Scotland in May '18

Scotland has a robust network of bus routes as well as the trains, so you should be able to visit the places that interest you even without a car. The only inadvantageous area is the Isle of Skye. Skye is great, but frankly I think it is a bit overrated. There are plenty of other beautiful and awe-inspiring places to visit in Scotland. And in May you have long days and many spring blooms in gardens and wildflowers out in the countryside.

One other note about the month of May: The village of Tarbert in Argyll/Kintyre hosts a major yacht race every May and all lodging for miles around is booked far in advance during that week or so. I'm not sure of pricing, but I wouldn't be surprised if some innkeepers raised their rates during that time. If your itinerary includes any place from Inverary to Oban and on down the peninsula, plan accordingly.

You can always take a day tour into the Highlands using a company like Rabbies. On one visit I stayed in Edinburgh for 4 days and did the following:

Days 1 and 2: Edinburgh
Day 3: Stirling (roundtrip via train)
Day 4: Highlands and Loch Ness (Rabbies)
Day 5: Train to York

You could use three different cities as bases to do day trips from. Edinburgh/Glasgow/Inverness. Or, you could just split your time in Edinburgh and Glasgow and do day trips from each. I spent 6 days in Edinburgh and did a couple of day trips and the rest of the time seeing the city (lots to see and do). I spent four days in Glasgow and did one day trip. To get to Inverness you could take the train. From Inverness you could do a day trip to Isle of Skye (though I think it would be a long day), and some other places such as Culloden and Clava Cairns are near Inverness. As a city Inverness is not as interesting as Edinburgh and Glasgow so will not need many days. The problem with Inverness is the time spent getting there and back, it will take away from the time you could be spending doing day trips from Edinburgh or Glasgow. Rabbies offers a lot of day trips, and I enjoyed the ones I did. Look at their web site to help you decide which cities you want to stay in. By the way, driving on the left is not a problem, I did it on my own (and I am directionally challenged), and found that after the first day it was quite natural.

Thanks for the head's up on Rabbie's. I see they do some 2-3 day tours, so that may be an option for sure. Perhaps we will base out of Glasgow and Edinburgh and hook up with one or two of the longer tours. I don't mind train travel...not as keen on buses, but if that's the only option...

I really wish I could convince hubby to drive, but he's adamant. I tried to get him to drive my sister's car when we visited her (she lives in the UK and her car is even an automatic) when it was later and no cars around - nope...