May trip - are we tackling too much?

Other than the distillery, there’s little else to do in Oban. It’s a good place to relax.

How exciting to be planning this trip!
You mentioned "Stealth Falls." Did you mean Steall Falls? It's not in Glencoe, but it was our favorite hike when we were in Scotland last week. Highly recommend.

Hello,

My family and I are doing a very similar trip in June, I'm happy to see that others have landed on a similar itinerary! For Skye I found some hikes that seem to be spectacular and slightly less popular, and I am extremely excited for the Oronsay tidal island near Ullinish (short flat hike, requires tide tables) and wish we had time for Coire Lagan near the fairy pools (hard 5 mile hike with 2000ft elevation gain, but great views over a mountain top lake).

Some great looking hikes in Glencoe area include the popular Lost Valley hike and Glen Etive. Both of these take about 2 hours and are featured in a number of Harry Potter movies. I recently watched Prisoner of Azkaban and noticed the three sisters (Lost Valley hike) in the background of many shots, and the link to Glen Etive describes some scenes where that area was used as a setting. If you are driving from Oban, Lost Valley seems like a great option. Look up the history and I guarantee you will want to go even more.

I have a friend from the UK who suggested Meall a' Bhuachaille which is a 4 hour hike with some elevation gain in the Cairngorms near Glenmore. Unfortunately we may have to skip the full hike due to time constraints, but will probably still visit that area.

Good luck! Sounds like an amazing trip, please feel free to update the post when you come back, I'd love to hear feedback before we head there.

Hi JW65

Sounds like a good plan, apart from your very long day on Skye. Kilt Rock is still closed and not expected to reopen until late May at the earliest. There have been chaotic scenes on the road there as visitor ignore the no parking signs and block the road, scaling fences etc to try to view the site. Personally unless you are huge fans of castles I would give Dunvegan Castle a miss. The gardens are nice, but many visitors find the interior rather disappointing.

If you want to do any decent length hikes (e.g. the full Quiraing circuit which is spectacular) I think you have too many sites for one day. It will take you a good 90 minutes to drive from the Trotternish peninsula (where most of your sites are) across to Neist Point. It can be a frustrating drive as the last 30 minutes is on single track roads with passing places, full of visitors with little idea of how to manage to passing places. Just last night on my way home on that road I witnessed a convoy of 7 cars and campers trying to squeeze into a passing place meant for 2 vehicles. Nobody was giving way and it was gridlock.

My suggestion would be to view the Old Man of Storr from the road, do the full Quiraing hike, forget the Fairy Glen (not at its most atmospheric when there are lots of visitors) and head from the Quiraing across to Neist Point. There is a longer hike you can do there which takes you away from many of the visitors Neist Walk or for an ever greater wilderness feeling this one Waterstein Walk

In terms of places to get lunch - if you want to do a decent length hike (or 2) then I'd suggest grabbing sandwiches from the COOP supermarket on the edge of Portree.

Best wishes
Jacqui (Skyegirl)

Hi MadisonExplorer,

Shh, don't tell everybody about the Ullinish hike! It's my favourite. You'll want to park considerately as the parking area is tiny and the landowner can be a bit sniffy if people park carelessly, blocking his access or leaving too much space between vehicles so very few people can park, as this leads to others blocking the road. The landowner often has cows and bulls in the field that you have to cross to get to the tidal causeway, so do take care and stay as far from the animals as you can. Look down as you walk through the field as there are lots of wild orchids there (tiny but beautiful). The causeway beach is a great spot for a picnic and a swim, before you climb the short but steep hill on the island. Be very careful of the cliff edges, there are some dangerous overhangs. If you are quiet, and lucky, you may see otters. Lunch or brunch at the Bog Myrtle cafe/bookshop in Struan is a treat

Jacqui (Skyegirl)

Yes probably, but go for it! You can always scale back if it all feels to much.

Re hiking - you might need to factor in the weather conditions. Good weather, while desirable, is not guaranteed. If it’s not great, a call has to be made as to whether it’s safe or worth it to be out and about. In which case a) nobody will blame you for baling and b) you’ve freed up some time for something else!

The Quirang walk will probably take up more time than you realise to make an extensive exploration! If the weather is kind the previously mentioned Coire Lagan hike is in awesome surroundings!

The Steall Falls walk is accessed not from Glencoe, but from Glen Nevis from Fort William. Follow the road up the Glen to the car park at the end and it’s a relatively short walk from there. I trust you’re already familiar with Walk Highlands? If not look them up on the interwebs for a wealth of useful information!

Ian

Perth is a long way away. Not sure how you do that in a day and then return to Scotland. It will be a long day.

On Day 8 it looks like you're going to do a lot of backtracking - you'll drive along Loch Ness en route from Skye to Inverness, then head east to Culloden, then back through Inverness down to Loch Ness, then back up to Clava Cairns, which is very close to Culloden. Could you do the Loch Ness tour earlier in the day, on your way to Inverness, and then Culloden and Clava Cairns before heading to Grantown-on-Spey?