Sanity Check—Trip Suggestions

It looks good to me.

Overall, I think you're right that the trip is well put together. I'm not sure if you've ben to Scotland before, but in any case I'll offer a few thoughts:

1. There's a lot of travel, but with a car it is doable. You won't have much time to see anything in Inverness by the time you drive on Day 11 from Skye, so I'd suggest planning for stops along the way and just recognize that when you hop around this much the logistical challenge of getting from place to place does eat up part of your trip. Getting there is part of the fun however, so I don't think that's a problem.

2. I like Inverness a lot. More than most it seems. I think the town itself is well worth a solid day on its own, but many people view it as simply a good home base for seeing Culloden, Cawdor Castle, Loch Ness / Urquhart Castle or maybe even a trip up to Dunrobin Castle. You'll have to pick your spots as there is lots to do in the area and your stay there is short.

3. I could spend a week in Edinburgh. I prefer it to Glasgow (once you get a away from the Royal Mile / Castle). To give a little extra time in Edinburgh, I would skip Glasgow (or do it as part of a quick visit on the way to Glencoe). Many people love Glasgow and prefer it to Edinburgh, so take that for what it's worth.

4. As for a place to consider that you have not mentioned, we really like Stirling. The town is charming and the castle, Holy Rude church, etc. are all worth visiting if you can make that as a short stop on the way to Glencoe. It probably rushes the itinerary a bit though unless you skip Glasgow.

5. We also like the area around Pitlochry. It's worth considering as an alternative to Banchory on Day 13-14. You could even drop the car in Inverness then on Day 12 if you wanted and take the train from Inverness to Pitlochry (easy, direct connection) and then on to Edinburgh.

Scotland is so wonderful - I'm sure you'll have a great trip!

Maybe it's by choice and you don't want to visit, but I highly recommend a stop at Stirling Castle which was our favourite stop in our 2 weeks in Scotland. We spent about 5 hours there on a day trip from Glasgow and enjoyed it far more than Edinburgh Castle. I thought Inverness was a good base to stay but rather dull but we made two day trips that were worthwhile. Day one was Culloden, Clava Cairns and Cawdor Castle. The 2nd day we headed north as far as Dunrobin Castle.

Thanks for everyone's replies! After doing some research following this post and after your comments, I'm considering making Inverness a stopping point and reclaiming the second night there for either a day in Stirling or combining with Banchory for a two-day stop but moving to another location (e.g., Ballater or Pitlochry).