Scotland Isles (Skye, Aran & Orkney)
 

I'm overplanning another trip!
Running out of days for Scotland next July, and am trying to decide between Isle of Skye and Isle of Aran. Have only 2 nites left - 2 on Skye & skip Aran / 2 on Aran & skip Skye / 1 on each? These seem to be our choices. Any suggestions? We are interested in scenery and maybe a little hiking / walking, and whatever we can see & learn about the local history.

Also, am making an effort to get up to Orkeny Isl. for a nite to visit Skara Brae and other sites. It's out of the way, but seems worth the trek. Concur or am I nuts? (Will probably drive from Nairn nite before, do 1 nite near Stromness, then overnite again in Nairn).

Thanks for any insider info you can share. Laura

Th erest of your itinerary makes a huge difference re which island(s) fit and which don't. For instance &quot;<i>2 on Skye &amp; skip Aran / 2 on Aran &amp; skip Skye / 1 on each?</i>&quot; is impossible to answer w/o knowning where you will be before and after those 2 nights.

If in the NW - Aran doesn'tmake much sense. If in the Borders or SW - Skye doesn't make much sense.

We recently visited Orkney, driving from Inverness to Gill's bay to catch a late afternoon ferry to St Margaret's Hope. We stayed 2 nights at Kirkwall and used the full day on Orkney to visit several sites, including Skara Brae. We then took a midday ferry back to Gill's Bay, driving thropugh to Inveness. If you just wanted to vist Skara Brae you could do it with just the one night on Orkney but I wouldn't recommend it as you would miss a number of other very worthwhile sites. Absolutely worth a visit by the way. Incidentally, try and find time one way to visist Dunrobin Castle &amp; gardens - impressive.

I would agree about Orkney. Often overlooked and very interesting place.

I also agree with Janis,that to decide between Skye and Arran depends where you're coming from and going to.

NB spelling. Aran's in a whole nother country.

I would also not miss Orkney - Skara Brae, Ring of Brodgar and the Italian Chapel to mention a few of the many places well worth visiting. The craftwork in Orkney is fantastic and some beautiful locally made jewellery.

Thanks for confirming that Orkney is worth the drive.

Regarding the North/South orientation, we are oriented north. Starting in Edinburgh, driving thru Fife, then a couple days in the Stirling, Trossachs, Loch Lomond area, then north to Nairn. From there, hoping to do 1 nite on Orkney, back to Nairn. Next day across to Fort William area. Next day, to Skye for 1 or 2 nites, then planning to drive south along east coast to Arran (sorry about bad spelling - don't take time to proof what I type), and possibly drive part of Kintyre penninsula, and ending the next day in Glasgow.

Wrestling with splitting the time (if need be) between Skye &amp; Arran. Are they different enough that we should make sure to at least spend a day on each?

Thanks for your comments &amp; suggestions. Laura

My first question - Why back to Nairn after Orkney? I'd personally try to squeeze in 2 nights on Orkney - a lot to see. But whether one or two nights on Orkney - you could take the ferry back to the mainland and easily drive to near Ft William that day. I would not stay IN Ft William if they paid me tho'. But even better - you could take the Ferry and then drive to Skye. It would be a long drive of course - but an easy one and through glorious scenery all the way.

I'd definitely want 2 nights on Skye.

Arran is terrific - but you really have a lot of distance to cover in a short time and I personally would want 2 nights on Orkney and 2 on Skye and sacrifice Arran this trip.

It doesn't seem to make sense, but here's the thought process: arrive Orkney early/mid afternoon day one, explore, check into hotel, overnite; next day, explore some more, and catch last ferry @ 4:45 (16:45). A 3 hr drive to Nairn seemed do-able; Mappy indicates 5-6 hrs to Fort William / Isle of Skye respectively (and real drive time is often more). Both seemed too long a drive to face after a full day, and will likely force us to leave Orkney sooner than we'd like. Nairn seemed like to good place to end up that nite &amp; start out next a.m. (and nice hotel there, too)


Also thought the drive to Fort William area (via a slightly southern route, thru Kingussie area, rather than via Loch Ness)was something to do leisurely with time (and daylight) for stops to look, walk. After a full day on Orkney afraid we'd enjoy very little.

Fort William only a general area for 1 nite base - a couple of nice hotels in the area to consider (Ballachulish House &amp; Inverlochy Castle), but am VERY open to suggestions.

Again, thanks so much for taking the time to give me some direction &amp; advice.

