suggestions welcome for 24 day trip - starting the plans

There are lots of great resources. I like the Rick Steves guidebooks, especially the lists and ranking of attractions and the connections to other cities at the end of the chapters. He tells you how to get from one place to another. You can watch the Rick Steves episodes almost anywhere. PBS passport, your library on DVD, YouTube and on this website.

Another great resource is this forum. I'm sure you will get responses from knowledgeable folks on the forum, but there are LOTS of recent posts of people planning trips to Scotland. I know because a few of them are mine! I like to browse and then read thru others posts and trip reports. Trip reports, I would think, would be especially helpful. They typically have the itinerary people have used.

Just a few tips from what I've picked up the last few weeks. Scotland, for the most part, is very well connected by train. Where there are gaps, there are buses. That said, for some areas, people like to self drive. Just avoid having a car around Edinburgh and Glasgow. There are also some great tour companies to looks at. I'd look at the tours offered if just for ideas and photos. A tour company many like is Rabbies.

My recommendation would be to start by mapping the distilleries, mills and gardens you want to visit. For distilleries, it's a good idea to stay within walking distance, as the tolerance for driving after drinking is very low in the UK. One way to determine a direction of travel is to identify any specific lodging (e.g., a castle stay or glamping or maybe your Skye splurge, whatever it is) and determine when that is available.

Are you traveling this year or 2027?

Here's just a few things.

My first piece of advice is to stop by your local library, bookstore or, if you must, Amazon and get a few guidebooks on Scotland. (Maybe Lonely Planet, Moon Guide, Rough Guide, Eyewitness) You'll discover areas of Scotland not frequently mentioned on the forums.

will rent a car ( perhaps after visiting Edinburgh

You do not want a car while in Edinburgh. If you're renting through the highly recommended Arnold Clark Car Rental, consider picking up your rental car at their Sighthill location.

Stirling can be a day trip from Edinburgh depending on what you want to see.

Direction doesn't really matter. That said, if you are starting from Edinburgh, then I would suggest clockwise so you get the best approach through the West Highlands to Glencoe and Oban.

An area not on your list is Speyside, known for their whisky. I mention it because of a woolen mill in the area, Knockando Woolmill. Combining a distillery tour with a tour at Speyside Cooperage near Duff Town to learn about barrel making and a visit to Knockando would make a great day. There's also a number of farm shops and markets in the area.

When you're in Oban (to get the ferry to Mull) you can visit Oban Distillery, reservation required. There are also several distilleries on Skye.

BTW, in Scotland it is whisky without the e and never Scotch.

Why Inverness? What are you planning to see/do in the area?

Balmoral Castle is typically not open to visitors in September.

However, Aberdeenshire has over 200 castles, both restored and ruins, many with interesting gardens. I'm sure you'll find a few you'd like to visit. You could easily spend a few nights in the area when visiting your husband's former home.

Look at www.visitscotland.com which is a great gateway site to a lot of info with abundant beauty shot photos. They cover accomodations and transportation. We focused on Campbell Clan Castles when we drove ourselves from Edinburgh thru the Whisky valley, Take don't drink and drive to heart! Drove by Barmoral, which is not always open to the Public. We stayed in Nairn and visited Culloden. Since you want to go to St. Andrews you could go up the Fife Coast where there are many hikes that connect Seaside Pubs. We also followed Mary Queen of Scots and really enjoyed her birthplace Lithlingow Palace. We stayed in Stirling and loved the Palace and you will enjoy amazing Kelpies, etc. We thought Inverarary Castle was a wonderful experience. We ate at a Lochside pub and we stayed in Farm Manor House nearby. We did our laundry at a Campground near the National Park. We only made reservations for accommodations in Edinburgh because we were there in late Sept/Oct. and Apr/May. You just have to score your room in the afternoon. Skye is usually booked ahead. The weather was comfortable during those times with some rain and little bit of snow in the Moutains in April. Just dress in Layers. Bon Voyage!

Hi pchtravel24, you will love Scotland!

So I will just give you a little bit of what I did when I was there in 2023. I was there for about three and a half weeks, so similar to you. I started in Glasgow, because that's where I flew into. While I was in Glasgow, I took a day trip to Stirling to see Stirling Castle, which I recommend. It's much easier to do it as a day trip, and it's very walkable once you get there. It only takes about 30 minutes by train from Glasgow's Queen Street station.

After Glasgow, I picked up a rental car from Arnold Clark, who Jean above mentioned, and drove to Ardrossan, where I took the ferry over to the Isle of Arran. I was on Arran for three nights, then from there I took the ferry to the Isle of Mull for 4 nights, which I see you're going to. Mull is absolutely wonderful, and I know you'll love it. It was one of my favorite islands. Tobermory is just a gem, and make sure that you get down to see the Isle of Iona while you're there. It's easy to get there by car from Tobermory, and there's free parking down at Fionnphort, from where you can then take the 10 to 15-minute ferry over to Iona. Iona was wonderful, and you can easily see it in a half-day.

I did not go to Glencoe, but from Mall, I took the ferry onward to Skye, where I spent another four nights. And of course, Skye has so many incredible sites there that you will need as much time as possible.

