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Reasonable car-less itinerary?

Posted by on

Hi Everyone,
I'm in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Scotland for myself and my husband for either mid-May or mid-June 2024 (and yes, I saw Taylor Swift will be in Edinburgh the 7-9th, so hoping to avoid that hoopla, if possible). It'll be our first trip to Scotland, though we have traveled a bit in other countries, pre-covid. We don't want to rent a car - I know this is the ideal way to see most of the sights, but we're both nervous drivers/navigators, even when driving on the side of the road to which we're accustomed, and that plus one-lane roads sounds massively stressful. So, we're thinking 15 days on the ground, 18-ish days altogether (could expand to 20, if necessary) public transportation and tours only. We don't like to feel rushed, but would like to make good use of the time we have, as we don't know when we'll be back in the UK. I really want to visit Skye, and I'm very intrigued by the Wilderness Scotland walking tour Does this sound reasonable? Nothing has been booked yet...

Day 1: Depart / fly overnight
Day 2: Land in Edinburgh / train to Inverness (maybe add a day in Edinburgh or Inverness to overcome jet lag?)
Day 3: 10:30 a.m. Wilderness Walking tour begins (Inverness to the Isle of Skye)
Day 4: Wilderness Walking tour (Waternish Point)
Day 5: Wilderness Walking tour (Hiking the Trotternish Peninsula)
Day 6: Wilderness Walking tour (Exploring Raasay)
Day 7: Wilderness Walking tour (Wild Loch Coruisk)
Day 8: Wilderness Walking tour (The Clearance Villages)
Day 9: 4:00 p.m. Wilderness Walking tour ends (Glenelg then return to Inverness)
Day 10: Train from Inverness to Edinburgh
Day 11: Edinburgh
Day 12: Edinburgh
Day 13: Edinburgh
Day 14: Edinburgh
Day 15: Train to Glasgow
Day 16: Glasgow (maybe add a day here to see Stirling and Doune? Or see these on a day trip from Edinburgh?)
Day 17: Depart for home

I know the weather will be unpredictable no matter when we go. It does sound like there's some flexibility within the walking tour to rearrange plans if rain and wind are too ferocious. Does this sound like too much time on Skye? I would really like to do some guided hiking somewhere and not spend most days on a tour bus. The Wilderness Scotland Glencoe and the Highlands tour, piqued my interest as well, but I couldn't tell if it's perhaps a bit too challenging, as it's one level up from the Skye tour. We're relatively young (40s) and athletic, but we don't hike regularly. We're also considering adding a 1-day Rabbies tour from Edinburgh - perhaps the "Oban, Glencoe, Highland Lochs & Castles" or "Loch Ness, Glencoe & the Highlands" (though Loch Ness doesn't sound that compelling), but maybe that's too much? Is there anything else you'd add or cut from this itinerary?

Many thanks for your guidance! I've been scouring the forum for ideas, and have gotten this far thanks to all of the generous insight from you all!

Posted by
1117 posts

Hi

It's absolutely NOT too much time on Skye and their planned walks look interesting (note their website says the order of the walks will be reversed in 2024 so the opposite order to what you've listed), although nothing out of the ordinary in terms of what I'd advise visitors to Skye to see. My only quibble would be the price, which looks eye wateringly expensive to me. Their walks will be on the strenuous side, especially the Coruisk and Clearance Village ones depending on exactly which route they take, so I'm assuming you have a good level of fitness.

If you wanted a more cost effective option and to use local tour guides while on Skye you could get here by a combination of train and/or Citylink coach, base yourself in a Portree or Broadford B&B and then take day tours with Skye Geography Tours, Skye Jeep Tours or Skye Wildlife Tours.

Of course if you prefer the all inclusive option then the operator you've found looks great.

You should be able to see Stirling and Doune from Edinburgh so no real need to transfer to Glasgow.

Best wishes
Jacqui (Skyegirl)

Posted by
5751 posts

For Stirling there are a couple of 2walkup and go" trains per hour from either Edinburgh or Glasgow.

For Doune there is an hourly bus leaves from Stirling Bus Station (which is basically opposite the railway station)-run by Midland Bluebird/Eastern Scottish (otherwise known as McGills East Scotland)- https://passenger-line-assets.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/mcgillsse/MBLB/59-timetable-20230814-588e9752.pdf

Doune is also served by the once a day Cityink coach from Oban to Edinburgh (morning from Oban, evening back)

Posted by
6318 posts

I can't speak for the tour but I'm so glad they have Raasay on there. That was one of my favorite places to visit. It's so beautiful but very empty of crowds, so a very peaceful place.

Posted by
6 posts

Thanks for the insight and tips!

Jacqui, thanks especially for weighing in! It's so nice to have the perspective of a local. The tours you linked to sound really excellent, and would be much less expensive! I might need to re-think my itinerary...

Posted by
27120 posts

Rabbies tours are very popular on the forum, though I've never taken one. The Highlands are a bit closer to Glasgow than to Edinburgh, so I'd check to see whether the tours are also available from Glasgow. More than that, I'd plug each tour itinerary into ViaMichelin.com to see how much sitting-in-a-van time there will be. I've read that it's a lot. I think those tours are mostly for people trying to see Scotland in just a few days who can really only afford one day outside Edinburgh. But you have lots of time, so I really question whether that sort of packed, one-day tour is appropriate for you.

Posted by
1 posts

That looks like a great trip. My wife and I are coming to Scotland for ten days prior to boarding a ship in Southampton for a cruise. We too, are not planning to drive.

Posted by
6 posts

Okay, although my original itinerary is still very tempting, I like Jacqui's suggestion for local Skye tour guides even better, I think. And with the money we’d save, we might be able to fit in more sightseeing - however, now I'm wondering if I've swung too far the other way? This seems do-able, but perhaps too rushed… Not sure if a one-day West Highland Way hiking tour from Glasgow is a good use of time (the one I’m looking at is more hiking than driving, at least). It'd be fun to squeeze in Mull, Iona, and Staffa, but I know a lot of that can depend on the weather, and although I'm not certain how soon the West Coast Tours Three Isle trips fill up, I'm guessing we'd have to arrange for that before knowing the day's weather prediction.

I know Inverness doesn’t get a lot of love on this forum, except as a base for other side trips; perhaps it would be more pleasant to stay in Dunkeld or Pitlochry instead? (there’s also a chance I could time my itinerary with the Blair Atholl Highland Games, but not sure if I want to make that a priority).

Itinerary Round #2:
Day 1: Depart / fly overnight
Day 2: Land in Edinburgh / train to Glasgow (light sight-seeing - recover from jet lag)
Day 3: Glasgow
Day 4: Glasgow - day trip? (this Scotland's Wild tour sounds intriguing)
Day 5: Glasgow to Oban
Day 6: West Coast Tours Three Isle Tour of Mull, Iona, and Staffa
Day 7: Second night in Oban?
Day 8: Oban to Skye via? I know this is possible via public transportation, but it sounds a bit complicated. I read a trip report where someone hired a tour company to take them on a private tour and end in Portree, so that might be a possibility...
Day 9: Skye – local tour guide
Day 10: Skye – local tour guide
Day 11: Skye to Inverness?
Day 12: Inverness (side trip via public transportation to Culloden? This would be more a "nice to see" for us, not a must-see; open to other ideas via public transportation)
Day 13: Inverness to Edinburgh
Day 14: Edinburgh
Day 15: Edinburgh (day trip to Stirling?)
Day 16: Edinburgh
Day 17: Depart early for home

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