Itinerary Ideas for Two Weeks in Scotland without a Car

The first thing to be aware of is that August in Edinburgh is both the Fringe Festival and the Military Tattoo. The city will be packed with people and hotels rates will be skyhigh if any are still available.

For your last couple of nights, why not base in Dundee. There's the V & A museum, the Discovery Museum, the HMS Unicorn and a few other sites. It is not overrun with tourists.

From Dundee there is a direct bus to the Edinburgh Airport. No stops. (I've taken it a few times and you don't have to worry about Edinburgh crowds.)

There is an aparthotel in Dundee. It's the Staybridge Suites. (I've stayed many times. In fact, I'm writing this from the hotel.) There are no open air markets in Dundee but there is an M & S Simply Food supermarket a five minute walk away. It's very good size.

The bus station is a five minute walk away and you can get buses to St. Andrews, Perth and Aberdeen. The train station is a twenty minute walk away if you prefer traveling by train to some of these places.
(The airport bus, Fly Dundee, does not operate from the train station. It has its own stop in town.)

Cabs are plentiful but bring cash. Most prefer cash over card.

Have you spent any time in Glasgow yet? It’s a vibrant, historic city itself and is also well situated as a jumping-off point for day trips to other places in western Scotland.

One possibility to consider: Rabbie’s runs day trips to the isles of Arran and Bute. My attempt to take the Arran one was foiled by a change in the ferry schedule, but you might be luckier!

I absolutley loved my stay in Oban. You can take the ferry to Mull - either on your own or book through West Coast tours to see not only Mull but Iona and Staffa. The Isle of Lismore is also less than an hour ferry from Oban. I didn't make it there on my trip, but it looks like it would have some good hiking. I stayed at the Invercloy Guest House which has some of the best views from a hotel room I have ever seen! Have a fantastic trip wherever you decide to go!

Are you looking for town or country?

Aberdeen puts you near many castles, both intact and ruins.

You could train or bus from Glasgow to Oban, possibly stopping on Loch Lomond. You'll be going through some beautiful country. Based in Oban for a few days you could visit the islands of Mull and Iona, as well as others without a car.

Here are a couple posts that may give you some ideas.

Scotland without a car

Scotland with no car

Adding a couple more posts on public transport around Aberdeen

Aberdeen- Footdee Fishing Village

Aberdeen public transport

Xplore Dundee now also run a non stop bus to Aberdeen from Edinburgh Airport 24/7 taking 2 hours 45 minutes.
Ember Bus with their all electric buses also run from Ingliston park and ride to Aberdeen hourly, with a tram ticket for the one stop ride to the airport included.
A slightly longer ride with more stops (most of which are pre booked request stops) on a more interesting route. They also call into Dundee at Slessor Gardens.
Xplore Dundee (McGills) also run an Open Top bus tour of Aberdeen.
The puffins at Bullers of Buchan are easily accessible by bus from Aberdeen, as is the Fowlsheugh, another good place to see them.
The Scottish National Lighthouse Museum at Fraserburgh is also an easy bus ride, as is Dunnottar Castle.
From Inverness there is of course Culloden (hourly bus). Grantown on Spey by regular bus, The Black isle by hourly bus. Aviemore by train (or ha!f hourly bus) for the Steam Railway, also the.hourly bus to Cairngorm.
The railway ride to the Kyle of Lochalsh is a must.
You can easily do the Isle of Skye or the Isle of Raasay by Citylink bus from Inverness.
On Skye there is plenty of time to connect to Dunvegan Castle or take the very scenic bus ride round the Trotternish Peninsula.

Thanks for all the feedback!

Frank II, I am so glad you mentioned the high prices in Edinburgh during August. I popped in some dates into Google, and my eyes almost popped out! Dundee looks like an interesting spot. Unfortunately, the airport bus schedule doesn't work for our 9am flight out of EDI. I think we might spend that last night at an airport hotel.

NancyG, Glasgow sounds like a neat city! We might spend our last few nights there instead of in Edinburgh.

Dawn, Oban does look lovely. Could this be visited as a day trip from either Edinburgh or Glasgow? Or, is the journey too far?

jeanm, thanks for sharing these posts! They will give me lots of help when planning. We are looking to stay in towns, but we also want to venture into the country.

isn31c, this info is really helpful! I'm already getting day trip ideas. It's great knowing how different places are connected.

The tentative plan is Edinburgh - Inverness - Aberdeen - Glasgow (w/final night at hotel near EDI airport). Is this feasible for a 2 week holiday?

Don't wait too long to book the EDI hotel. When some singer named Taylor Fast, or Quick, or Swift--something like that--was performing in Edinburgh, the Hampton Inn at EDI was getting over 400 GBP per night and they were sold out.

I was there for an early morning flight out of EDI but booked early and used Hilton points to pay.

