Even off-peak, walk up fares are not especially cheap (the site I linked to is quoting around 120 pounds each) -

the only sane solution IMO is to wait for that later flight - Q- why did you not buy a US-Edinburgh ticket in the first place?

PalenQ- Because I didn't know I was going there when I bought the ticket to London. :-)
The sale was on flights to LHR only from the US. At the time I bought the ticket, all I knew was that we were going to be on the East Coast for a few (specific) days next August and thought that would be a good opportunity to go elsewhere from there afterward. When I saw a $508 RT that would get us to London and all the way back to LA nonstop both ways, I bought it. Fortunately, I put it on hold because 2 days later it was $1200. While it's currently less, it's not uncommon for summer tickets to Europe from LA to be $1500+. I also still need a one way ticket to the East Coast (unfortunately, I could not work a "stopover" into the ticket).

In the end, I thought, "we can go anywhere from London". Originally we were thinking Barcelona and Northern Spain because we haven't been there in almost 20 years, but later we decided on Scotland. We were in Paris for a week this past March and 2 weeks in Italy summer 2015, so Scotland seemed like a total change and we've always wanted to go.

At this point, I'm thinking the 11:40 am flight is the safest choice. And if we can, we'll look into getting on the earlier flight when we arrive.

Thanks everyone, this is very helpful - we're planning our own nine day trip to Scotland for early June. I'll be posting my own itinerary shortly. I look forward to your comments. ��

>>PalenQ- Because I didn't know I was going there when I bought the ticket to London. :-)<<

That is exactly why I've ended up booking non-linked flights more than once . . . after the fact either adding Scotland to a trip to England, or adding London or somewhere to a planned trip to Scotland.

11:40 is your best bet . . . If you are booking a hotel in Edinburgh you probably can't check in til mid afternoon anyway. So use the Arrivals Lounge at LHR if you have access. If not, T-5 isn't a bad place to while away some time shopping/dining whatever -- there s even a Gordon Ramsay restaurant.

Back to the itinerary!
I think this question may have been missed in all the hubbub about flights to Edinburgh:

Regarding driving times, if we wanted to drive from the south end of Skye on our last day to Inverness to meet the evening train and drop our car before 4 or 5pm, would that be doable?
Or should we plan on our last night being closer to Inverness?
If we take the train from Inverness, it leaves at 7:50 pm.

Thanks!

Yes. It's about 2+ ( and count on the plus ) from say Broadford/ Kyleakin at the south end of Skye to Inverness.

and if the train route is any harbinger the Kyle to Inverness drive is very very pretty -try to do a leisurely drive to stop off and savor the scenery a bit.

Ok, back to the planning! FYI, I bought the tickets on the 11:40 am flight to Edinburgh. :-)

I've been looking at falconry centers because my husband is really fascinated by all kinds of raptor birds (as am I). There are several in Scotland but they all seem to be in the area around Edinburgh or on the East coast. Has anyone does this or know any places in the western highlands?

Of the places I've found so far, one is Dalhousie Castle Hotel, http://dalhousiecastle.co.uk/ In this case, we could get both a castle stay and falconry experience in one. In addition, given how close it is to Edinburgh, we could go there first, without a car, and perhaps postpone the car rental by a day.

Other places I've found are Elite Falconry near Kirkcaldy and Phoenix Falconry which is near Killarney. With these two, we might be able to see Sterling castle before or after.

Sterling castle before or after.>

Try to see Stirling Castle too! though it may cost you some pounds sterling to get in!

Killarney is in Ireland ;) AFAIK the Phoenix centre is near gleneagles golf course in Auchterarder in perthshire.

Dalhousie castle would not be at all convenient without a car but VERY convenient with one since it is just off the A7 south of Edinburgh.

janisj-yep, not in Killarney. Not sure where I got that when I was looking at the map. The castle says they offer pick up from a new train that goes there, but after reading the reviews, I'm not sure I want to stay there in high wedding season.

Edinburgh to Galashiels old train line recently reopened must be the new rail line- good way to get to the sweet Borders Abbey country=train + bus to Melrose, Jedburgh and Dryburgh being three neat ones - could spend a few days in this part of Scotland that few here seem to ever plan on visiting.

Gave my husband his b-day present of the Tattoo tickets and he was surprised and THRILLED. Yay!

So, has anyone experienced Elite Falconry or Phoenix Falconry?

IME one falconry exhibit is pretty much like any other -- I've been to several -- in Fife, near Huntly, at a castle hotel, and down in Warwickshire. Pretty much 6 of 1/half dozen of the other. Just pick one near the rest of your itinerary.

(my favorite was at the NE Scotland falconry centre up north but it is nowhere near any place else on your itinerary) http://www.huntly-falconry-centre.com

Wow - lots of good info here. I'm going in May/June and doing my research!

Janis--

The Huntly Center looks fascinating!

Is there a place in Aberdeenshire or elsewhere in the east of Scotland that would be a good base for visiting? We hate "one nite stands" and would love to find a place in the country where we could stay for two or three nites--or longer if there were enough to do and see.

dwdvagamundo: A 3 or 4 night stay on Deeside (Ballater or somewhere) would be a great base for Huntly, Aberdeen, the NE coast, and all the MANY castles on the 'Castle Trail' . . . and even for places like Dufftown or other distilleries on Speyside.

In fact a nice day trip starting out from Ballater would be a loop through Tomintoul > Dufftown > Huntly > Alford > Ballater. Only about 3 hours total car time and 4 biggies (Glenfiddich, The falconry Centre, Huntly Castle, and the wonderful Craigievar Castle). Of course you wouldn't need to do all four on the same day but totally doable.

All--I really like the idea of the Isles of Mull and Iona. How long would it take to get a flavor of the place? We're currently thinking of a week or ten days in Scotland. We've already seen Edinburgh and the Borders, so we'd spend a day or two in Glasgow, then see some of the rest of the country--currently on the list: Aberdeenshire and Inverness area, as well as Mull and Iona.

<i> How long would it take to get a flavor of the place? We're currently thinking of a week or ten days in Scotland. We've already seen Edinburgh and the Borders, so we'd spend a day or two in Glasgow, then see some of the rest of the country--currently on the list: Aberdeenshire and Inverness area, as well as Mull and Iona.</i>

Aberdeenshire plus Mull and Iona in a week that already includes Glasgow is a major stretch, unless you don't mind several really long days in the car.

I'm not much of a fan of the Inverness area, and for that matter not a big fan of the Great Glen, so maybe I'm not the best one to offer route suggestions. But if it was me I'd concentrate either on the east coast (Fife, Aberdeenshire, whiskey trail, etc.) or the west (Glasgow, Glen Coe, Oban, Mull, Iona, Loch Fyne etc.) but not both.

What month would this be taking place? Weather happens.

I simply can't believe I misspelled "whisky" above. In my (lame) defense, I spent last night at a mid-Hannukah latke fest where the host had a variety of locally-produced (Washington State) whiskies for tasting. I didn't know that even faux-Scotch single malts, including ones with a very peaty nose (like Islay ones) all use the Irish spelling. Mea culpa and Slàinte!