Scotland in October for 5 days

Definately head to the Highlands to see the beautiful scottish countryside! Inverness or Nairn are good places to base yourself for a few days. Culloden Battlefield, Cawdor Castle and whisky distilleries are all in the area.
If you give us more information, I’m sure you will get some great advice on this forum.

Your daughter will have some suggestions for Edinburgh I am sure. :) But for me, I always start at the Castle as it orients me to the city and the country. I recommend Gladstone's Land on the Royal Mile and the Georgian House. We had a great time visiting The Royal Yacht Britannia on a recent visit.

Personally, I'm not a fan of long bus trips, but you do need to get out and see the countryside. I would recommend checking out The Trossachs. It is a national park and is very scenic. It's the land of Rob Roy MacGregor. There is wonderful steamboat ride on Loch Katrine. You can do a round trip or rent a bike and bike back. If you just want to drive through the countryside, you can go to Perthshire. Look at the Loch Tay area--Aberfeldy, Killin, Glen Lyon, Dunkeld are good areas. You can do a lovely driving trip or stop and hike. You see the lochs and hills without needing to go so far north.

If you love castles, You can do a day trip to Stirling which has an incredible castle. It's also good if you are interested in history. There is a wonderful website, Undiscovered Scotland which can help you explore further.

Our first time in Scotland we had about the same timing. There is so much to see and do, figure you have a couple of days in and around Edinburgh. Then you have 2-3 days to travel out. Pick a direction and go.

The west coast is great. Working your way up through The Trossachs National Park past Loch Lomand. if you can get to Inverary Castle, and you like castles, it's worth the trip. You're likely to meet up with the Duke of Argyll there. You should be able to work your way through to Glencoe and back in a long day.

The east coast is wonderful too. One of the castles we loved visiting is Dunottar Castle, just south of Stonehaven. It is right on the coast.

We spent time up in Inverness on our second journey to Scotland. Great city, and worth the visit. Culloden is definitely worth seeing if you have time to spend in the museum. They do about as good a job as you can imagine of explaining the history behind that time period and what led to the battle. And if you're there, definitely make time to see Clava Cairns. It's right around the corner (so to speak).

Glasgow is also an amazing place to explore. We found Glasgow Cathredral stunning and spent time walking through the Necropolis. The Tenement House gives you a real feel for life in the early 20th century in urban Scotland, and the Kelingrove Art Gallery is definitely worth a short visit. If you do Glasgow, enjoy using their subway system to get around. It's basically a big circle, but you can get most anywhere there.

We are making our third trip this year, and have long accepted that we will be making regular journeys back. There is much to see and do. And definitely just find the time to meet and engage the people of Scotland. Of the many things we are learning to love about Scotland, the people are tops on our list.

Have a wonderful trip.

Our favorite areas were around Glencoe, which is NW of the Trossachs Park, and Skye. I think it also depends on what you're looking for -- if you want castles, then you can stay closer to the Edinburgh with day trips. But if you want to see more of the natural beauty of Scotland with the craggier cliffs and higher hills (it's all great, but these areas were just even more amazing), then I'd head west.