Hi all! We are planning a mid-October trip to Scotland, flying in and out of Edinburgh. We are traveling with a 2 year old and 5 year old. We know there will be a lot of driving involved, especially since we want to be able to get to Isle of Skye, and were wondering if this group can provide advice on how best to split up the trip. I am thinking 3 nights Edinburgh; 2 nights Inverness; 2 nights Portree; 1 night Edinburgh, but I'm concerned about the long drive from Portree to Edinburgh. Is there somewhere other than Portree that we should stay that will still allow us to get to Skye? Any other suggestions for how to break things up? Thank you!
Posted by
Delaware
1440 posts
Hi, fangsmail,
Portree to Edinburgh can be done in about six to seven hours, if you drive straight through, and take the Armadale to Mallaig ferry. However, with two youngsters, driving straight through is not really practical. Broadford is about 45 minutes closer to Armadale, and is generally less expensive than Portree, but that only knocks a short time off of your long drive.
You may want to consider taking a long lunch stop somewhere along the way to break up the journey. Fort William is too close to the start of your journey, so possibly Ballachulish or Crainlarich, assuming that you're taking the A82. Once you're through Crainlarich, there's little else until you get to the south end of Loch Lomond. Tyndrum might be a possibility. It's before Crainlarich, but Crainlarich would have a greater choice of places to eat.
After you leave Fort William, the next McDonald's you'll come to is near the big roundabout at Balloch.
Hope you have a wonderful time!
Mike (auchterless)
p.s.: Just had a quick look at some of the places along the way. The Glencoe Cafe in Glencoe Village, near Ballachulish, just off of the A82, has some excellent reviews on Trip Advisor, and appears to be child friendly, as well.