Hi everyone. I'm planning (somewhat belatedly, I now see) our trip to Scotland this May and would love some feedback on our itinerary--top tips, favorites, things to avoid (I've already learned a lot from previous posts on this forum!). We will be meeting our daughter at the end of her semester exchange at St Andrews and spending about a week seeing some more of Scotland. This will be our second visit--we are also visiting at Easter, and plan to see Edinburgh, Stirling/Falkirk, and some of the East Neuk then. We'll also have a couple of days in St Andrews on both trips.
in May, we're planning to rent a car (we've driven in the UK before). Here's our tentative intinerary (I'm aware that we will be spending four consecutive nights in different places, which is not how we usually travel but does allow us to see a lot! We did the same on a circuit of the Pelopponesian peninsula last January and have no regrets given the time that we had available):
Day 1: St Andrews to Glamis Castle, walks around Pitlochry, sleep in Dunkeld/Birnam (Merryburn Hotel)
Day 2: Drive up to Nairn (see Blair Castle or drive through Cairngorms) (sleep at Cawdor House in Nairn)
Day 3: Drive to Plockton (sleep at Plockton Inn)
Day: 4: Cross bridge into Skye, see some of Skye, take ferry back to Mallaig, sleep there (Airbnb)
Day 5: Drive scenic route from Mallaig to Fort William and then down to Glencoe, sleep somewhere between there and Glasgow (would appreciate any suggestions!)
Day 6: Drive to Glasgow, return rental car, train to York (sleep there--haven't started looking yet...)
Do any of these legs seem too arduous? According to Google, driving times from place to place are 2-3 hours each day (plus any interesting deviations from the route). I think what we will see along the drive is part of the experience, but am open to suggestions and alternatives. We like history (ancient history, too); castles and gardens; walking/hiking (we do a lot of this and even considered bagging a Munro). Not so much whisky but want to visit one distillery (which?). Would love a good yarn shop or two! And maybe even some bird-watching.
I'm new to the forums but travel a lot (and live just outside of Washington, DC) and look forward to sharing our tips with folks, too. Thanks so much!