9 Day Scotland Itinerary Review Request

You will have a long drive on Day 8 down to Maidens, and ditto the next day up to Edinburgh. But, if getting to see that area of Ayrshire is important to you, go for it.

If it's really not a high priority, I would say to drive from Glencoe via Inveraray on Day 8, and stay overnight somewhere along the western shore of Loch Lomond. You could make your way back to Edinburgh via Stirling, Falkirk, Linlithgow.

If you were flying home from Glasgow then the Ayrshire loop might make more sense.

Day 4 will be a very busy day. At first blush we thought maybe an hour to an hour and a half at Culloden but it is so interesting that it can easily consume half a day and you may not have time for Cawdor Castle - we didn't

If you drive onto the grounds at Cawdor Castle, you can park for free, walk around a bit, and see the herd of highland cows without taking the time for a tour. (I realize they need the entry fee income for upkeep, but just saying if you're short on time and still want a glimpse, you can do so -- which is not the case with some other castles.)

Thanks epltd. We're somewhat commited to the Ayrshire meander. We pondered the Loch Lomond route early on, but realized it wouldn't work on this trip.
And thanks bvowles and epltd for your advice on Cawdor Castle. Right now it's on the tossaway list if we run out of time due to stops enroute from Edinburgh.

Mark

For Day 4, it just depends on how fast you are at touring. We did Colloden and Cawdor Castle in about three hours, but we might be faster than average (we also hit the Clava Cairns in the area too). However, I thought spending two full days in Skye was probably worth that one day in Inverness, so I wouldn't short-change the time in Skye, unless you are a history buff and really want to see Colloden (we started on the West Coast and went clock-wise, so we'd already had a lot of Colloden history by that point).