Finalizing our itinerary, Scotland
 

Finalizing our itinerary for a two week + trip to Scotland mid-May, and thought I’d post a general outline here for review. Two of us, 30th anniversary trip; we are in our mid-50’s, reasonably fit, willing to splurge a little as it is a special occasion trip. This is a return trip for us, covering things we didn’t see on our last Scotland visit. Thoughts on our plans? All comments welcome.

Day 1/2 – overnight flight East Coast, US to Heathrow/ Heathrow to Edinburgh (3 hr and 50 min layover)

Day 2 – drop luggage at hotel, tour Edinburgh, meal possibilities: Dishoom, White Hart Inn, the Ivy

Day 3 – early am flight to Orkney, pick up rental car, self-tour island, check in to b&b in Stromness

Day 4 – organized tour of Orkney, overnight Stromness

Day 5 – ferry over to Rousay, organized tour of Rousay, overnight Stromness

Day 6 – self-tour Orkney in am, drop rental car at airport in pm, flight back to Edinburgh, hotel Edinburgh overnight

Day 7 – pick up new car rental outside Edinburgh, leisurely drive to Oban, hotel outside Oban overnight

Day 8 – ferry to Mull in am, self-tour around island, check in to apartment in Tobermory

Day 9 – all day boat tour to Trenish Isles and Staffa, overnight in Tobermory

Day 10 – ferry to Iona, walk around island, ferry back, overnight in Tobermory

Day 11 -more self-tour Mull, overnight in Tobermory

Day 12 – ferry back to Oban, leisurely drive to Inveraray through Kilmartin area, overnight in Inverary

(restaurant possibilities in Inverary: Samphire or George Hotel?)

Day 13 – leisurely travel Inverary to Glencoe/Glen Etive, overnight near Glen Etive

Day 14 – leisurely drive back to Edinburgh, overnight hotel near airport

Day 15 – return car rental to Edinburgh airport, flight to Heathrow, then flight home to US (1 hour and 55 min layover; not too worried about shorter layover: we are flexible on time, and it’s all on one ticket/BA would have to put us up, feed us, etc, as well as comply with uk261.)

Additional questions: how long would Airlink bus from Edinburgh airport to Old Town take?

Any recs of good outdoor shops in Edinburgh where we could rent/buy inexpensive but decent hiking poles. (Trying to do carry on over to UK but wouldn’t mind checking a bag on the return.)

Any restaurant suggestions for Stromness/around Orkney, Edinburgh, Oban, Mull (Tobermory or otherwise), Inverary. Would I need reservations mid-May? If yes, how early ahead to book?

How easy is it to use credit cards (contactless preferred) in some of the further flung locations – ie: Mull, Iona, Orkney; we had great luck with them everywhere in London last year, but I’m guessing we might need a bit of cash on hand this time. Are LINK ATMs (airport) still best for withdrawals, no extra fees?

-TIA for all replies!

I don't have time to completely review/digest your plan right now but will do so later today. Looks like a great trip.

But a couple of things that initially:

"Day 6 – self-tour Orkney in am, drop rental car at airport in pm, flight back to Edinburgh, hotel Edinburgh overnight
Day 7 – pick up new car rental outside Edinburgh, leisurely drive to Oban, hotel outside Oban overnight"

By FAR the easiest/best place to collect a rental car is at EDI so I'd just stay the night at an airport hotel. Or maybe just north of the airport in South Queesferry.

"Day 13 – leisurely travel Inverary to Glencoe/Glen Etive, overnight near Glen Etive"

There are no hotels in GlenEtive - Stay IN Glencoe or Ballachulish

Janis,
Thanks. No worries. I would have preferred to pick up the car rental Day 6 after our flight back from Orkney. Unfortunately, the way the planning worked out, Day 6 is a Sunday and there is only one flight. It gets us back to Edinburgh too late to get a rental that day. Since we stayed at the Norton House Hotel and Spa on our last Scotland visit, and greatly enjoyed it, we decided to re-visit it again for our overnight Day 6. Only about ten minutes from the airport. I guess its not really considered to be IN Edinburgh, but it was easiest to list it that way.

Our hotel on Day 13 is the Kingshouse Hotel, about five minutes from the road that leads down to Glen Etive. GE was another favorite stop last time, and staying at that hotel will allow us more time to soak up all the beautiful scenery around there.

I'd welcome your answers to some of my questions when you have the time. Thanks for reading.

"Our hotel on Day 13 is the Kingshouse Hotel, about five minutes from the road that leads down to Glen Etive."

👍 By 'in Glencoe' I was actually going to recommend either the Kingshouse or the Clachaig Inn

Norton House is only about 1.5 miles from EDI as the crow flies but the road winds here and there so yep -- 10-ish minutes.

Re the Airlink-- it doesn't serve Old Town so unless you're staying very close to Market Street/Cockburn Street/North Bank it would likely be too far to walk with even just carry-ons from the bus stop along Princes Street/St Andrews Square, so plan on taking a taxi up the hill. I'd probably take the Tram instead of AirLink -- same issue that you'd want a taxi up the hill.

Credit cards are excepted all over but I would still plan on having some cash on the islands.

Can't really help with restaurants in Tobermory -- the only place I've ever eaten in the village closed post covid. (My two stays on Mull I stayed in Fionnphort other end of the isle so ate most meals there and on Iona)

I'd plan on booking most dinners - not because between the two May Bank Holidays will be overly busy - but because it doesn't take that many customers to totally fill country pubs/restaurants at dinner. But in a lot of places just booking the same morning is enough except for Fri / Sat nights and Sunday Lunch.

There are so many new and exciting restaurants in Edinburgh -- I haven't been since 2019 so lots has changed.

Oops . . . "Credit cards are excepted accepted all over but I would still plan on having some cash on the islands."

My two cents
 

My husband and I visited Scotland back in October and if I could redo it, I’d spend all my time in the Highlands. Glencoe and Cairngorms were the true highlights for me; definitely don’t miss! We were fortunate in the sense that we had no traffic anywhere but dealt with severe rain storms. The locals told us that because of how the roads are, back ups can be 2-4 hrs in the better weather months. For us that’s a big NO CAN DO! As far as driving goes, after a few hours my husband was loving it. Getting the hang of their lack of drainage, curbs and roundabouts was a different story.🙈. In general, we absolutely loved Scotland, especially Edinburgh!

Janis,
Thanks for the reply. I ended up putting the route from the airport to Old City Edinburgh/Grassmarket in to Google maps, and I could see how it would be quite a walk from where the bus would let us off. We used a taxi the last time we were in Edinburgh (same hotel), and I was hoping to do public transit this time, but I think we'll just go with a taxi again.

Demi,
Thanks for responding! We, too, loved the Glencoe/Glen Etive area the last time we visited Scotland, so we made sure to allow for at least a day to re-visit the area. This visit we are focusing more on the areas we didn't get to see last time - all the prehistoric sights for me and some of the islands for my husband. We lucked out the last time we visited (same mid-May time frame) and had beautiful weather, and are crossing our fingers for the same this time. Of course, the raincoats are going into the luggage just in case! ;)

We experienced single track roads when we were on Skye for a few days, and while my husband wasn't as fond of those, he is used to UK driving in general, from his many work-related trips over. I wasn't a fan of those, but actually enjoyed UK driving (when we were back on larger roads, that is.) We ran into a bit of roadwork getting to Skye, and had to watch out for cute wandering lambs, but other than that had no issues.

I bet you'll manage to find a way back to Scotland again in the future!