ghahn

My boyfriend and I are making our first trip to Scotland in July. We're still ironing out the details, but we have an idea of what we want to get out of the trip (culture, good eats, and beautiful scenery/hiking). We get into Edinburgh on a Saturday morning, and depart Edinburgh the following Sunday. We want to get a feel for the culture, but also want to experience the Highlands.

Here's our rough itinerary so far:
Day 1: Arrive in Manchester at 7:30am. Take train to Edinburgh. Tour Edinburgh for the remainder of the day. Wander Princes Street. Any suggestions for half day excursions?
Day 2: Edinburgh castle, Gladstone's Land, The Museum of Scotland, Royal Mile - possible to do all of this in 1 day?
Day 3: Begin our journey to the Highlands.
So this is where is gets gray. I'm not sure if we should head up to Ben Nevis/Glencoe and stay there for a couple of days at a B&B. We could get some great hikes during our stay. OR should I head up to Cairngorms Nat'l Park/Speyside and do some hiking.
So a few questions:
A) Is hitting these 2 areas possible in 7 days?
B) What places are there in between? What 'must-sees' am I missing?
C) Where should I start? Better to drive from W to E (ie. Ben Nevis through Inverness to Cairngorms or vice versa)?
Obviously, I have many details to iron out. I'm missing places like Perth, Stirling, Culloden. Do I have time for a trip to Skye?
Day 8: Make our way back to Edinburgh. Spend the day/night here.
Day 9: Evening flight to Manchester so that we can catch our early flight back to the States on Day 10.

I've realized that this trip is right around the corner so I need to solidify my plans soon. I'm so excited...even for the drives!

Any advice is appreciated!

janisj

Your Edinburgh plans are fine - enough time to see what you've planned.

As for the rest - I know you want to hike and be out doors. And yes you could do Ben Nevis area and the Cairngorms in a week. But the scenery in the Cairngorms and around Ben Nevis is far from the best in Scotland. Not bad by any means but not all that spectacular.

For what you want, Skye or somewhere out west of Inverness (or both) might be a better choice. Or, w/ a full week you'd have time to explore several islands.

KE1TH

I loved every minute of my trip to Scotland. But in my opinion, the highlight of my trip was Iona.

The Abbey and the graveyard of the Scottish Kings was great.

I also loved Stirling Castle and Eilean Donan castle.

Keith

ghahn

Thanks. I think I'm going to scrap Cairngorms and instead head up to Fort Williams...and then make my way to Skye. Is 3 days in Skye enough? What a good place to stay in Skye

sheila

Oh Lord! Conflicting advice- just what you needed. My tuppenceworth would be...

Forget the Edinburgh half day trip- you will have more than enough to see without going anywhere else. just buy a hop on hop off ticket and get a feel for the place. There's also a bus which does the rounds of the various galleries

Day 2's great


You certainly could get some great hikes during your stay. I would agree with janis about he Nevis range, but diagree with her aboutthe Cairngorms. OR should I head up to Cairngorms

If it were me, and I had a week and 3 days of that was focussed on Edinburgh, I'd do one area only. You could do both the Nevis Range and Cairngorm, but why would you?

The climbing is very different. In the west you start at sea level and go straight up. In the Cairngorms you have what we call "the long walk in"- long gentle ascents before a pretty tough last 1000ft or so.

In between you have Lagganside and the Monadliath Mountains. No people. Lots of sheep and scenery. Some deer.

You are missing thousands of "must sees", but unless you come for the rest of your life, you must reconcile yourself to that.

The climbing on Skye is different again. Very steep. In the Black Cuillins, quite challenging; great open views.

I'd pick a single base; whether that's Speyside, Glen Coe (Terrific climbing there), Skye or Torridon (we didn't mention Torridon, did we), and use it as a base. ther are lots of lovely hikes round all of them.

amaclise

Fort Williams and Skye is the way to go. If you can take the train from Glasgow to Fort Williams, DO IT!!! You will see some of the most amazing scenery on the planet. It is absolutely breathtaking.

sheila

OTOH, you do end up in Fort William

ghahn

Thanks everyone for the great advice!

