Advice on number of days for each stop

Other more knowledgeable people will comment on your question, but at first glance I will say that you are trying to cover far too much ground with the time you have, You will end up seeing the country through the car window. I had a full three weeks, and removed Shetland from my plan because of how time consuming it was going to be. Only two nights in Edinburgh only gives you one day for a city that has a lot to see. You could spend the whole day just on the royal mile. Personally, I think you either need several more days, or you need to remove some things from your itinerary.

Slow down!

Just a few comments

• pickup your rental car after your night in Glasgow
• I think you mean Mull, not Murr
• if you are taking the West Coast Tours 3 island tour you do not overnight on Mull, you would need 2 nights in Oban, minimum
• to do Skye justice, 3 nights are better than 2 and your lodging should be booked ASAP
• why Thurso? What are you hoping to do & see?
• no advice on Orkney or Shetland except ferry and flights are extremely weather dependent and 1 night for the Shetlands is not a good use of your time
• don't neglect the wonderful sights in Aberdeenshire
• I don't understand your comment re Rouen

There's a lot of Scotland to see. Are you hikers, do you have ancestral roots to explore, do you enjoy castles or ruins, interested in whisky or neolithic sights?

If you haven't booked your flights yet, consider flying into Glasgow and home from Edinburgh.

Remember the ferry from Orkney to Aberdeen doesn't run every day. You may find this determines the number of days you can spend on Orkney.

Much as I love Shetland, I'm not sure it is worth it for 1 night.

Hi Mike, well, you're making my head spin! 😊 Just for clarification, it looks like you've got about 15 nights to spend. Is that correct? That would give you about 14 days.

The others are all correct. Your schedule is so fast, and you will spend almost all your time on the road and not get to see hardly anything at your final destinations. So if it were me, I would remove Thurso, Orkney and Shetland from your list and save them for another trip. I'm assuming this is your first trip to Scotland, but I can guarantee you will want to come back.

If you're flying into Edinburgh, I would give three nights to that city. Two nights will only give you one full day, and there's a lot to see there. And then you've got one night in Glasgow, which is doable. If you leave early from Edinburgh on your third day, you would have the rest of the day and then part of the next day, I'm assuming. After that, is when you want to rent your car.

After Mull, you could take the ferry from Tobermory to Kilchoan, then drive to Mallaig, take the ferry to Armadale then drive up to Portree. I would spend a minimum of three nights on Sky, and four would be better. After Skye, you could head to Inverness and use that as a base for two nights. Besides the two items you mentioned, you could also visit Culloden and Clava Cairns, which are standing stones that are quite unique.

At this point, you've got:
- 3 nights in Edinburgh
- 1 night in Glasgow
- 3 nights on Mull
- 4 nights on the Isle of Skye
- 2 nights in Inverness

That's 13 nights. From Inverness, you could begin your drive back to Edinburgh a number of ways. The first would be to head south through the Cairngorms, which would give you some lovely scenery to see there. You could overnight in Pitlochry along the way.

The second would be to head south again, but this time deviate a little bit to the west and drive down through Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. One advantage to doing this is that you could change your plan a bit and instead of stopping in Glasgow in the beginning, you could head to Glasgow after Loch Lomond and spend a night or two there.

The third option would be to head to Edinburgh via the northeast coast, which would take you from Inverness northeast then along the coast through Nairn, Portknockie, and further down the east coast. You could stop at the Bullers of Buchan, which are amazing, then make your way down to Cruden Bay and visit the ruins at Slains Castle. And then head down to Edinburgh from there, spending the night at whatever place along the coast takes your fancy.

Obviously, this is your trip, and you are entitled to do it the way you want. But all of us are experienced travelers, and we have all been to Scotland and spent time there. We know how tempting it is to see everything, but the problem is that the roads are mostly single track, especially in the Highlands, so you won't be going very fast along them. And even on the mainland, it's slow going.

NOTE: I just noticed you said you will be there from mid-June through mid-July. So are you planning to be there for a month? Because that's not what your itinerary looks like. That would be helpful to know. If you're going to be there for a month, then could potentially throw in Orkney and/or Shetland.

The more details you give us about your trip, the more we can help you work out an itinerary that fits your needs.

I love Orkney and I love Shetland. I would go back in a heartbeat to either one.

BUT....

