Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Scotland advice

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My girlfriend and I will be in Scotland for 5 nights in July. I would like some comments on my itinerary so far. Day 1: Arrive EDI, get car, drive through Perth, Dunkeld, Pitlochary, Blair Atholl; then over to Loch Lochy, Invergarry, Fort Augustus; then through Glen Shiel on A87 to Eilean Donan Castle; sleep in Dornie. Day 2: Drive loop up through Torridon and Glen Carron in morning. Cross into Skye to Elgol. Boat trip to Loch Coruisk and Cullins in afternoon; sleep in Portree. Day 3: Explore Skye- Trotternash Peninsula, Dunavegan, Tallisker; catch Mallaig ferry at about 5:30pm. Any recommendations on where to sleep between Mallaig and Glencoe?? Day 4: Glencoe, The Trossachs, Stirling Castle; sleep in Edinburgh. Day 5: Edinburgh Day 6: Depart EDI We love to drive around the countryside and make short stops. Any recommendations on stops or routes is appreciated. Also need to figure out where to sleep on Day 3. Finally, is it worth sleeping in Glasgow on Day 4 and going to Edinburgh on Day 5, or would that be cheating both cities? Thanks, Jason [email protected]

Jason standard answer to itineraries like this- you're cramming in too much. Specific answers You have too much in day two. Unless you get up at dawn, there will be no afternoon available to you for the Elgol boat trip. Options for your day 3 overnight- Arisaig Hotel (NOT Arisaig House unless you're very wealthy), the Holly Tree at Kentallen, or go down a few miles further and try the Pierhouse at Port Appin. I don't think yo'll get a lot out of Glasgow in so short a stay so give it a by, this trip. I'll come back to you on short stops (about 10 minutes each, if you're to sleep, I think:))

Just to note - the loop on the morning of Day 2 is only about 100 miles: Dornie-Locarron-Tornapress-Shieldaig-Torridon-Kinlochewe-Achnasheen-Kyle of Lochalsh. I have budgeted 4 hours for this drive. Is that really trying to do too much??

Your itinerary sounds great. I have been to most of these places, but don't carve your itinerary in stone. Just go with the flow and plan on being in Edinburgh on the last day.

jsiegendoef: Sheila is a real expert here (she lives in NE Scotland) and usually advises folks they can manage their longish drives OK - but even she says day 2 is too much. I also think day 1 is too much. Most of the roads in your morning loop on day 2 are single track and the scenery is glorious. Most B&Bs don't serve b'fast until 8:30 or 9AM and by the time you check out and get moving it will likely be near 10 AM. Makes it tough to get to Elgol in time for the round trip boat ride. As for day 1 - Blair Castle and grounds take time as do any other stops along the way. There is a lot to see on that route.

OK Stops on your route:- Loch Leven (Mary Queen of Scots); Scone Palace, Dunkeld, Blair Atholl (not if you did Scone), House of Bruar, lots of scenery and walking - every 5 minutes or so. take a left and go down to Glenelg and see the views and the Brochs. Day 2- can I leave this till you wise up, please?;) Day 3- everything Day 4- Glencoe, mountains and history, Balquhidder, Strathyre, Stirling. The Edinburgh stuff is all here already. have agreat trip and come back if you want anything more specific [email protected]

For your third night try Ardsheal House near Kentallen. Beautiful old hunting lodge with great hosts and great view over Loch Linhe. A highlight of our two trips to Scotland.

I want to thank everyone for the useful info provided so far, but I have 2 points to make: 1. For Day 1, I am not looking to stop at every possible place of interest. If I tried to see every possible thing in every country that I wanted to see, I would need unlimited time and budget! What I really want to know is, given that I am starting in Edinburgh and ending in Dornie, what are the really worthy stops...from that info I can select the 2 or 3 most interesting for me. And if I end up having more time I can do more stops. 2. Night 1 I am staying at a small hotel, not a B&B. They begin serving breakfast at 8am or earlier upon request, so I can realistically be out by 8:30am, not 10am. My boat trip at Elgol is at 2pm. I still have a very hard time believing that I won't have time to do the loop I described above. AA web site says this route - the loop and drive to Elgol - takes 3hr 19m and is 124 miles. If I leave at 8:30am that gives me 6 1/2 hours!!!! The reason I am going into detail here is that I have to use something to estimate driving times and stop times with and when I have a web site telling me its 3hr 20m to drive 124mi (that is a 38mph average) and people post here telling me it will take all day, that is an enormous and misleading discrepency! I dont think it is unreasonable to average 38mph throughout the drive and have almost 2 hours for stops and still get to Elgol with time to spare.

Jason

I can't legislate for your taste, but given your route I would stop at Dunkeld and Blair Atholl for sure; after you leave the A9 it's all scenery and it's up to you:)

I am not going to argue with you about your Day 2, but I don't think I'd do it and I'm nae feart!!

Not going to nit pick about your day two - just don't get too tied into that itinerary. Simply because a place will serve an 8AM breakfast on request doesn't mean you will get out of there by 8:30. Breakfast is several courses - or I guess you could just take some toast and run out the door.

Plus you probably can't average 38MPH on that route. a 25MPH average is more like it. Not that you will be going 25MPH for mile upon mile - some places you may actually get up to 40/45 + MPH, but you will crawl along at 10MPH here and there. And if you get stuck behind a lorry or caravan it could be even slower.

Sheila - Dunkeld looks like a gem - just what I'm looking for. Thank you.