Hello all. I'm finalizing the Scotland portion of our June/July 2020 trip to Scotland and Ireland, and I've got things nailed down to the point that I would like criticism from more experienced folks.
I am trying to heed previous advice here and not plan for too much driving in any given day, leaving plenty of time for traffic and stops to see the sights. We're going open jaw to avoid burning time on backtracking.
Itinerary is as follows:
- Day 0: Arrive Edinburgh 7pm
- Day 1: Edinburgh
- Day 2: Edinburgh
- Day 3: Morning in Edinburgh, collect rental car and tour Fallkirk, Stirling (sleep in/near Stirling)
- Day 4: Depart for Pitlochry, enjoy sights along the way (sleep in Pitlochry)
- Day 5: Morning in Pitlochry, drive to Glencoe (sleep in Glencoe)
- Day 6: Drive to Inverness via Glenfinnan Viaduct and Loch Ness (sleep in Inverness) - The longest drive/travel day
- Day 7: Daytrip to highlands sights (sleep in Inverness)
- Day 8: Morning to see Culloden and Clava Cairns, return rental car at INV, departing flight 4:50pm
The longest travel day is easily Day 6 which includes a long detour to see the Glenfinnan Viaduct. If this day is too aggressive, I am considering compressing the Edinburgh->Fallkirk->Stirling->Pitlochry leg from two nights to one night (press on to Pitlochry after seeing Stirling, rather than stay the night in Stirling).
The arrival in Edinburgh is fixed. The departure day from Inverness is relatively firm, as it would require a radical rework of this itinerary to avoid impacting the continuation of this trip into Ireland.
Thoughts?
Thanks in advance!