I'm now thinking the following:
Day 1-2: Edinburgh
Day 3-5: Drive up to Fort William. Stay outside of Fort William (use as a base) and explore Glencoe, Oban, and Isle of Mull. BTW, I wasn't set on the Nevis range. I've just read so much about it. If there are better trails and scenerary...I'd rather experience that!
Day 6-9: Head up north to Kyle of Lochalsh. Go to Skye and check out Ardnamurchan and Sanna Bay. What the best town to use as a base?
Day 9: Drive back down to Edinburgh and fly back to Manchester that evening.

I know, I added more to the trip...but now I'm just staying in the NW - Is this too ambitious? There's just too much to see!

alanRow

"Day 9: Drive back down to Edinburgh and fly back to Manchester that evening."

Why not just drive to Manchester, why take a flight?

ghahn

AllanRow - It's just easier and quicker to fly to Manchester. While we feel comfortable driving around in Scotland, we're not too familiar with the roads to Manchester. Plus, the tix weren't that expensive!

sheila

Day 3-5: Given what you want to see, I'd be inclined to suggest you stay somewhere like Ballachulish, or Kentallen or Port Appin, rather than Fort William. If you stay as far north as Fort William, then go to or from Mull on the little ferry from Lochaline, rather than both in and out through Oban.

Check out Ardnamurchan from there, NOT Kyle. If you want to be on the mainland, stay in Plockton or if you want t be on Skye, stay anywhere.

The Edinburgh Manchester thing REALLY doesn't make sense. Have you booked it?

ghahn

Thanks, Sheila.
Another change in plans:
Day 3-5: We're going to stay near Glencoe. That way we can explore all of those places.
Day 6-8: Head up to Gairloch. Check out Glen Torridon.

We actually already bought our tickets. We were originally going to spend an extra day in Edinburgh, but we decided to spend more time in the NW.
Why doesn't flying from EDI to MAN make sense? Isn't that a 4-5 hour drive?

sheila

Gairloch is much better.

From the centre of Edinburgh you have a 30 minute drive to the airport then an hour's check in, the flight takes an hour, you'll be at least a half hour getting out of there, then another half hour into the town centre.- 3 1/2 hours.

If the drive takes 4 hours, then the saving is minimal. But the actual issue arises from going back to Edinburgh in the first place. If you are starting from Kyle, say, it takes 8 hours to get to Manchester. It takes 4 1/2 hours to get to Edinburgh alone.

Any road, you're booked, so enjoy!

ghahn

thanks, sheila! i'm glad you think gairloch is a better idea. it sounds wonderful.
the day 9 drive back down to edinburgh (as well as the trip to manchester) won't be the most pleasant...but we think it's worth it so that we can spend more time up north. unfortunately, we first planned on staying in edinburgh another day and jumped on airline tix. oh well.
is a day trip to skye doable from gairloch?
i can't wait to breathe in some fresh air!

sheila

A day trip from Gairloch to Skye would be doable but it truly is too far.

Go to Applecross and look at Skye. Visit the beaches at Mellon Udrigle. Take a boat trip to see the whales and porpoises. Go to Ullapool. But don't go to Skye from there.

(at this point I realise I read somewhere about a direct ferry... hang on...... yes I did, but not till next year:-

http://www.overtheseatoskye.com/)

historytraveler

6 Degees West offer a cruise /ferry from Garloch to Portree(Skye).A guided tour of Skye is also available.They leave Gairloch at 9:30 and arrive at Portree 11:00 It is an all day trip,returning to Gairloch about 19:30. This is assuming they are still in business. Try their website www.overtheseatoskye.com

historytraveler

Sorry Shelia, just read your post. I have a brochure from two years ago and thought it'd be up and running by now. Great idea when it finally happens.