Early a.m. arrival in Glasgow & heading to Islay

Glasgow rush hour is bad enough for those of us that know British roads and haven't just staggered off a transatlantic plane. Please don't hire a car straight off the plane as a consideration for other roads users. Thanks.

If you want to stay at a hotel in Glasgow to acclimate, there are at least 3 hotels immediately at the airport. I've stayed at the Holiday Inn (excellent) and Holiday Inn Express (perfectly OK). Being airport hotels, they are used to guests arriving & departing at all hours. I feel sure they'd have a way to accommodate you for an early check-in fee so you could get settled right after your flight.

If your destination is Islay, as a previous comment stated, you can take a bus to the ferry terminal and then get on the ferry.

If you wanted to see a nice place on the "mainland" of Scotland en route to or from Kennacraig, I can recommend the charming town of Inveraray, which is also on the bus route and has a helpful TI office. Brambles is great for lodging and daytime meals & snacks. For dinner and pub atmosphere, the George Hotel.

If you're waiting to depart from Glasgow until the next day (which would be wise, for the reasons mentioned above), I would not stay at the airport, but go into the city and see some of what there is to see, start to get some of that Scottish flavor, etc. You'll be fresh and ready for your road departure the next morning!

Glasgow to Kennacraig is two to three hours on twisty roads. The roads on Islay itself are not bad, generally standard single carriageway with two lanes.

However this means a five hour journey from the airport to Port Askaig or Port Ellen. Best to take the day to rest or see Glasgow first.

I agree with Kim - upon arrival go right to a hotel in the Glasgow city centre (my taxi was under £25, but there is also a direct bus). If your room is not ready, just drop your bags, and start exploring. Rick has a good City Centre Walk and a West End Walk - to get over my jet lag, I did both. Or take a spin on the Hop-On, Hop-Off bus; these run every 10 minutes, alternating between live and recorded commentary. You can do one complete circuit on a bus with live commentary, then get off and see something that interests you. Rick's Glasgow chapter (exactly the same in his Scotland and his Great Britain books) is excellent in general - you'll surely find something of interest there.

The next day, a bit better rested, you can start making your way north.

Thanks for all the helpful advice and suggestions, everyone! Much appreciated. We've decided to stay overnight in Glasgow and set out for Islay by car/ferry the next day.

Since you're planning to drive: if you pick up your rental car at Glasgow airport, be sure to ask the agent which signs to follow at the roundabouts leaving the airport to get on the motorway headed to the Erskine Bridge and Loch Lomond. There are at least 2 roundabouts (maybe 3, I can't remember for sure) and the signage is not self-explanatory!

oh wow, thank you for the heads up and tip!

To drive you will need the A 82 to half way up Loch Lomond, then the A 83.

From the Erskine Bridge initially follow signs for 'Crianlarach' then 'Lochgiphead'. When Gaelic starts to appear on the signs at that point you have to switch to Lochgilphead.