May 2020 3 Weeks London - Islay -Glasgow - Arran - Skye - Highlands

In re-reading my initial posting, I see it may have looked like I was asking for accommodation recommendations. What I’d really like at this point is some input on my itinerary from Inverness on. We plan to spend a night there before we drop my daughter off Sun morning. Then we have 3 nights open :(Sun thru Tues) until we have to be back in Glasgow Wed night to catch a flight the following morning.

What suggestions do you have in terms of route and where to spend those 3 nights? E.g. Do we hang around Inverness another night? Do we try to see more a bit further north? Do we just slow-poke it south?

Also, if you happen to have a personal preference as to whether you’d spend 3 days on Islay vs 3 days in the Lake District, I’d be very interested in hearing why. We have those days at the beginning of the trip.

Hello

Here are some thoughts based on your itinerary above.
1. If your husband likes whisky now and again then it seems to me that you have quite a lot of distilleries in your plans. The process is the same in them all, so probably no need to do lots of visits unless you are a real aficionado.
2. Flights to Islay. If you are flying from the south of England, then I think the only direct flights with Loganair are from Southend. Otherwise you would need to fly to Glasgow or Edinburgh and connect onto Loganair from there.

3. Arran v Lake District. Since you have the offer of accommodation on Arran I would go for Arran. It is said to be Scotland in miniature.

4. May 8th Edinburgh. This seems like quite a short amount of time to spend in Edinburgh. You will get conflicting advice, but to my mind there is far more to do in Edinburgh as a tourist than in Glasgow. Personally, I would head to Arran immediately after meeting your daughter and switch this part of the itinerary around a bit. You would have time to get to Arran on the evening of 7th May.
5. It is Fort William, not Port William, but to be honest I wouldn't bother with it. It's a convenient base for Glencoe and Ben Nevis, but Ben Nevis is usually shrouded in cloud and the hike up there is not one of the most scenic in Scotland. Personally I would opt for your other option of Mull, Iona and Staffa. You could drive directly from Oban to Skye in less than a day, and if you've saved a day from earlier in the trip by not going to Edinburgh for the day this could allow more time for Mull,Iona and Staffa.

6. Inverness is very much a working town, so personally I would not linger there, but head south on the A9, stopping at Dalwhinnie, Pitlochry, and Stirling. Alternatively if you have decided not to visit Edinburgh earlier in the trip then you could fit it in at this point.

Hope that helps.
Jacqui (Skyegirl)

That is all very helpful, thank you!

1. Flight to Islay. I did find a British Air flight that includes a Loganair connection in Glasgow. I need to figure out if we would then fly to GLA from Islay or do the longer ferry/train travel. IF we go to Islay

2. Right, I’m planning on Arran. Would you have a preference or thoughts on Islay vs the Lake District. Two very nice choices. We don’t know if/when we’ll be back so have to assume this is our chance for either.

3. Yes, it is a short time in Edinburgh. We’ll have to consider your suggestion of heading to Arran after picking our daughter up. It seems it would be nicer to wake up the next day there than Glasgow.

4. How embarrassing. I saw another posting where someone mixed up “Fort” and “Port” and I actually changed all my “forts” to “ports”. It certainly makes more sense to be “Fort”. Thank you for all of your thoughts here; most valuable.

5. Again, thanks for your Inverness thoughts. That’s a bit what I figured but didn’t know if there were more spectacular highlands around there we should stick around for.

Hello again
Well the Lake District is lovely but it's in England and will take quite a while to get there from Glasgow. Personally, I'd concentrate on Scotland for this trip and the plan you've got saves back tracking south.

I think you will see plenty of the Highlands on your way to Inverness from Skye and then when you head south from Inverness.

Best wishes
Jacqui (Skyegirl)

Arran is lovely. I’ve written elsewhere about climbing on Arran for somebody else if you can track it down - damned if I can for the minute. Where would you be staying on Arran?

I agree about distilleries - seen one, seen almost all of them. If you do visit, maybe just check out the shop they tend to have - like Talisker on Skye.

If you can’t track down my earlier Arran posts let me know and I’ll if I can dredge them up!

Have a great trip!

Ian

Just another quick note on whisky. I've noticed that the standard bottles tend to be cheaper in the supermarkets than they are at the distilleries. So unless you want to buy something a bit more specialised then a supermarket is probably your best bet for any purchases.
Jacqui (Skyegirl)

Ian, I did find your post. Thank you for pointing that out to me! I had read that post in the past but it’s good to have a refresher. It has a lot of good input from you and several others. It sounds like we could even spend 4 nights (or more) on Arran and be happy. I may PM you for hiking suggestions at some point. We are staying close to Broderick I believe.. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/scotland/arran-oban-oban-mull-or-isle-of-harris.

It definitely sounds like visiting the distilleries is not like wine tasting where it’s worth it even without a tour. I can see where the tours would get repetitive. We’ll keep Talisker in mind.

While I have your attention, do you have thoughts on visiting the Lake District vs Islay at the beginning of our trip?

Jacqui, thank you for the tip about buying whisky at the supermarket. That’s good to know!

Back to the Lake District vs. Islay; I am only debating that choice at the beginning of our trip. Our flight arrives in London and we’ll visit friends so we’ll already be there. I was considering taking the train to the Lake District, getting a car while there, then taking another train to Glasgow. Alternatively, I could just fly from London, with the connection, to Islay. Given that, what would your personal preference be? Tough question/choices.

Thanks, Peggy

Hi Peggy -

Shamefully, I’ve never been to Islay. I’ve drunk plenty of the whisky from there, mind! So all I can comment on is the Lakes, because I have spent lots of time there - from where I live it’s possible to drive up and do a decent hike and return same day.

I’d never pass up on a chance to go to the Lakes, the only issue for you is whether you have enough time to do it and do it justice. In my view the Lakes are best appreciated on foot and it is the one way to get away from the crowds that it attracts in summer, certainly to the honeypots, especially Windermere/Bowness, Ambleside, Grasmere and yes, Keswick. The crowds and attendant commercialism are one of the reasons that some forum contributors don’t care for the area and they aren’t the hiking type, so to is easy to understand. Personally, I love the area but the Lakes are a surprisingly large area and it’s not possible to see it all in a day, because the roads aren’t that great away from the main thoroughfares, so you’d need to give it a couple of days to see it and get a taste of it all.

The isles and Scotland generally are quieter, although the obvious touristy spots will be busy. Suffice it to say that even in summer on Arran we saw surprisingly few people. Please feel free to PM me if I can be of any assistance with hiking routes be they in the Lakes or on Arran or on mainland Scotland.

Hope your trip comes together OK and that you’ll have a great time.

Ian

Ian, that gives me more to think about. My husband and I will have to seriously consider the Lakes vs Islay. Thank you for that and for the offer to PM when we start filling in hike details.

Yes, I hope I get the "plan" together soon so I can start work on the fun details.

Thanks! Peggy

Everything said about the Lakes (above) is true and it is a lovely area. You certainly could visit the area at the beginning of your trip and it would work logistically, although I might be tempted to hire a car as you leave the train and then just keep it for the rest of your trip. If you could return it to GLA without too much of a price hike that is.

For hikes and walks in Scotland you could/should check out Walk Highlands

Best wishes
Jacqui (Skyegirl)

Thank you, Jacqui! So much to consider.

Peggy