Help with 2 week itinerary

One small note: You can take the Citylink AIR bus from Edinburgh Airport to Glasgow city center, as I did last year. It takes about an hour.

I’ve only stayed in Glasgow and Edinburgh and taken day trips from each, so I’ll let others comment on the rest of your itinerary. Have a wonderful time!

This looks a bit rushed but good generally.

Be sure you leave time to explore the Glencoe area. You can do that on your way from Oban to Skye or from Skye to Inverness. You should spend a couple of hours to really soak it in. Best scenery in all of Scotland (which is overflowing with awesome scenery).

When you say a 2 day tour of the Hebrides from Oban there is a mis understanding.
The Hebrides are a big set of islands, and your goal would be impossible in two weeks.
They are divided into the Inner and Outer Hebrides - the outers (Vatersay up to Lewis) are a 5 hour ferry ride from Oban so that rules them out.
The inners, which includes Skye and it's outliers, are 79 islands, of which 35 are inhabited, not all of which can readily be visited. At the rate of one a day that is a month's work.
I think you mean Mull and Iona. Iona alone is really a full day trip from Oban (maybe with a boat trip to Staffa and the Treshnish Isles as well), and Mull you are only going to get a snapshot of in one day.
Even in June the weather can close in, and you end up not getting to your chosen islands, if any.
If going to Skye you could end up using the bridge if the ferries are cancelled by weather. Leaving Mull all three ferry routes were cancelled just two weeks ago, in August, due to weather.
In Inverness you will have to be really selective as there is way more than you can do in a day and a half.

Isn31c,
Thanks for the tips! Yes, I meant Iona and or Mull. I thought we'd do a tour with someone. We just want a quick view. We'll spend 3 nights in Portree which gives more time to spend on Skye.

West Coast Tours have the stranglehold on tours from Oban to Mull and Iona.
Https://westcoasttours.co.uk

They are big bus tours.

I'm aware there are a couple of private operators- one by taxi and one by private car, who will meet you off the ferry at Craignure and do bespoke private tours, but know little about them.
The latter is https://www.authenticadventuresmull.com

For rental car, look at Arnold Clark or their agent, Celtic Legends. Even though it's the same car, sometimes the rates are different. Wonderful service with both companies.

In 2023 we spent 2 nights about 20 minutes outside of Oban at Barcaldine Castle and we enjoyed the Westcoast Tours' 2 Island tour to Mull and Iona.

You'll need to make reservations for you and your car for the ferry from Maillig to Armadale. You'll have the most options for restaurants on Skye if you book rooms in Portree, but there are other options on the island.

You might consider taking a night away from Edinburgh and adding a night between Portree and Inverness to see some of the beautiful rugged northwest coastline. Or a night between Inverness and Edinburgh for the castles of Aberdeenshire or the waterfalls, gardens and other attractions of Perthshire.

Enjoy discovering Scotland!

Firstly, I'm not sure why you want to land in Edinburgh and take train or bus to Glasgow before starting your road trip. Unless you plan to see something of Glasgow (not really possible with the time you have), then I'd suggest (depending on the time your flight arrives), picking up your car and taking the short drive to either Stirling or Callander to spend the night. From there you could head towards Oban with excellent scenery on the way.

Secondly, Glencoe is not on the way from Skye to Inverness. I think it's highly subjective to say that this is the best scenery in Scotland and it will be very crowded on the main A82 in June. There are few places where you can safely stop to admire the views. You could take a drive down Glen Etive which is very close to Glencoe. Or you could lunch at the Kingshouse hotel which is on Etive Moor above Glencoe and take a short walk on part of the West Highland Way to get a feel for the area. But in any case it is NOT on the route from Skye to Inverness. You could make it work from Oban to Skye.

The ferry for Skye is from MALLAIG to Armadale. You definitely need to book in advance. There is a small historic ferry from Glenelg to Kylerhea on Skye which runs in the summer and for which you cannot book in advance. It's an extremely scenic drive to arrive in Skye by that route.

Accommodation in Skye books up fast, but most small B&Bs don't open their diaries until Christmas or after. While Portree does have a good amount of accommodation, the restaurants there this season are not taking reservations (except the most upscale place Scorrybreac). So it's a case of lining up outside and hoping for the best. You might actually do better to base yourself in a smaller settlement such as Broadford (quite a few places to eat), Dunvegan (6 places to eat), Edinbane (good pub and very nice upscale restaurant) , or Uig (pub & hotel for eating options) and make dinner reservations there ahead of time.

Hope that helps
Skyegirl (Jacqui)

Sorry for the error; of course Skygirl is right. Glencoe would be on the way from Oban to Skye, not from Skye to Inverness.

And of course it is my subjective opinion, and not an objective fact, that Glencoe has the best scenery in Scotland. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

Thanks for the advice everyone!
I've booked a car from Arnold Clark.
We're not keen on driving immediately after an overnight flight and we want to start off early the next morning so Glasgow is as good a place as any to sleep, being easy to get to from the airport.
I've already reserved the Gables in Portree. Very happy about that.
We plan to take the train to Stirling for a day from Edinburgh.

Looks a lovely trip.

Glasgow to `Oban is a great drive , hugely scenic from Loch Lomond onwards, with so many places to enjoy all along the route.Pretty Luss on Loch Lomond or perhaps a snack stop at Duck Bay Marina’s outdoor terrace lapped by the loch.Ospreys hunt nearby.Or both.A short boat trip from Tarbet is to me the best way to see the most scenic end of the loch, its northern section.

Loch Fyne Oyster Bar or the Tree Cafe next door are nice stops too before Inveraray.The latter wee town is very pleasant with the stunning castle and gardens overlooking Loch Fyne.
St Conan’s Kirk is well worth a stop on Loch Awe as are Kilchurn Castle ruins.

I always think staying on Mull is more relaxing rather than doing the long day trip from Oban.It’s an amazing trip but being based on Mull (possibly Fionnphort beside the Iona ferry, though tiny and limited eating out options) or Tobermory for a vibrant, pretty village setting with good amenities.

Your quickest way to Skye is via Tobermory - Kilchoan ferry though you ‘d have to be up for a very winding, twisting if superbly scenic single track road for a fair portion of the way to Loch Ailort where you pick up the main route to Mallaig.

Unless there are specific things you want to see around Inverness, it’s not a must see city in itself at all.You could return via the Skye Bridge and Glen Shiel, Dalwhinnie and the A9, possibly breaking the journey in Pitlochry, a busy, buzzy, very attractive small town.

Or Aviemore, for Cairngorm National Park beauty.