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10/12 days in Scotland in September/October

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i'm typing with one hand due to arm surgery, so please excuse the poor capitalization and possible errors.

(Americans) hubs and i are planning a 10 day trip through Scotland the very end of this September, beginning of October. i was there early 2000s (during hoof and mouth) and did a lot of city touring, but no highlands or islands. note: not overly athletic so will not be bagging munroes or taking strenuous hikes. i have a ton of things i want to do because we rarely travel, and am overdoing the itinerary, but can drop things as needed. my main questions are regarding travel path/route and being efficient with our driving route. we wont get to everything i mention, likely, but if you see something you think is a must-see or a skip, please feel free to let me know. we do have a travel agent who will arrange lodging, car etc.

will be coming over from N. Ireland after a short visit with friends there. we will either fly or take the ferry from belfast, whichever is most affordable/fits our timetable. we will not need a car in Ireland, but plan to hire one for the Scotland trip. accustomed to interstate highways so high;and roads are a welcome change, but i can't anticipate the timing for travel.
plan is to arrive from Ireland Saturday evening and make our way to hotel in edinburgh after picking up a car. spend Sunday and Monday in Edinburgh. i dont have a huge list of must-sees, i'd like to see greyfriar's kirkyard (have loved the story of bobby since childhood), walter scott monument, mary king's close, possibly the national gallery, and do a lot of walking and looking. ive been to the castle, Holyrood and st giles.

Tuesday morning head out to midhope and blackness castles, falkirk for kelpies and wheel, possibly stirling if weather is bad and do that castle or wallace monument since indoors is an option. then to doune castle, or loch lomond short river tour if weather is nice. plan to stay hopefully in that area overnight.

wednesday drive up through glencoe, stopping at scenic points (Lagangarbh Hut, three sisters, rannoch moor, meeting of 3 waters- depends on weather and walking distance). glencoe visitor center for some history and maybe stop to do the chairlift up weather permitting. stay overnight between here and ft william.

thursday- early am hope to get tix for Jacobite Express (not yet avail as far as i can tell- travel agent will check if he has better resources). afterward drive up that afternoon toward inverness stopping as desired for photos etc. overnight near/in inverness

friday- clava cairns, culloden, loch ness boat tour/urqhart castle, possibly beauly priory if theres time- will stay in same lodging as night before.

saturday- up, walk around inverness, head toward skye. stop at glenfinnian viaduct, eilean-donan castle. want to take ferry over if time allows- leaning toward glenelg ferry across to kylerhea due to novelty.

sunday/monday- stuff on skye- fairy glen, flora macdonald monument, fairy pools, dino footprints at an corran, self-driving tour of island, old man of storr (from road), highland cow area, coral beach, portree all possibilities. i need suggestions re Skye because i know driving around the island is not straightforward and i can't look at the map and calculate travel times etc.

leave Skye Tuesday and plan to fly out Wednesday, unsure departure airpport- inverness would be closer, but not sure its an option re budget/schedule. will stop along the way at smaller villages etc to sightsee if an option.

id also love input on lovely small places to see that might be on this route, i loved Dunkeld and Stonehaven on my previous visit. culross, falkirk come up a lot but i think thats due to the outlander tourism, and while im a fan- im not obsessed. (only doing midhope castle because its on the way and a quick stop.)

i appreciate any and all input, and thanks for ignoring my erratic capitalization and punctuation. gonna be a long 6 weeks of 1 handed life.

Posted by
397 posts

If you fly from Belfast to EDI, you won't need a car until Tuesday. A taxi or Uber from EDI into town is about 30 pounds

Posted by
68 posts

Just a few thoughts: do not rent your car for the two days your in Edinburgh - wait to get it the morning you want to drive.

On Skye - If you'd like to see the dino prints at Corran Beach, you'll need to check the tide charts to see when the tide is out. (The tide needs to be out to find the prints.) Once you know that, you can schedule your 'sights'. For example, we drove directly north to the Quirairing to hike early in the morning (spectacular!), then afterward we drove the 10 minutes over to Corran Beach and were able to see the prints while the tide was still out. From there, we spent that afternoon driving south and stopping along the way to enjoy more of Skye - going against traffic, which was lovely.

Posted by
9742 posts

The Jacobite train is sold out for this season. Use the normal service train instead

You can and you can't hire a car if you come over by ferry. You would likely be coming over on the Stena ships from Belfast. The car hire is at the P and O terminal (from Larne) - 1 1/2 miles from Stena. But come over (if by ferry) on the Citylink or Hannons buses to Glasgow (city link through ticket to Edinburgh, change at Glasgow)- both of whom use Stena.

A car is pointless in Edinburgh.

If you can through ticket on BA/One world ex Inverness you do not pay UK departure tax.

