Hi all. Have 5 days to visit Scotland. Due to the short time and ambitious plans to "try to cover a lot" have decided to rent a car and drive around. Tentaive plans are:
Day 1 (Aug 21)- Reach Edinburgh - relax a bit and do the city tour. Night in Edinburgh
Day 2 (Aug 22)- Visit the Edinburgh castle early morning, hire a car and drive towards Glencoe. Night in Glencoe.[any potential sightseeing on the way?
Day 3 (Aug 23)- Drive around Glencoe [any suggestions?] Im not sure whether to do a day trip to Mull [is it possible] or just carry on driving towards Fort William and Mallaig to take the ferry to Isle of Skye. Was checking the ferry site, it would cost around 32 pounds for the ferry crossing [for the 4 of us in the car] - does it make sense to spend this or reach Isle of Skye from Invergarry and A87 over the bridge? Night in Broadford.
Day 4 (Aug 24) - we have the whole day on the Isle of Skye. Initially we had thought we would go in for some day hikes, but given our time constraint, we will just have to drive around and admire the scenery, visit the Dunvegan castle, etc. [any suggestions are most welcome.] Night in Boradford.
Day 5 (Aug 25) - Drive from Broadford to Kyle of Lochlash - Torridon - Gairlogh and reach Ullapool (where we spend the night)
Day 6 (Aug 26) - leave early morning and drive towards inverness, where we take the flight to london.

All this seems like a lot of driving, but after reading and seeing the picture of the highlands, i think we are not wanting to miss out. We would like to admire the beauty and splendour of the highlands, take a lot of photgraphs and see some historic sites [we currently have Edinburgh Castle, Dunvegan castle and Eilean Castle on our list.]

Please comment on the itineray and any suggestions are really welcome. Post Scotland, we are spending 4 days in London. NM

preliminary thoughts:
Don't try to fit Mull. Instead, make time for some stops on the route.

Take the ferry to Skye. The drive is beautiful, and you can stop at Glenfinnan and climb the monument.

From Edinburgh you should stop at Stirling on the way through and see the castle and maybe the Wallace Monument. I'd be tempted to do the Edinburgh castle the day before, so you don't have a 2 castle day.

My personal feeling is that you will get more of a feel for the highlands during a three to five hour hike than from days of driving around. So I would suggest you slow down just a little and take a walk. On Skye the Quiraing is stunning and not very difficult. Glen Coe has many trails to follow. Do a little research to find walks within your comfort zone.

On Skye, for instance, you might take a walk in the morning and visit Dunvegan in the afternoon. I'd also suggest just taking the bridge. Not romantic but fast and a lot cheaper.

I agree that you need to get out of your car and walk if you want to know the glories of the Highlands and Skye.

Are you Americans who drive on the other side of the road? You might find both of you have your eyes glued to the road and don't see much scenery.

Consider spending the night at the north end of the island, instead of Broadford. In the morning, take a hike, have lunch, leave the island via the bridge.

I don't think you should try to fit in Mull.

noe847 - thanks for the post. Just in case we are able to do only either one of the castles -Edinburgh or Stirling- which would would be recommended. And we surely are going to stop several times on the way to admire the scenery and take lots of photos..
Pausanias - thanks for ur suggestions. Wal looking at the map of the island. Will definitely try the hike of Quiraing- we also see some falls on the way on A855 [ Lealt Falls and Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls - worth stopping at?]

nessundorma - thanks for the response. We will be walking around along the drive.. very sure of that. And we are from India and drive on the left side with manual shifts. On the hotels, we wrote to many but seems quite full - we were declined by quite a few, hence we wanted to secure a reservation before too late. Its mostly to sleep.

If you have to pick between Edinburgh and Stirling castle. I think Stirling is a much better "castle". Edinburgh has the Scottish Honours, but if you're going to the tower of London you'll see much fancier jewels there. Edinburgh is a mix-mash with the National War Museum, military prision, the palace all shoehorned on the rock.

You're not allowing much time for Edinburgh - have you been before ?

Assuming you mean this August, I hope you've already booked yor accommodation - that is the busiest week of the year, with all of the festivals in full swing. If you're not interested in the festivals, I'd suggest doing London first

You're not allowing much time for Edinburgh - have you been before ?

Assuming you mean this August, I hope you've already booked your accommodation - that is the busiest week of the year, with all of the festivals in full swing. Most places have a 3 night minumum during the festivals.

Oops, not sure what happened there. I meant to take out the suggestion about doing London first as when I looked at how long you have in total, it wouldn't make any difference.

Having just returned, a couple of opinions:

>I'd pick Mull over Skye--less developed (at least considering the area near Skye bridge). Iona abbey off Mull is well worth visit; Dunvegan Castle is "so-so" (gardens are nice though).

