In early May, I will be flying to Edinburgh and driving up to Isle of Skye. While I thought about driving to Oban and then north from there, I imagine the highway will be the best route as it is about a 5 hour drive. Can anyone make any recommendations on a small town to stop of the night at the halfway point? While 5 hours isn't a long drive, after a full day/night of flying, I would prefer to only be on the road only 2-3 hours. While I have been to Oban, if someone feels it would be worth the extra hours in the car to drive from Oban to Isle of Skye, I would be interested in hearing your suggestion. BTW, I looked at flying into some smaller airports like Inverness but couldn't find a direct route from anywhere (Dublin, Shannon, EDI, Glasgow). In the end, it would take more time to fly there than it would to drive from EDI as all flights seem to go to Amsterdam or London first. If anyone has any tips on this, please let me know.
Thanks!
Posted by
washington
837 posts
You don't say how long you have or what else you are seeing. I can't believe that you are flying from Montana to see only the Isle of Skye, so I don't see the hurry. I would stay in Edinburgh at least one day. The two towns on the way to the Isle of Skye that I would recommend would be Pitlochry and Inverness. I would also suggest Stirling as a vicinity to explore. Additionally, if you have not been to the Glencoe area and east, I would suggest that. On the way from Pitlochry to Inverness, you will pass through Aviemore. I am certain that you will get suggestions to spend some time there.
Posted by
Marion
177 posts
We made the trip from EDI to Skye 2 years ago. We drove from EDI to Killin the first day-staying at a nice B&B there. We had stops at the Falkirk Wheel for picnic lunch and Doune Castle briefly. We were running late due to plane being delayed getting to EDI. The next day we drove thru Glen Coe to Mallaig-spent the night there and took early ferry to Skye. We stopped several times along the way so could have gotten to Mallaig sooner and taken a late ferry if we had needed. We had been to Oban previously and wanted to see Glen Coe this time. We spent 2 days on Skye but could have stayed longer but had to get on to the Highland games in Braemar. Loved the Tallisker distillery tour on Skye.
Posted by
New York City, NY, USA
5678 posts
First, if you have not found ViaMichilin for route planning, do check it out. I would recommend heading north out of the Airport over the Firth of forth to Dunkeld which is just north of Perth. It will probably take you less than two hours to get there (Via Michelin shows a little over an hour, but I figure you will go slower or stop to check out the scenery a few times.) Dunkeld is small town and you can check out the cathedral which is old and do a short walk either along the Tay River or in Birnam Wood. ; ) The trails are well posted and you can get a map at the TI. Then have dinner at the TayBank. Hopefully there will be live music the night you are there, which will help you stay awake until bedtime. I've not stayed at the Taybank, but it's changed ownership since I was last there. I stayed at The Bridge B&B in Dunkeld. It's easy walking distance to the Taybank. (Everything is in walking distance in Dunkeld.) There are other B&B's and even a Hilton if you have points! You might have to drive from the Hilton to the Taybank. The next day drive to Skye can be up the A9 to the A89 toward Dalwhinnie and Spean Bridge. Then on to Kyle of Lochalsh. Check out the Commando Monument just past Spean Bridge!