Suggestions for adding details for Scotland trip- sights/food/music/spirits etc

Just to avoid confusion it’s Ben Nevis.
And Edinburgh, pronounced “Embraa” according to my friends who were born there.

Personally I would drop Loch Ness. Nothing much to see there except souvenir shops and buses.

Your hotel front desk can point you to the better restaurants on your trip.

I used to spend time looking for restaurants online, but I was over planning my trip. The food usually didn't seem appetizing or it was too expensive. Locals know where to eat.

We tried to go to Scotland a year ago and found the place to be packed with tourists. Glad you've already got reservations, etc. I waited too late to plan my trip and ended up on a cruise around the Eastern Mediterranean.

Some feedback mainly on the Skye section of your trip as that's the area I'm most familiar with.

Hiking up Ben Nevis is a full day undertaking. Have you looked at the various routes on Walk Highlands? The Mountain Path is 10.5 miles and takes around 7 to 9 hours to complete. Based on what you say about your hiking preferences I doubt very much whether this is something you will want to do. It would also be completely impractical to hike up and down Ben Nevis and then continue driving to Skye and 'see some sights in Skye' or visit Eilean Donan Castle in the same day.

Skye is a large island and the roads are not great once you leave the main A87. Many sections are single track with passing places, so I would strongly advise that you watch this You Tube video to understand what that means and how to drive on these roads.

On the day of your ferry you will need to be at the terminal in Uig at least 45 minutes before the departure time. You could have lunch at the Galley Seafood cafe which is a 10 minute drive from the terminal and maybe a short walk to Rha Falls on the way to the ferry too.

Many of the restaurants in Portree are now not taking reservations and you will just have to wait for a table to become available or get there early but the more upscale places such as Scorrybreac in Portree will require reservations. One very good place just south of Portree (but still classed as Portree) that doesn't need reservation is Gasta, the (mainly) pizza restaurant that is within the Skye Candles visitor centre. It's great! You will also need reservations for popular places outside Portree such as Edinbane Inn, Edinbane Lodge, Lochbay, The Three Chimneys, The Dunvegan, The Old School etc, etc.

There are boat trips from Portree but the really good ones are with Bella Jane out of Elgol. Worth it for the drive to Elgol alone, never mind the spectacular boat trips on offer. You need to book in advance. On the way to Elgol is Amy's Place tea room which has delicious soup and cake and very friendly owners.

You can research hikes on Skye by exploring the Skye pages on Walk Highlands website. Walks are graded by length and difficulty. I'd recommend avoiding the 'honey pot' hike up the Old Man of Storr. You can see the Old Man from the road and there are much more pleasant and less busy hikes.

Don't underestimate how long it may take to drive in Scotland. Roads can be slow and take a lot longer to cover the distance than you might expect. Also don't forget to build in time to find somewhere to park and then reach the attraction... That can easily add an extra 30 minutes.

Pitlochry to Edinburgh via St Andrews and the Kelpies is a good four hours drive. St Andrews is fascinating and do allow time for the ruined castle and Cathedral as well as exploring the town.

The Edinburgh to Glencoe is going to be at least four hours drive so you may have to rethink what else you are planning to include as your list of suggestions is ambitious... Sterling Castle needs 2-3 hours to do it justice. Inverary Castle will take an hour, longer if you spend time in the gardens. Loch Lomond cruise - 60-90 minutes... I'm not quite sure what the hike might involve... It's good to have plenty of ideas, but you will need to prioritise on the day.

Skyegirl has already commented on Ben Nevis. If you mean climb the mountain, then it is a full day commitment, with waterprrofs, spare sweater, decent boots etc. This will be weather dependent. You won't want to do it if it is raining or cloud on top. Or do you mean admire from below.? Eilean Donan Castle looks fantastic from then outside but the interior is disappointing. The castle was rebuilt from a ruin just over a hundred years ago. I would admire and take pictures from the outside but wouldn't bother with the inside.

Harris and Lewis aren't that big. From end to end will take about 2.5 hours to drive, so you can manage it from a base in the north of the island. However it is going to be an early start to catch the 7am ferry. Remember check in is 45 minutes before sailing and depending the exact location of the cottage, you may need to allow you need to allow another 45 minutes to get there... There is an arguement for planning to stop nearer Stornoway the night before, but if it is this May you are travelling, you may find it difficut to find somewhere this late.

Have you found the Undiscovered Scotland website? If not it is worth spending some time on it as it is a wealth of ideas and includes many that aren't in the guide books.

The Walk Highland website already mentioned by Skyegirl is the walker's Bible. Their boot rating is really helpful as is the 'bog factor' which gives an indication of how wet and boggy the walk may be.

It sounds a wonderful trip . Do build in time to just relax and enjoy the scenery....

I personally would replace Clava Cairns and Culloden with Dunnottar Castle, as the history is equally interesting and the views are spectacular. Clava Cairns is to me just a collection of rocks placed in a pattern, and Culloden battlefield is rife with historic significance but perhaps something better studied in a textbook; I just didn't experience anything life-changing by my presence at the site, which is anything but scenic.

