Darn! Sorry, janisj, I misspelled your name :(

I'd break up Day 12 into 2 days. There is so much to see between Inverness and Edinburgh - and to photograph.

Thanks, noe847. Down the main road or off the beaten track?

Oh, and I'd get a copy of Peter Irvine's Scotland the Best and look for his lists of "Best [insert topic here]". It might help you to sort out and prioritize the sights you want to see.

One suggestion is to stay near/in Drumnadrochit (rather than Inverness) so that you can visit Glen Affric - absolutely beautiful place.

We drove the Road to the Isles in the other direction and found it to be a very pretty drive. Parts were single track when we did it in 1999 (may be still) and it was slow going.

I'm still waiting for my opportunity to get to the islands, so I'm envious of your itinerary for that reason. We'll be back in Scotland this August, but likely to have only a week for touring around, so I'm considering the border country.

Off the beaten track will always reward you. Get a good spiral atlas of the UK - I'd do it before the trip, but you can certainly buy one over there. I bring mine each time in the bottom of my suitcase. It will give all the roads and sights will be marked. It is invaluable for meandering.

Off the beaten track is always the more memorable, and gives you stories to tell years later. :)

Aah! How lucky you folks are to live where you have access to good reference books. I visited the biggest bookshop in Cape Town this week and all that I could find on Scotland was the Fodors 'Great Britain' guide, which has a section on Scotland at the back. And before you suggest that I order something through Amazon.com or any of your other wonderful online bookshops, none of them will deliver to South Africa because too much stuff goes missing in the mail :(

However, I bought the Fodors guide and a Philip's Road Atlas of Britain (the only copy they had), so now I can see all those funky little single-lane roads :)

Because of the absence of printed materials, I rely enormously on the internet and the help of good folks like you all.

Right, now Drumnadrochit. I have made a note to research that and Glen Affric. Thanks for that, noe847.

I am a veteran off-the-tracker. I am always turning down little side-roads to find out where they go and frequently wind up getting myself hopelessly lost. Half the fun is then finding your way back to civilization. I am drawn like a magnet towards the 'path less travelled' where 'no man has gone before' or 'where no man in his right mind would ever want to go' :) Unfortunately my travel partner is less adventurous and frequently fixes me with an eagle eye that brooks no disobedience :(

OK, first I admit that I was reading the first part while talking to a 96 year-old on the phone. (Believe me, this is doable, you just say yeah, uh,huh).

For starters, in 1998 we spent some time in these areas (by the way if you only have 2 nights in Windemere, you'll spend the next 10 years -- like we have--saying I've got to go back to the Lake District and see more).

As for driving in Scotland, I based my miles per day on driving Portland OR to eastern OR, or driving Anchorage, Alaska to the Kenai River AK. What a joke! We had a 110 mile drive from Craigallachie(sp) through Inverness, toured Loch Ness, saw Ft. William, looked at Stalker, and got in to Oban long after dark.

BTW the drive from Oban to Glasgow (we did it in reverse to you) was very scenic and there were lots of stops.

The Road to the Isles is very nice - but you will see equally wonderful scenery throughout you whole itinerary. To back track to Ft William (and even worse, to stay there) just to drive that road doesn't make that much sense IMHO. Especially when you are covering so much territory in such a short time. Why add unnecessary mileage when you don't need to??

Plus - driving the route I suggested, would still have you driving part of the "Road to the Isles" -- from Lochailort to Mallaig. You would miss Glenfinnan - but you'll some of the most amazing scenery to make up for it. The entire route is designated a "scenic drive"

We found this website helpful in planning driving distances and times:

http://www.theaa.com/travelwatch/planner_main.jsp

theaa is great for planning itineraries. But in rural areas you really do need to add 30-35% (or more) to the drive times.

Day 5 is fine

Day 6: is doable, but I, for one, wouldn't. I agree with janis about your route. The bit from Fort William to Arisaig is lovely but so is Moidart, and Ardnamurchan. If you stayed on Mull, and caught an early ferry to Lochaline, you would easily be in Skye by early afternoon. You won't if you got back to Fort William.

Day 8: is OK. But I'd take an extra day on Skye.

Day 9: is fine

Day 10: is fine. Wick....? Maybe not. Why? Come down a bit- there are much prettier places further south. In fact, if this is a driving day to see what you might see, keep going; you can easily reach Dingwall, and claw back the extra day on Skye. Stay in Dingwall

Day 12: Fine. Lots of tempatation to stop, tho'

Day 13: fine

Mull and Staffa but not Iona ?

Nothing much in Wick or John O'Groats (not the most northerly point).
If you really want to head North from Ullapool, just go to Durness, see Smoo cave etc.
Better in Glenfinnan than Fort William.(the Glenfinnan House Hotel is a good place)
You ask why don't people head for the Western Isles? Many do, but not as part of a tour - it takes too much time to get there for the sake of a quick zoom around - the sort of place you have to hang around in to appreciate.

I just assumed Iona . . . If you stay in Fionnphort the foot ferry to Iona doesn't have to be "planned". It runs continuously. So You can "do" Iona in as little as an hour/90 mins (though longer is better of course) and still have plenty of time to do Staffa, and explore more of Mull all on the same day.

And, as janisj has recommended to me (and I listened!) the Seaview B&B is great, in Fionnphort. I'm staying there in June, woohoo!

Once again, a big thank you to you all. I have now refined the itinerary, taking into account all your latest suggestions (I hope):

Day 1: Heathrow to Windermere - 272m
Days 2&3: Windermere
Day 4: Windermere to Luss - 182m
Day 5: Luss to Oban via Glen Coe - 94m
Day 6: Oban to Fionnphort. Fingal's Cave and Iona
Day 7: Fionnphort to Armadale via Lochaline and Lochailort - 123m
Day 8: On Skye
Day 9: Uig to Stornoway via Tarbert
Day 10: Stornoway to Thurso via Ullapool and Durness - 139m
Day 11: Thurso to Dingwall via John O'Groats - 128m
Day 12: Dingwall to Braemar via Drumnadrochit, Inverness and Nairn - 129m
Day 13: Braemar to Edinburgh via Blairgowrie - 93m
Day 14: In Edinburgh (overnight train to London)
Day 15: Fly home from Heathrow.

How does that sound? I have included the distances for the driving days.

I am getting really excited as it is starting to come together thanks to all of you.

I am still in two minds about the Harris/Lewis leg of the itinerary. Is it really worth going all the way out there for one day?

Also, is the time in the far north well spent, or should I rather use those days somewhere further south? I'm only really going up there so that I can say that I have been to John O'Groats and maybe to get away from crowds for awhile. I know nothing else about the area at all.

From what I've heard, John O'Groats is pretty disappointing per se. However, some of the views on the northern coastline are incredible, as are the highlands themselves. I would go for the journey, not the destination. Take lots of stops on the way :)

I will be going in the opposite direction, and will promise to post pics after I get back. I will be taking the ferry from Scrabster up to Orkney for 3 nights during summer solstice ;)

Oh wow, GreenDragon, three nights on Orkney during summer solstice! I am green with envy ;)