Greetings. I'm in the very beginning stage of planning a 15 day (including travel days) driving trip around Scotland in May 2025 for my husband and me and can really use some guidance. We are coming from Los Angeles, are well travelled but have never been to Scotland. My husband is the driver and has driven previously in England and Wales. We are most interested in history, beautiful scenery, small villages, Scottish people and culture, nature and village walks, castles, lochs, food. We are not really hikers, nor do we golf. We would like a variety of lodgings, experiencing the gamut from small guesthouses to a castle stay. We would love to stay 3 nights in an area if possible, though are willing to spend 2 to maximize our time. I think we want to start in Edinburgh for 4 nights (so much to see and do.) We'd also like to see Stirling (perhaps as a day trip from Edinburg?) as my husband enjoys William Wallace history, some of the Highlands, an Island (Skye? Mull?) the Jacobite train (husband again!) Cairngorms? Loch Lomand? Here's where I'm getting overwhelmed. Air is not yet booked so we have the flexibility of either round trip or open jaw travel. Please give me some itinerary help! Thank you.

You might prefer small group tours. The roads are narrow and the sheep stupid.

" We are most interested in history, beautiful scenery, small villages, Scottish people and culture, nature and village walks, castles, lochs, food."

You are in luck because those things are in spades in every corner of the country

Stirling is an easy day trip from Edinburgh -- however it is also a convenient stop on one's way to the west/islands.

The Jacobite does put a spanner in the works a bit (as does Skye in a way). The problem with the Jacobite is there is no way to do it without eating up an entire day. One would have to stay near Ft William the night before if taking the morning train or the night after if taking the afternoon/evening train. It is a lovely experience -- but it is looooong and the return journey is an exact duplicate of the outward journey so actually can get pretty boring. The good thing is you don't have to stay IN Ft William (not much to recommend the place) because Glencoe (35-ish minutes) and Ballachulish 30 minutes) are convenient enough. Mallaig - where you hang about for about 2 hours between trains has improved quite a bit so at least there are places to eat, shop etc.

You can't really drive to Ft William, take the train one way and continue your visit on to Skye because your car will be parked back at Ft William.

Now about Skye itself - it has become insanely popular. So the roads are crowded, many of the scenic places will not have available parking, and room rates have sort of skyrocketed. May has a Bank holiday weeked at both ends of the month when things are very busy -- so if you can avoid both the first and last 3 days weekends of the month it will help a lot.

But -- there are other scenic areas just as beautiful as Skye so it is not your only option

OH - and one can get fabulous photos of the Jacobite crossing the Glenfinnan viaduct (which you can't do if you are sitting ON the train) if you drive the Road to the Isles instead of taking the train. The drive follows essentially the exact same route as the train with the advantage that you can stop at Neptune's Staircase, Glenfinnan, and drop dead GORGEOUS beaches that you only view from the train.

Then once at Mallaig it is a short car ferry ride over to Skye (if you must )

Nope. Self drive it is.

Janisj, what I mentioned were first thoughts only. Absolutely nothing is a deal breaker. With 2 weeks and our interests, how would you structure it?

i'm on my way out for a few hours and will try to make some suggestions later today. Just how important is the Jacobite to your husband?

Also -- re the Cairngorms -- it is a 'National Park' but really isn't a must because there is more spectacular scenery in a lot of other places. A National Park doesn't mean the same thing in the UK that it does for example in the States. There are no gates, no entry fee. Its really just a nice area with towns and villages like elsewhere in the country. I personally would not plan a route to include the Cairngorms - but I wouldn't avoid them either since they are smack dab on the main north south route between the north and Edinburgh/Glasgow through the middle of the country.

janisj, my husband is interested in the train, but it is certainly no deal breaker. No need to go out of our way if it is not convenient. I really look forward to your input!

OK . . . back. You have 15 days total including travel time - that actually works out to about 12 days free 'on the ground' for seeing doing. There are soooooooo many directions you could go and all of which would include your history, scenery, villages, culture, nature, walks, castles, lochs, and food. But with just 12 days you do need to very selective and not have too many destinations.

