Quick trip to Scotland

My daughter and I traveled to Edinburgh the last week of October 2024. We took a day trip to the Highlands, Glen Coe and Loch Ness with Highland Experience. There was a lot of driving involved . The scenery was not lush and green but rather brown and dried out. We visited Glen Coe, Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle which were not crowded nor touristy. One option for you could be Stirling Castle which satisfies your history interest and is certainly reachable by train ( less than an hour). We did not go there because of a time constraint but if we had another day in Edinburgh we would have.

You have three spare days, not one, so Orkney and Shetland become more viable.
Potentially even the last flight on Thursday may be possible.
However, as September turns to October the chance of weather disruptions to both air and sea services becomes higher so buffer time on the way back would be highly desirable - that is returning south on Sunday night.

You say you want quaint and off the beaten path, but then choose the tourist town of Pitlochry. In the same area Dunkeld (train station), or Aberfeldy could be better fits.

I would definitely choose the September option. Weather is likely to be more settled (although still unpredictable!) and it will be warmer than the end of October. The Pitlochry area would be perfectly decent, but if Shetland is a big bucket list item for you then perhaps you could look at flying from Edinburgh (EDI) to Sumburgh (LSI).

I put in some sample dates to Loganair departing EDI on Friday 25th Sept at 0650 landing in Sumburgh 0820, which would give you basically all day on the Friday, then you could stay 2 nights, giving you all day Saturday and fly back to EDI at 1845 landing in EDI at 2010. The cheapest round trip ticket would come to £325 each. EDITED: Just seen isn31c's reply - yes you could also fly up on the Thursday evening.

You could rent a car at the airport and you should still be able to find accommodation, although Shetland wool week starts on Sunday 27th September, so people will be arriving ahead of time and accommodation does get very difficult to find during wool week itself. Wool related shops and businesses will be gearing up for wool week, and the Shetland museum in Lerwick has a wonderful exhibition year round about Shetland wool and knitting. I am also a knitter and while I've not managed to hit wool week itself (it would be too busy to me), I've been there several times in the run up and it was great.

You could choose Orkney instead and again fly up and rent a car at the airport in Kirkwall.

I would also strongly recommend September over late October. October/November are my least favourite times in Scotland, it's very dark and damp and grey. In September you may still have some sunshine. If you want to go to Shetland, you should do it! As others have said you can easily fly there and spend a few days. Just be aware those flights tend to be surprisingly expensive (I was recently looking into this myself).

Another one for September over November.

September the days are considerably longer than November, also November is after the day the clocks go back and it gets dark early. Another thing to consider is a lot of places start to close for the winter in October esp out of the cities.

I agree that there are so many wonderful places in Scotland it is very hard to narrow choices down, but as both Jackie and Stuart said, you do have the choice of flying up to Shetland or Orkney and spending two to three days there. I think that would be the only viable way of getting there if you wanted to maximize your time on the islands.

Is there any way you could extend your stay by a few days? Then you could take the train from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, rent a car, either in Aberdeen(or once you get to your island destination) and take the overnight ferry up to the islands, which is pretty interesting in itself. I love the Scotland ferries, but then again I like boats. That's I'm planning on doing next year when I head back to Scotland.

But really, whatever you do, I'm sure you will find a lot of beautiful scenery and interesting places to visit. Do you plan on doing anything in Edinburgh while your husband is working? You could follow the recommendation of visiting Stirling Castle and the town of Stirling, both of which are pretty wonderful. It's a 50-minute train ride from Edinburgh. You could also do a day trip to Glasgow, which is a fun city, although I know you said you don't really like cities that much.

Edit: One other thing I forgot to mention is Rabbie's tours. If you don't want to rent a car, there is a company called Rabbi's that offers tours to a lot of places, and many of them are based out of Edinburgh. So you could get picked up there and then visit some of the Highlands or a few other places in one day or even two or three days. They have tours of varying lengths. They come highly recommended on this forum. https://www.rabbies.com/en-us/tours/scotland

Hello all. Thanks for the advice. We have dates now so hopefully you will be able to advise me better. We will be in country September 28- October 4. We will be in Edinburgh Monday the 28th through Friday the 2nd. We will leave early Friday morning for somewhere else and we will have 2 nights but will have to be at the airport Sunday morning. So we probably have time for one other place. There are a few places that are catching my attention but I don’t know how to choose just one! While my husband is at work, I will explore nearby areas to Edinburgh. Possibly Stirling and stone haven?

