Humor Me: Could I have made this trip in Scotland?

Driving time, about 5 hours....half an hour in each place, 4.5 hours....doable, but just...and no room if you get stuck behind slow-moving traffic.

I was so tempted. Especially once I found a good deal on the car hire. I just have to tell myself I'll be back......and next time try it over a few days instead. Thanks for your feedback.

Doable, Yes. Worthwhile, No. You would be so stressed getting to Inverness in time for your plane you would have enjoyed nothing on the way. Skipping it was a wise choise. Go back and do it at a nice liesurely pace!

Matt I doubt that you would have gotten to half of what you planned. Urquhart Castle is about a 20 min. drive from Drumnadrochit, the village at the top of Loch Ness with the "tourist" stuff and you have to walk down from the car park. The scenery alone will captivate you and the catsle ruins are facinating- you would have wanted to spend much more than the 5 min. you would have had. Scotland tends to "expand" to fill your time. Glen Coe is lovely and you would have wanted to stop for pictures, etc. Plan another trip with lots of time- I'll be jealous- we haven't been able to get back in over two years due to family health issues.

I've twice taken Highland day trips by tourist coach from Edinburgh, with Loch Ness being the reason to go. Both trips were not much longer than your itinerary (Maybe a 7a.m. start, and I was definitely chilled out in bed by 11 p.m.). The driver/guide made the trip fun and fascinating, I didn't have to do all the research myself, and he pointed out many of the small things I would have missed. The tours were different itineraries, but I saw several monuments and castles on the way, stops at Glen Coe, a Distillery, 3-4 Loch Ness sites (one even a cruise on Ness), and 1-2 tourist traps of wool and whiskey.

The coach was very comfortable, and because someone else was driving, I got to see the whole of the country - rather than a whole countries worth of roadsigns.

Wow. First of all, a half hour at each place is really pressing it. IME everything between Sterling and Ft. William takes a day and everything between Ft William and Inverness is another day. Would you really want not to stop in Fort Augustus at the south end of Loch Ness (with scenic canal gates running down the hill through town) and spend at least an hour? Only half an hour in Sterling Castle and Urquhart Castle? I spent at least an hour taking pictures along Loch Ness on my drive north.

I think it might have made a nice two-day drive with an overnight stop in Ft. William (I've done this route twice with different stops along the way).

The funny thing is I always advise people not to rush through their vacations. I never thought I'd be the one who was pressing. But this looked to be the only chance in a long while to see Scotlandd. (My fourth trip to Britain, but my first this far north.)

In the end, we decided to see a little more in Edinburgh since we shorted our time there, too. (Our hotel in London offered us an extra night free, so we cut a day in Scotland.) I've always wanted to go to Ireland, so perhaps the year I make that trip, I'll cross over and spend a few days to do the highlands properly.

Thanks to everyone for your input. You've all made me feel like I made the right decision not attempting this drive this year.