If it were me, I wouldn't rush through Orkney like that. I'd stay one more night and then leave the island on a mid-morning ferry and have plenty of time to get to Skye.

You'd have the first afternoon, all of the next day, and another morning for Orkney. And get to Skye w/o that detour back to Nairn. Just seems a more efficient use of time. No need to hit Nairn again, nor go through Ft William.

Good suggestion - will have to do some more reading and try to revamp that portion of the trip.

If it's a choice between Skye &amp; Arran, would you split the time (1 day each) or spend 2 days on one and save the other for another trip? If so, which one should be not miss?

Highland Park - the northern most distillary in Scotland is located on Orkney. My favorite Scotch and reason enough for me to want to visit.

You could do Skye in one day - but then some try to do London in one day (!)

W/ just a one night stay, by the time you get on to Skye you will have less than 1 full day before you'd have to catch a ferry back to the mainland. Skye is a big place - stay 2 nights. Rushing off the Isle just to squeeze in a day on Arran is just too hectic . . . .

Highland Park? Guess I'd better plan a few extra hours on Orkney :-)

Ok, islands pretty settled - 2 nights on Skye. (May still try to squeez1 nite on Arran by shortening Glasgow to 1 nite, pre-flight)

What's your take on the drive from Inverness to Ft William / Glencoe area? Choices seem to be A82 on NW side of Loch Lomond, vs B852 &amp; B862 on SW side, vs A9/B86 (thru Kingussie)? The Loch Ness route seems more direct - any one of the above a standout for scenery, opportunities for short walks along the way? Thanks... again - Laura

I gather you're driving. How are you planning to get to and from Skye? By ferry to/from Mallaig and the Road to the Isles or over the bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh? This would affect the answer to your routing question.

The online mapping sites are not very accurate for northern Scotland plus their time estimates vary widely. Allow lots of time.

Why do you want to go to Ft William? If it were me, I'd go to Skye via the bridge and leave Skye by ferry. Now - on your return from Skye you would drive through Ft William before heading south. But no need to &quot;go&quot; there, just drive through.

Miramar: We are driving, probably over via bridge return via ferry, but haven't checked ferry schedules, which might affect that decision. I'm trying to look at the &quot;Mappy&quot; drive times and add 10-20%.

janisj: I'm using Ft.William as a broad (very broad) generalization. I promise not to go - have read and heard nothing but negatives!! We're starting in the morning from Inverness area &amp; taking in a lot there in the a.m. (Fort George, Cawdor Castle, Culloden Moor) Actually plan to end the day in the Glencoe area (scenery &amp; history) for one nite, then drive to Skye thru Glenfinnan in the morning. Finally decided... 2 nites on Skye!

What about the drive from Inverness area? Just found another thread (d1carter - thanks for the link janisj) that mentions Glen Affric. Any reason to venture out of the way and travel from Inverness via Kingussie on the A9/B8? If not, sounds like the A82 on NW side of Loch Lomond is the way to go. Am I on the right track?

Sorry - but your itinerary doesn't make sense to me. I would not got to Glencoe untill after you've been to Skye. You will drive right through there if you take the ferry to Mallaig, drive to Ft William and then down to Glencoe.

Inverness down to Glencoe than back north and west to the Bridge is a lot of backtracking. I'ness to Kyle/the bridge/Skye makes much better use of your time - even w/ a detour to Glen Affric.

A loop Inverness &gt; Kyle of Lochalsh &gt; Skye &gt; Mallaig &gt; Glencoe is much better and a lot less driving.

Now for another problem - &quot;<i>taking in a lot there in the a.m. (Fort George, Cawdor Castle, Culloden Moor) </i>&quot; Sorry - but that is not a morning - that is just about a <b>full</b> day. Ft George is HUGE. All of Edinburgh Castle would fit on it's Parade ground - which is just a small part of the fort. W/o even exploring or going inside the best bits or walking on the outer walls or having a meal there - you need to allocate a minimum of 2 hours. It really takes 3 or 4 hours or more. Just the logistics of walking from the car park to the entrance to one museum and back would take about an hour. Did I say HUGE??

Culloden - if you only go inside the visitors center it will still take about an 45 mins or an hour. If you walk the out into the battleground/enemy lines you need to plan more time.

And Cawdor Castle will take about 45 mins to an hour to tour the castle and another hour for the gardens. And the gardens should not be missed.

Even though they are not that far from each other, when you factor in the drive time - you are definitely looking at a very full day.

