4 active adults ages 56-68 are planning a trip to Scotland. We are interested in the charming sites and beautiful sights of the country. What advice do you have based on the following itinerary? We are open to suggestions on length of stay as well as sites not to miss.
Day 1 & 2: Edinburg
Day 3 Half a day in Stirling then on to Oban
Days 4 & 5: Isle of Skye
Day 6 Inverness
Day 7 Fly home
Posted by
Delaware
1376 posts
Hi, Lisa,
First of all, when are you planning to travel? That would make a difference in what you want to see, and where you want to go.
If you're planning to visit Skye, and spend a couple of days there, it would be best to skip Oban, as it's somewhat out of the way. Best to spend night three in Glencoe, or somewhere along the A830, on your way to Skye. That way, you can get to the ferry in plenty of time to enjoy your stay on Skye. Mallaig would be a good place for an overnight, or Arisaig.
Are you flying in to and out of Edinburgh, or are you returning from Inverness? It's at least four hours from Inverness to Edinburgh. If you're driving straight to Edinburgh airport, you need to allow enough time to fill your petrol tank and return your hired car. Especially if you're spending night six in Inverness.
As you're still in the planning stage, is there any way that you can stay longer in Scotland? It's an amazingly beautiful country, and it seems a shame to have only four nights on the trot once you leave Edinburgh.
There are many people on this forum who will tell you the best places to visit. You're going to end up with a surfeit of information. Best thing to do is sift through it all and decide amongst yourselves what you'd most like to see. A good guidebook, like Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide, would be a great supplement to everyone's advice.
Best wishes!
Mike (auchterless)
Posted by
S.F. Bay Area, CA, United States
1878 posts
That's a lot of short stays. Have you looked at the driving times--I am also considering a Scotland itinerary and this looks really tight to me. Skye looks great but even over 11 days I am reconsidering. Also one full day for Edinburgh is way too little. My wife and I were there for two and a half days in 2003. You could spend half a day at Edinburgh Castle alone. When we return we will plan four nights, including two full days just for Edinburgh (counting day of arrival and day trip to Glasgow, hence four nights). The Scottish history/cultural museum is a must see, or at least was in 2003.
Posted by
OP
Houston, TX, USA
59 posts
Yes, we are in the very beginning planning stages. We do have two guide books. The advice is greatly appreciated! Thank You!! We are planning to do both Scotland and Ireland in the same 3 week trip in May-June.
Posted by
Last Frontier aka Alaska 🏔️
3214 posts
Agree with the others, short stay with lots of driving equals a stressful trip. And also, you only see Scotland from behind your windshield. I would cut Skye-you don’t have time for it.
This is what I would do
3 nights Edinburgh ( remember that only gives you 2 days)
Half day Stirling
2 nights Oban
1 night Inverness
Fly home
Posted by
RIchmond, BC,Canada
849 posts
Having done a three week trip to each of Ireland and Scotland I would urge you to choose one or the other, otherwise, you are going to be run off of your feet trying to cover all of this ground, and you won't enjoy it. If you don't want to pick one over the other then you need to narrow your focus. For Ireland don't try to cover the whole island, pick a couple of areas such as the south and west and take your time. The same goes for Scotland, since you appear to have just a week then I would suggest not trying to get all the way up to Inverness and Skye. You will just end up driving by a lot of interesting places in order to get where you're going. Stay in the south, you could even spend your entire time in Edinburgh and just do day trips from there. Or, if you really want to see the northern parts then fly into Inverness and skip Edinburgh on this trip.