janisj

And . . . Kilchurn Castle

historytraveler

janisj

Oban isn't one of my favorites . . . But IF I had to choose between staying in Oban or staying in Ft William Oban would win hands down. No question.

Gardyloo

Oh I agree, but Oban is at the end of a rail line and on arrival day (US > GLA > Oban) it could be a decent place to crash for the night.

historytraveler

janisj

OBrusov

eastenderusvi

I know that it is some sort of traveler "must-do" thing these days to see Skye, but like several other places, it seems to be loved too much. We really loved Arran. We wandered around Machrie Moor completely alone. Great restaurants and Scottish gin- as well as whisky! Went to a Ceilidh. Ran into no other Americans; well one expat living in Europe. Whisky distillery. Local cheese. Bicyclists everywhere. People hiking up Goatfell. Heck, they had a race up the darn thing.

You can't see all of Scotland in a week.

OBrusov

Thank you so much for all of your help. I have decided to take your advice and cut out Skye all together. The train ride also seemed pointless if we weren't going to be going all the way up to Mallaig anyway.

We would now fly into Glasgow, drive to Inveraray, spend the night (to enjoy Loch Fyne and the seafood), then continue on to Oban via Kilmartin. Once in Oban, we would stay and do trips to Mull, Iona, Staffa (that's one trip), then drive up to see Glen Etive, Glencoe, and Glenfinnan (can these three be done in one day? or not recommended?). After we would drive back down to Glasgow, give back our car and take a trip out to Arran (with one night stay). I am trying to include all your recommendations!

Since we are driving, would there be a better "base" now instead of Oban? Should we stay a night in Glencoe village instead? or maybe some other quaint town with beautiful views that you wouldn't find in a travel guide? I know Oban would be necessary for Mull, Iona, and Staffa but we can relocate after. I am just thinking that Glen Etive, Glencoe, and Glenfinnan (with the various castles) is too much to do in one day.

janisj

I'm dashing out so can't post in detail . . . but two very quick things

Don't attempt to drive on your arrival day and I would definitely take the car over to Mull and stay on the island two nights and not try it as a day trip from Oban.

More later today

OBrusov

janisj I hope you didn't forget me

janisj

Trying to post - keep losing posts to a nasty spam ad Fodors is 'trying' to eliminate.

I'm not 100% clear are you flying out on Sunday? From your OP it says spend the night and fly out in the afternoon so is that Sat night or Sun Night? For now I'll assume Saturday night.

So you have Mon through Sat plus a few jet lagged hours on your arrival Sunday - so 6 usable days. I do like Arran -- but on such a short trip I would not try to squeeze it in.

From a Sun arrival to a Sun departure I'd probably do something like:

• Sun/Mon - Arrive at GLA and stay 2 nights in Glasgow. That really only give you one day in the city. (2 nights Glasgow)
• Tues/Wed - Collect car out at GLA Tues morning and drive up the west side of Loch Lomond - stop in Luss for breakfast and carry on toward Glencoe. En route take the short detour to Killin / Falls of Dochart and detour in and back out of Glen Etive. Stay 2 nights in Glencoe. On Wed you'd have to to explore both Glencoe and to drive out to Glenfinnan and back. (2 nights Glencoe)
• Thurs/Fri - drive up to Oban an take the ferry to Mull. Stay on Mull. (2 nights on Mull)
• Sat - Ferry back to Oban and explore Kilmartin and Invereray en route back to GLA. Drop car Sat evening and stay at or near the airport, fly out on Sunday.

The total 'car time' on Saturday is longest - about 3.5 hours plus ferry time and sightseeing stops. But you can take as long as you want to meander to GLA since the rental agencies are open late.

janisj

Meant to add -- if your flight out is after noon or 1PM Sunday -- then you can keep the car one additional night and stay that night somewhere along Loch Lomond. In that case, I'd not stop at Luss on Tuesday and carry on to Killin for breakfast.

Then you could stay in Luss on Sat night. Luss to GLA is only about 45 minutes.

janisj

. . . also meant to add - if you really do want to include Arran -- then skip either Mull or the Glencoe/Glen Etive leg (I personally would keep Glencoe AND Mull)

OBrusov

So I managed to get more days, we will be flying in Sun at 11am and leaving Wed at 1pm (that's approx 10 days). We will be staying in Glasgow on the day we fly in but we aren't going to spend much time in the city so just dinner and drive out the next morning. I wanted to focus more on Argyll and fit Arran in.

