Help with UK Itinerary - Driving Questions
 

Hi Everyone. I'm new to the forums. I was wondering if anybody would be kind enough to look over my early itinerary and give me some pointers.
My Fiance and I are going to the UK for 2 weeks in late April, Early May. My finace lived in England for 2 years (Mildenhall) while in the service. He's pretty comfortable driving there, so we're going to get a car to have a little more freedom. We'll pick up the car in Cambridge, and have it till the end of our trip. We've both been to London and seen most of the sights there. So, we're going to keep our time there kinda short, and see the 2 things I haven't yet.
Here is my early Itinerary outline. I know this is a short time, so I want to plan our time wisely.

Day 1/Sat - Land at heathrow. Get into London, find Hotel.
Day2/Sun - London sightseeing. Tower of London & British Museum
Day3/Mon - Train to Cambridge. Get car. Tour Combridge. Meet Friends in Newmarket.
Day4/Tues - Tour more of Cambridge. Visit Bury St. Edmunds (Fiance loves this town)
Day5/Wed - Drive Straight to Edinburgh. Walking tour??
Day6/Thurs - Tour Edinburgh. Castle, Royal Mile...Etc.
Day7/Fri - Tour more of Edinburgh....Then head to Inverness
Day8/Sat - From Inverness...Drive to Skye. Eilean Donean Castle. Tour Skye.
Day8/Sun - Tour Highlands - Glencoe area
Day9/Mon - Tour Highlands - Abeerdeen area
Day10/Tues - Leave Scotland. Drive to Costwolds area.
Day11/Wed - Tour Bath and Costwolds
Day12/Thurs - Salisbury all day - Cathedral, Old Sarum, Stonehenge
Day13/Friday - Head back to London. Maybe go to see a show.
Day14/Sat - Early flight out of Heathrow.

I need most of my help with our days in Scotland. I've heard that although Inverness is the main city of the Highlands. There are better places to use as a point to tour the Highlands.
I also need info about Driving time. Right now, I have 2 days just planned for driving. But, I want to know, if maybe I'm over-estimating driving. How long will the below trips take, without stopping. Perhaps the drives won't take as long as I think.
I'm also wondering if seeing Bath and some of the Costwolds is doable in 1 day.

Cambridge to Edinburgh...I want to plan a walking tour in Edinburgh for that night. But am unsure of when we'll get there.
Inverness to Costwolds Area.

Thanks for any help!!

I think touring Bath and the Cotswolds in ONE day might be a bit unrealistic.

Personally, I would return the car before you go to Scotland, take the train up and hire another one when you get there. It is such a long drive, but if you enjoy the driving then that may suit you.

Carolena

Yes, Day 10 is your big problem!
It's either a day in Bath, or a day having a look at some of the Cotswolds (note spelling). No way you should attempt both. Also you'll have had a big driving day the day before (coming down from Scotland to the Cotwolds area). So personally you might be glad of Day 11 being a leg stretch around Bath rather than sitting in a car again touring. Bath is a great place for walking in.
A small point also about your earlier days. When you go to Newmarket you are half way to Bury (my home town by the way) so why not visit Bury on your Newmarket trip (either before or after you see your friends).
If that doesn't work out, I would also recommend going from Cambridge to Bury by train. Quick and easy trip, Bury Railway station isn't far from the town centre, and it's a beggar to park if you take the car.
Hope this helps.

The days in Scotland could be very long as the roads though good are not fast.

ABERDEEN TO COTSWOLDS will be best part of 11 hours driving.

Concentrating just on the Scottish bit, and sounding like a cracked record:-

A straight run from Bury St Edmunds to Edinburgh would be about 6 hours, so you will have plenty time to do what you want in the evening so long as you don't dally.

Read "The Fanatick"

Day6/Thurs - Tour Edinburgh. Castle, Royal Mile...Etc.
Day7/Fri - Tour more of Edinburgh....