Some random comments. Skye is terrific but as mentioned it is really popular and quite a 'time suck'. With a day give or take to get to say Portree, a day to get from Portree to your next destination and at very minimum 2 nights on the Isle (three nights would be much better - Skye is large and the driving is slow - like 25-30 mph slow). So IRL fitting in Skye eats up 4 to 6-ish days of your total trip. Worth it? Probably. But it also means missig masses of other things.

Another Island you might consider is Mull. The scenery is not quite as dramatic a Skye but much of it is drop dead gorgeous. Driving is slow on Mull as well but it can be done with 1 or 1.5 days less time investment, being closer to either Edinburgh or Glasgow and a smaller island. Whereas 3 nights is realistically minimum on Skye, 2 nights on Mull would be fine.

Open jaw is good but I would just go with whichever airport(s) get you the bes schedule or fares because EDI and GLA aren't that far apart.

If you can drop the idea of an island visit it makes things a lot easier. Honestly your options are MANY. I'd start by checking out the undiscovered Scotland website for some great information about every corner of the country https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk

Just throwing out one possible itinerary:

Three nights in Edinburgh, collect car out at EDI, drive to Culross and explore, drive to Stirling, visit the castle and finish up somewhere in the general Callander/Aberfoyle/Doune area. Stay 3 nights (or 2 nights in a pinch) as a base for Loch Lomond, Doune Castle, Inchmahome Priory, the Trossachs, Loch Katrine etc. Then drive up the A84/A85 visiting Killin/Falls of Dochart, and on to Glencoe. Stay 2 nights as a base for Glen Etive, Glencoe and Loch Linnhe. Then up to Spean Bridge and across to BlairAtholl - maybe stay in Pitlochry or Aberfeldy 2 nights. as a base for some of the Cairngotms, Fortingall, Scone Palace. This totals 11 nights so it seems you have one day two night till needing to be at the airport. You could use this time explore some of Fife -- fishing villages, Falkland, St Andrews - and be a short-ish drive back to EDI.

Of course this is just one option - there are scores of different directions you could go. This one would give you gorgeous mountain glens, waterfalls, lochs, castles, great pubs, history in spades, and coastal villages.

But so would a lot of other itineraries - so not a lot of help huh??

sorry for all the typos

Thank you for your generosity janisj. I will study your suggestions this weekend. I have a guidebook but must get a good map.

Let me echo Janis's recommendation of Undiscovered Scotland. It's a comprehensive online guide that can be extremely valuable in putting a plan together.

As she says, with your priorities the issue becomes one of selecting which alternative out of many to pursue.

Let me pose a scenario - one of an infinity - that might meet your needs. Janis will know what's coming - I'm a bit of a broken record (a metaphor lost on anyone under the age of 50, I fear.)

Unlike other parts of the western Highlands and Islands, the area of Argyll and Mull contains a pretty high density of what I'll call "first tier" attractions, a number of which can easily be visited from a "base" in the seafront town of Oban.

For example, the Glenfinnan viaduct, for seeing the train, is around 90 minutes' drive from Oban. Glen Etive and Glen Coe - the former stunningly beautiful in the spring - can be visited easily in a day trip. Mull, with its lovely main town of Tobermory, and access to historic Iona and magical Staffa (Fingal's Cave and puffins) is a short ferry ride away from central Oban. Mull has mountains, white sand beaches, terrific Duart Castle, Highland cows... and nowhere near the tourist density of Skye.

An hour south of Oban is Kilmartin Glen, with an immense range of prehistoric monuments ranging from standing stones to stone circles, burial cairns, carved gravestones, etc. An hour more and you're in picturesque Inveraray, famous for its Loch Fyne seafood and nearby Inveraray Castle, home of the Campbells and Cousin Shrimpy from Downton Abbey.

