8 days Edinburgh to Isle of Sky and back to Edinburgh driving

Maybe Theresa C's itinerary is close to what I should do - just cut out some time and locations?

Hi twdeptol, well, with only 8 days, here are my suggestions.

1. Arrive in Edinburgh, spend 3 nights there (you will need it).
2. Rent a car and drive to the Isle of Skye. Spend 4 nights on Skye (Portree or some other place)
3. Drive back to Edinburgh; stop in Culloden on the way, and visit Clava Cairns, which are historic standing stones about a half mile from Culloden.
4. Continue the drive to Edinburgh; return rental car and enjoy 1 final night at airport hotel.

Here is my rationale for this: First, you don't have much time in Edinburgh at all. 2 nights is only one day, and there is a lot to see and do there that your family will enjoy. Also, there's no need to spend 2 days in Culloden. The battlefield and such only takes a couple of hours to see. Add another 30 minutes for Clava Cairns, and you can be on your way to Skye. 4 nights on Skye will give you 3 full days to see all the wondrous sites there are. Anything less will diminish your sightseeing.

That gives you 7 nights in 2 major and beautiful Scottish places, and one night at the airport. Believe me when I say that less is more. You will get more out of a trip like this than you would rushing all over the place.

One other thing you might consider is instead of staying in Portree, stay in Dunvegan, which is near Dunvegan Castle and some other places. It has the advantage of not being nearly as crowded as Portree. But that's just a suggestion. You will find more housing options in Portree for sure.

Oh my gosh - perfect! Thank you. Helps me get over that hump of being overwhelmed. I was beginning to feel like that guy they always talk about on the trips overwhelmed in the museum without a plan!

Everyone is so wonderful here!

Mardee - just mapped it - thank you for giving me a circle, too! All my best, thank you!

Just out of curiosity, what time does your return flight leave?

The reason I'm asking is that if it's not TOO early, you might want to spend your last night in Dunfermline instead of an airport hotel. Dunfermline is located just north of Edinburgh across the Forth Bridge, and is only about 20 minutes from the airport. It was the ancient royal capital of Scotland and has Dunfermline Abbey, where King Robert the Bruce is buried, and the gorgeous Pittencrieff Park (donated to the city by Andrew Carnegie), which is just up the road from the Abbey. The park itself is beautiful and your grandkids would have a blast there. And the Abbey is really lovely with a lot of history. Just a thought. 😊

Mardee's plan is perfect and exactly what I would have suggested.

If you can't find accommodation in Portree, then "The Dunvegan" in Dunvegan is a family run small hotel right next to children's play park recently built by the local community. The restaurant at the hotel is very good and you have some other options for eating in Dunvegan, including (in my personal order of preference), The Old School, Blas, Isle of Spice and The Misty (which does fast-ish food such as pizza and ice cream etc - and is much loved by locals with small children). The Misty is opposite The Dunvegan. We also now have a wonderful (tiny) bookstore called Waystone Books, which is very friendly and welcoming and has books for small people. I might be a bit biased as I live only 5 miles from Dunvegan, but I find it more friendly and less busy than Portree. The Dunvegan also has parking, which not many hotels in Portree have, and I think that might be useful with 2 small children.

I think you are going to need to think carefully about size of rental car, as you will need space for 2 child seats, plus 4 adults, plus luggage. Some cars here have an extra row of seats that folds up from the boot (trunk), but when in use there is no space for luggage. So do be careful and do your research on rental car size. If you need an automatic transmission that might also reduce the choice that you have. Arnold Clark are the most highly recommended for rental cars and also their agent Celtic Legend. I've included a link to 'example' cars from Celtic Legend, from which I'd suggest the Mercedes Vito is probably what you would need.

Avoid electric cars as the charging network here in Skye is woeful and charging points are often out of service.

Hope that helps!
Jacqui (Skyegirl)

Jacqui and Mardee,

Thank you. I haven't started the flights, yet, just strategizing. I am concerned about the car. In Ireland, we only had one grandchild and it was tight. We can drive a stick if we have to. I will start looking at the rental car situation and use your link. Thanks for the ideas about the model vehicle since we aren't familiar with them. I think my daughter in law will welcome the "less busy" suggestions of where to stay, and the boys will love the park.

Kim

I am concerned about the car. In Ireland, we only had one grandchild and it was tight. We can drive a stick if we have to. I will start looking at the rental car situation and use your link. Thanks for the ideas about the model vehicle since we aren't familiar with them. I think my daughter in law will welcome the "less busy" suggestions of where to stay, and the boys will love the park.

You shouldn't need to drive a stick. I'm finding that more and more European car rental agencies have a larger selection of automatics than they used to in the past. Just make sure you book early enough. And I second Jacqui's recommendation for Arnold Clark/Celtic Legend. Their service is really great and I've rented from them on several occasions and wouldn't hesitate to rent from them again.

After the first few minutes, driving in Scotland is not bad. You do have to pay attention and it can be a bit confusing on the roundabouts with multiple lanes, but with a good navigator you should be fine. I'm pretty sure that if you book Arnold Clark via Celtic Legend, then you get to add an additional driver for free, which is nice.

Mardee's itinerary is perfect.

I agree with the suggestion to book with Arnold Clark or their partner Celtic Legend.

In 2023 we booked with Celtic Legend. Upon arrival we discovered 4 carry-ons wouldn't fit in the SUV. Arnold Clark upgraded us to an estate car (station wagon) at no extra cost. Absolutely wonderful service from both companies.

The old information that most cars in the UK are manual needs updating. The important fact for visitors wanting to hire a car is that 75-80% of new car sales here are now automatic and given if you hire you will get a pretty new car it should be straightforward to specify automatic.

John we’ve had plenty of stressed B&B guests turn up in manual rental cars having failed to specify automatic. It’s still necessary to specify automatic on booking. And as I said it’s also advisable to avoid electric cars for the Highlands and Islands due to the poor charging infrastructure.

My past 2 years in the UK, I've had an on board GPS that works great for navigating round-a-bouts, if you're able to input your destination.