Scotland Road Trip

hello - we are heading to Scotland for 10 days at the end of the year we are going to fort William - to go on the Jacobite train ( i have never seen harry potter) its the train from harry potter - a beautiful steam train - this is worth the trip. i am finding it hard to comprehend how long it would take to drive around Scotland as well!!

Look at some great visuals on the Visit Scotland web site. Skye will be very busy in August...book ahead if you need to go there. I would spend more time in Edinburgh. An afternoon would do for Stirling. The drive to Manchester will take 4 hours without stopping at Hadrian's Wall or the Yorkshire Dales or the Lake District; allow 2 days. I'm sure many great ideas will follow on the forum. Congratulations and Bon Voyage

The driving itinery is fine, although if you want to take the Mallaig-Armadale ferry to/from Skye it will need a reservation in August (the route is worth it in one direction, use the bridge route in the other).

I'd add an extra day in Edinburgh, take it out of Manchester if you can.

annie: "we are going to fort William - to go on the Jacobite train ( i have never seen harry potter)" - brilliant, well said! The viaduct is architecturally important and overlooks one of the most historically important spots in Scotland and all you hear is people wittering on about a childrens' story book.

Glenfinnan can be both enjoyed for the history and Harry Potter ;-)

I would suggest possibly considering Mull than Skye.

Sorry, but you are trying to fit too much into 10 days.

You are short changing Edinburgh with only 1 night, although August is Festival time and accommodation will be in short supply and expensive.

Duns is quite a way south of Edinburgh and Skye is c 8 hours drive from Duns. Unless you want to spend most of your time driving rather than seeing places, I suggest that you curtail how much ground you cover.

Edinburgh 2-3 nights
Glencoe 2-3 nights
Duns 3 nights
Manchester

If you want to cover more ground, could you reduce the time in Duns?

Accommodation on Skye gets booked up months in advance. To allow for inclement weather and the time it takes to get round the island, 3 days here is just about sufficient time to see the highlights.

My husband and I went all over Scotland a couple years ago and the drive was every bit as fun as the stops! The country is spectacularly beautiful. We went in August during Festival season and I would highly recommend 2-3 days in Edinburgh. We took in the Faulty Towers dinner show, knowing nothing about it, and it was truly a highlight of our trip. We laughed until we cried. Another absolutely amazing event was the military tattoo. I've never seen anything like it. Just typing about it gives me goosebumps! If you're going to be there during that time, it's well worth the expense. I found Google Maps to be extremely useful to us. We could get an accurate idea of distances and time between destinations. We did have a long day of driving from Dunoon up to John O'Groats to catch the ferry to the islands but the drive was really enjoyable. I would recommend getting to Stirling Castle right when they open. Parking is limited and it fills up quickly, as does the castle. Have an amazing trip!!