I would love your thoughts on this first draft itinerary.

Day 1 - Fly LAX to EDI.
Day 2-5 - Stay and explore Edinburgh.
Day 6 - Pick up car, drive to Stirling via Kinross. Explore Stirling. Drive to Luss for 3 nights.
Day 7-8 - Explore Luss, Loch Lomand, Killin, Pitlochry. Sleep in Luss.
Day 9 - Drive to Fort William via Glencoe, Glen Etive. Sleep in Fort William (or nearby) for 2 nights.
Day 10 - Jacobite Train (we really want to do this.) Sleep in Fort William.
Day 11 - Drive to and explore Eilean Donan Castle/Plockton. ***Is this worth it or simply too out of the way? Where to stay for one night?***
Day 12 - Drive to Inverness via Loch Ness. Stay Inverness (or close by) for 3 nights.
Day 13 - Explore area ***Ideas welcome*** Sleep in Inverness.
Day 14 - Attend Highland Games at Gordon Castle. (Super excited for this!) Return car (willing to pay one way drop fee) and sleep in Inverness.
Day 15 - Fly INV-LAX.

1. Too much driving?
2. Eilean Donan too far out of our way? By this time, we will have seen both Edinburgh and Stirling castles.
3. Can you recommend a castle stay near Inverness? I would want to spend a day on the castle premises and the only "free" day seems to be Day 13.
4. Can you recommend a distillery which wouldn't require us to drive after? I read there may be one in Luss but I'm having difficulty finding it.

I welcome all of your thoughts. Thanks!

I’m in London right now and am out exploring for the day- might have time to dig into your plan in more detail later this evening. But just one very quick note for now. I’d reconsider Luss. Is is a wee lovely place right on Loch Lomond. But is only convenient for Loch Lomond. For Killin/ Falls of Dochart, The Trossachs, Stirling, Doune, etc somewhere like Callander. Doune, the Lake of Menteith etc would be better - but still easy to drop by Luss for a look-see. And there really isn’t much to ‘explore’ at Eileen Donan - it is primarily a gorgeous 15 minute photo stop. The castle interior itself is no great shakes. You’ll see much better castles elsewhere along y​​​​​our itinerary

Have a great trip janisj!

Sorry I didn’t get back to you- I didn’t forget about you but was run run running the whole time I was in London. I’m in the lounge at DFW on my way home later this evening. I’ll have a look at the full plan later tonight

janisj, based on your initial comments and a closer look at the map, I've added a day and made some changes. We now have 16 days flying in and out of EDI. Booked the tickets today!!

Day 1 - Fly LAX to EDI.
Day 2-5 - Arrive 8:30 am, stay and explore Edinburgh.
Day 6 - Pick up car, drive to Stirling via Kinross. Explore Stirling. Drive to Callender for 3 nights. (Concerned about having enough time in Stirling for all sites. Maybe an overnight here to see what we missed day before?)
Day 7-8 - Explore Trossachs area, Loch Lomand, Killin. Sleep in Callender.
Day 9 - Drive to Fort William area via Glencoe, Glen Etive. Sleep in Fort William (or nearby) for 2 nights. (Though not hikers, concerned that a drive by of Glencoe, Glen Etive is not enough time.)
Day 10 - Jacobite Train (we really want to do this.) Sleep in Fort William area.
Day 11 - Either add this day to Fort William area (day trip to Mull?) or head to Inverness?
Day 12 - Drive to Inverness area via Loch Ness. Stay Inverness (or close by) for 3 nights.
Day 13 - Explore area ***Ideas welcome*** Sleep in Inverness area.
Day 14 - Attend Highland Games at Gordon Castle. (Super excited for this!) Sleep in Inverness area.
Day 15 - Drive to Edinburgh via Pitlochry.
Day 16 - Fly EDI-LAX.

Thoughts? Thanks!

Back - not quite running on all cylinders but at least vertical Very nice plan, but just some specific comments mostly re accommodations.

First: "Day 6 - Pick up car, drive to Stirling via Kinross. Explore Stirling. Drive to Callender for 3 nights. (Concerned about having enough time in Stirling for all sites. Maybe an overnight here to see what we missed day before?)