Sigh- why are you going to Inverness? I note you've written down nothing about what you want to do there, and that's about right. If you want to go to Skye, go to Skye take in Glencoe en route. It's a a nice route. I spelled it out for someone else yesterday or the day before.

Do Skye on Day 8, then cross to Aberdeen. There's a reason for this? Not that Aberdeen's not a nice town but the rest of your focus is in the west, and you're trying to cram a lot into not much time.

Day10/Tues - Leave Scotland.

It's about 8 hours straight drive to the "top" of the Cotswalds, but if you rejig a wee bit you might be starting from a bit farther south.

We regularly visit Scotland and think that the driving you contemplate is horrendous.
We drive from Cheshire and always stop off on the way up.
For a start, driving for 11 hours will be tiring and tired drivers are dangerous.
I'd take the train or fly to Edinburgh and hire a car there.
You could then slowly drive back down South,

Sites like www.uk.map24.com/ give you not only driving directions, they'll give you reasonable driving time estimates too. You can customise the settings to suit your average speed. Suggest you set 55mph as an average on motorways; I know the speed limit is 70mph, but I live in the UK and find you rarely average more than 60mph; and given you're a tourist, your average is likely to be slower. Suggest you set an average speed of 35pmh or 40mph on A roads. And then you'll get a better feel for the challenge which awaits you on those long journeys.

wrrllw, is Map24 accurate for driving trips in northern Scotland? That is, are its driving times accurate? We plan a driving trip to northwest Scotland for this May. I've been looking at Multimap (www.multimap.com),the AA (www.theaa.com) and the Royal Automobile Club (www.rac.co.uk). These seem to vary widely as to the time to drive a given route.

There's no such thing as an accurate drivetime estimate in Britain.

As one of the most highly urbanised societies in human history, with several centuries of building insufficient roads, we have probably the most congested road network in the developed world. Some bits are busy from 0500 to 2200. When congestion builds up varies massively from spot to spot.

The AA and RAC seem to use the same algorithm and neither try to be at all sophisticated about time of day or different levels of congestion: a messy 160 mile journey I often take comes out at 178 mins and 181 mins respectively on the two sites. In the past couple of years, excluding times when traffic has been halted for over 30 mins through major accidents or severe weather, we've taken between 155 mins and 420. Most have taken at least 10% longer than the web estimates, though this is a journey notorious for its delays.

If you really have found a journey where the websites show wide differences in time estimates for the exact same journey - something I've never found in all the years since these sites started BTW - then the likelihood is that most journeys during reasonable conditions (both sites assume better conditions than most journeys actually find) will be between the two estimates.

For most planning purposes, though, assume about 40% of the journeys taken on the route you've plugged in will be at the time indicated or faster. Always give yourself 50% of the indicated time extra, and you'll then find that only about 10% of the journeys on that route will be sunbstantially slower than that 150% of your planning time.

Because of the level of urbanisation in Britain, ir is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL you input the full alphanumeric postcode. A simple "London" to "Manchester" is a complete waste of time, since the journey time could be reduced by 30% or increased by 50% depending where you really start and finish

I want to thank everyone for your good suggestions. :)
We were thinking of getting a car while in the cambride area, turning it back in. And then taking the train to Edinburgh, and getting another car after our days in Edinburgh. But, it does seem that price wise, there isn't much difference. So, we're unsure. The only real reason we would even need a car in the Cambridge/Newmarket area would be to get to our friends home.

I'm not looking foward to the long drive down from Scotland. The day before we might head down to right outside Edinburgh, then from there drive down to the Cotswold area. Hopefully just another 6-7 hour drive?

I wish I could see more of the Cotswold are. But we've realized there is so much in Scotland, that we would need about 6 days there. I'm trying to re-organize these days so that maybe I can see more of The Cotswolds.

