Central Headquarters for Exploring Scotland

Tera, If you are one-bagging I can help you. We have been there six times. Fly into Glasgow airport. Go out the front door to the bus stance and ask the drivers if they are going to Buchanan Station. At Buchanan Station go out the door and turn right. Walk up Renfrew St. to the Victorian House Hotel, about a third of a mile. You will ahve already gotten on line and made reservations with them, and that hotel is ten yards away from the art school. You will be one block away from Sauchiehall St, down which you will go to Queen Station to catch the train. The hotel will arrange a private hire cab back to the airport when you fly, or you can walk back down to Buchanan Station and catch the bus for about a fourth of what a cab costs. We take day trips to Edinburgh on the train, also to Fort William. We have bussed up to Inverness going through Stirling and Pitlochry. We fly to the Isle of Islay, you will need to rent a car there. I can tell you how to do that and make suggestions for housing. We have gone on a day trip up and back to Oban. Let me know if we can help

We have been to Scotland several times and found it really doesn't lend itself to staying in one central location. It's full of lochs and mountains and has a very convuluted coastline. It's better to get a map, put dots on what you hope to see, and start connecting them. Since you only have 5 nights, you will probably find a loop trip, moving on every night, works best for seeing the highlands.......Don't be afraid to relocate every night, it isn't that difficult if you really want to get a broad overview. On the other hand, you might want to just choose two areas, say Skye and Glencoe, and split your time between them.

Inverness makes a wonderful base. You can do day trips to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Isle of Skye, even Orkney. And there is LOTS to see and do in the immediate area (Great Glen, Glencoe, Ft. William, Ft. Agustus, Loch Ness, Urquart Castle, Drumnadrochit, the firth, etc, etc, etc.....)

Thanks to everyone for your feedback. I wanted to share some finds with you now that I'm back from Scotland: - Night 1 was spent at Glengarry House just west of Fort William. We had dinner at No. 4 restaurant in Fort William...I know it sounds dodgy, but the food was wonderful and fresh. Ended the night in the cozy bar at Glengarry House. Very nice. - Night 2 was spent at Kiltearn House north of Inverness. I can't recommend this place enough. Excellent hosts! You can opt to make dinner reservations for additional fee; money well spent. I wish we'd had more time to spend there. It's a good location from which to explore the north. - Nights 3&4 were spent in Edinburgh at the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa, which is undergoing a major reno. The location is good. The rooms were quite nice, and I'm sure the common areas will be quite lovely when finished, but now it's a little inconvenient.
Scotland was absolutely beautiful and I look forward to returning!

Tera, Thanks for telling us how your trip went. I wish more people would do it.