We (two ex pats) and two friendly Canadians are visiting Scotland in May. My idea for the first leg of our trip is to stay in Glencoe and day trip to various places -looks good on paper but.... I would love to hear what other Fodorites think. Our trip is for 10 days. Places we definitely want to visit are the Isle of Skye, Culloden and Edinburgh. We would prefer our stay to be three nights in three locations.
Any hints or tips re itinerary or places to stay would be greatly appreciated

No suggestions, but have to remark that we will be in Scotland May 2006, too. Looking for timeshare exchange in London, instead we lucked on to a week at the Edinbergh Residence. Expect to take some day trips from E'burgh. A favorite city..we have been there before. Husband's family came from Jedburgh in the Borders in the 19th century.

With your "wants" - I'd look for 4 bases for 2 or 3 days each instead just 3 bases. i like to settle in too but the places you want to visit are fairly widespread through the country.

The first 2 days near Glencoe/Ballachulish, then 2 days/nights on Skye, 3 days/2 nights near Inverness (not IN Inverness but nearby) for Culloden and all the other things in the area, and the last 3 days in Edinburgh

We just returned from a similar trip and I posted a trip report in this forum. You can search by my screen name.

It would help to recommend places to stay if you post your budget/night. Also, how much do you like to drive in a day? And finally, what are the places/sights you MUST see?

When I planned our trip, I decided those issues first - it definitely provided a guideline for where to stay, which made the rest of the planning easier.


We ended up in Edinburgh, Loch Tay, Inverness, Skye, Inveraray and Glasgow for two nights each.

Dorothy

If you want to stay IN Glen Coe, the Chachaig Inn is good fun - good beers, good pub food & (at least at weekends) live music. Popular with a very down to earth, friendly crowd - largely climbers, many from Yorkshire.

The problem with the West coast is that it goes in and out a LOT. That makes lots of places hard to get to without masses of driving.

My advice would be to stay 3 days in Edinburgh; 3 days in Plockton from which you can easily do Culloden AND Skye; and three days somewhere else.

If you want to be in Glen Coe, great. (nb, if you're looking up the Clachaig, you'll find it better with this spelling). If not, then Loch Tay or Inverary would be nice places to stay from where you COULD visit Glen Coe

Gosh, we'll have to have a fodors get-together (LOL)...we're heading that direction in May as well! (Hey! The rest of you tourists should stay home! We don't want things to be crowded.)

You've gotten great advice already - especially about moving around and the distances/times between places. Always plan on more time than you think, and let the drive be a big part of the adventure.

My little group (my parents, my husband and I) like to find the smallest roads and take our time between destinations.

If you click on my name, you'll see my report from September 2004 - great fun, and we traversed quite a bit of Scotland, including many of the places you're thinking about visiting.

Have fun!

Gayle