Kristina

Jane- Annfield Guest House looks nice but unfortunately have a 2 night minimum in August.

Kristina

Still working on it, made some adjustments, thoughts?

Day 1- Arrive Edinburgh mid day
Day 2-Edinburgh. Tattoo in evening (already have tickets)
Day 3-Get rental car, visit Sterling Castle and Phoenix Falconry. Overnight Callander?
Day 4- Drive to Oban or somewhere in that area?
Day 5- Daytrip to Mull with car or tour?
Day 6- Drive to Isle of Skye. Open as to where, but not really thrilled by the thought of Portree. Or should I reconsider? Also considering Taigh Alean Hotel near Carbost for 2 nights (I know this place is a bit remote, but it looks charming and the bar/restaurant is well reviewed. Also, affordable).
Day 7 - Skye
Day 8- Skye (or, drive toward Inverness, stopping somewhere for the night)
Day 9-Drive to Inverness, drop car, catch overnight train for London, 7:50pm
Day 10-London
Day 11-Fly home 4pm

The only hotels booked are Edinburgh and London. I'd still like to find a good castle stay, but I'm having a hard time finding one that isn't crazy expensive in August.

Does this look like a reasonable itinerary for someone who is willing to move around a bit?
Any advice on where to stay in Callander?
Any advice on where to stay in/near Oban? Other options for days 4 and 5?
Suggestions on routes and where to stop on drives on days 4 and 6?
On day 5, is a day trip to Mull too much? Should we do something else in the area? Or even move on and not spend the 2nd night there?

janisj

>>Any advice on where to stay in Callander?<<

What is your budget?

>>Any advice on where to stay in/near Oban? Other options for days 4 and 5?<<

I would stay ON Mull instead of Oban. Take the ferry from Oban to Craignure, stay in Fionnphort, and then take the ferry from Fishnish to Lochaline and drive across to Skye.

On Skye I'd try to stay at Sligachan because it is very centrally located - more so that Portree or Carbost.

Kristina

For Callander, I'd like to keep it around 100 GBP or so, if possible.

So for days 4 and 5 you are recommending going from Callander to Fionnphort on day 4? That's not too far, too much, in one day? Why not Oban?

Also, just, curious, but why stay in Fionnphort? Is it because it's close to Iona? There's not a lot of choice for accommodation. What about Tobermory?

Gardyloo

Not my trip of course, but frankly with this schedule I'd just drop Oban and Mull and reallocate those days elsewhere.

Your plan -

<i>Day 4- Drive to Oban or somewhere in that area?
Day 5- Daytrip to Mull with car or tour?
Day 6- Drive to Isle of Skye...
Day 7 - Skye
Day 8- Skye (or, drive toward Inverness, stopping somewhere for the night)
Day 9-Drive to Inverness, drop car, catch overnight train for London, 7:50pm</i>

Your map - https://goo.gl/maps/vDiQJUoB35k

My suggestion -

Day 4 - Drive to Glenfinnan via Glen Etive, Glen Coe
Day 5 - Drive to Skye via Mallaig ferry
Day 6 - Skye
Day 7 - Skye
Day 8 - Skye to Poolewe via Torridon and Gairloch
Day 9 - Poolewe to Inverness etc.

Map - https://goo.gl/maps/io7xfPHyyNJ2

Why?

In my view the logistics of the Oban/Mull get complicated and too much time would be spent fussing with ferries and moving from one location to another. In addition, if you spent the night on Mull instead of Oban, the logical route to Skye would be to use the Kilchoan ferry and traverse the Ardnamurchan Peninsula in order to get to Mallaig for the Skye ferry. This would mean missing Glen Etive, Glen Coe and the Road to the Isles, which are all worthy of stops. With only one day for Mull you wouldn't have time to get to Iona, or really to see much on the island, which is nearly the size of Skye but with even fewer roads. Mull is marvelous but really needs more than a few hours.

In addition, while Oban is pleasant enough, it's very popular during the summer and (to me at least) not especially pretty or picturesque.

<i>Instead,</i> I'd look at proceeding from Callander through Glen Coe, with a drive down Glen Etive on the way, to Glenfinnan along the Road to the Isles. Glenfinnan is a small village but in a superb setting, with the Jacobite monument at the head of Loch Shiel and the Harry Potter rail viaduct (which is actually very scenic and was iconic long before it was made famous in the movies) behind the village.

