Scotland (Looking for Beauty)

Lodging on Skye is in much demand. If you have a car, you won't be tied to staying in a place with bus service, so that will help. Still, it would be smart to nail down accommodations there soon. Things get picked-over quite early. I know nothing about lodging in Glencoe.

I do my initial research on booking.com, then I often try to find the website belonging to the hotel, to see whether I can get a better rate. Still, booking.com will give you an idea of potential costs.

You might reduce your driving time a bit if you can fly into Glasgow rather than Edinburgh. Driving times in rural Scotland being what they are, you should do some route checking on ViaMichelin.com (pad those times, though, to allow for lots of scenic stops). Having 3 days on Skye probably means you'll need to spend 4 nights there.

Re- Glencoe.

Someone else on the forum recently 'found' Creag Mhor Lodge at Onich, on the A82 just up the road from Glencoe.

It seems to be quite reasonably priced, and an interesting history behind the building. Meets your specification in terms of pretty grounds and Loch Views.

We spent 4 days and 3 nights at Alltshellach on Loch Leven which is on the other side of the Ballachulish Bridge from Creag Mhor Lodge. Alltshellach is owned by HF Holidays, a hiking and guiding group. https://www.hfholidays.co.uk/country-houses/locations/glen-coe-scottish-highlands Alltshellach's grounds are on the loch and the accommodations, although not "plush", were quite comfortable and the food was excellent. You do not have to be part of a guided hiking group to stay there but if you reserve as self-guided you can take advantage of their maps and seek suggestions from their guides You can also register your hiking route so they can send up flares if you don't return in a timely fashion. We were self-guided and had our own car but felt very welcomed and enjoyed meeting the people who were part of the guided groups.

As an alternative to Skye you might consider Arran which has rightly been described as Scotland in miniature. Unfortunately the B&B we stayed at did not make it through the pandemic so I can't recommend where to stay but I do recommend the island.

When I was on Skye in 2023, I stayed at a B&B just outside of Portree that was £55 a night, and included breakfast. It was small, but very clean and comfortable and convenient to get to other places.

The owner closed her B&B due to the high tax law that just went into effect, but gave me the name of a friend of hers who is still taking in visitors. Her name is Essie and her email is jan (at) jans.co.uk. I have no idea how much she charges but you might try emailing her.

Thank you to everyone that has responded. You are all so helpful! I'm exploring the two areas mentioned and comparing and getting really excited.

If anyone has any other thoughts on seeing the beauty of Scotland and think I should be going somewhere completely different, I'm waiting about one more week before committing.

Thank you.

I don’t think you can go really wrong with Scotland.

Lodging on Skye goes fast. So keep an open mind and consider Arran or Mull as well, if you don’t find lodging on Skye that fits within your budget.

You could also consider other small towns other than Glencoe to give you the feel. Aviemore is small, cute, with nature. Again, you might let your destination be driven by where you find a place to stay that interests you and fits your budget. You don’t have to wait on that to determine airfare and car rental.

I will put a call in for the wider Cairngorms, a more rolling landscape than the west.
Often still snow to seen on the highest peaks.
Far less midges and generally warmer and drier.
Biggest area of native scots pines in Abernethy forrest .
As stunning as Skye is its getting unpleasantly busy in high summer.
Tomintoul is a lovely little place, the estate sometimes have guided tours listed,the info centre is at the top of tbe village.
Over in Deeside ,the walk up from the Linn of Dee to Derry Lodge is a bit of a favourite.

The problem is with an open ended question like "is there anywhere else to consider" there are almost endless suggestions in the 80% or more of Scotland which is not much (if at all) frequented by people on this forum.

You have asked for 3 days on one of the Islands. This forum only normally visits Arran, Skye and Mull with a smattering to Islay. That is about it. Yet there are lots of other islands, far less visited but each glorious in their own way. Two examples (which are ideal 3 day islands) are Tiree (which you can even fly to) and Gigha (off Kintyre). Tiree in particular has getting on for two dozen glorious beaches where you will rarely find another soul and its unusual machair landscape is great for wildflowers and birdlife. There are also prehistoric remains to explore.
There are two car hire agencies, and a dial a ride island wide bus service which is almost your private taxi within the limits of other passenger needs.
But for what it's worth stay with the familiar- the 3 islands known here.

On the mainland you could visit Ayrshire/Dumfries and Galloway. Or in June the far north west between Ullapool and Durness will not be too over-run with NC500 traffic. If you had done Durness etc the obvious island choice would be Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides either by ferry from Ullapool or fly to Stornoway from Inverness, then local car rental.

@isn31c - you are absolutely correct. Sorry, I'm too broad and open here. I understand it's a bit of a ridiculous question. I'm trying to find a little more time and perhaps will have 10 days. I'm excited to look up the places you mentioned. At first glance, it appears I'm finding nicer accommodations at a better price. Again, having a car should allow me to stay out of the busier places and stay in a nicer places out in nature and still take day trips to see ad walk in beauty.

Thanks so much everyone!

We just spent two weeks in Scotland and spent 5 days in the Glencoe area. We stayed at the Scorry Breac guesthouse. The rooms are very comfortable and the scenery is beautiful. The hosts are very amiable and have great ideas for day trips out of Glencoe. Your overall plan sounds great. See less, experience more.

Glencoe and Skye are perfect for scenic beauty and walking options.
I'd also check booking.com and Airbnb..the latter more likely to bring up short term rentals.Come back onto the Forum for more comment on your initial choices.
Rannoch Moor, Glen Etive, Glencoe itself will easily keep you busy for 3 days(4 nights) as will Skye.Outstanding, world class walking and sightseeing.
The chairlift at Glencoe Ski Centre is well worth going up as a short walk at the top takes you to a superb viewpoint.A walk along the West Highland Way in a southerly and/or northerly direction gives fabulous views.
Glasgow is better to fly into than Edinburgh as in 30 mins drive from the airport you are at Loch Lomond.