Hi folks! I'm planning a trip to Scotland with my family (6-7 adults) in August. We want to spend some time in Edinburgh and see a bit of the highlands. My father's ancestors came from Dufftown, so it's important for him to see that area as well. Right now I have this (very rough!) itinerary. I would love any feedback on whether this is doable time-wise or if there's anything major I missed. Also any recommendations for what to check out int he Dufftown/Aberdeenshire areas. We feel lukewarm about whisky and most of our group aren't big hikers. Love sightseeing. Thanks in advance for any tips!

• Day One: August 3:
  • Edinburgh
• Day Two: August 4:
  • Edinburgh
• Day Three: August 5:
  • Edinburgh to Stirling Castle to Glencoe to Fort William (stay in Fort William)
  • Total: 3 hrs 25 min driving
  • Explore: Stirling Castle, Glencoe area.
• Day Four: August 6:
  • Fort William to Eilean Donan to Portree
  • Total: 2 hr 38 min driving
  • Explore: Eilean Donan Castle, Portree/Isle of Skye (Old Man of Storr hike?)
• Day Five: August 7:
  • Portree to Loch Ness to Dufftown (stay in Aberlour)
  • Total: 4 hr 31 min driving
  • Explore: Portree/Isle of Skye (or Old Man of Storr hike?), Loch Ness
• Day Six: August 8:
  • Stay in Aberlour
  • Total*]Explore: Dufftown and Aberdeenshire
• Day Seven: August 9:
  • Aberlour to Edinburgh
  • Total: 3 hr 13 min Driving
  • Explore: Edinburgh
• Day Eight: August 10
  • Fly Home

Welcome to Fodors. Just quick- I’m at DFW waiting for my connecting flight into Northern California from LHR. I haven’t yet read your whole post yet but just some preliminary comments. I’ll post more when I get home tonight.

For a group that size you will want two cars and at least 3 drivers.

if you are using Google map or similar for your drive times you’ll want to add around 25+%, sometimes significantly more.

lots to see in the Dufftown area or near enough for day tripping. Even if you really aren’t whisky fans you’ll probably want to do one distillery tour - Dufftown is all about the whisky and food. Then there is huntly castle, Elgin cathedral, culloden etc etc.

more later when I get home

Oh just noticed this trip is in August. . . Have you already booked your accommodations. Skye will be a zoo and Edinburgh will be a TOTAL ZOO!

We're in the process of booking accommodations now. I know it's going to be nuts, but we're really restricted to that month for travel because of everyone's schedules. Thanks for your tips so far, I look forward to the rest!!

Still at DFW - 5+ hours is toooooo long even in the flagship lounge 😉 finding accommodations in Edinburgh for a group that size will be very pricey. And the city will be two or three times its normal population. Any ‘normal’ sightseeing will be difficult. It doesn’t seem you are that interested in the festivals or Tattoo. If not, maybe consider not staying IN Edinburgh at all. You could stay somewhere like Stirling or even Glasgow and easily day trip into Edinburgh.

Also - I’d seriously consider skipping Skye altogether. The roads will be jammed and parking very difficult.

It’s been a long time since I was at the Edinburgh festival but it’s great fun and if you have a chance to attend I would.

Yikes! I hope you're not stuck for much longer!

We found a place in Edinburgh! We will take in some of the Festival for sure and are expecting crazy crowds, so we should be okay there. I think we will take your advice to skip Skye, although we're sad about it. So now we're thinking either tack on another night in the Glencoe area to explore more or another night in Aberfour/Dufftown to explore there.

I have a lot of errands/loose end to deal with today after my trip so I'll take some time later this afternoon to go over everything - and make some suggestions. Great that you found a place in Edinburgh. What neighborhood? Re Edinburgh, don't have your heart set on the normal sightseeing -- you'll be able to get into some of course but just go with the flow and do what you can manage. One thing - you will want to pre-book your dinners and probably lunches too because there will be thousands (and thousands) of others all trying to eat at the same times.. If you are interested consider booking tickets to the Tattoo. It really is fabulous. Don't worry about some sections being sold out - there really isn't a bad seat anywhere in the esplanade and the cheaper tix are fine. If there is limited availability on your dates try breaking into smaller groups.

I’ll come back with more but for goodness sake,don’t drop Skye! It’s busy but not that bad and most of the mainland will be busier again. It is outstanding for scenery and very different looking all round.

On Skye, if you do include it again, I'd add at least one more day to it.

Ballindalloch Castle might be of interest - there are some stunning castles/ country houses in the wider region.Balvenie Castle (ruin.) You are very much in Whisky country there too.
If you return to Edinburgh via Aberdeen, then other castle options come into play too - Dunnotar would be one I wouldn't miss and Stonehaven by the harbour is an attractive wee place (with a great walk from there to Dunnnotar - THE way to see that superb sight.)

Skye is wonderful of course. No question. And you help people plan wonderful trips to the area. But do you honestly think a group of 7 adults in two cars will have an easy go of it? Being a local, you know the 'get arounds' for coping with the August hordes.

Janis - I really don’t like busy places but I honestly don’t think Skye should be avoided because of ‘crowds.’

I’m on Skye most months and we have never had an issue getting around - the main roads up through Skye are pretty fast.Once on the single track roads to the hot spots, the roads, in my experience, run quite the thing with a bit of shuffling as people drive into the now much extended car parks for the Quiraing and the Storr and Neist Point.
The road that gets busy is the Glen Brittle road to the (again hugely extended) car park above the Fairy Pools.The twisting, winding descent /re-ascent and the number of vehicles arriving at peak time can result in delays as (mostly) campervans and motor homes stop - start as they pull in and out the passing places.We are usually heading for Glen Brittle beach and have never had more than a 5 min or so delay.Yes, it’s busy but people get parked, walk down and out to the Pools and are soon tiny ants in the grand landscape.
I quite appreciate that there have been longer delays than that experience by some but they have been very unlucky.
Getting out and about early for the hot spots or leaving it till much later in the day, can be useful.
As there is only one road to each of these hot spots there is no getting around them!
At the end of the day, how busy a place is, can also be quite subjective depending on expectations, past experience of a place years ago (I’ve been coming to Skye for 40 years plus (yikes!) and of course it IS much busier but not to the extent that I would suggest anyone avoids it.Plus the majority of the island offers vast opportunities to enjoy spectacular surroundings without hitting the most popular honey spots.

Hi! We were in Scotland for 3 weeks in 2023 (April/May) - We stayed in Edinburgh and did a couple of day trips - Loch Lomond National Park, Kelpies & Stirling Castle. We then moved our base to Inverness. From there we booked a day tript to the Isle of Skye - I don't recommend driving out there - get a tour or private driver for your group. Lots of people/parking/potholes but it was great. The Fairy Pools were as described. We also booked the Jacobite train (Harry Potter Train) which was great. There are lots of whiskey distilleries and a tour is pretty interesting. Culloden is nearby which is important history spot. So much to see. Then we rented a car and went down to Invergarry and stayed at the Glengarry Castle Hotel -- amazing end to our trip.

Your itinerary looks good but be sure you leave enough time to just enjoy some Scottish music. Also - August is the Edinburgh tattoo so it will be very busy so be sure and book soon.

Enjoy!

1. Find some time to stop and see the Kelpies and the Battle of Bannocockburn site.

2. Save time and forget Loch Ness. It’s just another Loch and there’s not much opportunity to stop and do anything anyway.

3. Skip driving to Skye, it’s not the viewing and activity stimulus that it’s hyped to be.

4. I recommend the Craigellachie Hotel in Aberlour if you don’t already have anything secured.