Please sign in to post.
Holiday Sale! Save 20% Storewide!

Itinerary check - can this be done?

Posted by on

Arriving on overnight train from London to Inverness. Will rent a car for my family of 5 and head towards the Isle of Skye.

Plan to check out Loch Ness for the kids as we make our way to the Isle of Skye. May stop on the way in or out at Eilean Donan Castle to take photos but I don't think we will do a tour since I don't want to over-castle my boys. We plan to enter Skye via the bridge. I want to do all of the sights in the loop north of Portree as well as a possible stop at the Talisker Distillery and the Fairy Pools.

I plan to loosely base this tour on the Wow Scotland day tour to Isle of Skye from Inverness found here: https://wowscotlandtours.com/tours-from-inverness/isle-skye-tour-inverness/

The difference is that we would like to stay overnight somewhere on Skye, most likely Portree? I am in need of finding an inn/hotel/B&B that will have accommodations for a family of 5 if anyone has a suggestion.

So we can do some sights on the way in the 1st day and some sights before heading out on the second day.

We then want to head back towards Inverness and head south along the road to Edinburgh and want to stop overnight somewhere like Aviemore/Plitochry for 2 nights before heading to Edinburgh the morning of Day 4.

Are there any fun things for boys in this area? We were thinking the sheepdog demo, reindeer farm, and maybe an activity at Rothiemurchus?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Posted by
3123 posts

Two activities on the north shore of Loch Ness are great for whole family: Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition, and Urquhart Castle. The former is a relatively scientific immersion in the history and mystery of "Nessie" sightings. The latter is a well-preserved ruin with lots of informative signboards, walking tours and costumed interpreters onsite (pretty much all outdoors, so dress for the weather). If you get an early start out of Inverness you'll have time for both and still arrive on the Isle of Skye before dinner.

Eilean Donan castle is an early 20th century rebuild from a ruin, set in a very picturesque location at the confluence of 3 sea lochs, and can be overrun by coach tour folks. A stone's throw from there is the Dornie Hotel, which is family friendly and affordable, but doesn't fit your wish to stay on the Isle of Skye itself. They serve good meals, in case you're hungry when passing through.

If you Google "whale watching Isle of Skye" or "boat excursions Isle of Skye" you may find a boat operator that suits your interests.

Aviemore is a pleasant town with a great TI office oriented toward country walking/hiking. (I haven't been to Pitlochry so can't comment, but it seems popular with many.)

South of Aviemore you'll go past Blair Castle, which advertises activities for kids.

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.