5 day itinerary help?

Hi, rsber13,

With five of you travelling, plus your luggage, you'd pretty much need a small SUV or larger. Is your arrival time in Glasgow part of day one, or does your five day tour actually start on the following day? Is day five the day you'll be flying out of GLA, or will that be the start of day six?

You're trying to pack a lot in to the time that you have, and if you're travelling in July, a lot of accommodation will be booked by now. With five of you, your lodging may be limited to chain hotels like Premier Inn or Travelodge. There's nothing wrong with that, as all of them are clean and comfortable, if a bit bare bones. Travelodge would be comparable to Motel 6, and Premier Inns are a lot like Sleep Inns.

You need at least one full day in Edinburgh. If you want to visit Skye, it's a good six hours from Edinburgh without stopping for more than toilet breaks, at that time of year. Your visit to the Highlands will depend on what you want to see, and what your interests are. There are dozens of videos on YouTube, which will give you some sort of idea. The same thing with Edinburgh. If you have just a day, you need to make a list of three or four things which you really want to see.

With your limited amount of time, you'll need to be really selective about your plans. They're doable, but if you want to see everything that you've mentioned, you're going to be spending a lot of time in the car. Your best bet would be to go directly from Edinburgh to Skye, then loop back by way of Plockton, Strathcarron, and Glen Torridon. You could overnight in Inverness, then make your way back down to Glasgow via Stirling. But that's just a suggestion. Check out maps and videos to give yourselves more of an idea.

Best wishes for your plans.

Mike (Auchterless)

Mike has given you a good itinerary if you are absolutely dead set on wanting to do all the things on your list. However, it feels very tight to me, so a few thoughts below.

1. Do you actually have 5 full days for exploring, or does that include your arrival and departure days, in which case you have 3 full days? Much will depend on your arrival times.

2. You will not want or need a car in Edinburgh. Parking is horrifically expensive and driving is difficult. There are numerous bus only lanes with cameras to detect transgressions. Pick up your car after Edinburgh, or save Edinburgh for the last day and get rid of the car before visiting.

3. You will probably need a 'people carrier' type of rental car. What Americans call 'vans' we call people carriers or 7 seat SUVs. This will be very expensive in July. Also automatic transmissions are rarer than manuals and generally more expensive. Arnold Clark is a reliable and well regarded rental company.

4. You will need 3 hotel rooms. On Skye that will be almost impossible to find for a reasonable price this close to July. Also one night stays are very difficult to find as many providers have a 2 night minimum stay in the season.

5. If you are determined to get to Skye you will be spending at least one of your precious 5 days in a car as it will take you a good 6 hours to get to Skye from Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Bearing all of the above in mind you might do better to forget about Skye and concentrate on the mainland. In which case you could loop north from Glasgow airport on the A82, along loch Lomond, to Fort William, taking in Glencoe, then to Spean Bridge from where you would turn right (east) and head across towards Dalwhinnie taking in some lovely scenery, then head south again following the A9 from which you could detour to see Pitlochry, Dunkeld and maybe the wonderful Queen's View above loch Tummel. You could also visit Stirling and its fantastic castle.

Wow, this is such incredible advice thank you so much! I see now how visiting the Isle of Skye is likely not the best use of our limited time. I really appreciate the itinary Skyegirl laid out, I think it hits the right balance of doable and also enjoyable, not too much time in the car so we can have more time to explore. We essentially will have 4.5 days in Scotland - landing around 1:30 p.m. in Glasgow on a Monday and then flying out on a Saturday mid-day. Should we be considering options other than renting our own car (such as train or doing a small tour to these locations)? Based on your advice I will also start booking locations and rentals right away. Thank you!

Hi again, rsber13,

Given that you have basically 4 1/2 days for exploration, it would be advisable to drop either Edinburgh or Skye. Personally, I'd drop Edinburgh, but that's just me. Been there many times; bought too many t-shirts! You should consult with your parents to find out if they're more interested in cities or countryside.

Again, with five of you travelling, you will be stretched for accommodation. The chain hotels which I mentioned normally have family rooms, which consist of a queen sized bed plus a (relatively comfortable) sofa bed.

If one of your group (not your son!) will be comfortable driving on the opposite side of the road from which you are used to, then by all means hire a car. But as Skyegirl pointed out, a car is a definite liability in Edinburgh. But if you need a car for the duration of your time, you could find lodging on the outskirts of Edinburgh, and explore the city by public transportation and taxi.

Also, as Skyegirl noted, you'll need a fairly large vehicle to accommodate yourselves and your luggage. If you are hiring a car in Iceland, you could hire a similar car in Scotland. Most people carriers will accommodate five people comfortably - it's just a matter of fitting your luggage in as well. Also, as Skyegirl advised, finding a people carrier with an automatic transmission may be well impossible at the time you're arriving. Be sure that your driver can use a stick shift!

One thing that you may want to consider is spending your time in Edinburgh or Glasgow and taking day trips with one of the many tour companies. Rabbie's seems to be a favorite on this forum. That way, you can still get to see a good bit of Scotland without having to drive. As you're arriving in Glasgow, it's really easy to take a train to Edinburgh. And having spent the week prior in Iceland, you won't be jetlagged on your first day.

If you do decide to hire a car, I would expand slightly on Skyegirl's itinerary. Once you leave Glasgow Airport, take the M8 to the Erskine Bridge. Cross the bridge, then follow the A82 through Glencoe and Fort William to Fort Augustus. Take the B862/B852 along the east shore of Loch Ness, then spend a night in Inverness. From there, you can follow the A9 south, following Skyegirl's route and suggestions, and you'll have the choice of many places to visit on your way to Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Good luck, and keep asking questions!

Mike (Auchterless)

As you've asked about public transport this itinerary could be done that way. For obvious reasons there is no railway through Glencoe, but there are Citylink coach-buses. You will just have missed the afternoon bus to Fort William direct from Glasgow Airport but there are buses from Glasgow Buchanan Bus Station at 3pm, 4pm, 5pm and 6pm.
Stay that night in Fort William.

There are only buses up Loch Laggan to Dalwhinnie on a few unpredictable and random days a year but there is an hourly coach-bus from Fort William to Inverness (via the west shore of Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle) for trains south. So you could then go south by train to Pitlochry.

On Day 3 there are buses to the Queen's View-#82 (which goes to Kinloch Rannoch) and gives you about 80 minutes at the View- at 0850, 1250 and 1730 (the Queen's View is a timetabled stop). From Pitlochry trains go on to Dunkeld, Perth, Stirling, Glasgow and Edinburgh.