I really do appreciate your suggestions. I haven't yet ordered a good road map, so I'm working with the Fodors guide maps, which are only a staring point. Looked like a straight shot down the Great Glen... but I guess not! I'm ready to change our dates, which is easy at this point. What's the preferred route from Inverness area to Skye?

We are a family accustomed to some very long days if need be when traveling. So I have no problem with spending the better part of the day trying to see what we can see of Ft. George, Cawdor &amp; Culloden. We may have to cut a bit here and there, but I'd like to try to spend some time at each. So, from 9 to 3 or 4 in the afternoon touring, then drive to Skye in time for dinner. Is that do-able? Again, best route to go from Inverness to Skye? (I'm prepared to bypass Glen Affric, as it looks like one stop too many, beautiful though it may be.)

Thanks for your advice to the many partially-informed travelers like me. There's so much to learn and revise. You've no doubt saved countless vacations, and as a result, a couple marriages!

I'm not sure adding 10-20% to www.mappy.com's drive times will be accurate. Here's a note from our Scottish itinerary:

Aultbea via Inverewe Gardens to Plockton: 70mi/1h40m (Multimap) or 3h(AA) or 2h23m(RAC) or 2h(Map24)

To tell the truth, I can'remember how long this actually took because we stopped several times along the way. But I'd think the British Automobile Association or the Royal Automobile(?) Club would be more accurate for Scotland than mappy. I like Multimap for England but not for Scotland.

I'm getting a bit confused. Can you clarify what you think your itinerary might be, now, please?

I'm almost afraid to! But, here goes:
Day 1 Arrive Edinburgh (via London), take a nap &amp; maybe a city tour
Day 2 &amp; 3 Edinburgh
Day 4 - Drive up coast thru E. Neuck villages, thru St. Andrews (not golfers) with brief stop (secret bunker), to Dundee, overnite in St. Andrews area
Day 5 &amp; 6 - Stirling area, and Loch Lomond / Trossachs
Day 7 - a few castles enroute to Inverness (basically as much as we can squeeze into a long day)
Day 8 - drive to Scrabster for mid-day ferry to Orkney - explore and overnite on Orkney
Day 9 - Explore Orkney, late afternoon ferry to Scrabster, drive to Nairn for overnite
Day 10 - Cawdor &amp; Ft. George, maybe quick stop at Culloden, then leave late afternoon for drive to Skye for overnite
Day 11 - Skye (overnite again)
Day 12 -Loooonnnng drive from Skye to Arran for overnite
Day 13 - Explore Arran, overnite again
Dy 14 - Drive to Glasgow &amp; see what we can in a few hours &amp; pack to return next morning.

We are seasoned travelers who are accustomed to 1) moving around and living out of bags; 2) putting in long days if necessary in order to maximize what we see. On this trip, we have 3 nites in Ednburgh, 2 in Callander area, 2 on Skye, and 2 in Arran, the rest in transit. One friend once commented that our trip &quot;wasn't a vacation, it was boot camp!&quot; I'm actually kind of proud of that. With a lot of prep work, we accomplish 50% more than most people, and come back feeling that we've had a great trip. The plans are always ambitious, nearly always accomplished, and done a pace we find to be efficient but not breakneck. Not for everyone, but it works for our family. I'm getting excited to have a rough itinerary, and have hotels nailed down. Look forward to working out details.

Have you ever driven in the UK and specifically Scotland before? You aren't talking motorways/freeways. In a lot of places you will be lucky to average 35/40 mph. Just driving as far as you can to &quot;accomplish&quot; a list of places to tick off isn't really the best way to see things.

I personally think having one day on Skye (which is all you will have free) only to immediately drive to Aran to only have one day free there is rushing too far to see too little.

Given good traffic conditions, you can reckon on the Skye to Arran drive taking you just over six hours. That will not be easy motorway driving either but much of it will be on narrow roads where to have to stay really alert.
Especially in July, you will need to book your car onto the ferry.
I would think that it is hardly worth it for just two &quot;nites&quot;.
Arran is a great place to spend a relaxing holiday, but I'd miss it out on this trip.

That's always the problem, what NOT to see on a given trip. It's not that I'm keeping track and want the list to be 2 1/2 pages long. It's that there is obviously way more than we can possibly see in 2 weeks, and I'm trying to see as much as we can by detailed planning, and on a few days, a lot of driving. And by seeing I don't mean just zipping thru a town and saying, there - done! We will have some time here &amp; there for some short walks/hikes, maybe an hour for riding on one of the island, and we will be spending some time in some castles/museums. The driving will be a challenge on a couple of the days, but it can't be much worse than the roads (actually, road, since there's really only 1) in Iceland, which are 2 lane, narrow, and in many places, not paved. One or two driving days is ok with us, because we're not on a highway at 70 mph, we're going through some towns and seeing lochs and hills and things we don't see here in NJ. I do have a problem eliminating things...

