OK -- please clarify. Is this just you needing to get from Inverness to Edinburgh and assuming down the A9 through Aviemore/PitlochryPerth is the best option?

If I had 5 or 6 days free to travel from the north down to Edinburgh -- that is not the route I would take. Nice enough scenery but its sort of hard to explain . . . it is much of a muchness. Similar mountain scenery for most of the route. Perth is a nice city with Scone Palace. I personally avoid Pitlochry unless I'm attending the theatre.

If it was me I'd go east -- Grantown-on-Spey > Ballater/Deeside/the Castle Trail/Balmoral > Crathes/Stonehaven/Dunnottar > Glamis Castle > Fife/St Andrews/the fishing villages > Edinbrugh. This is a total drive of only about 250 miles (plus various short detours) and would be a fabulous 5 or 6 days. I'd stay maybe 2 nights in Ballater, maybe one night near Glamis (Forfar perhaps) just for convenience, and 2 nights in Fife -- Crail or Anstruther. If you have 6 nights -- then add a night to either Ballater or Fife.

Amazing castles, pretty rivers, Dunnottar which is worth the hike, Glamis, St Andrews and beautiful fishing villages like Crail, Falkland Palace.

This is the last leg of our trip from Inverness to Edinburgh.thank you Janis i had not really researched the options.we have 5-6 days to make the trip before 2-3 days in Edinburgh and our journey home to the west of Canada

5 or 6 days would be a terrific/leisurely jaunt through Deeside (Ballater/Castle Trail), Dunnottar, Glamis and Fife and end with an easy drive back to EDI.

I'd drop the car at the airport and take the tram, airport coach, or a taxi depending on exactly where you are staying in Edinburgh. Much easier than driving IN Edinburgh proper.

Have you thought at all about not going to Inverness initially, after Skye and say, heading to Torridon /Applecross for a few days? Different scenery again to Skye , more west coast splendour.Driving however involves single track roads in places and going over the Bealach na Ba hill pass (not essential) might be a mountain road too far.
Otherwise the eastern route works well if some stunning castles appeal...Crashes, Craigievar and Drum with gorgeous gardens/grounds.Dunnotar on the coast is a wow.
Falkland Palace, Culross further south after or before the attractive fishing villages mentioned would be on my travel plan with that amount of time.
I actually enjoy the sights on the A9 south...the Aviemore offers lovely Cairngorm scenery, short waterfall walks lie behind House of Bruar( Harrods of the Highlands),Blair Castle is a beauty. I like Pitlochry with its nice lochside walks, Dunkeld is a wee delight(possibly the best bakery in Scotland, the Aran Bakery).
Tons of choice!

I( thought Inverness would be a good stop to see Culloden and Loch ness.Any advice

i have added Torridon for a few days to our itinerary

OK -- Loch Ness is just there . . . you can hardly miss it if you are in the general Skye / Inverness area. It is the 'famous' one that most visitors just assume is a 'must-see'. But it is FAR from the most scenic loch - probably not in the top 25 or 30. Does have a nice castle on the west shore (Urquhart) which is worth a stop. But no -- IMO Loch Ness isn't worth a focus of a leg of one's trip.

Culloden on the other hand is a must iMO -- especially if one is interested in the '45 (which was really 1745 and 1746). I took a couple of friends on a 5 week trip around Scotland - for one it was all about the golf -- the other was a MacDonald and for him it was 50% the golf and 50% sightseeing. When I got them to Culloden the one was bored silly. The other . . . after viewing the film in the visitors centre (which I think has been changed since my last visit) and then 'accidentally' coming across the MacDonald headstone out on the battlefield he sat down and cried.

Finally got our provisional itinerary together 27 nights in total
GLASGOW 3 nights arriving 3pm from Canada via london
OBAN 1-2 nights
MULL 3 nights
IONA
GLENCOE 1 night
MALAIG one night ferry to ARMADALE
SKYE 3 nights in PORTREE
road bridge off SKYE
PLOCKTON 2 nights
TORRIDON 2 nights
GRANTOWN ON SPEY ONE NIGHT
BALLATER 2 nights
FORFAR one night
CRAIL OR ANSTRUTHER 2 NIGHTS
CULROSS 1 night
EDINBURGH 3 nights
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS ITINERARY/
IDEALLY WE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO GO TO HARRIS AND LEWIS AS WELL BUT NOT THIS TIME

I haven't analyzed the full plan -- but it generally looks good. One thing that jumps out at me though . . . there is no reason (at all) to stay a night in Mallaig. That would be a sort of 'throw away'. You could add that extra night to either Skye or to Grantown-on-Spey.

And instead of a night in Culross . . . I'd stay 3 nights in Crail (there is a LOT to see and do in Fife) and visit Culross on the easy drive to Edinburgh.

I will drop mallaig and culross stay an extra night in crail although anstruther gets a better recommendation and take one night in stirling before getting to edinburgh
that gives me my 27 night trip

Either Anstrurher or Crail would be absolutely fine. Crail has the prettier harbor - Anstruther has an iconic fish & chips shop, the Fisheries Museum, and boat trips out to the Isle of May (Puffins! )

Surprising you say Anstruther has the better recommendations though -- which website are you checking ?? Crail is the one you see in every coffee table photo book or on Fife post cards. Anstruher is more than twice the size of Crail and does get a bit more congested just because of the street layout. Any of the fishing villages including Pittenweem, Cellardyke, St Monans, etc would be OK too. I'd just go with whichever property you find appealing. Crail is the more 'popular' of the villages but all are fine.