You could base yourselves in Oban for a few days (there's a wide range of lodgings, with better availability and better prices than the likes of Skye) and day trip all over the region. It would be a low-stress experience, something like the Highlands and Islands in a nutshell.

Okay, end of sermon. Google (or use Undiscovered Scotland) the places on these maps.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/jj7s8tMKnMvX8j5WA
https://maps.app.goo.gl/G6Mo2ra5TnddE4Za9
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZXDPvCMV3RNvod9U6

Reading and taking in all the advice. I love the remarks about Oban.... very helpful.

Thank you Gardyloo. I have much of today to research your suggestions.

I do think some time on an island adds to the whole experience so Skye or Mull would be well worth it.Both also punch well above their weight re good food.

I love both islands…Mull in many ways is, to me , more beautiful and is certainly quieter in feel, less built upon.But then I drive through Skye (we have family there so are up there often) and it has that famous jaw drop scenery…stop you in your tracks stuff.Generally, driving on Skye is pretty straightforward, certainly fast on the main roads, slower of course on the single track out to Neist Point, up the Trotternish coast, down to the Fairy Pools. In decades of visiting, while Skye has certainly got much busier , we have not had issues on any of its roads at any time of year and we whizz around to the tourist sights as much as anyone, as well as quieter places(of which Skye has a ton of, superbly scenic too.)

I’d drop a day in Edinburgh and visit Stirling/Wallace Monument as you head west.
If Loch Lomond is important - and it is lovely- you can access that by the longer route west after Stirling.Luss is a pretty conservation village on the loch which gets very busy with day trippers ; Duck Bay Marina is a nice coffee stop with a lovely terrace right on the loch, perfect on a sunny day.The Loch Lomond area is busy as it’s so close to Glasgow so a popular day out for us central belt folks! The best way to see the finest of the loch’s scenery is to do one of the short boat trips from Tarbet over to Inversnaid…beautiful! And quiet, just the hotel there essentially, lovely waterfalls and short walks.

Running out of time..I’ll come back and add in a bit more of my tuppence worth.

If you do decide on Mull rather than Skye, I’d base on the island itself rather than do it as a day trip from Oban.As already described, the Iona trip(gorgeous wee island and of course steeped in history given St Columba and the Abbey) and Staffa with Fingal’s Cave, can certainly be done as a day trip from Oban, a very popular day trip too.But you might ish, once over on Mull, that you were actually based on the island with the chance to explore more by car and at your own pace.

Here is my trip report from our 2 week Scotland driving trip that covers a lot of the same places you want to go: Teens in Scotland Trip Report

My husband drove and we did just fine. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you StantonHyde. Wonderful trip report.. Might put Mull back on the list for a day trip.

The day trip to Mull, Iona, etc was a highlight of our trip!

After TONS of research of what truly appeals to us, the itinerary is set and flights and accommodations are booked. Here it is.

Day 1 - Fly LAX-EDI
Days 2-5 - Edinburgh (half day walking tour, Palace, Castle, Brittania, Royal Mile, cathedral, Real Mary King's Close, Scottish Parliament visit, Dean Village, National Museum, food tour...)
Day 6 - Pick up car. Drive to Stirling via Culross. Drive to Killin for 3 nights
Days 7-8 - Leisurely exploration of Killin, Falls of Dochart and environs
Days 9 - Drive to and easy walks in Glencoe and Glen Etive. Drive to Portnacroish for 3 nights (b and b with view of Castle Stalker from the bed!)
Day 10 - Full day tour of Mull/Staffa/Iona
Day 11 - Jacobite train
Days 12 - Drive to Cullen for 3 nights with lots of exploration along the way
Day 13 - Leisurely exploration along Moray Coast
Day 14 - Attend Gordon Castle Highland Games
Day 15 - Drive to Ratho via Pitlochry
Day 16 - Return car and fly EDI-LAX

I am so grateful for the input I got from many of you and have incorporated much of it into our trip. Though we travel a lot, I am more excited for this trip than many!