Hello fellow fodorites.
DH and I planning a Scottish trip in July 2025. We have both visited Glasgow and Edinburgh before and this time each have different wishlists..
He would like to do some scenic train trips and visit Inverness, I would love to include Mull and/or Skye. I think we have time for both (10 days give or take) but I am struggling to work out the best way to still have a car on the islands..
Very broad plan is to train from either Glasgow or Edinburgh to Inverness, then Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh - fit in Skye/Mull - then West Highland line back to Glasgow. (Could be done in reverse too I guess?)
Many posts I have read suggest that it is best to hire a car in the larger centres but that would mean no train.
I see that there is some car hire on Skye but understandably limited and would no doubt require very early booking? Is there somewhere else relatively convenient to pick and up and drop off without retracing our steps back to Glasgow perhaps.
Any thoughts on producing a win for both of us would be very welcome.
Thank you.

Any particular reason for Inverness? I wouldn’t call it a destination city in its own right IMO at least.

You really need a car on Skye or at the very least, be prepared to join an organised day tour operator on the island to see some of its best sights.You can potentially, from Portree, use a local bus that goes up the north end of the island, allowing you to visit the Old Man of Storr and/or the Quiraing but I don’t think it’s the most efficient use of your limited time there by far(two full days minimum to see the finest of the island’s sights if you have a car.)
You shouldn’t have any trouble arranging a car, picked up in Kyle of Lochalsh, this far out.
Getting to Mull - assuming you take the train from Mallaig to Fort William, you need to take the bus from FW to Oban then CalMac ferry across to Craignure.Again, you cannot explore the loveliest parts of Mull without a car.

You could settle (and it’s not second best as such, it’s a wonderful day trip) for the Mull, Iona and Staffa day trip , advertised widely in Oban where you get on the early morning ferry, a coach takes you through south Mull to Fionnphort(beautiful journey) , you go over to Iona for a few hours using the little ferry(10 min crossing) then a small boat takes you out (if you wish) to Staffa to see stunning Fingal’s Cave and potentially, the puffins.
It’s a hugely popular day trip from Oban.Long day and best of course, on a bright sunny day! Always a gamble when you only devote a short time frame to it.

Thank you Scotlandmac (Im loving your website btw ) - Inverness to visit Culloden and also because the train journey from there to Kyle of Lochalsh is scenic...
I'm pretty keen to have more than a day trip on Mull. Could I rent a car in Oban for Mull and then another in Kyle of Lochalsh for Skye perhaps? Or, if I rented from Kyle of Lochalsh location I'm guessing it wouldn't make sense to do a loop down to Mull so I could then return to KOL?

An hour ago I was in the middle of a fairly long reply when our power went out- and I lost my Wi-Fi connection. Just learned it wil be out at least 3 more hours instead of reinventing the wheel I’ll finish it up then. Watch this space ….

Thank you janisj!

phew Finally!!

OK -- lots to unpack here. My first question is why Inverness is on your husband's wish list?? That is a serious question BTW - not being snarky. Does he have some reason for visiting the city? or is it just someplace he's heard of?? There is quite a bit (a lot really) to see and do within day trips of Inverness - but it is not a 'destination'. It is a nice place to live but is mainly the commercial hub for northern Scotland -- so all the things you'd see in any other city -- big box stores, industry, supermarkets -- except for a nice river running through not much else worth spending your limited time. If you stick with Inverness - then definitely have a car and stay elsewhere in the region (Nairn, the Black Isle, Grantown-on-Spey, Culloden, etc.

Wanting to take trains is a lovely concept - but in practice it isn't that east to tours rural parts of Scotland by rail. There is extremely limited rental car options on Skye and none the I know of on Mull.

Ten days is not much time for northern Scotland, Skye, Mull and about 2 days eaten up with arrival and departure faff. IMO you need to decide between including the area around Inverness and Skye . . . or . . . Skye and Mull . . . or Mull and someplace else such as the Trossachs, or Kilmartin/Argyll . . . or something else entirely.

I personally would not take the train to either Kyle of Lochalsh or Mallaig -- driving covers the same scenic routes and you'd then have a car on Skye. You definitely could take the train up to Inverness, rent a car there (several chain rental agencies in the city) and then after a couple of days/3 nights exploring Culloden, Cawdor, Ft George, etc, drive to Skye over the bridge, stay 3 nights (4 if you ca swing it)

Then back towards where ever you are flying out of staying a night or two in the Trossachs which are an easy drive to either GLA or EDI

(my power JUST came on -- out almost nine hours! luckily my post was saved but I just had to copy/paste because the link had expired. )

Janisj, glad you are powered up! Thank you for taking the time to reply.

Inverness mainly for Culloden and because he has read that the train from there to Kyle of Lochalsh is one of the most scenic routes (he loves train travel.) I appreciate your thoughts about the car and that is my preference too (I drive) but I am trying to cater to his wishes too as we are following Scotland with Faroe islands, Iceland and Norway which are my choices LOL.
We have visited the Trossachs previously and done a reasonable anount of exploring from Glasgow as far north as Eilean Donan.

What do you think of my idea of renting in Kyle of Lochalsh for both Mull and Skye?
Thank you again.

