8 Full Days in Scotland, What to do,What to Do?!

Waaay too much in too little time.

Not the best country to see without a car. Especially to areas like Skye, Glencoe and Oban.

Buy or get the RS Scotland guide book at your local library. Read it cover to cover. Practical and helpful intel. Good insight into distances between places you’d like to see.

Yes agree with Claudia. How many days do you really have not counting arrival and departure?. Also not sure why you are going thru London on both ways instead of Edinburgh or Glasgow. Also train to Scotland takes about half a day each way so that wasted more sightseeing time. . You can perhaps do Edinburgh for four days and then maybe day trips from there or Glasgow. Once it is clear how many full days you have it would be easier to give advice.

https://www.scotrail.co.uk/scotland-by-rail/great-scenic-rail-journeys

Check out the above site as Scotrail run most train services in Scotland. Avanti West Coast run train services from London (Euston) to Glasgow and LNER run services from London (Kings Cross) to Edinburgh using the route via York (well worth a stop for 1 night). LNER also run services as far north as Inverness & Aberdeen. LUMO also run trains between London (Kings Cross) & Edinburgh but don’t stop at York. You need to go on their websites and check prices for say 11 weeks out and compare that to having a pass. (You don’t say what kind of rail pass you are thinking off). You could maybe land at Manchester Airport - which has a station with direct trains to Glasgow & Edinburgh. These are run by Trans Pennine Express.

Consider going London to Glasgow. West Highland Line to Fort William. Continue by train from Fort William to Mallaig > ferry crossing to Skye - where you will need bus transport as no railways. Skye to Kyle of Lochalse (via bridge). Kyle line to Inverness. Highland main line to Edinburgh - with perhaps a stop over in Pitlochry. Edinburgh to London Kings Cross.

Forget about Shetland and don’t bother with the Far North Line to Thurso/Wick.

Driving you own car is best for driving through scenic areas of Scotland. You can’t open the train windows to take photos and the glass is tinted.
https://www.visitscotland.com

If you're stuck with flying into London and taking the train up to Scotland (4-1/2 hours from downtown London, I think, plus a substantial buffer to get into town from the airport and allow for a potential flight delay at the beginning of your trip), you will have precious little time for rural Scotland if you go to both Edinburgh and Glasgow. I like both--Glasgow at least as much as Edinburgh--but it seems that most visitors focus more of their time on Edinburgh. I think you really need to choose just one of the two so you can do more than take a couple of rushed day trips to scenic areas. You won't cover ground as fast as you anticipate once you leave Edinburgh/Glasgow/Stirling.

I totally agree with and underline everything acraven, Gail, Claudia, and James have said.

I totally agree with the others. You really don’t have much time since you will be spending the bulk of two days just traveling to and from Scotland from London and you will have to spend your last night there before your flight. A car really is necessary in rural Scotland. You might consider taking a multi day Rabbies tour from with Edinburgh or Inverness if you want to see the Highlands or another more rural already in Scotland.

https://www.rabbies.com/en

Have you booked your flights? As you seem to want to spend time in the west fly into Glasgow, from there take trains upto Skye. To see Glencoe properly you really need a car, it would be worth checking to see what is available in Oban to get you through the Glen and to Skye - maybe buses or a driver/car, Oban is worth a stop to visit Mull and Iona, this can be done by a tour bus from Oban. So, that will already use up 4 of your days plus how much time are you going to be in Glasgow. After Skye you need to work your across country to Inverness, and then down to Edinburgh which is worth two or three days stay and then fly back to US from either Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Weather in April May be an issue, be prepared for rain, snow in higher elevations, or lovely spring days.

A good map of Scotland plus use of the Scot Rail website will help you plan your trip. Shetland is definitely out on this trip unless you decide to forgo the rest of Scotland.

Have you thought about catching the Caledonian sleeper service from London to Scotland? It could give an extra day or two in Scotland.

If you are flying in/out of LHR but actually want to see Scotland, then fly out of LHR to either Glasgow or Edinburgh. Using the train will take too much time out of you vacation. And the train from London to Edinburgh is not especially scenic. ( We have used that train route several times, so I speak from experience.) If you arrive late afternoon at LHR, you might want to overnight at LHR and fly the next morning. Sofitel is directly connected to terminal 5 and is a very pleasant hotel.

Following on from Cynthia's post - which is why the overnight train may be the answer - not only does it get you to Scotland, it saves the cost of an overnight at either Heathrow or London...