I'd then spend the next couple of nights on Skye, taking the opportunity to explore the island in depth, and also actually giving you some flexibility to re-plan things on the fly in case of inclement weather, always a risk.

On Day 8 (or this could be late on Day 7) I'd suggest you drive up to Poolewe via Loch Carron and Torridon. The roads between Plockton and Torridon, then on through Gairloch, are some of the most beautiful in Scotland.

In Poolewe visit Inverewe Gardens - http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Inver...en-and-Estate/ - a stunning location with a surprising collection of subtropical plants (thank you, Gulf Stream) set in amazingly scenic countryside.

Then you're a couple of hours from Inverness and the train south.

Have a google at some of these ideas and see what you think.

janisj

If it was MY trip (which it isn't) I'd either do Gardyloo's suggestion, or drop Skye and the north and spend that time on Mull and in the Trossachs.

(I'd actually do it all but only if I had 3 weeks)

I would MUCH rather have time to enjoy places than dash from place to place. But if you really want to hit Mull and Skye -- that is entirely doable.

Kristina

Wow, thanks for all the great ideas Gardyloo!

For the record, I thought we might visit Mull as a day trip from there, but spend 2 nights in Oban. But I'm also not opposed to skipping Oban and Mull as well. Glenfinnan looks like an interesting option.

Questions-
Why is Sligachan always suggested? I know it's central, but it looks like there is only one hotel there. There's no "town"?

Poolewe- Do you actually suggest spending the night there? There don't seem to be a lot of options for accomodations. Do you have a specific place to recommend?

janisj

>>Why is Sligachan always suggested? I know it's central, but it looks like there is only one hotel there. There's no "town"?<<

Because Skye is very large and the travel is very slow. Basing in Sligachan cuts a lot of time from drives to various scenic areas. Sligachan is sort of a one stop place -- hotel, campground, pub, restaurant and cafe and food is served all through the day.

There is no town there - there is only one 'town' on the Isle, Portree. So if you want a bank, and multiple places to eat then stay in Portree - but it is towards the northern end and it will add quite a bit of car time to any other parts of Skye.

Gardyloo

<i>Poolewe- Do you actually suggest spending the night there? There don't seem to be a lot of options for accomodations. Do you have a specific place to recommend?</i>

No place to recommend; I'd probably look in Gairloch which is very close by and has a number of hotels as well as B&Bs.

Throughout the Highlands, and especially in the northwest, accommodation is limited, so booking ahead is highly advised.

Kristina

<I>Throughout the Highlands, and especially in the northwest, accommodation is limited, so booking ahead is highly advised.</I>

Exactly. I've noticed that places are booking up even now for August which is why the first think I do is see what accommodations are available. I will check out Gairloch.

Kristina

On the last night (a Thursday), if we choose not to go north to Poolewe as Gardyloo suggested, where else would it make sense to stop for the night along the way to Inverness?

Or, what about spending the night in Inverness itself? If we do that, we could drop the car on Thursday late afternoon and spend Friday seeing Inverness. I know most people don't seem to be fans of this city, so perhaps this is not a good idea?

Our Friday night train to London does not leave until almost 8pm.

janisj

>>Our Friday night train to London does not leave until almost 8pm.<<

That answers the question IMO. IF you were taking a day train and only had a few hours to kill in Inverness then yes, I'd maybe turn the car in Thursday afternoon. The river through Inverness is attractive and there are some nice accommodations.

But taking the sleeper train - you would be essentially 'wasting' nearly 1.5 days of your very limited time in Inverness sans car.

If you don't go that far north and want to turn towards Inverness -- look at staying on the Black Aisle, or in Culloden, or Beauly, or Strathpeffer or somewhere else <i>near</i> Inverness and take advantage of having the car for as long as possible.

Kristina

Janis- Thanks for the ideas! Beauly and Strathpeffer both look nice. Not sure I want to go all the way past Inverness on that day, so either one of those could be a good option.

Kristina

I'm back with yet more changes. After looking at the itinerary over and over, what we realized is that we had (for us) too much time in the countryside. We've decided to add 2 nights in Glasgow.

Here's the current version. Thoughts?

Day 1- Arrive Edinburgh mid day
Day 2-Edinburgh. Tattoo in evening
Day 3-Train to Glasgow in morning
Day 4- Glasgow
Day 5- Rent car, drive to Glenfinnan
Day 6- Drive to Isle of Skye. Overnight Skye
Day 7 - Skye
Day 8-Drive to Dingwall, north of Inverness, stopping at Tulloch Castle for the night (tentative).
Day 9-Drive to Inverness, drop car, catch overnight train for London, 7:50pm Friday
Day 10-London
Day 11-Fly home 4pm (Sunday)

Kristina

Any recommendations for hotels in central Glasgow?

janisj

A lot depends on your budget.