I assume you are going via Kinross to see Loch Leven/the castle?? But in any case you don't need to stay over in Stirling. You should easily be able to do Loch Leven and Stirling Castle in one day -- Loch Leven in the AM and Stirling in the afternoon and driving Kinross to Stirling takes less than an hour. But in any case even if you did want to see more in Stirling -- Callander to Stirling is an easy 30-ish minute drive.

2) "Day 9 - Drive to Fort William area via Glencoe, Glen Etive. Sleep in Fort William (or nearby) for 2 nights. (Though not hikers, concerned that a drive by of Glencoe, Glen Etive is not enough time.)
Day 10 - Jacobite Train (we really want to do this.) Sleep in Fort William area."

Don't stay IN Ft William. Either in Glencoe itself or in Ballchullish would be tons better and still convenient to get to FW for the train.

3) "Day 12 - Drive to Inverness area via Loch Ness. Stay Inverness (or close by) for 3 nights.
Day 13 - Explore area ***Ideas welcome*** Sleep in Inverness area.
Day 14 - Attend Highland Games at Gordon Castle. (Super excited for this!) Sleep in Inverness area."

Again -- don't stay IN Inverness. It's just a city -- nice city but what you would find in most cities -- traffic, big box stores -- granted with a lovely river through the center. Elgin or Nairn would be nicer and more convenient for the games. Elgin is only about 30 mins from Gordon Castle. Nairn would be sweeter IMO but is about and hour from the castle.

As for what to see in the area -- tons of stuff -- Clava Cairns, Culloden, Cawdor Castle, Fort George (ENORMOUS and very interesting including seeing dolphins from the ramparts.) Elgin Cathedral, Grantown-on-Spey/whisky distilleries, Dufftown - Glenfiddich/Balvenie distilleries, Huntly Castle -- and LOTS more

Thank you SO much janisj. I appreciate your time and your recommendations. Hope you had a wonderful time in London.

You're most welcome. I had a great time -- but it wasn't a typical trip so not sure I'll do a TR -- maybe just a brief one. With three nights in central London and one night at LHR I managed three plays, five art exhibitions, three special meals and one semi-major economy boost at Fortnum's . . . and not a bit of 'sight seeing'. Plus eighteen hour and twenty-one hour travel days. Head still spinning a bit

This is my trip report from Scotland-might give you some ideas of what to do in the places you are staying:Teens in Scotland Trip Report

I'll have a look. Thank you!

They don't have 4 full days in Edinburgh -- they are flying over night and will likely arrive at EDI sometime the afternoon of day 2 - after many hours in transit including at least one connection. When I travel from the west coast (there are no direct flights to Edinburgh) it is more than 20 hours door to door -- sometimes close to 30 hours. So day 2 will likely be a wash out. Leaving 3 partially jet lagged days for Edinburgh which is about minimum for a brief overview.

After TONS of research of what truly appeals to us, the itinerary is set and flights and accommodations are booked. Here it is.

Day 1 - Fly LAX-EDI
Days 2-5 - Edinburgh (half day walking tour, Palace, Castle, Brittania, Royal Mile, cathedral, Real Mary King's Close, Scottish Parliament visit, Dean Village, National Museum, food tour...)
Day 6 - Pick up car. Drive to Stirling via Culross. Drive to Killin for 3 nights
Days 7-8 - Leisurely exploration of Killin, Falls of Dochart and environs
Days 9 - Drive to and easy walks in Glencoe and Glen Etive. Drive to Portnacroish for 3 nights (b and b with view of Castle Stalker from the bed!)
Day 10 - Full day tour of Mull/Staffa/Iona
Day 11 - Jacobite train
Days 12 - Drive to Cullen for 3 nights with lots of exploration along the way
Day 13 - Leisurely exploration along Moray Coast
Day 14 - Attend Gordon Castle Highland Games
Day 15 - Drive to Ratho via Pitlochry
Day 16 - Return car and fly EDI-LAX

I am so grateful for the input I got from many of you and have incorporated much of it into our trip. Though we travel a lot, I am more excited for this trip than many!