I would definitely train up to Edinburgh. You won't need a car in the city, and it will in fact be a hindrance, trying to find parking with your lodging. Then you can pick up a car at the Edinburgh airport on your way to the highlands. Depending on where you finish up, drop the car there and train back down, or drive leisurely on way, with stops. The train goes much faster than you can drive the same distances, and saves a lot of stress.

I guess my fiance really wants a car in the cambridge/newmarket areas, so he can drive me around his old haunts.
I don't mind the 6-7 hour drives. Being from Ca. and living in LA, I'm use to being on the road a lot.
It was the 11 hour drives that were scaring me (Inverness to Cotswold area). Is there a town outside of Edinburgh that you would recommend staying before heading south?

Side Note: I think the only reason I was interested in going to Aberdeen was to see Dunnottar Castle. Would you recommend driving through there on our way toward Inverness?

haydeedoll,

To answer your last point first. Dunnottar Castle is worth seeing, but whilst the drive from Edinburgh to Aberdeen is not bad, Aberdeen to Inverness is not good. It is also a very long way round.

I would suggest that, despite your experiences at home, you take heed of what people have said about the journeys you have mentioned. Driving in UK is, I would suggest, in several ways very different to what you are used to.

You have explained Cambridge and Dunnottar but don't seem to have said why you want to go to Edinburgh, Inverness, Skye and the Cotswolds. In some ways you could hardly have chosen destinations further apart. They seem rather like the 'usual suspects' beloved of tourists.

I'm trying to stop the little voice inside me from saying if you're doing London, Cambridge and Edinburgh why not limit yourselves to the areas between them where you have places like the Yorkshire Dales, North Pennines, Roman Wall, Scottish Borders?

Oh dear. It's said it.

Michael

Hello Michael
You're right they are the 'usual suspects'.
In Edinburgh I really want to see - The castle, Old Town, and walk Arthur's Seat. As well as some JK Rowling haunts. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan.
The first part of the Highlands I really wanted to see was Skye. For the views. But, the more I've read, I've realized there is so much I'd like to see in the Highlands. I really want to pass through Glencoe.
I really have no reason for going to Inverness, bisides it being a base point. What would be your recommendation of a better place to stay while touring the Highlands?

My first Itnerary had us in Scotland one day less, so that we could have a whole day of driving around the Cotswolds. But, I've sacrificed that for the extra day in Scotland. I wanted to see the Cotswold for the classic English scenery. And because it's near Bath, where I want to see the Roman Baths. We may just stay in Bath that one night, or stay all 3 nights in Salisbury and drive up to Bath. Is that a long drive?

Salisbury is a must, I've been in love with the area since reading Edward Rutherford's "Sarum".

I know it's such a Short Trip. I wish we had more time to see places like The Lake District, Liverpool. But, we will have to save those for the next trip.

OK a compromise. From Cambridge, fly to ABERDEEN from Luton on Easyjet ( curently about £25 each if booked well ahead). hire a car there and then drive Inverness and on to Skye, this will save you at least a day. Then drive to Edinburgh. Train to Peterbourough (3 1/2 hours on GNER). Hire car tour Cotswolds return car to Heathrow. This will free up at least 2 1/2 days of driving allowing more time to see the locations. Downside is that it may be a bit more expensive - NOT SURE - but you will see all you want to see. After all it is not every day you come to the UK.

These links will help. The car hire one will let you pick up at Aberdeen and drop of at Edinburgh station. Choose pick up as UK AND IT WILL SHOW LOCATIONS

http://www.gner.co.uk/GNER

https://www.easyjet.com/en/book/index.asp

http://www.carrentals.co.uk/car-hire...ort-about.html

INTERESRED TO HEAR HOW IT WORKS OUT

Normally I would recommend taking the train to Edinburgh but I know from lots of personal experience what a s*d this trip is by train as it nearly always relies on either a 10 minute or 55 minute connection at Peterborough.

My recommendation is that fly Easyjet from Stansted to Edinburgh and return the car in Cambridge or at Stansted.

