14 Day itenerary

This could serve as a rough outline:
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/scotland/best-scotland-tour

Hi, Jeff,

Given two weeks, you'll most likely not have enough time to visit all of the islands. That would take a couple of years. However, given judicious use of the CalMac ferry system, you could easily visit Skye, Raasay, Mull, Kerrera, Colonsay, and Islay. You could also do the entire Outer Hebrides chain - Lewis, Harris, Berneray, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Eriskay, and Barra. Start out from Ullapool, and end at Oban.

On any of the islands you'll encounter many small villages, although there are small villages and towns scattered throughout the Highlands, and many charming villages along the Moray coast.

In addition to the RS Scotland guide, check out the Rough Guide to Scotland, which covers many areas not covered in the RS book.

I can guarantee that what you see on your 2023 visit will make you want to return for more! Holidays in Scotland are like potato chips (crisps) - you can't have just one!

Enjoy your holiday, and come back to this forum as many times as you want for more advice.

Best wishes,

Mike (Auchterless)

I used https://www.secret-scotland.com/ to help me come up with an itinerary when I left it too late, and felt overwhelmed. They did a great job, and it was affordable, and kept me from getting lost too much.

We spentba week at an apartment in Callandar ( Leny Lodge ) , a nice village which is close to Sterling. Great location for that part of Scotland

Here's my itinerary for a 3 week trip in May of 2023, if that helps. After flying into Glasgow, I will stay there for a couple of days (and possibly make a day trip to Stirling), then will head to the Isle of Arran for 3 nights (Arran has been called Scotland in miniature). After that, I will drive to the Isle of Mull and stay in Tobermory for 4 nights, then Portree on the Isle of Skye for another 4 nights, then Lewis and Harris for 4 nights. After that, I will drive to Inverness, stop at the Culloden battlefield, then take 3-4 days to head towards the coast and travel down the eastern coastline towards Edinburgh.

We just did a three week trip, and we did the following, regarding the islands:

1) Flew straight from Seattle/Heathrow/Edinburgh/Stornoway, rented a car and spent 3 days on Lewis/Harris
2) Flew from Stornoway to Sumburgh, rented a car and spent three days on Shetland.
3) Flew to Glasgow, rented a car for 12 days in Highlands. First stop was Oban for three days for the Three Island Tour (Iona/Lunga/Staffa)
3a) then Fort William, Skye, Inverness, Dunkeld
4) Turned in the car in Edinburgh and flew to Kirkwall. Rented a car and spent three days on Orkney.
5) Flew back to Edinburgh and spent two days in the city before flying home.

I originally planned to take the Gill's Bay Ferry but this forum convinced me that flying was lots faster and maybe cheaper. If you reserve early, LoganAir fares are not that scary. Similarly for Lewis or Shetland, the ferry solution is MUCH slower, higher risk from weather, and not much cheaper if you take your car. And my wife gets seasick :-)

I wanted to include Arran and Islay, but decided to do Shetland instead (which was our favorite of the places we did get to). My planning always involves overnight stays within walking distance of a bar that at least claims to have live music, so the tiniest towns usually aren't considered. Birds are a big attraction, as well, so our trips might not be for everyone. We'd rather poke around a ruined castle/church or Neolithic tomb that tour a restored castle or art museum.

Thanks for all the information. There is a lot of the mainland I would like to see as well, so should I concentrate on one group of islands, and if yes, any suggestions? Will I need to make reservation since we are going during what I expect is high season? We would like to stay at as few different places as is practical given what we would like to see, say 3-4 days at a time in each place. Is this possible? THanks all!

Hi again, Jeff,

Given that you have only two weeks in Scotland, and the fact that there is so much to see, it would probably be advisable to concentrate on one area of the Islands. The Outer Hebrides would probably take too much of your time, especially if you want to make the most of them. However, you could do Skye - Tarbert (Harris) - Stornoway (Lewis) - then back to the mainland via Ullapool. Another possibility would be Skye and Mull, or Mull and Skye. Either route can be done without backtracking.

You could also do Arran and Islay if your travels take you farther south. A lot depends on what else you'd like to see while you're in Scotland. There are dozens of travel videos on YouTube, most taken by amateur videographers. Check some of them out to see what piques your interest. Again, check out the RS and Rough guides. There's a lot of information in each. You can save some money by ordering them through ILL at your local library.

If you are planning your visit around smaller towns and villages, as well as the islands, you definitely need to make reservations ahead of time for accommodation, and at least one month ahead of time for ferries.

June is what they used to call "shoulder" season. Most of the schools in Britain don't let out for their summer holidays until the end of June, so you won't be competing for accommodation with as many family groups. However, Scotland has become so much of a tourist destination that it's almost mandatory to reserve as far ahead as possible.

Best of luck planning your holiday, and Happy New Year!

Mike (Auchterless)

p.s.: It's definitely possible to stay in one place for three or four days, and take day trips. As you'll be in Scotland in June, you'll find that it will be daylight until well into the evening (around 10:30 p.m. at the solstice), so you'll have lots of daylight hours to expand your trips.

A big advantage of staying in one place for a good while and planning day trips is that you have a bit of flexibility in where you go each day. If the weather forecast is bad to the north, perhaps it will be better in a different direction. Western Scotland, including the islands, tends to get a lot of rain.

Not only does demand for lodging often exceed supply on the islands and in the highlands (especially in towns on public-transportation routes), you may well need to make dinner reservations at any restaurant with table service. That was my experience in July 2019. June may be better, but there seems to have been an upsurge in the number of tourists in many areas during 2022. I definitely recommend working on hotel reservations immediately. Costs are high and will almost certainly increase as you get closer to your arrival date. I looked for hotels in December 2018 (seven months before arrival) and had massive difficulties. Again, I was looking for rooms in places with train or bus service. Get flexible reservations so you can drop bookings if you change your mind, but don't dally on this.

We're were there for 2 weeks last June. Here my Trip Report which may have a few useful nuggets.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-scotland-the-search-for-jamie-fraser

Your welcome to PM me with questions.