No to just one night on Shetland as that does not even give you a full day to tour. There are some interesting things to see in Lerwick but FAR more interesting stuff out of town.

I hate to say this but a No from me for just 2 nights in Orkney just due to possible transit delays. It's hard to get to and as mentioned the ferry to/from Aberdeen doesn't run daily. There are occasional storms and bad weather that affect both flights and boat traffic.

For reference I was on Orkney for 11 nights last June/July and on Shetland for 11 nights in July. In 2023 I spent about 8 nights each on Orkney and Shetland.

I tend to go at a similar pace so my itinerary was not terribly dissimilar to yours for my visit last year at the same time of year. We did 1 night Glasgow, 1 night Oban, 3 nights Mull (Tobermory), 1 night Glencoe, 3 nights Skye (Portree), 2 nights Inverness, and 4 nights Edinburgh and we were very content with that.

I’d cut out Orkney and Aberdeen as they’re the outliers and instead allocate that time to your other destination.

Mull is absolutely lovely and one of the highlights of our trip so I’d recommend spending a few nights there – Oban is a nice spot but I don’t think you’d need more than the night there just to break up the drive. That time of year you can take a boat tour to Staffa and Lunga to see Fingal’s Cave and puffins – it was probably one of my favourite things we did in Scotland, and you’d be there at the right time of year that it’d be a shame to miss the opportunity to see some puffins!

We've been to all the places on your list except Hadrian's wall over the course of several trips. We are "fast moving" travelers and your plan is even faster. Don't forget 2 nights really means 1 day.

One day in Edinburgh is not enough time to see much.
1/2 day is Glasgow is barely worth visiting,
Two nights in Oban is necessary for Mull trip, but you won't get to to anything else that isn't on the way to/from.
Unless you're hiking Ben Nevis, two nights in Glencoe is more than necessary.
One day on Skye is a wasted visit. Two days (3 nights) becomes worthwhile. If 2026, lodging on Skye might be a factor
Inverness could be one night if you see Culloden/Clava in the AM and head to Thurso.
Thurso presumes you're taking the Scrabster ferry in the morning.
3 nights on Orkney is bare minimum. You could fly from Inverness and drop Thurso, and dump car in Inverness.
Shetland for 1 night is a definite NO. 3 nights would begin to make sense.
Fly from Orkney to Edinburgh of Glasgow (unless you have car from mainland). You really don't want a car in either city.
Rent another car and go to Hadrians wall.

How many days do you actually have? We've found flights are much more reliable than ferries.

I would spend 4 nights in Edinburgh, which is an amazing city with lots of interesting sights, and it's also a great city for wandering around and exploring. We spent 4 nights there (3 full days), and we could have used more time. I would love to return.

The Isle of Skye is not worth it for 2 nights. I recommend spending a minimum of 3 nights on Skye, but 4 would be better, which is what we did. We followed this driving itinerary around Skye which allowed us to see a lot without wasting time backtracking.

https://www.ontheluce.com/isle-of-skye-itinerary/

And definitely a minimum of 2 nights in Glencoe, which is gorgeous! Glencoe and Skye were our favorites.

You could consider staying in Nairn, instead of Inverness. Nairn is a lovely seaside town with lots of restaurants. From Nairn, we visited Cawdor Castle, Elgin Cathedral, Culloden Battlefield, and a whisky distillery. We stopped at Urquhart Castle on the way from Nairn to Portree.

After seeing reader's responses we decided to shorten our trip and plan a longer one in the future. This is what we're thinking:
For our first trip we'd like to visit Glasgow, Edinburgh and Hadrian's Wall. Do you have any recommendations as to how long would be ideal to stay in each city and which towns might be good to stay in along Hadrian's Wall.
It seems the middle section might be the most interesting but any suggestions would be helpful.
How many days would be ideal and places to stay along the wall also. Ideas on how to travel too, including renting a car versus a train or bus. We'd prefer not to do organized tours and want to do some hiking on our own.
Suggestions on clothing you wished you'd brought on your trip would help.
We were thinking of flying from Barcelona where we go each summer so which might be best city to start from.

We've received lot's of great advice for our future trip to the north and greatly appreciate commenters advice.

recommendations as to how long would be ideal to stay in each city

How long is a piece of string?