Oh and try to sit on the left hand side of the plane as that gives the best views of Edinburgh as you approach the airport

Hire another car at Edinburgh airport once you've done your Edinburgh sightseeing in order to tour Scotland then drop it off at Inverness and fly to Bristol with Easyjet and pick up another car for Bath / Cotswolds etc before returning to Heathrow

These are great suggestions. After looking at it we've realized that the driving was a bit out of hand. We've revamped our itinerary and moved some things around. Even though we will still be spending a lot of time driving, it seems like this new schedule has opened up more time.
We've decided to train up to Edinburgh from London, and not get a car till we head to the Highlands. I've scratched going to Aberdeen and seeing Dunnotar Castle. It really is sort of out of the way.
We've also decided to stay in Fort William instead of Inverness. Here is a new outline of our itinerary

Day1/April28: Land at Heathrow. Get into London, Relax.
Day2/April29: London - Tower, British Museum
Day3/April30: Train to Edinburgh. Stay in a central location. Walking tour.
Day4/May1: Edinburgh. Castle, Royal Mile. Walk Arthur's Seat.
Day5/May2: Pick up Car. Drive to Fort William via Glencoe. Take in Glencoe...Maybe see Stirling Castle, if time. Stay in Ft. William 3 nights.
Day6/May3: Drive up Loch Ness. Urquhart Castle
Day7/May4: Drive to Skye

Day8/May5: Head South - Stop somewhere on the way down to England to spend the night. Unsure of where yet. Recommendations??
Day9/May6: Drive South. End at Friends home in Newmarket.
Day10/May7: Tour Cambride and Bury St. Edmunds.

Below days still in consideration of what to do first...And which routes are best.
Day11/May8: Tour Cotswolds
Day12/May9: Tour Bath
Day13/May10: Tour Salisbury. Cathedral, Old Sarum, Stonehenge.

Thanks for the help guys :)

haydeedoll,

<i>What would be your recommendation of a better place to stay while touring the Highlands?</i>

Well, your last post perhaps means this is too late but having thought about it I'll still post it.

With what you're doing I don't think you really need a base. The following thought emerged in my mind.

Train Cambridge to Edinburgh, then on your original thoughts:

Fri: Leave Edinburgh in time to drive to Dunnottar. Overnight Stonehaven, Banchory or Ballater.

Sat: Drive from wherever spent night via Aviemore, Newtonmore, Spean Bridge to Eilean Donan. Go on towards/over Skye Bridge for overnight (Kyle, Kyleakin, Broadford).

Sun: Tour Skye, get last ferry Armadale to Mallaig for overnight at Mallaig.

Mon: Fort William, Glencoe to stop perhaps Callander (or nearer Edinburgh).

Tues: Fly Edinburgh to Bristol for car to Bath ...

Other options to consider if you are at Bury St Edmunds would be to fly from Norwich to Edinburgh or Aberdeen.

Michael

haydeedoll, I like your new itinerary much better. I was thinking of suggesting something similar, but didn't know if your friends' availability was flexible.

I would stay somewhere other than Fort Williams itself (Michael has suggested some possible places - we stayed in Spean Bridge, but our favorite place there has changed ownership). Maybe do 2 nights there and spend one on Skye. We did Skye on a drive through one day and it really is not enough time there.


When you go to Salisbury, arrange for the Stone Circle Access to Stonehenge. This is where you visit before or after the public hours and can walk in among the stones. IMO, it wouldn't be worth going to Stonehenge without this opportunity, especially given the importance to you. English Heritage arranges for the reservations. Also, reserve the Tower Tour at Salisbury Cathedral (around 2 hours). Here is a link to my trip report from this summer that includes our visit to Salisbury (and links for the Stonehenge access and Salisbury Cathedral.) We stayed in the Cathedral Close, which was wonderful. http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34870457
If you have time in the area, you might want to check out the large stone circle at Avebury, since you will have a car (it's not far at all, and doesn't have opening and closing hours. Old Sarum does.)