The ferry reservation suggestion is a good one, and something I haven't gotten to yet - thanks. Has anyone done the Claonaig ferry to Arran? Any reason not to?

&quot;<i>I'm trying to see as much as we can by detailed planning</i>&quot;

You probably need to accept that your finely detailed plan will go out the windo in about the first day and a half (or possibly in the first hour and a half)

or out the &quot;window&quot; . . . .

I think you may be underestimating the power to slow down, not only of the stunning Scottish scenery, but of the average single track road in the Highlands:)

I'm going to try, at the weekend to give this a deeper once over for you, and hopefully help you to get more out of your trip

The only problem with the Claonaig Ferry is that it is rather dependent on weather conditions.
It is quite small and it's first come first served.
We took it last May. We arrived at the terminal to read a notice that because of high winds it was going to land in Tarbert.
We drove to Tarbert and the woman at the visitors centre told us that the skipper was making up his mind about making the crossing and they'd know in about two hours.
We went to a nearby cafe for lunch and the wifie came in and told us that he had decided to make the crossing and was going to arrive at the official terminal.
Back we drove and finally got the ferry. Luckily we are not bad sailors. It was a bumpy journey.

Many of the roads in northern Scotland are one-lane, not two, -- that's one lane total. And twisty. Fortunately there are lots of passing places, but the driving is just not that fast.

I'm not sure why you're so intent on visiting Aran. Two nights on Skye seems the obvious thing to do.

MissPrism: So, the irregularity of the Claonaig Ferry is something else to consider... Good info - thanks. Wonder if I bring a phone number if we can call en route to confirm if they are likely to be running. Otherwise, better plan on the Ardrossan-Brodick ferry.

I have been warned on nearly every trip that what I'd planned was impossible to accomplish, and we have been able to see all that we set out to, without feeling unduly stressed. I hope that despite ambitious plans, Scotland will be the same.

My thread started with what to do about visiting 3 islands (Orkney, Skye &amp; Arran) and I hear from different people that each should not be missed. And I really have trouble saying &quot;no, I'll skip it,&quot; so present plans are to see each one for a full day. Which means we're up and about by 8, and return to shower and have dinner at 8 or so in the evening. I hope we can do it, and enjoy it all as much as we have some of our other over-planned trips. The driving will be a challenge, and I guess I can only say after next July if it's better or worse than Iceland.

I just don't see what we can cut out and not feeling like we've missed something special. I really, really appreciate the thoughtful suggestions, but feel stuck - don't know what or where to cut.

&quot;<i> have been warned on nearly every trip that what I'd planned was impossible to accomplish, and we have been able to see all that we set out to, without feeling unduly stressed. I hope that despite ambitious plans, Scotland will be the same. </i>&quot;

That about sums it up - you have received a TON of great advice from several &quot;Scotland experts&quot; - including some who live there - and you have dedcided your plan is best. It is your choice afterall - Go for it. But many will agree you are making some serious miscalcualtions.

You <i>may</i> be able &quot;to see all that you set out to&quot; see --- but since you don't know half of what's there to be seen . . . . you will miss much more than you will see.

Maybe that sounds harsh - but you haven't been there and we have. We really are trying to help you. For some reason you <u>must</u> see Aran even though it just doesn't fit in your itinerary. But like I said - it's your trip, go for it.

I'm really sorry if I have offended any of you have offered the benefits of your insight &amp; experience. I certainly don't mean to come off as ungrateful, because I do appreciate all of the advice - thru Fodors and personal friends - many of whom offer a different, and sometimes conflicting, perspective. I've made some modifications, but can't / don't want to eliminate any more of Scotland. We've been warned by guides in Paris and Rome and Florence that our plans were impossible (at first) but ultimately managed to satisfactorily visit the places we felt were &quot;can't miss.&quot; This may be the trip that changes my track record, but I hope not. I do appreciate your help, am sorry if our tentative itinerary seems to indicate that I have ignored advice. I have considered, gone back to the books, gone back to Mappy to look at drive times, and decided (at least for now) to go for it. It is a long and very expensive trip, not likely to be repeated for a few years, and really want to feel that we've done all we possibly can. We do come home a little tired, but so far, always very satisfied.