Hello!
Next April we will fly to the British isles.
6 days in London, then the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness resting there for 2 nights.
The last day there we’ll rent a car to drive to Skye for a night then to Glencoe for another.
From there the following morning to the Speyside area sleeping there or close by.
The last leg of the trip will be to St Andrews, Culross and Falkirk returning the car in Edinburgh (and staying there 3 more nights)
Is it too much?
We know that we can spend a month in Scotland with things to see and do but this is all the time we have
Posted by
Lincolnshire, UK
2202 posts
To be honest, it is a lot and you are going to spend a lot of time seeing the scenery through a car windscreen.
It would make sense to do Speyside as a day trip from Inverness. Doing it from Glencoe just doesn't make sense as you will be doubling back on yourselves.
What are your intentions for the time in Inverness? It might be possible to take out a night there and add to say Skye. (One night in Skye is hardly worth the drive there!).
Looking at the map, there is little difference in driving distance from Glencoe back to Edinburgh via St Andrews, Culross and Falkirk compared with driving from Speyside... either way you are going to be pushed to seeing all three places in one day as you are talking about around 200 miles which is going to take 5+ hours to drive PLUS any stops on the way. If coming from Glencoe, take out St Andrews and just visit Culross and Falkirk. Then do St Andrews as a day trip from Edinburgh (train to Leuchars and then bus to St Andrews).
Posted by
SoCal
934 posts
wasleys makes some great points. I'll add that even a taxi from Leuchars to St Andrews isn't cost-prohibitive, in the event the bus schedule doesn't meet your needs.
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
7565 posts
I also agree with wasleys. Looking at your schedule made me cringe a little. Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the desire to see as much as possible in a limited amount of time, but your schedule will have you gripped to a steering wheel most of the time with no time to really enjoy Scotland.
And especially with Skye; as wasleys pointed out, it's really not worth going there for only one night. I would either focus on Skye or Glencoe. Or better yet, take a night away from Inverness, which is really more of a getting-off point for most attractions.
Posted by
238 posts
As someone who recently rode the entire length of the UK on my bicycle as part of a tour, there are a LOT of cars and traffic in the Highlands, maybe less in the Speyside area, but certainly a lot near Glencoe. Driving there would not be fun.