As an aside, your Day 2 (in London) will be packed. The Tower and British Museum are a lot to do in one day. Allow a good 3+ hours for just a basic look at the Tower. You should do some research on the offerings of the British Museum and make a list of what you want to see and seek them out. Otherwise, you could be there forever.

Two suggestions:

In London, try to stay at the Chancery Court. (If you keep checking Marriot website, you can find a deal). It is a short walk to the British Museum. Check to see if they have envening hours. When we fly from San Diego, we stay there and make the British Museum our first visit on the day we arrive. We find it very doable. The hotel is located on the picadilly line so it is also easy to get to the Tower of London from that location, about 3 tube stops. Hopefully by staying on that side of London, it will save you a little bit of time. Plus it is near Covent Garden-lots of theatre, restaurants.

2. Take heed with driving times. This past summer we drove from the Yorkshire Dales to Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds. It took us twice as long to get there and the traffice around Leeds was horrible. I would pick Bath or Cotswold, but not both. There is too much to see in each place and with your plan, you are only going to be driving-not seeing the sites. In the Cotswolds, there are fabulous hikes, gardens to visits and towns just to see.

If you do drive down from Scotland, be sure to visit Hadrian's Wall along the way.

I like your new itinerary better as well, but think it would be better to turn your car in while still in Scotland, then fly or take the train back south, which would give you a little more time in East Anglia. You could hire another car there for your Newmarket, Bury St Eds, and Cambridge sightseeing. Cambridge isn't very car friendly, but there is a park &amp; ride as you come into Cambridge on the Newmarket Road.

noe847...You read my mind!. I've recently found out about the Stone Circle Access, and knew I had to do that. I hated the thought of finally seeing Stonehenge and being kept 30ft. away from it. We've contacted The English Heritage group, and they have an opening for us on that Thurs, May10th at 19:45pm. It seems late, but it will be nice to see sundown there. Also, I had no idea you could arrange Tower tours at the cathedral. So, thanks for that info. Will definetely do.. I'm trying to convince my fiance into doing one night in Skye. He wants to stay in one base point the whole time. But, I think it would be great to wake up there and have an early morning walk :) Great Trip report by the way!
I'm also looking in Spean Bridge, I hadn't thought about it before. Maybe 2 nights there and 1 night on Skye.

We're trying to work out the best route down from Scotland to Newmarket, as well as a place to spend the night. I don't think we'll be able to afford to fly back down. I want to avoid the traffic around the Manchester or Leeds areas. Although it is a bank Holiday weekend....My fiance thought staying near Melrose Abbey might be nice, so we can take a little time to see it.

&lt;&lt;&lt; We're trying to work out the best route down from Scotland to Newmarket &gt;&gt;&gt;

From Inverness fly to Luton with Easyjet
From Edinburgh fly to Stansted with Easyjet
From Glasgow fly to Stansted with Easyjet or Air Berlin
From Aberdeen fly to Luton with Easyjet

Then hire a car to Newmarket

Alternatively take the FirstScotRail Caledonian Sleeper service to London then train out to Newmarket

You might also consider flying to Scotland as soon as you arrive in the UK and work your way down and finish in London - it would be more of a linear trip than what you are considering

Or fly into the UK arriving in Scotland (Edinburgh / Glasgow) and leave from London (open jaw / multi city ticket)

Good suggestions from alanRow. Before dismissing air travel as too expensive, check out fares on http://www.easyjet.com/en/book/index.asp - you may be pleasantly surprised. Considering the cost of car hire, including the fee for dropping the car off at a different location, and fuel at around $7.00/US gallon, flying could even be cheaper. Book early, though - with easyJet the earlier you book, the lower the fare.

You'd also save half a day or more of travel - a day if coming from Northern Scotland

OMG - I had no idea about EasyJet. They're Inverness to Luton is about 22pounds.
But they're Glasgow to Stansted is only 8pounds, with more options.
Luton and Stansted both seem close enough to Newmarket, that when we land and get another car. We can drive up there almost before nightfall.
The Glasgow flight seems like a better idea. But, I'm wondering how long the drive is from Ft.William to Glasgow.....