>Glencoe was just a bit too popular (with fellow tourists). We enjoyed the more remote areas--many equal in beauty. Town of Fort William was not that memorable.

Be certain to check estimated driving TIMES, not distances for this trip. ViaMichelin.com has good point-to-point directions.

Serenity7, I am not an expert, having only been to Scotland once (last month), but I would second the suggestion to see Stirling Castle over Edinburgh Castle...if you do a tour of Edinburgh you will likely see the castle at least from the outside (and it will, I think, be covered in bleacher seats for the Tattoo), the Royal Mile, and Holyrood. Quite lovely, and we enjoyed it very much, but since your time is so short you might not need to return to explore the castle in detail.

The bleachers won't be a problem - they are in the esplanade out front.

But you have such a short time - you do have to pick and choose what you visit.

And geez louise - what is w/ all the "5 day-cover all of Scotland" itineraries lately?!? In the last couple of weeks 4 different posters have asked about this sort of trip - wanting to cover 3/4 of Scotland in 3 or 4 days. Get out of the car and SEE things.

You don't "see" Scotland from inside a car for hours upon hours every day and packing/checking in/checking out every day. Five days - pick TWO places Edinburgh/Skye; Inverness/Skye; Skye/Torridon; Trossachs/Argyll - but not all of them.

Sorry if it sounds like I'm dumping on you - but just reading these things make me want to scream . . . .

I meant, if they choose not to visit Edinburgh Castle in depth (in favor of Stirling) then they should be aware that the whole front entrance will be covered with bleachers. It's certainly not a reason to avoid the castle, just something to be aware of if one is hoping for a quick scenic glimpse.

Another thought -- we found it was not as easy to stop and take pictures as we thought it would be -- although there are pull-outs on many roads they are usually functional and not designed as scenic overlooks. On our longer driving days we usually ended up with very few pictures.

Thanks so much to all who have responded.
Neeps – we will be visiting the Tower of London post Scotland.
Caroline –Edinburgh was a last minute change in plan-the initial plan was to spend time in the highlands - Yes, we have an exorbitantly priced acco at Edinburgh – and we have some priceline bookings in London hence not cancelable.
KidsToLondon: Given the short time Mull would be possible but just touch [I sincerely hope to be able to do a second trip to Scotland]. Glencoe is to sleep over before starting onwards. Understand that the drive along Loch Linnhe is pretty and we would like to see the monument at Glenfinnan before approaching Isle of Skye.
Janisj – understand there is a lot of driving etc … but actual time behind the wheel would be around 14-16 hours over the 5 days and given the 14 hour + daylight hours – I would like to be optimistic about being able to spend time outside the car (I really hope that happens)
Barbara_in FL: thanks for your thoughts on the castles.

If we opt for the Stirling Castle over Edinburgh, what would be suggestions for Edinburgh [unfortunately I’m talking in terms of half a day.. sorry]NM

Is jet lag a factor in your arrival in Edinburgh? If so, a short nap and the hop on hop off bus tour might be the way you should 'do' Edinburgh. And find a nice restaurant for dinner. Walking the Royal Mile is the quintessential Edinburgh experience - maybe stroll it after dinner.

If I had to pick one (and given that you will be seeing the Tower in London) I would choose Stirling castle over Edinburgh, but just barely. (I actually wrote a reply a few days ago that compared the two castles, but it must have gotten lost in cyberspace). The advantage to Edinburgh is that you will already BE there. But you certainly go through Stirling on your route.

Too many people look at those drive time/mapping websites and think that is "real life"

It isn't - honest. Over roads one is unfamiliar w/, through some of the most scenic countryside in the world - most of those "3 hour" legs will turn into 6 or 7 hours or more w/ even just a few stops. And you will want to be at and checked into to your next accomodations before about 7:00-7:30 p.m. especially if they are B&Bs. Just get behind one farm tractor or tour bus or caravan and all your careful timing is out the window.

All I'm saying - until you've been there it is really hard to explain how long things really take take.

My favorite castle on the way to Skye, off the A87 near Dornie, is Eilean Donan Castle. Not a royal castle, but maybe the most romantic castle. People still live there, or at least left their furniture there, and the tour is interesting. I am pasting the web-site http://www.eileandonancastle.com/index.htm

I remember that someone told me when we went there(I've been to Skye 3 times) that it rains everyday on Skye and in fact, that happened to us each time.

Also, it will take you all day from Oban to traverse Mull and take the ferry to Iona. You will be fascinated by the abbey on Iona. Of course you will have to return to Oban in the evening although you could stay in Tobermore.

In 5 days you will hardly touch the surface of things to do/see in Scotland. I don't think you can do Mull/Iona and Skye plus Edinburgh but that is just my style.