Scotland in 3 days (From Edinburgh to Skye)
 

Hi there, first of all please excuse my poor English.
I'm planning a short trip to Scotland at the end of the month, I'd arrive at Thursday night and fly back on Tuesday evening. That gives me 3 full days and a morning.

So my idea is to spend the whole Friday in Edinburgh, heading Inverness on the Saturday morning, passing through Stirling, Trossachs National Park, Glen Coe, Fortwilliam, Urquhart Castle, spend the night in Inverness, and leave to Skye on the early morning, heading back to Edinburgh in the afternoon.

Is this doable or nuts? I wouldn't like to be in a big rush.
Any place you'd add or remove in this way?

Thanks in advance.

>>So my idea is to spend the whole Friday in Edinburgh, heading Inverness on the Saturday morning, passing through Stirling, Trossachs National Park, Glen Coe, Fortwilliam, Urquhart Castle, spend the night in Inverness, and leave to Skye on the early morning, heading back to Edinburgh in the afternoon.

Is this doable or nuts?<<

Sorry - but more than a bit nuts :)

How are you traveling? By car?

Inverness to Portree to Edinburgh is approx 350 miles and 8.5-9 hours in the car without a single stop. That is a minimum 3 days worth - not less than one full day.

And Edinburgh to Inverness via Stirling, Ft William (not a nice place BTW) is 200 miles/5.5-6 hours without any stops. So a two day jaunt if you wanted to stop and see anything along the way.

If it was me an you wanted to see a bit of the Highlands - I'd book a day trip or possibly one night tour with Rabbies http://www.rabbies.com

Unless you have the gift of time travel - nuts.

I make it four full days and a half, not three. I second the Rabbies suggestion. They have tours of several different lengths and you should be able to find one that will suit you. And someone else will drive.

Yes, I'd rent a car. I want to feel free to stop wherever and whenever I want and to enjoy the views on my own.

Better to extend the trip one more day and spend one night in Skye?

Cheers

If that is your plan I would suggest hiring a helicopter instead of a car.

>>heading Inverness on the Saturday morning, passing through Stirling, Trossachs National Park, Glen Coe, Fortwilliam, Urquhart Castle, spend the night in Inverness, and leave to Skye on the early morning, heading back to Edinburgh in the afternoon<<

This must be a wind up.

>>Better to extend the trip one more day and spend one night in Skye?<<

You need to extend it more than one day if that is what you want to do.

You need to understand that in many parts of your planned itinerary you will be VERY lucky to average 40 mph. What you want to see/do would take a full week. 2 days/nights for Edinburgh, 1 day/night for Stirling and the Trossachs, 1.5 days/2 nights on Skye, and 1/5 days/2 nights for the area around Inverness. And that would be VERY rushed and you'd miss a lot.

Add your late Thursday arrival/an additional night and you are up to 8 nights.

Friday -- Edinburgh
Saturday -- train to Glasgow, change to West Highland Line to Mallaig. Night in Mallaig.
Sunday -- ferry to Skye, bus to Portree. Try to take a local tour through the Portree tourist office.
Monday -- bus to Kyle of Lochalsh, train to Inverness. Late flight to Edinburgh.
Tuesday -- depart

Thus you can _see_ much of Scotland in this amount of time, though not visit it. Most of the scenery you will see from the train is spectacular or otherwise very beautiful. The brief ferry crossing is magical. Only the Edinburgh to Glasgow leg is boring. Inverness and its environs are not interesting enough for the general visitor to spend time on, so a late plane back to Edinburgh makes sense. You can stay near the airport at EDI and be ready to go next day.

>>Inverness and its environs are not interesting enough for the general visitor to spend time on, so a late plane back to Edinburgh makes sense. <<

The only problem here is that there aren't any (direct) flights from INV to EDI. Back to the drawing board.

Late or overnight train?

Continue to and fly from Aberdeen?

OP writes "Fly back on Tuesday . . ." Is there a direct flight from Inverness or Aberdeen to wherever "back " is?

Ackislander's itinerary (if there were flights which there aren't) would get you 'to' every place on your list- but most of the time you'd be in transit w/ almost no time 'at' any of them. Even Skye w/ part of two days -- the bus to Portree takes about 90 minutes and the bus from Portree to Kyle another hour. Just more time moving than 'being' anywhere.

Also note that while janisj's 90 minute bus ride from Armadale ( ferry terminal ) to Portree is correct, the bus can linger in Armadale for sometime before departing. Seen it happen a couple of times. On my last trip, the bus arrived but 30 minutes later was still there when I collected my rental and left. Bus service on the Isles is not especially tourist friendly. Skye is not a place for a quick look.

" I want to feel free to stop whenever and wherever I want to enjoy the views on my own."

Sorry but your plan leaves little or no time for stopping and enjoying the views.