Friesland

Hallo, we are a couple living in The Netherlands and planning our first trip to Scotland. I (the less busy of the two) made the itinerary and booked hotels etc but still a bit uncertain about some parts and would like to get some advice.

Here goes :

Day 1 : Drive early from Kingston-upon-Hull to Edinburgh. Hopefully get there early afternoon, and stay overnight.

Day 2 : Drive from Edinburgh to Glencoe Village, stay overnight.

Day 3 - 5: Glencoe Village to Isle of Skye. Stay for 3 nights.

Day 6 : Skye to Fochabers. Watch the Gordon Castle Highland Games, stay overnight nearby.

Day 7 - 9 : Stay at Aviemore for 3 days.

Day 10 : Make our way down south on our way to Hull, stay overnight either in between.

Day 11 : Boat trip back to Netherlands.

My goal primarily is to get to Skye and the Cairngorms, do some walking and be able to go from one place to the other without rushing.

Any feedback would be appreciated I have looked at google maps and viamichelin regarding distances but its our first time in Scotland, not sure if this itinerary is actually doable.

Thanks!

janisj

Your plan is very well paced with enough time in the places you want to concentrate. Aviemore isn't my favorite - but that is just me - for the hiking you want to do.

But honestly, I'd consider adding one night to Skye and one less night at aviemore. Skye is a hikers/climbers dream..

Nikki

Aviemore itself is a soulless ski town where my daughter said she saw all the same stores she saw when she went to grad school in Colorado. But there are nice places to stay in the area without staying in the town itself.

Friesland

Thanks so much for the replies Janisj and Nikki.

I looked at the map again and we are not staying in Aviemore but around the Nethy Bridge area, sorry about that. Perhaps do some day trips from here?

We could add another day at Skye but that would mean driving straight from Edinburgh to Skye and not stopping at Glencoe. Is that too much driving for one day?

Thanks!

sofarsogood

Have you considered taking the ferry from Ijmuiden to Newcastle - gets you further north.

janisj

I'd definitely stay in Glencoe - a beautiful area. Where are you staying? This is my favorite http://www.clachaig.com/

As for nethy bridge, I'd still consider 4 nights on Skye and two in Nethy Bridge . . . Unless you also wanted to visit some Speyside distilleries and/or do some car touring in the Inverness area.

Friesland

Yes actually we did, or at least i did. The Ijmuiden-Newcastle trip is around 3 hours longer than Rotterdam-Hull which is made up of course with the driving time, but the mister said he would rather drive longer than stay onboard a boat for 3 more hours

Friesland

Hi Janisj, thanks for the link, really nice inn... We have also looked at www.inchconnal.com

Yes, we would like to visit a distillery and do some day trips. But ill look at possibly extending the Skye trip. Thanks so much!