This past October, I changed jobs for the first time since college. In the time between the end of my old job, and the beginning of my new one, I took some time for myself to do my favorite thing – travel! I visited both Ireland and Scotland this past month – two countries I had been meaning to visit for a very long time. Here, you’ll find the itinerary for my road trip through Scotland, where I spent just under a week exploring the country.
Let me caveat – this was a super-packed itinerary. I joined up with my good friend Rally for the trip, as I didn’t want to do all of the driving alone. We traveled through Scotland for a total of 6 days, usually driving 3-4 hours each day, and stayed somewhere different every single night. If you have more time at your disposal while visiting Scotland, I’d suggest adding an extra night in either the Isle of Skye or Edinburgh. If you have less time…something will need to be cut out. Scotland is not that large of a country, but you want to give yourself time to experience the distinct character of each stop on this itinerary!
A couple of points to keep in mind as you plan your trip to Scotland:
- Weather: we visited in mid-October. Regardless of what my iPhone’s weather app showed, every single day we experienced some sun and also some rain. The sunny moments were beautiful, and the rainy moments were unavoidable. Dress in layers and be prepared for anything (at one point, it hailed on us)! I was still glad we visited in October – the autumn colors were beautiful, and it’s much less busy than the high summer season when most people visit.
- Currency: Scotland is part of the United Kingdom, and therefore uses the British pound as currency (not the euro). I had arrived in Scotland from Ireland (more on that trip to come) and didn’t realize that my euros would be useless in Scotland. Regardless, I don’t think we ever needed cash. Everywhere in Scotland takes credit card, and most places have tap-to-pay functionality as well.
- Driving on the left side of the road takes some adjusting, but can be done. I’m not a great driver (high chance that I was responsible for our flat tire incident…see below). Many of the roads in Scotland are fairly narrow, with just one lane for traffic in either direction. Scotland also uses the Imperial System of measurement (aka miles) which is familiar and easy if you are from the States.
- If you’re looking for something to read on your flight to Scotland…I’d highly recommend Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. This definitely got me in the mood for all the castle and lochs we were going to see! (There is a TV show of the series as well, if you prefer top watch rather than read.)
Day 1 (Arrival): Dunkeld, Balmoral Castle, and Inverness
….at least this was our plan.
On the morning of Day 1, we started out from the Edinburgh airport in our rental car (I used Hertz, which was reasonably priced). Our aim for the day was to make our way to Inverness, one of the larger towns located in northern Scotland, for the evening. Planned stops along the way included the town of Dunkeld and Balmoral Castle. All-in-all, we planned about ~4 hours of driving for the day.
Dunkeld was an adorable town about an hour’s drive north of Edinburgh airport. We stopped here for lunch. I didn’t take any photos but had the best hot chocolate of my life at Palmerston’s. Also, Kettles of Dunkeld was an adorable little homeware shop, if you are one for souvenirs that are both unique and practical.
We didn’t spend too long in Dunkeld, wanting to get to Balmoral Castle (the Scottish residence of the British royal family) before it closed at 4pm. Balmoral is around a 90-minute drive from Dunkeld.
However, you’ll notice I have no photos of my own of Balmoral Castle. That would be because we never made it. While driving from Dunkeld towards Balmoral, our car suddenly started making a weird noise. We pulled over in someone’s driveway to discover that we had a massively flat tire!
We had gotten the full insurance package on the car (hallelujah) so weren’t worried about the costs associated with the tire. However, it did take a while for Scotland’s roadside assistance to send someone out to tow us. (My friend ended up using the bathroom in the house of the driveway where we were parked…speaks to the levels of Scottish hospitality!) In order to find an open auto shop, our tow truck driver brought us all the way to Dundee, which was not on our itinerary.
While nothing about this part of the trip was planned, or picturesque in the slightest, I’m including it so you can see that we survived and continued to thrive in Scotland. Sometimes the unexpected happens while traveling…it’s part of the adventure!
The tire debacle took up most of the afternoon and evening on our first day. Instead of visiting Balmoral Castle in the afternoon as planned, we were waiting to be rescued, towed, and fitted with a new tire. By the time everything with the car was good to go, we had no time to do anything but drive the 3 hours to our hotel in Inverness, where we arrived at ~10pm. I’m bummed to have missed Balmoral Castle. Although we visited numerous other castles while in Scotland, most were abandoned long ago. Balmoral is the current Scottish residence of the British Royal family, which would have been cool to see.
Hotel: Columba Hotel in Inverness
Day 2: Inverness, Loch Ness, and Portree
Despite the setbacks of the prior day, we tackled Day 2 with vigor. We had a full itinerary to make up for yesterday’s losses: We planned to explore the town of Inverness, followed by a scenic drive down the banks of Loch Ness (Lake Ness). Finally, we planned to wrap up the evening by arriving in the Isle of Skye and grabbing dinner in Portree, one of the larger towns in Skye.
