Below is our proposed agenda for a Scotland trip in mid September. I need to cut a day out of this to be able to hit a flight that is required to our next destination. I would love to have a mixture of castles, museums, outdoor activities including hiking and biking and seeing small towns with local flare.
Any recommendations on must sees along this route and where I can reduce by a day with little impact? I have debated cutting glasgow out completely and seeing more small towns. Also trying to decide between Oban and Glencoe and Fort Collins. Any advice is appreciated!
Day 1) Arrive Edinburgh
Day 2) Edinburgh
Day 3) Edinburgh/St Andrews 1/2 day
Day 4) Train to Glasgow
Day 5) Glasgow
Day 6) Drive to Oban or Glencoe and Fort Williams?
Day 7) Drive to Isle of Skye
Day 8) Isle of Skye
Day 9) Drive to Inverness
Day 10) Drive to Edinburgh for flight to Ireland
Posted by
New York City
209 posts
Do you mean Fort William? The only Fort Collins I know of is in Colorado.
Posted by
OP
Utah
2 posts
You are right! I have friends in Fort Collins so must have zoned in on that verbiage while typing. Thank you for noticing that.
Posted by
Isle of Skye, Scotland
1295 posts
I think you are trying to do too much in too little time. I'd forgo Skye and concentrate on hiking and exploring the Highlands around Glencoe and Fort William (no 's') from where you can access the Nevis Range. I can't really see why you'd bother with Inverness either as it's not a pretty town (rather the working centre for those of us living in the Highlands).
Posted by
Lake District, England
7970 posts
On Day 6 Oban would be out of your way if you are not using Oban as a base for somewhere else such as Mull/Iona/Slate Isles etc. In September it will be daylight until about 8pm, so you have around 11 hours for the journey. So start as early as possible, then through Glencoe (stop for a few hours] and then straight through to Skye via Fort William.
On Day 4 the train to Glasgow will only take under one hour so you will have two days in Glasgow.
So Days 6 and 7 have been combined.
So you could step this up and do Day 5- Glasgow to Skye via Glencoe and Fort William [singular, not plural]. Days 6 and 7 Skye, Day 8 to Inv, Day 9 Inv to Ireland.
On the Skye to Inverness day you could route via the Armadale Ferry which would give you several hours in Fort William if you wanted.
Posted by
Eastern Washington (state)
5 posts
I agree with a prior post that trying to visit anything in the Isle of Skye area would take too long.
I just returned from 2 weeks traveling from Inverness to Glasgow to Edinburgh then back up to Inverness. I had 3 goals during my time: hike the Cairngorns, tour castles, and tour distilleries.
Best 2 apps for hiking: AllTrails and Walkhighlands. Both are free (AllTrails has upgrades that cost money) and highly accurate and detailed with many filters for all physical levels, pets, geographic elements, etc.
Places I highly recommend:
*Glencoe Visitor Center for myriad of trails, free educational info, and very reasonably priced gift shop.
*Glasgow has great museums
*Edinburgh for Royal Mile
*Neil's Sheepdogs (though he was too busy the day I wanted to visit as it was lambing season.
*Oban Distillery (furthest west I went)
*Dewars Distillery had best tour
Dufftown has a great Air B&B with large dbl bedrm, private bathroom AND private sitting room warmed upon my arrival with a woodstove: Tomnamuidh House - Hazel and Neil's place. Though it is in a very small village, you are 5-15 min from over a dozen distilleries and the Speyside Cooperage, which is a must see.
I was told by more than a few locals in Inverness and Glasgow that Fort William was not worth the stop. My time was precious so I passed it by.
I hope this helps and you have a wonderful, safe and beautiful trip!
Posted by
19 posts
Consider Stirling (lovely town with Stirling Castle so you could skip Edinburgh Castle). Pitlochry followed by a scenic drive to Glencoe would be nice. Since you mention small towns, one of our favourites along the way was Aberfeldy (with the Watermill book & café below it).
You may wish to consider time in Edinburgh and another full day in Glasgow. In Edinburgh, during two full days, we enjoyed the Water of Leith walk, National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery, National Museum, main commercial streets, and some quieter areas near the university - lots of interesting shops and cafés.
For Glasgow, we concentrated on the area in and around the University of Glasgow. We visited the Botanic Gardens (a nice break from the rain!) and enjoyed their Tearoom. We spent a fair bit of time at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (they have a nice cafe with full service on the lower level). The history of surgery collections at the Hunterian Museum were very interesting. Near the city centre is the Glasgow Cathedral along with the Necropolis, which provides one with a good uphill walk and views of the city.
Enjoy your visit to Scotland (and Ireland)!