My fiance seems against this idea right now. He wants me to see the countryside on the way down.....But, honestly. I think I'd rather have another day in Skye.

Hmmmm...I'll post when we work it out. Thanks!

I second the vote not to stay in Fort William and I wonder why you're going to Inverness after that. I actually think you'll find Wasley's suggestion works well for you.

&quot;He wants me to see the countryside on the way down...&quot;

You would more likely see the road works and tailbacks on the M1 or A1(M) unless you turn off the motorway - but then add an extra day to your trip south.

Stansted is about 30 min from Newmarket, Luton about an hour. From Stansted you have dual carraigeway (divided highway) all but the last few miles.

So, my fiance couldn't be sold on the flying idea. So, we will be driving down......Oh, well.
Another friend of ours (not the ones in Newmarket) also got back to us. She lives in Peterborough. She's going to meet up with us in London on Day 2, and hang out with us. She said she hasn't been in a few years, so she won't mind visiting the stuff we are.......She offered that we could go back to her place in Peterborough with her that night, and then she could take us to the train station Monday morning to go to Edinburgh. We told her we'd consider it. I'm not sure about that though...........

The Scotland itinerary is staying close to the same. We will still break the drive down into 2 days.

Mon, Apr 30th - Train to Edinburgh - Walking tour
Tues, May 1st - Edinburgh - Castle, Arthur's Seat, Royal Mile
Wed, May 2nd - Pick up car. Stirling Castle, Glencoe...Ending maybe Spean Bridge, or farther north.
Thurs, May 3rd - Drive up Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle and back
Fri, May 4th - Drive over to Skye, Eilean Donan Castle. Overnight in Skye
Sat, May 5th - Tour more of Skye. Take ferry across to Mallaig...Drive through Glenfinnan. Play this by ear. End where we end.
Sun, May 6th - Drive south. End in Newmarket.

So we will have 5 full days back in England.

Mon, May7th - Cambridge, Bury St. Edmunds
Tues, 8th - Cotswolds
Wed, 9th - Bath
Thurs, 10th - Salisbury
Fri, 11th - Back in London.

We're not going to rush ourselves. If we feel short on time, the first thing to go will be the last day in London. And push Salisbury to Friday....staying there Thursday and Friday night. Our flight's at noon from Heathrow on Sat, so we could do that.

Thanks for the help guys......I will post a review of our trip afterwards :)

Skye to Newmarket is some 600 miles of driving - I doubt if you could do it in much under 12 hours of solid driving by the most direct route.

Even over 2 days that doesn't leave a lot of time to do anything else.

Do you really want to spend 2 days looking at the back of a HGV?

I am also a Californian who lived in the UK for several years - piece of advice here -- <b>DO NOT</b> try to compare 200 or 300 or 500 mile drives in CA to anything in the UK!! We think nothing of driving from Sacramento or SF to LA and back in a weekend. But there is no I-5 connecting southern England and northern Scotland. You have a limited amount of time - so instead of trying to dash through so many places spread across the whole country - limit yourselves to what is doable/enjoyable.

You say your fiance wants you ro see the &quot;countryside&quot; on your way south. Well, you won't. The only possible way to make this forced march work is to stick to the Motorways - and for the most part they are not at all scenic.

OK....I came home today and my fiance has changed his opinion on the driving. I think he's realized how expensive the gas will be for the drive down, and how far south we would have to get on that Sat, as well. So, now we are debating 2 options. Both leaving Scotland on Sunday the 6th.

A) Train from Edinburgh to Cambridge (through Peterborough). My fiance really likes this idea. Because you can get a good price if we book it as round trip (since we are going north this route). He also thinks it will be easy to drop the car the same place we picked it up in Edinburgh.....And he doesn't want to deal with flying again while there.

