Okay, this is what I am thinking so far for our trip in May.
Stay about 3 days in Edinburgh and then pick up an rental car, praying all the way to Perthshire as we are not used to driving on the left side of the road!
Sheila recommended we use somewhere around Dunkeld as our home base. We are looking at several different cottages and should find a place within 30 minutes of there. We would like to take day trips to as many places as possible. Where can we go and not have to spend all day driving? I am guessing if we want to go to Skye or Oban we will need to spend a night out that way - any recommendations for a place out there? One more thing - would like to get a good driving map of Scotland before our trip so we can do some planning, where can I get a good one in the States or on the Internet?Thanks for your help!

Amere, we are using the Michelin orange regional map #501 for planning our trip this summer. I don't think it gets much more detailed than that. You can find them in some bookstores, or online at Amazon or bn.com. Also, check out visitscotland.com for many suggestions on where to stay. We primarily used that and tripadvisor to pick out places to stay.

Dunkeld would be a good base and you will find just TONS of things to visit w/i an hour or less drive. And don't worry about the drive up from Edinburgh - it is a traight shot and either motorway or dual carriageway almost the entire way. I'd suggest you go out to Edinburgh airport to pick up the rental car. From there it is an easy jump on the M9 to head north.

As for a map - you don't want a "map" as such. What you will need is a road atlas. You can often fond them at Borders, Barnes and Noble or other large book store. Michelin is the most common one available over here - but AA, and others are also sometimes available.

But an atlas will be more expensive in the States, you could just pick up a fold out map (AAA gives them out free to members) to plan your routes and then buy an atlas in Edinburgh.

We had a rental car from England [York] and drove to Edinburgh and then to Perthshire. You will do fine on the drive. We bought a big Atlas of the UK from a store in York that was very detailed and had no trouble at all. I will admit that when coming out of the roundabouts, our children would yell out to their dad [the driver], "Mom on the curb" and it really did help!

REMEMBER THIS read what type of petrol your rental car takes. We were really encouraged in this by our rental company as some cars take one type of gas, other another type. This was 5 years ago, and things may have changed and all cars take the same type gas, but I'd ask to be safe.

Last April we rented our car in Edinburgh as well and drove to Perthshire....we did fine (and made several stops along the way) aside from the brief panic getting out of Edinburgh (we picked up our car at Waverly) and a few honks from locals.

I agree with getting the AA Atlas. You should be able to get one for 5GBP or less. They are very good. We've used one to drive all over the UK.
I did not find it any problem driving on the left. But, turns were a concern. I had to really consentrate when I made a turn. If I didn't, I was likely to end up on the wrong side of the road. Even after being there several times I have to watch turns.
What you are planning sounds like a lot of fun. Enjoy your trip.
Carl

Day trips- Deeside; Speyside; Oban (easily doable); the East Neuk of Fife; Not Skye in a day.

Get an atlas based on the Ordnance Survey map. Doesn't matter who produces it.

I agree with the previous posts regarding maps ect., but I remember that the navigator (my dear wife) was the most crucial element of our two week long driving trip to Scotland. She would get a good idea of the route before any drive began so that surprises didn't often arise. She also coached me through all the "roundabouts" (which are truly a great idea) by telling me at what point on a clock face my exit would be. For example: "You'll be exiting at 3 o'clock" which give me the time to get over without incident.
Before we began my biggest fear was straying too far to the right when facing oncoming traffic, but as it turns out I overcompensated and was straying too far to the left thus putting the stone walls that sometimes line Scottish properties VERY close to the passenger side of the car!
Finally, we found that Scottish drivers to be extremely polite especially when the roads narrow to single lanes (such as found in the Highlands and on Skye). People would always give way or if we gave way they would never fail to wave in a thank you.
My family later admitted that they were certain we were going to be involved in an accident due to my inexperience, but listening to a good navigator (and never drinking until the car was parked for the day) helped us have a truly memorable stay!

A very good web site for detailed maps of the UK & Europe is www.multimap.com.

If you are a AAA member, it has a large scale map that provides a good overview for planning your itinerary. For our trip thru Scotland last fall, we got a Michelin UK road atlas at our local bookstore for $20. The AA road atlas was available everywhere in Scotland, usually for 2 or 3 GBP.