Home base in Scotland

Scotland is a large country. Driving is slow. I live in the Isle of Skye and it takes me 7 hours to drive to Edinburgh. I think you will need to give us some more information about the type of things you want to see and do, e.g. beaches, islands, distilleries, castles, hiking, towns. Also how many nights? In August rentals (known as self catering in the UK) will almost always be a minimum of 7 nights with usual changeover day being Saturday. Most of the really good ones will already be booked. Airbnb is likely to be your best bet for shorter stays.

Would the day trips be by train, or will you have a car? That's the most important question to be answered before we can give you reasonable ideas.

We will not be renting a car. We obviously can't see everything in 5 days. I have been all over Europe. This will our first time in Scotland. Would be great to get some suggestions!

Given the parameters you have so far, I suggest homebase in Edinburgh and organized day trips. Suggest you peruse the ones from Rabbies

https://www.rabbies.com/en/scotland-tours

Thanks so much!

You can also do the same from Glasgow. If you want to concentrate on western Scotland Glasgow is a better base as the travel would be less for the likes of Glencoe and Oban. You can also easily travel between the two cities by train in about an hour.

If you choose Edinburgh as your base, bear in mind that August is festival month. Accommodation will be scare and prices very high. Glasgow would be a better bet. Or if you want to focus on the Highlands, then Inverness with day trips by an operator such as Rabbies.