B) Fly from Glasgow (GLA) to London Stansted via Easyjet. I like this idea because the ticket is only 8pounds. And I think Glasgow may be a little closer to Skye/Glennfinnan, so we won't have to go so far Sat.

Either way we have to end up in Glasgow or Edinburgh Sat night.....Opinions??

In hindsight, it would have been better to book Landing in London and leaving from Edinburgh. But, the tickets are already booked.

It's 6 hours of driving from Skye to Glasgow (5 to Edinburgh) so it doesn't improve things much. If I was travelling from Skye to Newmarket I'd drive to Inverness (just over 2 hours) and fly to Luton with Easyjet then drive to Newmarket

Don't understand your reference for the train to getting a good price &quot;if we book it as round trip&quot; as the best prices on the route Edinburgh to Peterborough are single tickets (from &pound;12.50)

You're making progress with your itinerary. If, as Alan says, you can save three hours of driving in Scotland by flying out of Inverness, it will cost you only 30 min extra driving from Luton to Newmarket (vs Stansted to Newmarket). Even though the easyJet fares are a little higher from Inverness, that seems a good tradeoff to me.

BTW, you need to book your easyJet tickets ASAP or you will find all those cheap fares are gone. The closer to your flight day, the more expensive the tickets - even one day could make a difference. The only way easyJet can offer those low fares is by charging more to late bookers. Near the flight day easyJet can actually be more expensive than British Airways.

Uh - I can't sway my fiance into flying. It's a shame because Easyjet's fares are incredibly cheap right now, they just put on sales today....But it seems like this is a battle I'm going to lose.
But, we have decided to give ourselves more time in Scotland. We'll either take the train down on Monday the 7th, or Tues. I now know I'll want more time in the Highlands.....This ofcourse, gives us less time in England. But, like janisj said, we should aim for what is doable/enjoyable. So, I'm willing to give up The Cotswolds, maybe even Bath (although I'm holding out that there will be time to go there). As long as I get to see everything I want to see in Salisbury, I'm ok.
Thanks for the reality check on my Itinerary guys!

Well, at least you'll make the greens happy by deciding not to fly (carbon footprint, etc). Trains have some advantages, one of them being the scenery. You get a much better view of the countryside than from either an airplane or a car on the motorway. Another advantage is that most train stations are located in city centers, while airports are usually miles out of town.

Have a wonderful trip!

I feel you are very lucky to get the advice that you have, and that most of it is correct. But you don't seem to be listening to the overall message. Chill out !!! The whole point of Scotland (speaking as a Scot.) is the PEACE. I have travelled widely and Skye has something it's impossible to describe, the maginficence of the Cuillins the sharp freshness of the water, the vibrancy of the colour to be found in the hillside. To hear a piper practising a pibroch alone by a lochan. To lie in the green grass that seems greener than anywhere on Earth with the sound of bleating from the new lambs of May. It's a feeling - (I'm no poet) but to 'do Skye' in a day is like eating a bowl of sphagetti and thinking you undestand Italy.
Your trip sounds like a nightmare of travel. Take heed of the advice you are getting. Driving through Scotland is a treat, the scenery is more than magnificent but its not to be done in a rush. You are going to be 'dashing' from one place to another and your going to miss the whole point. You're going to see Scotland but don't think that you are going to 'know' Scotland by this trip. I play the pipes, and my teacher said to me many years ago, with the pipes, it will take you 7 years to know that it will take another 7 years until you can play. This in many ways is the essence of Scotland.

vernon08: Beautifully said. IMHO your post should be required reading every time someone posts one of those &quot;I need an itinerary to see all of Scotland in 4 (or 5, or 7, or 10) days&quot;

I never expected to see all of Scotland...As my fiance says. No matter how much time we keep giving ourselves in Scotland, we are going to leave feeling like we had no time at all, and that there is sooo much we didn't see and experience....But, we only get 2 weeks a year vacation.