My husband and I will be arriving in Edinburgh from London on a Tuesday morning. We have booked B&Bs in Stirling (Tues.), Isle of Skye (Broadford - Wed.), Daviot (Thurs) and are to be back in Edinburgh for Fri. and Sat. to meet friends and then returning to London on Sunday late afternoon. We are now thinking that we are being a bit ambitious from a driving standpoint. I was told the drive from Stirling to Mallaig (want to take the ferry) is close to 4 hours (!) and I have no idea the time from Kyle of Lochalsh to Inverness area. We don't want to be too rushed and would like to take in the scenery as well as make the occasional stops to see castles, go on a distillery tour, etc. Are we being too ambitious? Should we change our plans and perhaps stay more central and not go to Skye? Please help. We arrive in Edinburgh on Oct. 3 to pickup our car. Your advice will be very much appreciated. <BR> <BR>Kathy

Kathy, <BR>You're itenerary indicates you've done a lot of research and want to take in the best of a beautiful area. <BR>We've taken two driving trips in that general area with the most recent in August. Your plans are doable although I think you'll wish you had more time to explore rather than just pack, drive, and unpack. I think the four hour estimate from Stirling to Mallaig is accurate due to the narrow road between Fort William and Mallaig however I wouldn't recommend skipping Skye because I think it will be a high point of your trip. That route also takes you through Glencoe which beautiful. The road from the ferry on Skye to your hotel is quite slow also. We followed a route very similar to yours on our first trip and loved it so much we returned a year later and spent two nights in each area (and 4 nights in Edinburgh)to fully enjoy the scenery, history, and people.

Thanks Dick. I think we will stick with our route and just be prepared for the fact that we will be on the road quite a bit. Thanks for the info. <BR> <BR>

Bear in mind we have very little that resembles an interstate. Majority of our roads are one lane either direction, smaller number two lanes each way (as a percentage of overall number its very small. Tiny amount of three lane each way motorways and they are nowhere near to where you are going.

Sheila, where are you?? This one is for you! <BR>Amik

I'm here. Dick's right- whether that's Daviot in Inverness-shire or Daviot in Aberdeenshire <BR> <BR>Kyle in Inverness is about an hour- an hour and a half ( anyway, you knew that, you did it this summer) <BR> <BR>The only day anything like pushed is the first and even it's not that bad.