OK -- instead of up and moving hotels again consider this idea. Check out and leave Anstruther or Crail or wherever right after breakfast - and 45 miles/about 1 hour later you are in Culross. Spend a couple of hours exploring the village. Then from Culross it is less than 20 miles/30 minutes and you are parking in the Stirling Castle car park. Spend all afternoon exploring the castle. Then 30 miles/45 minutes later you are dropping the car at EDI (by far the easiest place to drop a rental car) and take the tram or a taxi into Edinburgh.

Thanks Janis for the update good advice.What/where is EDI??

Oh - sorry. EDI is the code for Edinburgh Airport which is a bit west of Edinburgh. It would be the easiest place to drop a car and has good transit options into the central city. Driving IN Edinburgh itself is best avoided if possible

Lewis and Harris! The latter in particular is stunning as are some parts of Lewis which also excels in superb archaeological sites.In a future visit, these islands combine well with the Stornoway- Ullapool crossing , allowing you to go on to explore the magnificent NW Highlands.

Next year’s itinerary however is looking good.Just some points:

Not sure what your plans are with two nights in Plockton.Lovely wee place and well worth a stop but unless the plan is to venture from there as a base and explore further afield ( eg up Glen Shiel for a look, perhaps over the Mam Ratagan pass to Glenelg and right down to Corran) the village can easily be visited as you head for Torridon. It’s very near Skye, 5 miles of winding detour after the Skye Bridge.

Forfar- I was going to ask whether there was a particular interest re its inclusion but see it’s linked to Janisj’s Glamis recommendation.Wonderful castle.Lot of Pictish sites (if of interest) not too far away from there (as there are in Aberdeenshire too.)

Agree with saving a night in Mallaig and adding it elsewhere.

Falkland Palace may be of interest too within the very pretty old village of the same name.

Culross is quite something but easily explored(it’s tiny) en route as suggested rather than devoting a whole overnight to it.

Torridon is out of this world for scenery…get booking re accommodation asap.I can comment on accommodation if that helps once you have selected some as I know the area very well.

some information on accomodation in torridon or nearby would be useful.I see the torridon hotel looks impressive but above our budget.Thanks

Check booking.com and Airbnb, Ronald and see what's available that suits your budget in the little villages of Torridon, Shieldaig, Applecross.I would add that the latter is a good 1hr - 90 min drive away from Torridon itself.It's a glorious situation ( it all is round that wider area) with an excellent pub and also a Walled Garden restaurant.
The Torridon has gone nuts re prices (though most places have) but does also offer smart accommodation in their converted Stables units rather than the main hotel itself.We usually take a self catering place for 3/4 days or a week.Self catering places are more commonly available though in peak season ,for at least 3/4 nights or most likely one week.

Torridon House is a lovely property but it was taken over a few years back and now does B&B but it has never had great reviews so I'd avoid( as you probably would anyway.)

Thanks Scotland Mac I think we are considering Shieldaig as opposed to Torridon and staying at Shieldaig lodge any opinions.
Also looking at Mull seems there is limited choice for our budget already for June.Any recommendations?We are thinking of staying 3 nights with a day trip to Iona..
Another consideration before booking our accomodation is whether in some places we have to stay a minimum of 2 nights as it will determine our ongoing itinerary.
Really looking forward to enjoying your beautiful country

If they have availability I highly recommend this place in Fionnphort. Great breakfasts, views across to Iona Abbey, next door to the Keel Row pub and easy walk to the foot ferry and the Creel Seafood Bar which has fabulous food.

https://iona-bed-breakfast-mull.com

Thanks Janis the Seaview on Mull looks pretty inviting.
Another thought is could we leave the car in Oban take the ferry to Mull and stay at Seaview and take bus trips or a guided tour of Mull or are we better to take the car across?We cannot take the car to iona which was another possibilty.Thanks

Shieldaig Lodge is actually about an hour away from Torridon itself and not in the small village of Shieldaig itself! However, it is in a lovely situation and also gives you the chance to explore around Gairloch as well as - with that hour's albeit beautiful drive - Applecross and Torridon.That said you can also drive through each of these places after Skye so you could enjoy them a little at that point, though I'd always recommend more time than that - if possible.Then you have your night outside Gairloch at the Lodge.
You have a couple of options re driving to Shieldaig Lodge from Skye/Lochcarron.
From that accommodation you also have other options for heading back , eventually, to Grantown on Spey.Most direct is via Loch Maree and Achnasheen. Longer but offering a wonderful coastal drive is to head north via Dundonnell and Corrieshalloch Gorge/Braemore Junction.I'd just caution you however to consider - as I'm sure you will - your whole trip as that would involve a considerable add on to the areas you will be exploring, taking you further north and west.

Mull - we have stayed in Caol Ila and found it excellent.It's a hop and a sip away from Seaview which looks really nice too.

You'd be more flexible taking the car if you want to go on and explore more of Mull.There is a day trip from Oban which has you picking up the bus at Craignure where the ferry docks, being taken the 1 hour or so's journey to Fionnphort for the Iona ferry and giving you time on Iona itself before heading back.

Fionnphort itself is in a beautiful part of Mull but it's a long way south and west and single track roads predominate on Mull so travel is slow.It could be that a night in Tobermory might be more comfortable after your night opposite Iona allowing you to slowly enjoy the wonderful scenery as you head to the pretty wee town, always buzzing.Two single night's accommodation, another consideration.