If you are going directly from EDI to your train to Inverness, I have a little trick I use to make things easier.

Instead of going to Edinburgh Waverly to get your train to Inverness, get it from Haymarket. It's the first stop after departing Waverly. The airport tram stops directly in front Haymarket but doesn't in front of Waverly. You could get a bus from the airport to Waverly, but Haymarket is a much smaller station and I find the tram more comfortable than a bus. The train ticket price will be the same.

There is a 0430 Xplore Dundee bus from Dundee, arrives 0550, and a 0430 Ember Bus. Due to there being no tram that early the Ember sets down at the airport at 0555.
Ember are far cheaper than Xplore Dundee at £9.10, if booked on line up to 10 minutes before travel.
That is a fixed, not dynamic price.
From Glasgow the Edinburgh airport bus runs hourly all night. Overnight it is a deviation on the route #900.

I will second that Glasgow is a terrific city where you wouldn't want a car even if you had one. I didn't care for our hostel (wouldn't recommend Safestay Charingcross). For us I found it would have made more sense to stay on the West side of town, but that may not be the case for your interests. I wish I'd had an extra day as we weren't able to see everything we were hoping to during our 2 full days.
Aberdeen is an underrated city. It's beautiful in it's own right and there are so many beautiful castles nearby. Transit within Aberdeen is good, but someone else will have to speak to what day trip options are available. Dunnottar Castle and Crathes Castle were my favorites in the region.

I really appreciate all the responses!

After looking at train travel times and hotel prices, we settled on the following itinerary:
- Edinburgh = 2 nights
- Glasgow = 4 nights
- Aberdeen = 3 nights
- Dundee = 3 nights
- Edinburgh = 1 night

Frank II, thanks for mentioning the Staybridge Suites in Dundee. We ended up booking there.

Speaking of Dundee, has anyone taken the bus to Glamis Castle? We are considering this as a DIY day trip.

Claire89, I am so glad you enjoyed Glasgow and Aberdeen. From the latter, we have already booked a day trip with Rabbie's that includes a stop at Dunnottar Castle. What were your favorite spots in each city?

The last night in Edinburgh is near Haymarket, so we can catch the Airlink bus to the airport early the next morning. Since the city will be busy with the Fringe Festival, I thought about spending that last afternoon/evening in Leith. It looks like an easy tram ride away. Any thoughts?

The bus to Glamis Castle only runs on Sunday- 3 return services.

On Monday to Friday there is one single morning bus at 0845 to Glamis Village and a single afternoon bus back at 5pm, no Saturday service.

Hi, LaurieC,

Stuart (isn31c) had recommended the Fowlsheugh RSPB Nature Reserve. It's an amazing place. There's a good chance of seeing puffins if you walk all the way out to the end of the trail, pass the observation hut, and continue all the way round the cliffs to the other side. The puffins usually nest in the caves on the west side of the cliffs.

In addition to puffins, you'll also see thousands of seabirds, including guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes, and common gulls. The noise from the cliffs is incredible. The cliffs themselves are spectacular, as well.

If you continue on past the entrance to Fowlsheugh, you'll find a footpath (vertiginous in places) where you can get a good view of the Crawton Waterfall. You can even hike down to the pebble beach, although it's a bit muddy.

To get to Fowlsheugh by public transportation, take the hourly X7 bus from Aberdeen, and ask the driver to let you off at the Crawton bus stop. It's about 3/4 of a mile down the Crawton road to Fowlsheugh.

It's well worth a half day out, and you could have dinner in Stonehaven on the way back. As you seem adventurous, you could try a fish supper at the Carron Fish Bar, and follow it up with their deep fried Mars bar. They claim to have invented that Scottish delicacy, which is now found all over the Northeast.

One of the most spectacular castles in the Aberdeen area is Fyvie Castle. The gardens are gorgeous, as well. You can get there on the Stagecoach 35 or 35A bus. The castle is about a 20 minute walk from the bus stop in Fyvie. Let the driver know where you'd like to get off. If you're really ambitious, learn the song "The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie", which you can sing as you're walking to the castle.

https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/fyvie-castle

There's a tearoom there as well, if you're planning to have lunch or a cuppa.

I see that jeanm has already reposted my earlier posts about Aberdeen. I stand by them. I should say that you will be fortunate to be visiting Aberdeen later in July, as the Tall Ships event, earlier in the month, is expected to bring thousands of visitors to the city. One estimate is for over 400,000 attendees to the event.

You may also want to take the Stagecoach 201 bus to Ballater. The route takes you along Royal Deeside, and Ballater is one of the most charming towns in that part of Scotland, There is a really nice hike around Loch Muick, which is about eight miles south of Ballater. Unfortunately, there is no public transportation to the loch, so you'd need to hire a taxi in Ballater.

Have a wonderful time in Aberdeen!

Best wishes,

Mike (Auchterless)