Inverness
Inverness was an extremely cute town and I would have loved to spend longer in the area. It had great character and Scottish charm, and all the people we met in the restaurants and shops were lovely.
We had a quiet morning in Inverness. After enjoying a leisurely breakfast at Fig & Thistle, we perused the different shops (there is no shortage of tartan) and walked along the river appreciating the autumnal colors.
After spending the most beautiful morning in Inverness, we got on the road around midday. Our goal for the drive was to travel along Loch Ness with a few stops until we reached the Isle of Skye in the evening.
An added bonus of this day: between Inverness and Urquhart Castle, there is farmhouse with Highland cows (aka “hairy coos” to the Scots). Here, you can see several Highland cows and pay 5 pounds to feed them if you want. We happened to notice the sign for Drumbuie Farm on the side of the road – turning into that driveway was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. There is nothing cuter than Highland coos!
The farm also serves afternoon tea in the high season, but as we were visiting in the fall, we were the only people there and the tearoom was closed. I enjoyed having the five coos all to ourselves – two were baby coos!
Once we had finished feeding the Highland coos (I went back for multiple bags of food), we continued our drive along the Loch Ness. Our next stop was Urquhart Castle. I quite enjoyed this castle. The ruins were lovely, the view of the Loch was breathtaking, and the castle’s café was delicious.
After we left the Loch Ness area, Scotland’s topography started to change dramatically. Rather than tall trees and lake views, the landscape shifted into large mountains, covered with grass and brush.
Driving through this area felt very other-worldly, almost like Mars… You can bet I pulled the car over to take in the countryside.
We stopped at one more castle on our drive towards the Isle of Skye – Eilean Donan Castle. We didn’t go inside, just walked around the exterior and appreciated the view. At this point, I had seen a lot of castles…there is no shortage of historic old castles in Scotland!
Isle of Skye
Once we finally made it across the bridge to the Isle of Skye, it was fairly late in the day – too late for us to do attempt any outdoor exploring. We made it to our hotel, and then drove up the coast of Skye about 15 minutes from our hotel to the town of Portree to have dinner.
I pulled the car over and surprised these sheep that were grazing by the side of the road at sunset…that’s why it looks like they are running away. They did not want to hang with me.
As it was a Saturday night, many of the restaurants in Portree were full. Luckily, we managed to snag a table at Dulse and Brose Restaurant. Another great option would have been Scorrybreac Restaurant, which was just next door, but was fully booked for the evening. Both of these restaurants are situated directly across from the quintessential viewing point of Portree.
Hotel: Sligachan Hotel in Isle of Skye
Day 3: Isle of Skye and Glen Coe
There is a lot to do and see on the Isle of Skye. If you really want to fit it all in, you’re going to have to spend more than one day in the area. We settled on a “best hits of Skye” itinerary that crammed 2-3 different activities into our one full day. This day included a lot of driving on winding country roads, and a lot of time spent outside walking/hiking/etc.
Given limited time, we had a difficult job deciding which things to drive to and which ones to skip. We decided to chart the day’s course to the Fairy Glen, followed by Dunvegan Castle and the Neist Point Lighthouse. This equated to about 4 hours of round-trip driving across the Isle of Skye. After we had spent a full day in Skye, we planned to arrive at our hotel in Glen Coe (near Fort William) for the evening to position us for the next day.
Around the area of Uig, I pulled us over on the side of the road several times to snap photos of the countryside.
Are you wondering why the sheep are painted with blue spots? This is a sign that the sheep are free to roam across the land to graze. The paint color and shape identifies which farmer the sheep ultimately belong to, in the instance that a sheep strays too far. It’s typical for sheep from many different farms to share the same grazing areas.
The Fairy Glen
Personally, I loved the Fairy Glen and the surrounding area, so I’ve very glad we chose this spot out of the many options Skye afforded us. The weather was beautiful while we were there.
After the Fairy Glen, we drove to Dunvegan Castle. I don’t have any photos of the castle because it turned out to be closed for the season! However, we ate at a very cute cafe in the area for lunch, so it wasn’t a total loss. (I can’t find the name of the restaurant on Google Maps, but it was right next to The Tables Guesthouse.)
Post lunch, the weather had started to deteriorate considerably. While we had a beautiful morning, the afternoon was filled with increasingly high winds and rain. We continued on with our plan to drive to Neist Point Lighthouse, but by the time we made it out to the coast, we were being battered with wind and hail. We never actually even saw the lighthouse, just the cliff and walk leading out to it, before turning around towards the safety and warmth of our car.
Just further evidence of how important the weather is when you are visiting Scotland (or anywhere!). We loved every moment of our time in Skye, but the sunny periods were decidedly more photogenic.
