cathies

In Edinburgh we took a couple of excellent walking tours. I don't have the details of the company but we just turned up outside the Starbucks on The Royal Mile. Lots of people waiting and it was obvious we were in the right place. We didn't prebook the first one. The tour was free with an opportunity to make a donation at the end. We did book one for the next day which took in Edinburgh castle and there was a fee for that one to cover the cost of entry to the castle. Both times the guides were excellent.

PalenQ

Or if go to Kyle by train you can do one-day tours of Skye or longer ones by other tours too:

http://www.tourskye.com/

One even meets you at Kyle getting off the train from Inverness and returns you there for a train back to Inverness - if you want a quick look and also experience a scenic train ride.

Cars or Rabbies are great ideas just presenting if you really do not want to rent a car and also do it on your own - mainly by rail and as you say 'experience Scotland much like a local may'.

janisj

You only have a week(!)

So you can run all over Hell and Gone and spend two or three full days on trains . . . or not.

>>Even on Skye hiring taxis would not be bad because distances are so short <<

So short? Skye is ENORMOUS -- just getting to Portree from Kyle takes more than an hour. If one just wants to see the Trotternish and nothing else it is a 4 hour drive Kyle to Kyle R-T -- plus any actual stops. Short - right.

( It might be a good idea to ask the various posters when they last actually set foot in Scotland - just sayin' )

mzmerrymc

>>I really can't recall any tourist traps in Scotland.<<

See? Clueless. I'm happy to hear!

>> from Fort William take a train an hour south to the Great Moor of Rannoch and get off at Rannoch hotel station<<

I appreciate this suggestion (I've read it in several other Scotland threads over the last few days), but I'd prioritize a few more sights over this one. What makes this particular Moor a must see?

>>However, the OP only has a week total so no time to hit Dunrobin or Glenmorangie or Cawdor.<<

If 7-8 days on the ground isn't enough to really get a good visit, I could extend to 10 days on the ground... the holiday weekend does give me a bit more flexibility with work. We could leave the States on May 19, arrive on the 20th (wasted day given the jet lag, I'm sure), and fly back to the States on the 30th or 31st.

With that in mind, I'm thinking this (very rough) itinerary:

May 20 - Arrive in Edinburgh, sleep/recover
May 21 - Tour Edinburgh. Night in Edinburgh
May 22 - Tour Edinburgh. Night in Edinburgh
May 24 - Rent a car and drive to Callander. Night in Callander.
May 25 - Drive to Glencoe. Night in Glencoe.
May 26 - Drive to Portree. Night in Portree.
May 27 - Tour Skye. Night in Portree.
May 28 - Tour Skye. Night in Portree.
May 29 - Drive to Inverness. Drop car. Night in Inverness
May 30 - Explore Inverness area. Night in Inverness.
May 31 - Train to Edinburgh.

Is this hopelessly optimistic? I tried to break out the drive to Skye over a few days, given SugarMaple's advice of 5-6 hours to cover 100 miles. Is it stupid to drop the car in Inverness/stay in Inverness on this trip, given JanisJ's notes?

historytraveler

I think your itinerary looks good. I don't understand why you want to drop car at Inverness since the best for most sites you'll need car. You can get to Culloden by bus but that's about it. Inverness is not really a town you want to explore. I think the train pretty much follows the main road back to Edinburgh, the A9. If you drive you could always make a couple of short stops ( Blair Atholl or Dunkeld for example ) I suggest you rent your car at Edinburgh airport and drop it off there on return and take the tram or taxi back to the centre of Edinburgh.

historytraveler

Should read for most of the best sites.. For Inverness sightseeing there's Loch Ness and although not the best of Scotland's lochs you can visit Urquhart Castle. Several other possibilities are Culloden Battlefield, Clava Cairns, Cawdor Castle and Brodie Castle. You won't have time for all of these.

mzmerrymc

Thanks, historytraveler! ^ would it make more sense to fly out of Glasgow vs. trekking back to Edinburgh? Shorter drive? Could we see Mull over those last few days if we fly out of Glasgow?

paulg

Your new itinerary looks pretty decent. We did almost this exact same trip over the same time period, but in reverse (counter-clockwise instead of clockwise). In the Inverness area, we enjoyed Culloden Battlefield and Urquhart Castle (as well as the beach in Nairn). We would have done Cawdor Castle, but we had a lot of other castles in our itinerary and it would have taken away from time at Culloden and on the route to Portree. I also agree that the drive from Inverness to Edinburgh is easy, so no need for the train (unless you really just want to get a train ride in there).

I wished we had more time in Glencoe due to the rain we experienced, so if you can you might want to take a night from Inverness and add it to Glencoe. This means you'd have to see the Inverness area sites en route.

janisj

Your new Itinerary looks good with the additional time, but I would not stay IN Inverness. Someplace w/i a 10 mile circle -- eastward towards Nairn for instance.

