My Second Trip/Husband's first

We circumnavigated Great Britain in 2023 from May 17 to June 13....never had any rain... and it was getting warm at the end of the trip. Now that we have global warming we would not attempt this trip in September!

We stayed across from Castle Stalker (at a wonderful little cottage thru Bk.com) , but the tours were full. Sign up way ahead of time if you want to visit! (Now!)

Instead of the Jacobite, book an all-day tour of the Isle of Skye with a guide. Book it now, or you wont get in. Our guide was supposed to be John Irvine, but he got sick, and we instead did a "scotch tour and tasting in Oban at Oban distillery. We don't drink much scotch, but highly recommend this.

Don't ride the Jacobite.....instead, drive to the viewpoint at Glenfinnan and watch it cross the viaduct.. Read the train reviews....dirty windows and nowhere to stand and view the viaduct crossing do not make a fun train trip.

We found that if we had not booked reservations at many places, we could not get in. At Edinburgh Castle they were turning people away when the gates opened. We loved touring the Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh.

Fort William- we simply are not going to get confirmation or otherwise on the Steam Train before March.
If you don't want to do exactly the same trip on the normal diesel train (take the 0830 and you'll be back before lunchtime), then as your husband is mechanically minded what about visiting the Banavie Swing Bridge when a train is due, and Neptune's Staircase. Drive down to see the Viaduct in a way you can't from your train seat, maybe when a diesel train is crossing it.
If you do the 0830 service train, get off at Banavie on the way back, visit the staircase before the next Mallaig bound train arrives- to see the bridge swing.
Then drive down to see the Glenfinnan monument and viaduct.
It always amazes me that people ride the Jacobite train, yet are not given time to go and see the Monument at Glenfinnan.

On the theme of mechanical mindedness if going to Eilean Donan you could divert at Shiel Bridge down to Glenelg to ride the Glenelg turntable ferry- the last manually operated turntable ferry in the world.

If you decided to go to Skye take that route in at least one direction.

On Loch Lomond you could visit the under restoration Maid of the Loch steam driven paddle ship at Balloch- especially if you can fit in a day when the steam driven winch is in steam.

If you are wanting a steam train ride then do the Bo'Ness and Kinneil line when you at Edinburgh.

If you are going to the Falkirk Wheel, why not also the Kelpies- especially if you can get on one of the tours.

On the question of Castle Stalker I'm not sure I would go down just for the view from the shore, But maybe e-mail them to enquire about their infrequent tour dates- who knows, you may get lucky.

On Castle Stalker, I am checking their website regularly for the tour date and times, but their website isn't updated with 2024 dates yet. I do want to go out to it for the tour, but if I cant, I wont drive down just for the view of it.

I saw the Kelpies last time, they were neat, but if I have to choose between getting Doune Castle or Blackness Castle in on the drive, I will skip it for the others. That is a busy day for sure.

Thanks for the other ideas for stops, I will look those up!

On Day 2 add a visit to Clava Cairns, just a few minutes from Culloden. They are supposed to be the inspiration for Craig na Dun in Outlanders

Yeah, I saw Clara Cairns last time. I don’t think that my hubby cares much about that one but we can stop there for a few minutes if we decide we want to make the stop.

You mention potentially skipping Fort William and substituting Skye. That would put you further from Edinburgh and make your day 6 plan pretty much impossible. I live on Skye and allow 6 hours to drive to Edinburgh and that's without stopping to sightsee. If you do decide on Skye rather than Fort William then Castle Stalker would be way off your route.

Yes, I looked at that yesterday and figured the hours. It is just too far. I am now checking timing to drive the other way, round to St Andrew’s. Yes, I will have to reconfigure everything else a bit but hotels wouldn’t have to change except for the FW hotel stay. Still figuring!

For non-golfers, what is there to see on St Andrew’s?

St Andrews is a charming little town that has much to offer non-golfers, including a castle ruin and a cathedral ruin, the campus of Scotland's oldest university, a lovely beach, and three main streets filled with shops and places to eat.

When I went there on a Rabbie's day tour last year, I spent most of my time touring the castle and taking photos there, but then wished I had more time to explore the streets and closes of the town.