After Skye, I went up to Harris and Lewis, where I spent several nights, and then took the ferry back through Olipol and then down to Inverness. From Inverness, I traveled along the coastline, first starting at Olden and seeing Callanish. After that, I drove to Nairn, which is a lovely coastal town that is well worth a stop. From Nairn, I went on to Elgin, and that's where I spent the night. I wanted to see Elgin Cathedral, which are the most beautiful ruins I think I've ever seen. When I was in Elgin, I stayed at the Premier Inn there, and it was fine. I like Premier Inns, and I stay at them whenever possible.

From there I headed across the coast until I finally started going veering south along the coast, passing the Bullers of Buchan, which, if you're driving in that direction, is so worth a stop. It's an incredible piece of scenery. From there I headed down to see the ruins of Slains Castle and spent the night at the St. Olaf Hotel in Cruden Bay. I continued south past Aberdeen, although I think I stopped there for a little bit, then eventually spent the night in Dunfermline, at another Premier Inn. I wanted someplace close to Edinburgh but not right in the city so I could return my car the next morning at the Sighthill location.

And that's what I did. I then went on to Edinburgh and spent the next several nights there at the Premier Inn at York Street, which I highly recommend. It's in a lovely area of town, much less congested than the Royal Mile, but with lots of restaurants around and some lovely walks and a very peaceful setting.

Also, I concur with Jean's recommendation of Arnold Clark. They are wonderful and provide great service. I've used Arnold Clark on my last two trips to the UK. Both rental experiences went very well. Arnold Clark is a pleasure to deal with. Their agents explain everything to you and make sure that you understand the fine print. They are good about upgrading sometimes, and very courteous and helpful. I will always use them in the UK for future rentals.

https://www.arnoldclarkrental.com/
https://www.celticlegend.co.uk/car-rental/

By the way, I should mention that I didn't put my itinerary in here because I'm pushing you to follow it. I guess I was just trying to show you the direction I went. I basically started in Glasgow and then headed east and then north up through the islands, and then heading a little bit southwest, then west along the coast, and then south along the coast again until I got to Edinburgh. So basically, kind of in a circle. You could go in either direction, and I don't think it would make much difference, but it is generally easiest to do it that way.

It might be productive for you to sit down with a big map of Scotland and just mark all the destinations you want to visit and then go from there. Or you could even use Google Maps to do that. It will let you put in a lot of destinations in one entry. You can figure out the trail you're taking or the route you're taking from one place to the next and figure out which would be the easiest and the most efficient.

So with your schedule, you could start in Edinburgh, and you could take a day trip from Edinburgh to Stirling, as it is just a little bit farther than it is from Glasgow. After Edinburgh, you can head up to St Andrews, or you could even do St Andrews as a day trip from Edinburgh and spend another night there. It would save you from having to keep uprooting yourself, but it's also possible to stay in St Andrews.

After that, continue north to Aberdeen, then head north west to Balmoral. Although, as someone said, it's probably not going to be open, there's still a lot of other things to see in the Cairngorms that would be worth a visit. Just continue on up until you get to Inverness. From Inverness, head to Skye, then on to Mull. After that, you could visit Glencoe then head back down to Glasgow.

Or a reversal of that. It really doesn't matter. A lot depends on when in September you're going. The Highlands will probably be a bit chillier and wetter than the mainland, so you may want to head west and north first, then loop around to the east and then south again, similar to what I did.

Edit: One last thing: if you're traveling this year to Skye, start booking immediately. Also, Mull. You can work on those two first, and then work on everything else. The islands sell out quickly. When I went there in May of 2023, I started booking late August of the year before. And also with Skye, make sure you make reservations for any places you want to eat, even for lunchtime. You don't have to make them too far in advance unless they're really popular dinner places, and then you should book at least a few weeks beforehand, if not more. Even for lunch places, I would book a few days ahead of time.

You can drive from Edinburgh to St Andrews > Aberdeen > Balmoral > Inverness > Skye > Glencoe > Mull > Stirling > Edinburgh or vice versa. Edinburgh is also the place to taste whiskey.

You've received some great information. But let me reiterate that the UK has a very low tolerance for drinking and driving. You might want to think of visiting distilleries near your accomodations or taking a "whisky tasting" tour. This way, you leave the driving to someone else.

Since several posters mentioned no drinking and driving, which must be taken seriously, you will find many distilleries will offer "driver's drams", sample size containers to take with you and enjoy back at your lodging.

The other driving warning is try to limit your nighttime driving. You never know when you'll come across sheep or cows crossing the roads or napping roadside.

Hi pchtravel24

Undiscovered Scotland is a tremendous resource for identifying potential sites to visit. It's an interactive map which will allow you to drilldown for more detail on sites mentioned. Note some of the Historic Scotland sites are opened seasonally so double check dates if you travel shoulder season.

https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/

They also have suggested driving routes that might be incorporated into your itinerary. We've explored several of these routes and the drive into Glen Etive is among the most spectacular.

https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ustours/index.html

Happy planning! You will love Scotland!