I agree -- don't drop the car in Inverness, drive to EDI or GLA.

>>would it make more sense to fly out of Glasgow vs. trekking back to Edinburgh? Shorter drive?<<

In fact EDI is a slightly shorter drive than GLA.

>>Could we see Mull over those last few days if we fly out of Glasgow?<<

Nope -- unless you drop the northern loop through Inverness. You have lengthened your trip to squeeze in both Skye and the Inverness area -- but that doesn't net you enough time to add another region.

mzmerrymc

JanisJ, would you then recommend leaving Portree and doing Mull those last few days, and depart from GLA?

mzmerrymc

I'm trying to weigh the sights in the Inverness area vs Mull.

janisj

>>JanisJ, would you then recommend leaving Portree and doing Mull those last few days, and depart from GLA?<<

Only you can decide that. The Inverness loop and the Mull loop would each require about the same amount of time. Do you want another (and different) island, or do you want to go up north?

Both are worthwhile.

mzmerrymc

>> Only you can decide that. The Inverness loop and the Mull loop would each require about the same amount of time. Do you want another (and different) island, or do you want to go up north?

Both are worthwhile<<

Perhaps just one island on our first trip, then. Thank you for your help and recommendation to stay toward Nairn.

>>We would have done Cawdor Castle, but we had a lot of other castles in our itinerary and it would have taken away from time at Culloden and on the route to Portree. I also agree that the drive from Inverness to Edinburgh is easy, so no need for the train (unless you really just want to get a train ride in there)<<

Thanks for your recommendations, paulg!

mzmerrymc

Oh I'm so silly, I missed the 23rd in my itinerary above. Where should I add the extra day? In Glencoe, Callander?

paulg

You can't go wrong with either. I would research things to see/do in both areas and then decide based on your interests. We had two nights in the Trossachs and one night in Glencoe, and I wish we had two nights in Glencoe. Since it is a short drive from Edinburgh to Callander, you will have the better part of a day to see things near Callender, including a lot of potential stops along the way (Kelpies and The Wheel in Falkirk, Stirling Castle, Doune Castle if you are a Monty Python or Outlander fan, etc.)

Gardyloo

I'll chime in on the Skye/North vs. Mull/South question. Both are very rewarding itineraries, but there are some practical matters to consider as well as the scenic ones. Personal opinion also enters into it of course.

One thing to consider is that weather in May is very changeable. You can easily miss key sights in the west of Scotland and the Inner Hebrides in the spring because of rain and clouds. The work-around for this possibility is to visit areas where there's enough variety in sights and experiences, both indoor and outdoors, so that you can swap days or rearrange things relatively easily.

That <i>might</i> argue for a more southerly loop, as you've got the combination of Mull, the Argyll mainland, Loch Lomond, and even Glasgow as "fall-back" locations that offer incredible variety.

Here's a possible "southern" loop - https://goo.gl/maps/fBAxAeuJD572

It includes a stop in Culross, a fabulous restored medieval village (used in <i>Outlander</i> if that matters) on the Forth between Edinburgh and Stirling and/or Callendar.

Then it includes a drive down Glen Etive before transiting Glen Coe. Instead of staying in Glen Coe, you'd continue on to Glenfinnan on the Road to the Isles. Glenfinnan is a wildly beautiful place, and of course it's quite famous from the Harry Potter movies.

Then you'd follow the coast of the Ardnamurchan Peninsula out to the Kilchoan ferry to Mull. This too is lovely country, somewhat under a lot of visitors' radar.

After some time on Mull, you'd return to the mainland at Oban, then proceed to Inveraray on Loch Fyne via the marvelous prehistoric sites around Kilmartin Glen and village. You'd end with a stay in Luss on the shore of Loch Lomond, before returning the car either to Glasgow or Edinburgh airport.

Here's a possible timetable -

20-May Edinburgh
21-May Edinburgh
22-May Edinburgh
23-May Callendar via Culross
24-May Glenfinnan
25-May Mull
26-May Mull
27-May Mull
28-May Oban
29-May Inveraray
30-May Luss
31-May EDI or GLA

I won't say this is necessarily "better" than the northern itinerary, but it might give you more options to move around depending on conditions. I personally would prefer it, because I'm a bit of a history fan and would find Culross, Glenfinnan, Kilmartin and Inveraray to be more interesting than Culloden, which I personally find to be excessively bleak (not just the history but the site.)

Anyway, possibly worth considering.

Use Undiscovered Scotland - http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ - to research these or other places.

mzmerrymc

Gardyloo - this is fantastic. Thank you so much. I'm also quite the history fan so this is helpful. I'm going to rework this itinerary a bit and report.

paulg

If you end up doing the Northern loop and stay in Nairn, check out the Invernairne Guest House. It's a cool inn-style accomodation right on the beach.

I also agree that the actual site of Culloden is underwhelming, but the history to me was very interesting and the museum very well done.