Scotland in early July

Can you stay on Skye longer? That would be my choice :) I had 3.5 midweek days on Mull myself just recently and if I'd a car would happily have stayed a full week for more walking and lingering in cafes with tea, cakes, and books. If not, consider the transit time vs time to be out walking. E.g. Loch Lomond has lots of good walking and is en route towards Glasgow for your flight home. (Also in Glasgow, try not to miss the Kelvingrove Museum- as a student I haunted the Kelvingrove and never made it to the Hunterian.)

For your walking, I recommend downloading the Ordnance Survey app and buying a 1 month subscription for offline maps access. You can download GPS file routes from Walk Highlands and see the route in the OS app, to help you stay on course while walking. This was very helpful when I got myself into a pickle trying a walk on Iona!

Hi Karen -

Personally, if I were in your situation, I wouldn’t bother with Inverness or Oban. If it’s scenery you are after then stick on the West Coast, towards Ullapool, especially if the weather is behaving itself. No better place in the world when the weather is good. Check out Ullapool, Gairloch, Lochinver by all means - not a huge amount to any of them, but fun nonetheless. Visit Torridon. Check out the WalkHighlands website for a choice of walks.

If worried that the journey north will leave you with a monster drive back to Glasgow (it will and you may be too late for the Museums) then consider heading back towards the Fort William/Ballachulish/Glencoe area. Tremendous scenery still and a wealth of hiking, including the daddy of them all, Ben Nevis, from Fort William. Shorter drive back to Glasgow from this area (although still lengthy).

Bad news: keep an eye here - Nigel has started a thread, where in my view any advice he gives you, you can take to the bank - on the news about the possible national rail strike that might hit late June/July and consider a flight from London to Edinburgh. Wouldn’t hurt to look now, right, as a back up option, just in case?

Have a great trip!

Ian

Wow, did not know about a potential strike - thank you Ian, great to know and will develop plan B.

Thank you Nan. Lots to consider. ..

Have you got accommodation booked yet? If not, that may well dertermine your itinerary. Many people are still holidaying in the UK and many places are already fully booked. There is a limited amount of accommodation on Skye, Mull and NW Scotland.

I have Edinburgh, Skye, Glencoe booked... I did have Mull booked, but then canceled the reservation when I determined that would not have enough time ..

Is the weather (wind, rain) and midgets (bugs) on Skye and Mull similar?

I like around Ullapool/Lochinver and it's quite striking scenically. However, it means you've really got a full days drive on the Sunday, so it's unlikely you'll really have time to see the Hunterian Museum and Gallery.

Personally I'd go for Pitlochry cause whilst it still the Highlands it's different to Skye and Glencoe where you'll have been already with quite a few castles (Blair Atholl, Glamis etc), historic sites (Dunkeld Cathedral, Killiecrankie etc), and distilleries. It's also a much shorter drive to Glasgow on the Sunday.

Pitlochry is quite touristy, you can try staying in Dunkeld or Aberfeldy instead.

I'd also recommend picking up and retuning cars at the airports rather than in the city. Driving into central Edinburgh and Glasgow (particularly the former) isn't much fun if you're not familiar with them - lots of traffic, trams, bus lanes, enforcement cameras etc.