Traveling to Inverness last week of March (help with itinerary?)

Posted by rjmro on 03/04/18 03:35 PM

Hi all!

My family of four (two boys: 5 and 10) will be flying into Inverness in three weeks, and we would really love if someone could look at our itinerary to make sure that we are being realistic?

-Arrive Inverness and spend the night (doing local things in Inverness that day)
-Head to Isle of Skye where we rented a cottage for two nights.
-Head back to Inverness to catch a train to Edinburgh for the night
-Head back in the afternoon by train to Inverness where we will spend the night
-Fly out of Inverness in the morning

I have been monitoring the weather, and we will be ok with our attire. The thing that I am concerned about is that there is going to be snow and ice everywhere. We had planned to hike, and I am worried that everything (around Inverness and Isle of Skye) will be under snow making it hard to explore. I was also really excited about seeing all of the landscape and will I be disappointed that I can't see what I had in my mind (green for miles..)? How could we make it more enjoyable?

We are not too late to rearrange our itinerary, and we are trying to make the best out of the situation since this is the only time that we can all go. Ideally, we would visit in the Spring/Summer, but it was not in the cards this year.

Posted by Steve

03/04/18 06:24 PM

370 posts

I took my wife and 10 year old son to Scotland in July. We landed in Glasgow, took the train same day to Inverness and stayed there for 4 nights before heading to Edinburgh for a few nights. Inverness is lovely. If you're going in 3 weeks, chances are it won't be snowy by then (the recent storm with lots of snow in the UK being the exception rather than the rule) so I think the roads should be fine. There are lots of great hikes near Inverness that would be suitable for kids, including several in the Cairngorms National Park toward Aviemore or north of Inverness such as Big Burn near Golspie.

The comment I'd make is the train from Inverness to Edinburgh and back to Inverness with a 1 night stay in Edinburgh is aggressive. It is about 3.5 hours by train so it is physically doable, but that's a lot of train time in 2 days and 1 night stays generally are tough especially with kids. If you're going to try to get Edinburgh in, just be prepared that the kids (and parents!) may be out of sorts. Edinburgh also deserves more than 1 night. Of course, if you had more time, I'm sure you'd do it justice. All the more reason to consider whether it should be part of this trip. I would use Inverness as a base for a couple days after returning from the Isle of Skye rather than trying to squeeze Edinburgh in. Just my opinion of course.

Have a great trip whatever you choose. If you haven't been there before, you'll be blown away by Scotland as we certainly were.

Posted by Anita

RIchmond, BC,Canada

03/04/18 09:42 PM

932 posts

Leave Edinburgh out of the itinerary this time, it will take up too much of your time getting there and back. Even getting to Skye from Inverness is going to be a long drive. Split your time between Skye and Inverness as there is a lot to see in both locations, and it will be more enjoyable if you aren’t rushing to squeeze in a trip to Edinburgh.

Posted by MC-Glasgow

Glasgow, Scotland

03/04/18 11:30 PM

1692 posts

The heavy winter weather has been unusual this year. The Beast from the East is most likely to be gone by this Wednesday.

Posted by epltd

03/05/18 03:51 AM

3123 posts

I agree, for this trip don't take the one-night run down to Edinburgh, unless you have the option to cancel Isle of Skye. Edinburgh does, of course, offer more indoor things to see & do, but it's a major city so an entirely different experience than the highland countryside. I'm assuming since your Skye cottage is booked, it's nonrefundable.

Around Inverness, if not already in your plans for "dong local things," you can enjoy Culloden Battlefield (spacious visitor centre will enable you to spend time in out of the weather) and Cawdor Castle (tour inside the building as well as walking the grounds--and seeing the herd of highland cows--as weather permits), and in the other direction the Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition (also indoors). The latter is near Urquhart Castle, which is a ruin and therefore outdoors; if you stop there you may get to see how tough the tour guides are in braving the weather.

I've been to the highlands twice in May and the hillsides are not all that green even at that point of the springtime, but rather heathery shades of yellow-gray-greenish-purplish. And lovely. I hope it will be lovely in March for you too!