It all depends on what you want to do and see in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Draw up a list of places to visit and things you want to do/see. Then begin to estrimate how long you need to allocate for each place. (Don't forget to factor in opening and closing time as well as time to get between places and lunch...) This will give you a framework to work out how many days you need to spend in each place. THEN add in any extra for day trips you might want to take from either place.

You won't want/need a car in either Edinburgh or Glasgow as public transport is good and parking a nightmare.

However, a car would be useful for Hadrian's Wall area. Are you planning to do this in the middel? If so rent a car when you leave Edinburghor Glasgow drive to Hadrian's Wall and then drive back to either Glasgow or Edinburgh to drop off the car when you arrive. If iut is at the end of the trip, then either book a one way hire, or else think about train to either Newcastle or Carlise (whichever is the more convenient ) and hire a car there for the Hadrian's wall bit.

Yes the middle bit betweern Chollerfod and Birdoswald is the most interesting. Think about accommodation in Hexham, Corbridge or Haltwhistle. Mardee stopped in the Old School House in Haltwhistle and I seem to remember her feedback was positive. THis is within walking distance of some of the best bits of the wall. It is a lovely walk up Haltwhistle Burn to Cawfields Crag and then walking east to Caw Gap. If you only have time for one walk, this is a good one and less busy than walks from Steel Rigg Car Park

Distances are such that you can easily access all of the wall from any of these places.

Have a look at this article which has lots of information about Hadrian's Wall as well as ideas of walks.

May and June are good months for walking. It shouldn't be excessively hot... Underfoot conditions will be good although you may find gateways can be muddy if there have been animals in the fields. I always walk in boots but you could probably get away with sneakers(trainers). Come prepared with thickcomfortable socks! Wear lightweight pants that dry quickly. (Jeans if they get wet can take ages to dry and will cool you down very quickly if there is any wind.) Come prepared with a selection of layers and decide what to wear each day depending on weather forecast. always carry a spare sweater as weather can change quickly. Also bring waterproofs (which can also act as windproofs too!) Sunscreen is also recommended!

Again amount of time needed depends on what you want to do and see and how much time you want to spend walking the wall. Somepeople manage with a couple of full days (3 nights) . Others spend a full week and say they could easily have spent longer...

The city of Carlisle is a handy base for Hadrian's Wall, now there is the new hourly bus service from Carlisle as far as Birdoswald and the Roman Army Museum- the HW1 and HW2.

Carlisle is just over an hour by train from either Glasgow or Edinburgh.

The other benefit is how handy the hotels in Carlisle are to the Railway Station with the Station and the County right outside, an Ibis and a Travelodge a short walk away, or the historic Crown and Mitre plumb in the City Centre.
There are other options, although Carlisle is one place where the two Premier Inns are not very convenient for rail travellers, and not usually cheaper than other quality accommodation in the City Centre.
There is talk of a City Centre Premier Inn being built on West Walls, but time will tell on that one.

Certainly compared to Edinburgh, even the Crown and Mitre is very reasonably priced

What you want to see will be different from what I did, but I spent 6 nights in Edinburgh, and four nights in Glasgow. Flying into one, and out of the other. I did several guided day tours that included Hadrian’s Wall, Sterling castle/Loch Lomond, Roslyn Chapel/Melrose Abbey. I spent one day in Glasgow using the HOHO bus to get around to various sights, and another day in museums, and then just wandered. In Edinburgh, I spent a whole day on the royal mile starting at the castle and working my way down the hill to Holyrood. The rest of my time was spent in various museums, and wandering the streets, climbing up Calton Hill, and visiting the Royal Yacht Britanica. I also did a day trip up to the Highland Games in Braemar, but that happens in September. So, my days were pretty full, and I would still say that I could have used more time. If you base yourself in these two cities, you won’t need a car at all as there are many good guided day trips you can take to get to the things you want to see. I would suggest looking at the itineraries for such trips to see if that appeals to you, or just to get a better idea of what to see, and how long it will take.

While there is a new bus service from Carlisle to Birdoswald, unfortunately that doesn’t cover the best part of Hadrian’s Wall. Most of the wallto the east of Carlisle was turf not stone so all that is left now is a grassy bank. There is Bank’s Turret with a bit of stone wall but it’s not until you get to Birdoswald (not the best fort in my opinion) with its bridge abutment and Walltown Crags that you get to see a decent stretch of Hadrian’s Wall.