I was thinking one night in Inveraray, then drive to Oban via Kilmartin and do the whisky distillery tour (spend one night), next day visit Mull (stay 2 nights) then get back and go to Glencoe for 2 nights or stay in Oban for 2 nights (and drive up to Glencoe, Glen Etive, Glenfinnan). Afterwards drive to Arran via ferry, spend 2 nights and then catch the ferry back to Glasgow on Tues (again just dinner and sleep) and fly out next day on Wed.

Is it manageable to drive from Glencoe to Arran, google maps is showing 4 hrs but with the way everyone describes the slow traffic will that be 6 hrs of actual driving (plus a lunch stop)?

Gardyloo

Google is probably wrong by 20% or so, but the four hours assumes you arrive at the ferry terminal just as the boat is about to leave, you're the last one on, etc. This isn't realistic.

If Arran is a must-do, then I would probably rearrange the route to one that looks like this - https://goo.gl/maps/5i7fVGgG2QqM2vtA6 . This would start with Arran, then use the Lochranza - Claonaig ferry to get to the Kintyre Peninsula, then up to Kilmatin and Oban, Mull, then Glencoe and Glen Etive before ending back in Glasgow. Here's the Calmac website where you can see summer ferry schedules - https://www.calmac.co.uk/calmac-summer-timetables

Of course you could do this route in reverse.

janisj

Dashing out -- but you really can't use any on-line calculators for drive times. Not even adding waits for ferries etc. Usually one has to add 25% minimum (and that is best case) to nearly 100% to the drive times. Especially in rural areas where there can be livestock on the road or you get stuck behind a caravan (travel trailer). Off the motorways (and you won't be on any motorways except for a few miles directly around Glasgow . . . plan on averaging about 35 mph. And there will be photo ops around every bend in the road so actual drives end up taking even more time.

OBrusov

Gardyloo Thanks for the tip! I haven't even considered doing the trip in reverse and it seems to make more sense. and that way we can take more time on the drives, janisj yes, I am definitely adding time for stops and sightseeing, I think the new layout is more relaxed. Final itinerary (hopefully):

Sun: arrive at 11 am, get to Glasgow hotel, dinner/relax
Mon: early AM begin trek to Arran, explore
Tues: explore Arran some more
Wed: Drive to Oban with a stop at Kilmartin (wondering if we would have time for the distillery tour in Oban after?), spending the night in Oban
Thurs: Ferry to Mull, explore
Fri: Iona/Staffa
Sat: Ferry back to Oban, drive to Glencoe (stop at Caste Stalker)
Sun: explore Glencoe, Glen Etive, Glenfinnan
Mon: drive to Luss with at stop by Inveraray for lunch
Tues: explore Luss (maybe boat trip)
Wed: early AM drive from Luss to Glasgow airport (flight is at 1pm) I think if we leave Luss around 8am that gives us plenty of time.

Thank you for talking me down from over-cramming our 10 days in Scotland. It just all looks so amazing that you want to see it all. Alas, our eyes are bigger than our stomachs, they say.

janisj

That seems workable -- thanks to the added days.

If you are staying say in Brodick - then the drive from Arran to Kilmartin via the Lochranze ferry (It has been tears since I took that ferry and I'm not sure how many times a day it sails - You can look that up on the CalMac website (I will when I get a chance) will take 2.5 to 3 hours plus the ferry time. Then you'll was a few hours at least for the Kilmartin area. From Kilmartin to Oban takes a little over an hour, so making it to Oban in time for the distillery tour is very possible since at that time of year it stays open til 7:30 (I'd want to be there by 5:30-ish)

janisj

Your departure on Wed you've actually been 'too generous' with your times. . . . Luss to GLA is a really short drive. Typically around half an hour so say 45 mins to account for possible congestion around the airport. The rental cars are right outside the terminal. So I certainly wouldn't plan leaving Luss that early (or you could do some sightseeing along Loch Lomond in the morning). With a 1PM fight I'd want the car dropped and be in the terminal by about 11AM