The Park Inn by Radisson Glasgow City Centre isn't posh at all but is VERY central and walking distance from both stations. It can sometimes be had at a pretty deep discount.

Here is my review on Booking.com :

+ Wonderful Location midway between Queen Street and Glasgow Central stations. Walking distance to many restaurants, pubs, shops. Large room and very comfortable bed.

- Check in and check out is a bit of a muddle. There is no actual front desk but more like a hostess station near the bar/restaurant

Kristina

Ah the perils of early planning...things have changed a bit with our itinerary. The Isle of Skye and the overnight train are out and I have some days to fill. This is the curse of trying to plan too far in advance and at the same time not far enough.

I left the decision of where to stay in Skye too late and could not find something affordable we liked. Everything was either already booked, or seemed grossly overpriced for what it was. We will try and visit some other time, not in August.

Once we decided to take out Skye, we asked ourselves how important the experience of the overnight train was to us, and the answer was, "not enough to go all the way to Inverness". So now we will take a morning train back to London and spend 2 nights there instead of one and still get to enjoy a train ride. Yes, I know about the overnight train from Glasgow and no, we don't want to do it.

That hotel I'd booked for Glasgow was pre-paid non-refundable and non-changeable through a 3rd party booking agent (something I dislike doing, but it was a good value), and after 8 phone calls and as many emails I got the dates changed to the end of the trip so we could take the train to London from there.

This is where we’re at now:
Day 1: Arrive Edinburgh
Day 2: Edinburgh
Day 3: Open
Day 4: Open (but considering changing Glenfinnan below)
Day 5: Glenfinnan (hotel here was booked when I thought we were going to Skye. There is a 50 GP nonrefundable deposit. However, I can move the reservation to Sunday, giving us 2 days to get to Glasgow).
Day 6: Open
Day 7: Glasgow- Hotel non-refundable, dates already changed once, cannot change again.
Day 8: Glasgow
Day 9; Early train to London
Day 10: London
Day 11: Flight Home

Right now I'm thinking one night in Callander, or somewhere in the middle, on the way to Glenfinnan from Edinburgh. Thoughts?

After Glenfinnan, if we move the date, we should have two days/nights to schedule before Glasgow. I'm still interested in Mull or Oban. Thoughts?

If possible, I'd also like to see Kilmartin and the Nether Largie standing stones. Is this a realistic stop on the drive from Oban to Glasgow? Google has that as a 3 hour drive (yes, I know this will be longer) which would also take us past Inveraray Castle.

This is the route I'm considering, picking up a car after Edinburgh and dropping it when we arrive in Glasgow.
https://goo.gl/maps/QS4mFtgmM7D2

yestravel

Just want to mention a site I was told about when our cottage reservation in May on Skye was cancelled the other day. It's a FB site called Skye Rooms. You can go on and say what you need and you will get responses from places with vacancies. We got several offers and picked one.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/808837999200215/

Gardyloo

Oban to Glasgow via Kilmartin and Inveraray is certainly doable in a day. The drive time will probably be longer than three hours but you'd want to take most of the day anyway to enjoy Kilmartin Glen, see the little museum, and add a (lunch?) stop in Inveraray. You might consider dropping the car at Glasgow airport, which is more or less on your way into the city when coming from Loch Lomondside.

So sure, move the Glenfinnan day up and use two days to get to Glasgow. The first of those, Glenfinnan to Oban, could either be super short and easy, down past Castle Stalker on the A828, or more lengthy (and scenic) by crossing Morar and the Ardnamurchan peninsula and taking the ferry from Kilchoan to Tobermory on Mull. An early start would give you a few hours on Mull, followed by the ferry back to Oban for the night. https://www.calmac.co.uk/calmac-summer-timetables

Either option will be very rewarding.

Kristina

Yestravel-thanks for the link. Good to know for next time.

Gardyloo-I was able to change my date for the hotel in Glenfinnan, so now that falls on Day 4.

I'm glad you mentioned Mull as an option. At the risk of moving too much, I'm considering a night in Tobermory and a night in Oban (rather than 2 in Oban). Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be able to fit in a visit to Iona.