I’m considering Glencoe, cairngorms National park area, isle of arran, fort William or Oban. They all seem so lovely and I want to see them all but I also want a relaxed pace with my husband after he worked all week so I think I’ll have to choose just one or two max. I’m also open to an interesting hotel/lodging determining where I go. I’d love to stay in a castle or a unique hotel or house. Thoughts?

Of the places you have listed I think the biggest bang for your buck is Oban. You would get one excellent drive or train ride there and back and you would be able to take a day trip from Oban on the Saturday to Mull and Iona, so some island scenery as well.

At Oban Barcaldine Castle would have been the obvious place to stay, but they are booked up that weekend.

If wanting a really unique hotel and you are renting a car then you could consider the Isle of Eriska (there is a bridge, it isn't a ferry island!!) - https://www.eriska-hotel.co.uk/
Obviously it isn't at all cheap, but there are vacancies.

More down to earth price wise, another special place (with a car) is the Pier House at Port Appin- https://pierhousehotel.co.uk/stay-with-us

I will recommend the isle of Arran, if you're looking for beautiful nature, a place that is relatively untouristed and a place that is very easy to get to. I was there for several nights in 2023 and just loved it. It's known as "Scotland in Miniature" because of its diverse landscapes—mountains, coastlines with lovely beaches, ancient castles, ruins and lush glens. And it is easily reached by ferry from Ardrossan (which is a quick train ride from Glasgow or Edinburgh),

it's really lovely there, and so easy to get around. Having a car does make it easier (I had one and had no difficulty maneuvering the single track roads), but it does have very good public transportation, which is unusual for the Scottish islands. And it's SO beautiful. There is a wonderful array of wildlife—you can see seals lounging on the rocks, eagles, and sometimes even dolphins and porpoises. In fact, Arran is where I saw my first hairy coo. 😊 It's small but well worth a visit. It really would be a good place to go with limited time, because of its size.

Because I had a car, I stayed in the south in the Lagg area, and it was really lovely down there, but Brodick is the main (albeit small) town, and where the ferry ports. It's a cute little town with shops and cafes. I know you said you're not there to shop, but I would recommend the Arran Cheese Shop, which has some wonderful cheeses made on the island, and also Arran Aromatics, which has all natural products for your skin and hair, and all their products are made there on the island. Edit: It is now called ARRAN Sense of Scotland.

I stayed at the Lagg Hotel, which was built in the late 1700’s and is near the south coast. You definitely have to drive to get anywhere, but the hotel itself serves both breakfast and dinner (breakfast is included). They also have a bar. The dinners were not fancy, but were very good and the owners (a young married couple) were so nice (the husband is the chef). Kilmory beach is a 5-10 minute walk from the hotel, and on the way, you can stop and see the 5,000 year old Torrylin burial cairn.

If you enjoy walking you might want to look through the Walk Highlands website, which has walks for all areas of Scotland. Here is the link for walks on Arran: https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/arran. Really, I can't recommend this place enough. I so enjoyed my time here and would love to go back.

EDIT: I will suggest that you decide quickly (or at least make a few cancellable bookings at hotels) or you run the risk of not finding much in the way of lodging.

We will leave early Friday morning for somewhere else and we will have 2 nights but will have to be at the airport Sunday morning.

As much as I enjoy Oban and the area (and Barcaldine Castle is lovely), you really don't have time if you need to be at Edinburgh Airport Sunday morning. Driving under perfect conditions would be around 3 hours plus additional time to return your rental car. What time is your flight? The Isle of Arran would have similar logistical issues.

I would suggest you find somewhere under a 2 hour drive of the airport.

Perhaps St. Andrews and the fishing villages of Fife.

For a castle stay, consider Faside Estate in East Lothian. You could visit Dirleton Castle, the seaside town of North Berwick, Glenkinchie Distillery, Preston Mill, enjoy seafood on the coast.

I believe our flight is at 11:30am. Not too early but also not late enough to do anything Sunday. I’m still trying to convince my husband to tack on one more day!

As I mentioned in my previous post, you really need to be closer to the airport for your Sunday flight. Driving in Scotland is not like driving in the US.

If you can add an extra night that opens more places. 2 nights in XXX and the night before your morning flight close to the airport.

Two ideas closer to Edinburgh, for you to explore the Scottish Borders-

Dalhousie Castle- https://www.dalhousiecastle.co.uk/

and the Schloss Roxburghe near Kelso- https://schlosshotel-roxburghe.com/en/home

Arran (or any other island) really isn't a great idea, in case the weather closes in and the ferry service is cancelled