Hi all,
My husband and I are hopefully planning a Scotland trip for late August (yes late notice, but as a PhD student you don't often have the luxury of being able to plan far in advance!). We wanted to pull the trigger on tickets today (Delta had $450 tickets to Glasgow!), but the prices went way up overnight, so we are waiting and seeing over the next week or so if there's any change.
We likely will be going for ~14 days (I wish more!). I studied abroad in Scotland at the University of Aberdeen for a semester, so for most cities in Scotland (though I never went to Glasgow), plus Skye and Glencoe/Loch Lomond, I feel like I've got a good idea of how much time we should spend and what is of interest. My husband has never been, so the plan is to give him a broad taste of what I've seen, hopefully in better weather than springtime. Even if we don't end up doing it this summer, we absolutely will go and spend a similar amount of time there.
That being said, we likely will have 4-5 days that we can allocate to things I haven't done before. I'm a bit torn between spending those days touring the NC500, or going to Oban, and going to the Inner Hebrides (excluding Skye which we will be for sure be doing), especially Islay. Some of my ancestors came from Islay, and the rest near Aberdeen, which is why it is of interest to me, plus I've heard wonderful things. We're pretty outdoorsy people, and my husband is definitely interested in the whisky.
So, I ask, if you had 4-5 days, would you rather spend them doing the North Coast 500, or going Island Hopping? The NC500 appeals to me from a road trip perspective, not unlike I've done in Iceland, and some of the sights seems amazing. But island hopping seems a bit less stressful (reading about single lane passes is terrifying!).
Beyond this advice, any suggestions of what to do in either location would be much appreciated! That might help make the decision easier. Currently sorting through a bit of information overload in regards to both places.