Trossachs done previously ✔︎ That helps.

AFAIK there no rentals at Kyle however ther is a garage on Skye the rents cars and will deliver to Kyle. A bit of a logistics issue because you'd then have to return the car somewhere on Skye or back at Kyle of Lochalsh.

Now I never (ever) recommend doing the train out and back from Ft William but in your case it could definitely make sense - though I'd do it in reverse Mallaig > Ft William > Mallaig.. I could see something like this: Take the train to Inverness (or even fly up) rent a car there and explore the area for a couple of days. Then drive down to Kyle and on to Skye - stay a minimum of 3 nights on Skye exploring by car. Then ferry across and and park the car at Mallaig. Catch the train out to Ft William and then return a few hours later. Then drive back out the Road to the Isles- its essentially the same route as the train but you can stop for countless photo ops -- beaches, Glenfinnan, Neptune's Staircase. etc. This train + drive will eat up most of the day so then stay the night in Ballachulish or Gencoe. It will be a glorious train ride, and even better drive (because you can stop anywhere plus take photos of the train crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct which you can't really do when you are ON the train)

Sounds a bit loopy but with a train nut DH it could fill the bill . . .

. . . then from Glencoe/Ballachulish its an easy drive to a couple of different ferries to Mull -- you will want an absolute minimum two nights on Mull -- the driving is even slower than on Skye and that's saying something!

So if you can squeeze out a couple of extra days for the trip -- with 12 days I thinks its doable. 3 nights near Inverness, 3 or 4 on Skye, 1 at Glencoe or nearby, 3 on Mull, 1 near EDI or GLA before flying out.

OK, I bought a map, stuck on my pinboard and showed him the issue! Seems like we may be able to give up the train idea bless him.
So now the world (or Scotland) is my oyster.
I am also thinking of maybe moving our other trip forward by a couple of weeks so that we would be in Scotland for June instead of early July, seems like that might help with crowds (on Skye for example) a little? I have been a little shocked by island accommodation prices too so more research to be done for sure.
Of course I'm now tempted to visit more islands but will try and contain myself and will come back with some ideas for critique thank you.
I've self planned many itineraries but for some reason taking awhile to get my head around this area LOL

TBH - not much difference at all between mid/late June and early/mid July. Most UK schools don't break for summer until the third week of July. Yes -- Skye has become mightily expensive -- too popular for its own good . . .

For his train fix you have a couple of options without jumping through hoops. If you do the trip north to south you can take the train up to Inverness to start. There are major rental chaind in Inverness so you can do a one-way hire. Drop the car athe your departure airport. Or - you could do the trip south to north . . . Rent the car at Edinburgh or Glasgow and do the trip Mull > Skye > Inverness area, drop the car there and take the train back south.

On Mull -- this place is REALLY popular but if they have availability -- highly recommended. Great breakfasts, views across to the abbey on Iona, next door to the pub, short walk to restaurant, the foot ferry to Iona, and boats to Staffa.

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

Oh -- School breaks are different in Scotland than in other parts of the UK. In Scotland the summer break starts almost a month earlier than the rest of the country (next year June 26 in Scotland vs. July 23 elsewhere). But on Skye you really aren't competing with Scottish tourists . . . they mostly go to Spain and Croatia and Orlando

Lovely to hear the website is of help!

You can also rent a car on Mull itself..there are a couple of operators.Or on Oban though you then incur the car ferry costs.But given you will be lugging suitcases etc that convenience might be worth it.It’s not prohibitively expensive, thr crossing.

After the train from Mallaig (you can ask to drop the hired car off there) to Fort William, you take the bus to Oban.

If you still have a hired car, after the train journey to Fort William and back to Mallaig, your quickest route to Mull(and it’s a beautiful drive BUT has a considerable amount of VERY winding, twisting single track road through Ardnamurchan) is to Acharacle then either the Kilchoan to Tobermory ferry or south to Salen and over the hill road to Lochaline and the little ferry to Fishnish.Neither ferry can be booked in advance, just turn up.

Depending on ferry and train times, most likely you will need an overnight - you could look at Arisaig or even this beautiful wee place in tiny Glenuig:

https://www.glenuig.com

I haven’t stayed but we’ve called in here a couple of times and sat outside on their terrace in the sunshine(much like in the photo) with tea and scones and mused about an overnight sometime.Gorgeous Loch nam Uamh is nearby.

An overnight allows you to explore , as janisj mentions and if if interest, some of the lovely sights on the Road to the Isles from Mallaig which isn’t possible on the train.

You could also push on and stay in Ardnamurchan itself of course.

Weather is impossible to predict of course but personally, I’d always veer towards June rather than July.There’s a standing joke in Scotland that the minute the school (Scottish) holidays start(end June/beg of July), the heavens open.July has a reputation for being a wet month.

Sadly, prices have soared throughout much of Scotland…on a recent trip up the NW Highlands and Orkney, the prices were eye watering.Places that used to be £100- £150 night are now £200 - £250 as standard. Eati;g out ain’t cheap either, though it never really was over here.