Posted by
693 posts

Wonderful trip planning.
Just some practicalities to start. You do not want a car in Edinburgh.

When comparing rental car companies look into Celtic Legend . They use Arnold Clark Car Rental and usually have better rates and wonderful service.

Keep in mind sunset times in October when choosing your lodging outside of the cities and larger towns. The roads are dark and many times there are sheep or Highland Cattle on the road.

Enjoy your planning.

Posted by
693 posts

If you book far enough in advance there are cheapo airfares from Belfast to Edinburgh. Just be sure to include any ups and extras.

You can taxi, tram or bus from the airport to city center.

Pick up your rental car on the far west side of Edinburgh and you'll be at your first stop in 30 minutes.

Driving from Edinburgh to Loch Lomond will be about 3 hours plus your stops. If you go via Stirling Castle add almost an hour of driving.

As Stuart mentioned, the Jacobite train is sold out. A couple seats might open up, but you need to be on the website constantly to grab them. Did you want a train experience, or specifically the Jacobite steam train?

If your willing to forgo the train you could head to Skye from Glencoe via Glenfinnan Viaduct to Maillig, then ferry to Armadale on Skye.

After your stay on Skye you could stop at Eilean Donan and Loch Ness & Urquhart Castle before heading to Inverness area.

Then fly home from Inverness.

If Skye is a priority, book your accomodations ASAP once you have your itinerary down as it is very popular and has limited lodging.

Posted by
2 posts

Drat re the Jacobite train. I’ll keep watching for tix to open up. I couldn’t get it to go far enough ahead into September so assumed tix were not yet available. I don’t need the Harry Potter experience necessarily, but I know a train ride through that viaduct is gorgeous so was hoping for that experience.

Posted by
693 posts

Jennifer, the drive from Ft. William to Glenfinnan on to Maillig for the ferry to Skye makes a nice consolation prize.

Posted by
9742 posts

For the train you have to uncheck the 'Hide Sold Out' button.

What I suggest you do is take the breakfast time Scotrail train, that gives you around 30 minutes at Mallaig, and you are back into Fort William in time for lunch. You pass the Jacobite on the opposite track at Glenfinnan station on the way back, having travelled precisely the same route.
In any event the Jacobite is not running heritage train cars currently due to a long running complicated safety issue.
Instead modern cars (what are called Mark 2 cars in the trade) are in use with sealed windows and doors. They are also having a lot of issues with the air con on the Mark 2's. At least on Scotrail the windows open on their diesel trains.
West Coast Railways are currently in trouble again with the Rail Regulator for having used the heritage train cars on a long distance wedding special train.

Having done the train on Thursday it is a significant diversion on Saturday to go back to Glenfinnan. That would be more profitably better done on Thursday afternoon IMO, especially if taking the Glenelg ferry.

Falkirk crops up on it's own merit, not due to Outlander, but the town does have a Harry Potter magic shop! As well as the Kelpies and the Wheel Falkirk has a lot of history. There is a town walking trail.

Posted by
82 posts

Culross and Falkland village/Palace are stunning and well worth seeing in their own right but probably not this trip.

It's 2 hours or so from Edinburgh to Luss if you go via Stirling.A pretty village, day tripper heaven so gets busy.The Duck Bay Marina before Luss has a lovely outside terrace on the loch for a snack or lunch; the Coachhouse in Luss is good too though no views.

It doesn't work to drive from Inverness to Glenfinnan nor does it work to see Eilean Donan on the same journey.Eilean Donan is the most practical for you and on your route to Skye either via the Bridge or Glenelg ferry.If you do take the latter route, then it's a stunning ,if twisting drive up the Mam Ratagan mountain pass where there is a pull in for stunning views over the 5 Sisters range.
It doesn't make sense to be in inverness and drive all the way back down to F.William for Glenfinnan/Mallaig ferry.

Plockton is a nice village, 5 winding miles from Kyle of Lochalsh/the Skye Bridge.If you manage to fly out of Inverness, then making a day trip of Applecross and Torridon would be on my agenda as these are magnificent areas.Torridon is around 90 mins drive to Inverness but you would need to allocate a full day to it or do an overnight and it's like hen's teeth trying to get accommodation in that area at shortish notice.Lot of single track road too though long sightlines.Gorgeous places but a significant detour from direct routes to Inverness or further south.

Not sure what the short Loch Lomond river tour is - there are lovely boat tours, the best from Tarbet which take you over to tiny Inversnaid, a delightful spot with fine waterfalls and short walks available.You usually get about 2 hrs there - just a hotel and it's on the West Highland Way long distance path.Beautiful loch and mountain scenery all around.

Nicest walk in Inverness to me is a loop along the River Ness and the Ness islands and up by the Botanic Gardens.

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