Scotland Summer 2010: rough itinerary, need input!

Andrea, This is a bit more moving around than I would like to do, but it's not excessive. Is your heart set on seeing York again? It's one of my favorite places, but if it were me, I'd fly into Edinburgh or Glasgow and give yourself a couple extra days in Scotland plus cut out a lot of travel time. I absolutely love Scotland and I would try to spend as much time there as possible. Skye is my absolute favorite, and three nights there would give you more time to enjoy it.

I think you've picked great places to visit, and I hope you enjoy your trip.

Thanks for your reply! Our driver is the one who requested York, so feel that is a must. If we don't stay in each place I mentioned, what would your advice be to amount of days in which locale?
Edinburgh: 2 nights.
Not stay in Pitlochry.
Inverness: 3 nights.
Portree (for Skye):3 nights
Oban:worth 2 nights?
I do feel at least 2 nights per place is a must.
Sounds as if you love Scotland so I appreciate your advice!

You can do this without the car, if you like. The rail service in Scotland is excellent. Aviemore is a wonderful little village between Edinburgh and Inverness- well worth a day or 2. Also, I'd suggesst you maximize time in Inverness. You can do a day trip from there to Isle of Skye that include Elian Donnan castle and Glen Coe; there is also a LONG day trip to Orkney from Inverenss. Consider this- York 1 night ( I agree it is a good place to start), Edinburgh 2 nights, Aviemore 2 nights, Inverness 4 nights. Glasgow 1 night (fly home from here).

It's always a good idea to keep the chauffer happy!

I have not been to Pitlochry, so I am not completely qualified to advise here. However, I did read a lot about it as I was considering it as a stop on our trip to Scotland last year. I think it sounds like a very nice town. Still, if it were me, I would skip it and take the train up to Inverness, then rent the car there. There is a lot to see around Inverness and you either need to take a car or take a lot of organized day tours. I would prefer the car and my guess is it would be cheaper. I would add the extra day to Skye, but you could add it anywhere.

In Inverness you've got Loch Ness, Cawdor Castle, Culloden and Clava Cairns. I think Inverness is a neat town too.

Skye is just gorgeous. Ideally you will want at least two days to drive around it stopping to do some hiking. I really like Portree.

Oban is a nice little town, but it's main attraction is as a gateway to the islands. We did the three island tour to Mull, Iona and Staffa. It's a long day, but we really loved it. Our second day, we took the quick little ferry over to a small island right off the coast. It's called something like Kerrera. There are no cars and we just hiked all over the place seeing very few people the whole day. Might be more than you are looking for. However, there are many other islands you can visit.

The great thing about your itinerary is that by going from place to place you will drive through some of Scotland's prettiest scenery. You would definitely want to go via Glencoe when driving from Skye to Oban. It's a very short detour.

I thought Toni's ideas were good too. The great thing is you have lots of time to mull this over.

I have been to Pitlochry and Inverness and they are both great. What I liked in Pitlochry was the theater. I went to an Aly Bain/Phil Cunningham concert. It was a nice sized hall. Very intimate. Also, I enjoyed the Explorer's Garden and the distillery tour. I'd been to Scotland 7 or 8 times and not managed a tour until then! Also, if you stop in Pitlochry, you can take a slightly slower trip north. If you have a car, you want to get off the A9 and onto the wee roads. I particularly recommend heading over toward Aberfeldy and going over the mountain to Loch Tummell and back out to the Queen's View. Feel free to PM if you want particulars.

I agree about Oban being a bit of ferry port. I cruised right through it to stay on Mull. I think I would add a day to Skye and then go a bit further south and check Kilmartin Glen and some of the older monuments.

Pam