SZ

Hello, travelers -- my husband and I (mid-40s, like beer and hiking and quirky history) are headed for Scotland in May. We're planning on a few nights in Edinburgh and then heading out to find natural beauty. I've come up with a tentative itinerary and I'd love some feedback.

Day 1: arrive EDI 3 pm; get dinner; crash

Day 2: Edinburgh

Day 3: Edinburgh

Day 4: Edinburgh to Callander. Hike in the Trossachs.

Day 5: Hike around Loch Lomond. Drive to Glencoe.

Day 6: Glencoe, then drive to Skye.

Day 7: Skye

Day 8: Skye

Day 9: Skye to Edinburgh

Day 10: Head home

Whaddaya think? Too much? Too little? Are we missing the Most Beautiful Place in All of Scotland? Thanks for any advice.

janisj

Not bad at all - that last driving day will be long of course but the rest is totally doable.

janisj

Meant to add: >>Are we missing the Most Beautiful Place in All of Scotland? <<

Of course you are but there are hundreds of 'most beautiful' and in such a short trip you are hitting a lot of them . . .

indy_dad

Have a look at my trip report (and blog link within) for some further ideas. We did the Callander/Skye bit.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm

indy_dad

Meant to add:

http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/

Great walking site since that seems to be high on your list.

Gordon_R

That's an excellent itinerary for a trip of that duration. You could take advantage of two alternative routes from Glencoe to Skye to do a circular trip:-

Route #1 (outward): Head up to Fort William then turn right on the A830, the "Road to the Isles" through Glenfinnan (worth a stop for the Bonny Prince Charlie monument and the viaduct) then on to Mallaig (stopping at the Arisaig beaches) before getting the Calmac ferry over to Skye.

Route #2 (return):- , take the Skye Bridge, drive thru the Kyle of Lochalsh (stopping at Eilean Donan Castle), then along the A87 to Invergarry (with quick detour up to Fort Augustus to see the Caledonian Canal locks if time permits), before heading back down the A82 towards Ft William (then either continue south back thru the Trossachs to EDI or head East to pick up the main A9 road).

Gordon_R

Meant to say you can do the above circular trip <i>either</i> way round...

SZ

Thanks, janisj, indy_dad, and Gordon_R. Indy_dad, your trip report was terrific -- thanks for all the ideas and inspiration. I'm probably not the first to say this, but for such a relatively small country there is so much to see. We need another week!

janisj

>> for such a relatively small country there is so much to see. We need another week!<< . . . more like 6+ weeks - and still not see it all.

SZ

We might just have to move there. (Yes, we are not even in the country yet but I'm ready to emigrate. Trip planning is the best.)

Another question (and I swear I tried to find the answer before posting this): where on Skye should we stay? I'm seeing that Portree is not all that. However, we would like to stay in a place where we could have a drink or two at dinner and not worry about driving. B&B recommendations would be great, too.

janisj

Portree is the only town of any size so lots of people like to stay there (banks/ pubs/ cafes w/i walking distance)

But it s also on one 'corner' of the island and travel around Skye is slow so being as central as possible helps a lot. The only central-ish place is Sligachan which is sort at the crossroads of most of the routes on Skye. It is not in a town - but it does serve food all day (which is unusual) and has a pub on site.

http://www.sligachan.co.uk