Itinerary for One-Week Scotland Trip in October

You say you want some time in Edinburgh, but I don't see any time there at all, except an overnight at the end of your trip. You might consider one less day in Glencoe and add a day in Edinburgh at the end.

I'm sure you will love Scotland!

Thanks, Lane. You are correct! That was an error. It should be:

• Day 1 (Sat, Sept 30): Arrive in Edinburgh, drive to Fort Augustus (via Pitlochry)
• Day 2 (Sun, Oct 1): Drive to Ullinish on the Isle of Skye.
• Days 3-4 (Mon, Oct 2 - Tues, Oct 3): Explore Skye.
• Day 5 (Wed, Oct 4): Drive from Ullinish to Glencoe.
• Days 6 (Thurs, Oct 5) - Explore Glencoe.
• Day 7 (Fri, Oct 6): Drive from Glencoe to Edinburgh, passing by Loch Lomond.
• Day 8 (Sat, Oct 7): Explore Edinburgh.
• Day 9 (Depart, Oct 8): Departure.

For the Skye portion of your trip bear in mind that there are no restaurants in Ullinish - just a hotel so you will want to consider where you are going to eat and make reservations. From Ullinish I would recommend driving to either the Old Inn in Carbost or the Old School or The Dunvegan, both in Dunvegan. But you will definitely to make reservations.

That drive to Fort Augustus is about 3.5 hours. Even for me that’s a really long drive after a long flight.

I think this is an excellent itinerary except for your plan to drive the day you arrive from an overnight flight. Can you add a day?

I agree with the last 2 comments, once you're past Pitlochry, the roads get narrow and curvy and you need to be on top of your game mentally. Also, what time does you flight land? Will you still be driving in daylight for the first day? Sunset in Fort Augustus in mid-October is 6:15.

All good points. Do you think it's more feasible to drive to Pitlochry and overnight there on the first night, then head to the Isle of Skye the next day?

I'm also trying to decide if we should allow for 3 full days on the Isle of Skye and 1 in Glencoe, or do 2 full days on each.

There's not a lot to see in Glencoe unless you are serious into long and difficult hikes. There are a variety of amazing walks and scenery on Skye.

I'd say even Pitlochry is too far to drive if you are coming directly off a transatlantic flight. You will be jet lagged. Whenever I come home from the States I stay overnight very close to the arrival airport and drive home to Skye the next day.

Thanks, Skyegirl. So if I did 4 night on the Isle of Skye, would you recommend one night in Glencoe another location, such as Loch Lomond?

Kyle, when figuring out drive times, you should add 20% to Google's drive time because of the roads. So, I think the drive from Pitlochry to Ullinish on Skye would be 5 hours. That is doable in one day, IMO. We were in Scotland in June, and one of our drives was about 5 hours. Pitlochry is a pleasant town. We stopped there for lunch one day.

Regarding how much time on Skye and how much time in Glen Coe, that's a difficult call. For me, anyways. Skyegirl can help you out more than me. But I will say that while I loved every place we visited in Scotland, Skye and Glen Coe were our favorites regarding scenery. The scenery is spectacular and stunning! I think 3 nights (which you have) should be the minimum for Skye. We had 4 nights, so 3 full days. We had 2 nights in Glen Coe so one full day. I wish we had an extra night.

I think your decision whether or not to do 3 nights Skye/2 nights Glen Coe OR 4 nights Skye/one night Glen Coe depends on if you think you will make stops along the way from Skye to Glen Coe, which is what we did, or will you drive directly to Glen Coe, and therefore, arrive earlier in the day than we did. And will you stop along the way from Glen Coe to Edinburgh, such as visiting Stirling Castle. Do you plan on doing some hiking/walking? In Glen Coe, our highlight was driving along the Glen Etive Road. The scenery is stunning although the rhododendrons won't be in bloom in October. But I assume you will have beautiful fall scenery. Glen Coe is a hikers/walkers paradise. If you only stay one night in Glen Coe, you could drive down the Glen Etive Road before you head to Edinburgh.

On Skye, we followed the On the Luce driving itinerary. It's a 3-day roadtrip, so requires a 4-night stay on Skye. Here is the link in case you are interested:
https://www.ontheluce.com/isle-of-skye-itinerary/

In Glen Coe, we stayed at the Glencoe Inn in Glencoe Village. There is another nice inn nearby - The Clachaig Inn.
https://www.crerarhotels.com/the-glencoe-inn/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gmb
https://clachaig.com/

And we had lunch one day at the Old Inn in Carbost that Skyegirl recommends. Delicious meal overlooking the lake.

This is the link for the Glen Etive Road.
https://www.ontheluce.com/glen-etive-road-scotland/

Kyle, again, I am not the expert. Skyegirl is! But we thought Glen Coe was more stunning than Loch Lomond. Just one person's opinion. Glen Coe really does have the WOW factor!!!

Thanks, kmkwoo. Sounds like you had a wonderful trip.

I honestly can't tell you how much time to spend in Glencoe, but for me it is very much about pretty hard core hiking, and unless you want to get up in to the hills on foot, then much more than a day there would be unnecessary. I have lived on Skye of 8 years and still not scratched much below the surface of the many, many wonderful walks that one could do here. Have a look at the Walk Highlands website and avoid the honey pot sites (which unfortunately are in the itinerary posted above). They are just representative of the terrain and scenery here, but because all the tourists visit them they are massively overcrowded and the traffic is a complete pain. I would hesitate to even recommend specific walks because they might then become overcrowded. However, Ullinish is home to one of my most favourite walks, to a tidal island, only accessible at low tide. I have suggest a minimum of 3 nights on Skye.

In term of drive times, it takes me 5.5 hours to drive from my home (not far from Ullinish) to Pitlochry and I drive at or near the speed limits when possible and overtake slower cars (tourists and camper vans) when safe to do so. I am not stopping to look at scenery or take photos. Google times are inaccurate for highland conditions.

When you arrive, you will be tired, sleepy, jet lagged, and on unfamilar ground. Some are not bothered by those things, but most probably should not drive right away. Even a small fender bender at the start of a trip will put a damper on the rest of the trip. Perhaps you should spend at least the first day in Edinburgh just for the sake of safety. You may be the exception, but personally, I need to stay away from cars and sharp instruments after an overnight flight.

I would not even dream of driving for 5 hours after getting off an overnight flight from the US, particularly from the east coast. I once found myself in the position of my family and I being in Manchester near home after a US trip, but my car being in Gatwick, 250 miles+ away. With the infallibility of relative youth I flew down and drove the car back. Never again. It took me hours because I had to stop several times because I was falling asleep. And that drive is wholly on motorways, not narrow country roads. And the steering wheel was on the right side for me. 5 hours might be a doable day’s driving on your Scottish trip later on but definitely not straight off a long haul flight.