All this being said, it's just one person's opinion, and if I had a strong Scottish clan presence in my family history I might well feel different.

We don't plan on hiking Ben Nevis - but I did read about a tram up and then a hour hike at the top? Is that correct? Is it worth doing if weather is good? I could have den Ben Nevis in my youth, but I'm not up to that now- 2-5 mile hike with only 1000 ft or so of elevation is my max now.
Thanks for tip on Culloden Battlefied and cairn-I'll take a look at the castle. I wasn't sure if the visitor cener o Culloden was worthwhile?
We were planning on Loch Ness the last day of our trip-- what would be an alternate idea (our lodging is in inverness)
Great tips on websites! And driving youtube for Skye!
I hope Scotland is not over run in May with tourists. We are about to find out! We just planned this trip in the past month as a spur of moment thing.

There is no tram up Ben Nevis. There is a gondola up into the Nevis Range but that is not the 'Ben' itself. It's the wider range. Details here.

Are you flying back of Inverness at the end of your trip or a different airport? If Inverness then Loch Ness is a perfectly good way to spend your last day. You could see Urquhart Castle and maybe do a boat trip on the loch. You could also explore the eastern side of the loch which has smaller roads, a lot less traffic and is more peaceful than the busier A82 road on the west side.

I see you plan to visit Balmoral Castle grounds and at the moment there is no entry fee involved. On 4 May a charge will come in because the visitor season was put back from the beginning of April to allow planting and grounds work to be undertaken. Apparently wet weather has delayed the progress of this.

If visiting the grounds of Balmoral is a bucket list item for you then go ahead but otherwise I'd give it a miss. There are plenty of other castles in Scotland which offer the visitor greater value for money. Your entry ticket will only allow you access to the castle ballroom and other rooms are off limits for now. There is a small exhibition in the stables area but I found it underwhelming when I visited a few weeks ago. The main cafeteria and toilets are undergoing a major refurbishment and I doubt work will be completed there any time soon.

You could undertake the Balmoral Cairns Walk which will allow you a view of the castle along the route. Details of the walk are here

https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/cairngorms/balmoral-cairns.shtml

You don't need to pay to do the walk but there is a charge of £5 to park your car at Crathie car park.

I would disagree with jphbucks's assessment of Culloden and Clava Cairns. You can't really compare them with Dunottar Castle as their history is so very very different. True, Dunnotar Castle is a much more dramatic setting but a lot depends on whether you want history or scenery... Also Inverness to Pitlochry via Dunnotar castle is very much the long way round - have a look at google maps.

Clava Cairns is much more than " a collection of rocks placed in a pattern" They are 3000-4000 years old and part of a Bronze Age cemetery. Take time to read up about the place before a visit to understand what you are looking at. The best time to visit is either first thing in the morning or late afternoon once the visitors have gone. They are very much on the tourist tick list now as they are believed to be the inspiration for Craig na Dun in the very popular TV series ’Outlanders’. Don't let that popularity put you off. The cairns are surrounded by trees and this does still feel a magical site, especially in the low light first thing or late afternoon which is definitely atmospheric....

Culloden Battlefield is all about history. You can read about the battle in a history book, but there is no comparison to actually walking over the site and feeling the history. The Visitor Centre is excellent and particularly the short visual experience of the Highland Charge and what it must have been like. The centre also offers guided walks and these are well worth doing as they put the battle into context. It was a bloody shambles for the Jacobite Army. If anything could go wrong for them it did. Within 15 minutes over 1200 jacobites had been killed and a similar number wounded (and later killed by the Government soldiers who were ordered to take no prisoners.) Government losses were 50 dead with about 300 wounded.

Walk the battlefiled and think of the cold and hungry Jacobite army facing a superior force of goveernment troopsa who were rested and well fed. Think of them charging over what was wet and boggy ground and being slaughtered in there hundreds. It really did change the course of British HHistory and finally put paid to any Stuart Claim to the British throne.

I remember the first time I visited Culloden about 50 years I wasn't that impressed. Going back earlier this year it was a sobering experience and I was glad I'd made the effort.

@wasleys provides an excellent counterpoint to my post, and his comments underscore how differently people can experience places and things. But I'd still, myself, far prefer Dunnottar!

BTW, don't miss the opportunities to see live Highland music performances in Inverness. I created a Celtic music playlist for my hifi streamer when I returned home after several nights at Hootenanny, and I still play it frequently. Altan is a particularly good band if you want to "pre-party" with Highland music.

Maybe we will do a drive or to Dunnottar Castle after a visit of Balmoral on our first day in Pitlochry ( since we are not going to Aberdeen). i had also read of a nature preserve /large seal colony north of Aberdeen I think, but I don't think we will make that). I really appreciate everyone's insight and suggestions! We are flying home out of Inverness as well as flying into Inverness since the airfare was much less!

Thank you for sharing the walk near Balmoral- cairn walk. That looks amazing! Hopefully we can figure it out/find it.