Driving itinerary in Scotland

Comments on the stretch after Ft William:

Allow time to stop in Ft Agustus for the staircase locks in the canal.

After Ft Augustus, stay on the north side of the lochs until past Loch Ness for the best scenery.

At the eastern end of Loch Ness, do not bother going down into Urqhart Castle, but spring for the cost of one of the monster museums, just from the persepctive of the history of the myth. The one with the dragon floating in the pool (don't know the name of either) is the better of the two.

I want to suggest that you explore the website http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm You can plot routes. I think that your drive on Tuesday is too long. I think you should either just head up the A9 to Inverness or think about spending the night in Fort William. It's probably 3-4 hours just to get to Fort William and then you need another couple of hours to get to Inverness. I know that the miles seem small, but there are no interstates and you will want to stop and look at times.

An Alternative would be to head up the A9 and get to Inverness early enough to go out to Culloden on the first day. The next day do a trip to Loch Ness--see Urqhart Castle, maybe take a boat tour or come back toward Inverness and explore the Black Isle. Go out to Fortrose and walk on the beach and look for Dolphins. Or, you could head north to Dornoch. Drop Hubby off at the golf course and you go tour Dunrobin Castle.

Driving south via Aviemore would be great. Look to take a walk in Rothiemurchus forrest or take the train ride.

Pam

Pam, I've been using Via Michelin, but I haven't got past my Texan mentality that seventy miles is sixty minutes on a six lane divided highway! This is our first trip driving. We've always used trains exclusively before. I need to keep hearing the pace change, especially with the 18 month old along. My rule of thumb I think needs to be less than five Viamichelin hours per day in the car.

So, I need to either drop the drive along the Loch or drop some planned driving along the coast near St. Andrews or Inverness. Any input from anyone on which is most scenic?

Lochs over the coast any day of the week.

Yep, you're going to have to get past the Texas thinking... ; ) You should add another 25% to routes on Via Michelin BTW.

The drive from Edinburgh to Loch Lomond is interstate / city traffic. The drive along Loch Lomond is busy and twisty one lane. It gets beautiful north of Loch Lomond. It's a very long drive.

Here's an alternative scenic drive that has lochs and hills. Leave Edinburgh late morning and drive to Aberfeldy via the motorway and the A9 and the A827 to Aberfeldy. (about 2 hours.) Have lunch there. Take a little walk up the Birk's of Aberfeldy. Then drive west toward Weem and the B846 over the mountain to Tummel Bridge. You can take a detour on a single track road which will extend the drive to Loch Rannoch. You can head east along Loch Tummel stopping off at Queen's View for the view and a snack. These are the lochs that are mentioned in the song, The Road to the Isles.

Head north to Inverness on the A9. It's a should be a bit over two hours to get there.

Pam

Thanks for the advice. I bought a big Michelin map which is making all the route information much easier to keep track of. I visualize it much better when I can see the whole island at once. Makes Viamichelin a bit more difficult.