Hello all- we have just over a week to spend in Scotland and ideally would like to see Edinburgh, Stirling Castle, Glasgow, Oban and the Isle of Skye…is this doable/enjoyable with the time we have? It’ll be the 4th week in October. We are hoping to travel by train (and a bus to Skye? Not quite sure yet how to get there) for most of this and either rent a car on Skye or take a Rabbies tour. Can’t decide which way to loop the route that makes most sense without back tracking…We will be starting in Edinburgh, coming in by train and then finishing in Glasgow where we are flying out of. Thank you so much for reading all of this, this is our first trip to Scotland and we are celebrating my husbands 50th birthday so I want it to be a special trip with lots of great, memorable places. Open to other suggestions if we’ve missed any must see spots or should swap one for another.
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
9221 posts
Hi, Mimchelle, I really understand you wanting to see everything, but I think it would be very difficult to see all the places you are listing on your own in that time frame.
If it were me, I might consider basing yourself the first 2-3 days in Edinburgh, where you can easily take a day trip to Stirling Castle. And then, in order to see Skye, I would consider taking one of the Rabbies 3 or 4 day tours from Edinburgh that cover Skye and the surrounding areas.
https://www.rabbies.com/en-gb/tour/the-isle-of-skye-3-day-tour-from-edinburgh
https://www.rabbies.com/en-gb/tour/isle-of-skye-the-west-highlands-4-day-tour-from-edinburgh
After that, take the train to Glasgow for the last couple of nights. You might miss Oban in that mix, but honestly, I think if you had to skip anything, Oban is the most skippable.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you, Mardee
I appreciate your considerate reply! Oban is included because it’s my husband’s favorite Scotch, so unfortunately it’s a “can’t be skipped” destination.
Posted by
Isle of Skye, Scotland
1426 posts
I have reported the above post from annweslay which contains a link completely unrelated to travel.
It is pretty unrealistic to try to explore Skye without a car. This is a sad reality of our rural island community of 10,000 where bus schedules are entirely based around getting kids to school. A Rabbies tour really is the best way too see Skye without a car, especially if you don't have the luxury of time to wait around for the twice a day buses (which in any case don't go to the tourist hot spots).
The 4th week of October is also very late season and in Skye some restaurants will be closed until Spring. And some attractions will also have ended their season. For example Dunvegan castle - one of the main attractions in Skye closes on 15th October. So better to focus further south I think. With only a week I think you'll want to choose two bases. It looks like Oban is a must (we call it whisky not scotch here) and one of the major cities. If it's a first visit I'd pick Edinburgh, with maybe a day trip to Stirling to see the castle.
Posted by
London
358 posts
I was about to recommend the three island tour from Oban (which is lovely and takes in Mull, Iona, and Staffa), but just checked and saw it stops running after the first week in October. Unfortunately you are getting into the not so great weather by that time, but you can still enjoy yourselves. I would recommend to prioritise indoor activities, of which there are plenty in Edinburgh (including a day trip to Stirling) and Glasgow. You will still get a taste of the highlands by visiting Oban. The train ride from Oban to Glasgow is also beautiful and to me is a highlight in itself. To get from Edinburgh to Oban, they on occasion run direct trains but most of the time you need to change in Glasgow. So I would say a few nights in Edinburgh, a few in Oban, and at least one in Glasgow would be my personal choice. Good luck with the planning!
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
9221 posts
Mimchelle, if you really want to see Skye and Oban, have you considered this 5-day tour by Rabbies? Listed below are the highlights (it leaves from Edinburgh). I checked the dates and it looks like it's running all the way through October.
https://www.rabbies.com/en-gb/tour/iona-mull-the-isle-of-skye-5-day-tour-from-edinburgh
Day 1 - West Highlands & Oban
Day 2 - Iona and optional trip to Fingal's Cave
Day 3 - Glencoe and Exploring the Highlands
Day 4 - The Isle of Skye
Day 5 - Eilean Donan Castle
This tour takes you not only to the Isle of Skye and Oban, but also Mull, Iona, which are both gems. Obviously you won't get a huge amount of time in each place but certainly it will give you a taste and with only 8 days there, you don't have a lot of options. And it will still give you time for both Edinburgh and Glasgow, which are smaller cities so you can easily see the highlights of both in a day or so.
Posted by
Lake District, England
9430 posts
Except the optional trip to Fingal's Cave isn't running that late in the year due to low passenger numbers and expected poor sea conditions.
We've kind of been promised a new Edinburgh to Oban bus route (in addition to the seasonal one) but if it happens remains to be seen.
To be honest any island adventure which includes a ferry is a bit of a weather lottery at that time of year.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
We are really hoping to enjoy the train ride up to Oban. Maybe Isle of Skye will just have to be another trip back!