Edinburgh and Glasgow Scotland Trip

Are you just based in Edinburgh and Glasgow?

Rabbies and Timberbush both do one day trips from either Edinburgh or Glasgow.

DON'T attempt the Loch Ness, Glencoe and Highlands tours from either Edinburgh or Glasgow, unless you want to spend all day sitting in the bus.

Here is a link to the Rabbies' tours that wasleys mentioned. https://www.rabbies.com/en-gb/tours/scotland And as wasleys mentioned, it would help to know where you are basing yourself while there.

I will have 3 days in Glasgow and 3 days in Edinburgh. So I wanted to spend one of the Glasgow days in the highlands. I think it would be more informative in a tour for the historical context.
For Edinburgh, I am more familiar and want to do a good whiskey tasting.

I did the Loch Ness, Glencoe & the Highlands Rabbie’s tour from Edinburgh in 2023 and loved it.

Sure, it’s a long day, but it’s not like you’re on a bus in traffic all day. You’re out in the highlands with great scenery. I thought it was a great way to spend a day.

For whiskey tasting, I highly recommend the Scotch Malt Whisky Society: https://smws.com/venues

They have a few venues in Edinburgh. Some parts are members-only but some are open to the public.

From Glasgow I did a tour that went to Loch Lomond and Stirling Castle which was quite enjoyable. I think going all the way to Loch Ness would be a long day on a bus, and I was in the area when I had a car , and drove right past it without stopping. It is not the prettiest lake in Scotland. I had paid a company to create a driving tour for me, and even they suggested skipping Loch Ness calling it a tourist trap.

I agree with Anita: Loch Ness is miles and miles of more or less the same view except for Urquhart Castle. Look at www.visitscotland.com for a great gateway site with lots of photos and info.

Golden Mile Whisky is my new recommendation for an independent retailer. They were actually recommended to me by the staff at the Scottish Whisky Experience, which I also think is great.

Look for a tour that gets you west if it's the best scenery you want...Glencoe, Inveraray...West Highlands lochs etc.
The Loch Ness trip does indeed go through mile upon mile of stunning vistas but as said, the Loch itself isn't anywhere near our best though it's pretty at Fort Augustus.The ruins of Urquart Castle are very interesting and it has an important history; the video presentation is very well done before the castle visit itself but ...it may not be of huge interest to you.

So am I crazy for thinking that maybe we should not book at tour and just drive the preferred area ourselves?

Yes, Drive yourself! We did it twice and did not regret it. It might be a good idea if you intend to do tastings at a distillery if you have a designated driver or go on a tour for that as the DUI laws are unforgiving. Study different areas of Scotland to visit and find surprises on the way. We like Castles and Scotland has multitudes. We did try to follow the Campbell Clan's locations. The Highlands are less than 1/3rd of Scotland and there so many other beautiful, historical and scenic locations. We were driving up from England so we enjoyed Galloway and Dumfries, and another time we drove through the Whisky country north of Edinburgh, stopping on the way. We stayed in owner hosted B&Bs and often had dinner served there, too. You can search online when you come into town or village and usually can book a place if you do it by 5pm. One time we stayed in a wonderful Farmhouse where we met up with the same 4 people we met at the local Pub and had our own party with some scotch we offered to all. One of the men apologized for his wife as she was a Glaswegian and even he couldn't understand her accent sometimes. Bon Voyage!

When Kathleen says she did a tour of the whisky country that presumably means Speyside because that is what overseas tourists usually mean by whisky country.
But there are 5 whisky regions, very distinctive both in their geography and their whisky types-
The Lowlands;
The Highlands;
Speyside;
Islay;
Campbeltown

Campbeltown (Kintyre) is one of those regions which is totally neglected on this forum, absolutely unjustifiably.
That can be a day trip from Glasgow flying in and back, and local car rental from a local company. Or taxi if doing tastings and merely visiting the town not the surrounding countryside.
But equally you can do a multi day road journey either round from Glasgow, or as an island hopping adventure. Anything from 2 to 7 days, potentially even more if you add in Gigha, Islay and Jura.
Easily the equal of the seemingly obligatory Skye, Mull, Loch Ness, Glencoe, but without the chronic overtourism.
Equally most of the itinerary can easily done by public transport.
Islay is another one easily accessible by air- again could be a day trip or a multi day tour. There is on island car hire from local companies, and a good on island bus service.
Also very easy to get there by bus as well from Glasgow .

Dumfries and Galloway for Lowlands whisky can be as many days as you choose to make it, easily a week if you had the time. Iona seems to be obligatory on here, yet the Isle of Whithorn is rarely visited on this forum. But it has an equally important place in the religious history of the country and way easier to get to than Iona.
From Edinburgh there are the great Abbey towns of the Scottish Borders. Any can and should be a day trip by bus, train or car from Edinburgh.
At least one should be on any Edinburgh itinerary. I know a lot of the history of the area. However I am reading a book at the moment produced by the Iona Community. Even I didn't know how immensely important Melrose (one example) was, and it's links to the Iona story.
In short there is far, far more to Scotland than the Highlands.

There are a few new distilleries in Fife, including at least one in Edinburgh proper. Apparently the distillers there refuse to categorize themselves as "Lowlands," insisting that Fife whisky is distinct. I tasted a beautiful peated malt from Fife under the KinGlassie label. It certainly bore little resemblance to Lowland malts I've tasted.

One thing, the Highlands are much, much larger than the council area called 'Highland'.
Glasgow's suburban areas spread into the Highlands. Arran, and most of Argyll and Bute are in the Highlands.

If you want to get the the Highlands in general and not be too exhausted in a day you might look at those areas.

I would absolutely recommend driving yourself if you're up for it! It may be worthwhile to spend one night outside of Glasgow further North if you'd like a little more time to enjoy the highlands. Glen Coe makes for a great scenic drive, though a detour through Glen Etive was the highlight of our time there, it's beauty will make your jaw drop.