmore road is really beautiful and IMO a bit mystical, but very remote feeling - lots of ghosts, I guess. It certainly would provide quite a contrast to Wick, and then the west coast; however it would add several hours overall to the drive.

Ullapool is indeed the obvious choice (and it's an appealing little town, not really touristy in fact). Please do NOT touch Fort William - it's horrible and nowhere near your route. Unfortunately it's just one of those places (like Inverness and Loch Ness) that everyone has heard of and assumes is the place to visit - trust me, it isn't.

I LOVE your responses!!! Thank you for your honesty and thoughtfulness in your replies!

I love the idea of going through Strathmore from Loch Hope... if it was just me I would gladly jump on this idea... BUT the husband MIGHT not want to drive 5 hours to our next destination (Ullapool)

Now what about checking out the Ben Nevis? Don't stay in fort william... but where then?

We have two nights in Skye next, followed by three more days in Scotland (working our way towards the lakes district....

I guess now I should ask what to do after Skye and if I need two nights? After Skye I was going to check out Ben Nevis and Glencoe and then Isle Mull. Sound ok or not worth a stay at each? Thoughts?
Thanks!
Molly

Fort William is the pits. Please don't stay there.

Between Wick and Skye my choices would be The Summer Isles Hotel

http://summerisleshotel.com/

or the Inver Lodge

http://www.inverlodge.com/

Or, in a different sort of league, the Applecross Inn.

http://www.applecross.uk.com/inn/

There's no-where that great in Applecross.

If you're determined to take the Road to the Isles from Fort William to Mallaig, then I'd suggest the Arisaig Hotel or Arisaig House.

Just out of interest, why Wick?
I had an aunt in Thurso and visited the area regularly. The Caithness Flow Country is a valuable nature habitat, but the scenery is not spectacular. I can't imagine its being a prime tourist destination

Because it is there, I would venture. Many of us like to go to places that are the farthest you can go. The enjoyment is in having been there, not necessarily in getting there or being there. Vide: "Why do you climb Everest?" "Because it is there."

Yes we are going to wick as a stopping point and I wanted to see the coast line of Scotland as much as possible! I originally wanted to travel to durness and cape wrath - we still might... I am trying to figure that out...

Durness would work with the route I mentioned above - just go around Loch Eribol, then backtrack slightly to the Strathmore road. Smoo Cave at Durness is quite interesting.

Cape Wrath IMO is more effort than reward but others might disagree.

Where are you coming from to get to Wick? It might help to get the "big picture" of your itinerary rather than trying to put suggestions together piecemeal.

Loved Sheila's recommendation for the Summer Isles Hotel. My only problem with "Summer Isles" is that I can't get free of the image of poor Edward Woodward being toasted by the locals.

(I know, I know... not the same place.)

That was in D&G wasn't it?

I really do appreciate the help!!
We have 14 nights total
We are doing:
Day one - night in Yorkshire dales
Day two and three - two nights in Edinburgh
Day four - one night in Inverness
Day five - One night in wick
Day six .... Ullapool? Or somewhere north of there
Day seven... Torridon? Skye or ullapool depending on day six
Day eight: Skye
Day nine: mull?
Day ten: Western great glen area?
Day eleven; Somewhere in the trossachs?
Day thirteen & fourteen: lakes district


Ok - now that I write this out I feel like I've gotten no where in my planning!!! Help!!

Where are you starting Day 1 and ending Day 14. If it's one of the London airports, then some re-planning is in order as the driving times on these days will be considerable (and certainly not feasible if arriving after an overnight flight from the US).

Why Inverness? I'm always intruiged why people pick this out as a destination (no British tourist would think of staying there is visiting northern Scotland). It's an unremarkable small city with its fair share of run-down areas. Much better is the countryside around Inverness. Have you booked anything yet here?

We are flying into & out of Manchester.
We have booked something on the water north of Inverness and out of the city I forget the name but I didn't want to stay in Inverness itself! I agree!

That was in D&G wasn't it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEOQqnHMSMc

Christopher Lee was "Lord Summerisle."

That was in D&G wasn't it?

Slightly off tangent here and probably baffling the OP, it's a little known fact that Culzean Castle in Ayrshire was used in the film for Lord Summerisle's castle.

But Plockton was used as the village IIRC, so not only D&G.

(Translation: Dumfries and Galloway, in the southwest of Scotland.)

Mollymm.. not sure what more help you would like, but I can offer input on Edinburgh, around Inverness, the Western Highlands, Torridon, Skye, Mull (if that's the order, you wouldn't want to go back to the Great Glen, I don't think), but Oban and south, I can do.

How about mull and oban area- where would you recommend staying? thanks sheila

How about Ruddyglow Park just outside Lochinver. Lovely drive round the coast to get there. You would see some of the amazing, west coast, scenery and their iconic, legendary mountains. A meal in one of Lochinver's many good restaurants/pubs (it's become a bit of a foodie haven) then next day it would be a lovely, easy drive to Skye. Two possible routes both of which they could tell you about at Ruddyglow. They know the area very well.