Mull is wonderful…you might already have seen my more detailed write up on enjoying the best of the island but here’s the link anyway if of help…

https://annestravelsandhikes.com/201...e-alternative/

Such helpful responses janisj and Scotlandmac, thank you!

I think the train is becoming a distant memory…. the fact that a one way hire car drop off is not mega expensive opens up more options than I thought.

I have moved our other trip back and now fly out of EDI for Faroe Islands on the afternoon of June 26, could probably do two weeks in Scotland prior to this.

I’m roughly thinking:

Day 0 Fly into either EDI or Glasgow from Australia so going nowhere that day.

Day 1 Pick up hire car and head straight for Mull

Day 2 Mull

Day 3 Mull

Day 4 Mull

Day 5 Head to Skye (through Ardnamurchan and Acharacle?)

Day 6 Skye

Day 7 Skye

Day 8 Skye

Day 9 Drive to Inverness area , exact location tbd (route?)

Day 10 Inverness area – do Culloden at least

Day 11 Inverness area

Day 12 TRAIN Inverness to Edinburgh (not the most scenic of the routes previously discussed but he will get A train trip in and will be relaxing for me as the sole driver of the rest of the trip)

Day 13 Edinburgh

Day 14 Fly out 3pm

That’s a bare bones suggestion, needs lots of fleshing out but do you think its reasonable? Willing to chop and change as needs but keen to get some accom locked in. Looked at the Glenuig suggestion and its fully booked, Seaview guesthouse in Fionnphort would be available on Days 1 and 2 if that works?

Thanks so much.

That is a reasonable plan. The only change I might consider is stop somewhere for one night between Edinburgh and Mull. Edinburgh > Fionnphort takes about 6 hours in transit plus any stops, to Tobermory maybe 30 minutes less. That is a lot on your first full day in country. Stopping for one night in Oban or maybe Inveraray would make the next day MUCH easier and you could take the first ferry to Mull that morning.

This would still give you a fair amount of time on Mull/Iona -- it will be daylight very VERY late so you can wander the Isle for hours. Sunset will be around 10:30 PM and it will be dusk even longer (I have photos of my Scottie and Airedale running on Singing Sands beach on Ardmurchan after 11PM)

Thanks janisj. I could possibly add another day (wink wink) as inbound flight not booked yet.....
I thought Inveraray sounded familiar and when I looked it up realised we stayed overnight there on another trip! We used to attend a conference that was held in Glasgow in October so on a few occasions we snuck in a three or four day jaunt from Glasgow pre meeting.
This is our first chance to get further away though.

Ok, I'm not letting the grass grow under my feet, I have booked Seaview (or requested) for 2 nights and secured another 2 nights near Tobermory.
Next mission is Skye... would welcome any suggestions about how/where to allocate my 4 nights on Skye please? I think once I have that organised I can take a breath as that will be the hardest spots done hopefully.

Looks good.It depends whether enjoying anywhere on the drive to Oban appeals enough to warrant an overnight.There’s certainly plenty to see!

Glasgow to Oban…on paper, 2 hrs 40 but I always give myself 3 hours(it takes less than that ) plus your time for checking in re the ferry(30 mins pre sailing.) It’s an extra 50mins or so from Edinburgh.

Book your preferred sailing as soon as that booking window becomes available - probably early January but keep checking.

The most direct route to Skye is via Ardnamurchan (on paper 2 hrs or so) so you won’t need an overnight unless you want to explore much more of the peninsula .You can still enjoy a lot en route as you make for the Mallaig that day.Castle Tioram just past Acharacle is worth a stroll.Lovely area.

Surprised relatively remote wee Glenuig Inn is booked …might just be that they haven’t posted their dates and prices for next summer.

Busier roads but easier driving but a much longer route if you return to Oban.You can also return to the mainland via Fishnish - Lochaline then the Corran ferry putting you just south of Fort William..Great scenery on those routes too.

I’m mentioning ‘easier’ driving because Ardnamurchan is the King of Single Track Roads with almost non existent sightlines at times or certainly very short ones and continually twisting and winding.Fairly quiet certainly.

Skye…Portree is good if you want restaurant choice on your doorstep and the buzz of a wee town in a picturesque location.
There’s lovely accommodation all over the island and even if you have to drive up and down some of the same roads to return to a single base, it’s hardly a hardship given the ever changing light across the moors, mountains and the sea.Our car could probably drive itself up and down Skye’s various roads (the main ones being quite fast too, not all roads are slow or single track by any means) but the landscape changes so much, every day, at all times of the day, it always looks spectacular.

For Skye, Portree will have the most 'services' -- cafes, restaurants, bank, shops, etc, --- while the Sligachan hotel (or a nearby B&B at Sconser) is the the absolute most central/convenient location on the island because it is sort of at a crossroads in the middle so easy to get to any part of the island. Another good thing about Sligachan is they serve food all day long for hotel guests.

I stayed here once in Sconser - but it was quite a few years ago so not making any comments re current quality. Does look like they've updated it quite a bit. https://www.holiday-accommodation-sc....uk/index.html

Other than Portree and Sligachan/Sconser -- there are nice places scattered all over the island, but do check out drive times to other scenic bits/sights.