We finally wrapped up our day on the Isle of Skye by driving back to mainland Scotland, towards the Fort William / Glen Coe area. The drive was about 3 hours long, and we stopped at the cutest spot along A87 (Landour Bakehouse) for refreshments.
Other cool and outdoorsy areas to check out in Skye if you have more time than we did:
- The Old Man of Storr
- The Fairy Pools
- The Quiraing
- Kilt Rock
- Coral Beach
Hotel: Loch Leven Hotel in Glen Coe
Day 4: Glenfinnan Viaduct, Inverlochy Castle, and Melville Castle
After the rugged outdoors of the Isle of Skye the previous day, we were excited to have a bit more interaction with civilization on Day 4. We started our day by driving to the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which will be recognizable to all Harry Potter fans.
The drive from Fort William to Glenfinnan is about 30 minutes. There is a small parking lot from which you can take a short walk to see the viaduct. While researching this trip, we had read that the parking lot fills up very quickly, especially around the times when the Jacobite Steam Train (aka the Harry Potter train) passes by. Given that we were visiting Scotland in the offseason, we had found that most spots weren’t too crowded. As a result, we didn’t bother arriving to the parking lot early – which turned out to be a mistake, as the lot was completely full.
Instead, we drove further down the road to the Glenfinnan Station museum and parked there. From here, we were able to take a 25-30 minute hike to a viewpoint of the viaduct.
The hike was fairly short, but very steep, and quite muddy. If you just want to see the viaduct without breaking a sweat, you should aim to get a parking spot in the main lot.
If you want to ride on the Harry Potter train, you can buy tickets here. Given our jam-packed itinerary, we didn’t have time to squeeze the train ride in. I’m a big Harry Potter fan however, and just seeing the viaduct in person was a very cool experience on its own.
Castle #1: Inverlochy Castle
Later that day, I was really looking forward to an afternoon tea at Inverlochy Castle Hotel (near Fort William). While way too expensive for us to stay the night (nearly $900 USD per night), we loved visiting the castle for the afternoon, enjoying the delicious tea and culinary delicacies, and exploring the castle interior and grounds.
The exterior of Inverlochy Castle boasts sizeable grounds and a wrought -iron gate opening up onto a long, winding road which brings you up to the castle entrance. While we were there, there was a massive chess set outside as well (again, reminiscent of Harry Potter)! If the weather had been nicer, we would have played a game, or explored the castle grounds more extensively. Unfortunately, it was just getting ready to rain, so we ran inside for our tea.
The afternoon tea experience does require booking in advance, but I booked ours the day before we went and they still had lots of availability. If you are traveling in the summer and definitely don’t want to miss this experience, I’d recommend reserving farther in advance.
This was one the most enjoyable afternoon tea experiences I’ve had and I highly recommend it. We had the large, ornate drawing room all to ourselves, and the food was sublime (I adored the cauliflower soup).
Castle #2: Melville Castle Hotel
For our final night on the road before making our way back to Edinburgh, we decided to stay in a historic Scottish castle. The Melville Castle Hotel is about 30 minutes outside of Edinburgh. We wanted to be near the city in order to get an early start exploring the next day. However, we were extremely excited to spend the night in a Scottish castle, especially after experiencing the pinnacle of luxury at Inverlochy Castle earlier in the day.
Melville Castle was much more affordable than any of the other castle hotels I looked into, at about $220 USD per night. While not actually a royal castle (more of a hunting estate), these accommodations did a fabulous job of transporting us back in time for the night. I wish we had stayed here longer to fully enjoy the royal mentality!
Hotel: Melville Castle, near Edinburgh
Day 5: Edinburgh
After four days on the road, we were quite excited to hand back our rental car (new tire and all!) and explore the city of Edinburgh on foot.
Edinburgh is a fairly small city with a lot of character. When exploring, Edinburgh Castle and the Scott Monument are two sights not to be missed. (Good news: they are fairly large, so you won’t miss them!)
Aside from these major landmarks, I also really liked Victoria Street and Grassmarket Square, which are close to each other and part of Edinburgh’s Old Town. Both areas had tons of cute shops and restaurants.
Food: I really wish I had had longer to check out the Edinburgh food scene. We ate lunch at Petit Paris, which was an excellent traditional French bistro that I would highly recommend. For dinner, we opted for a fancier meal at The Spence, which is the restaurant inside of the Gleneagles Townhouse Hotel.
Other recommended spots to eat in Edinburgh:
- Baba
- Dishroom Edinburgh
- Chez Jules
- The Outsider Restaurant
- Cask
Hotel: Le Monde
I highly recommend this hotel if you are staying in Edinburgh. The location was extremely central to all of the main areas, and the decor inside was adorable. Each of the rooms is named after a different global city – we stayed in the Dublin room!
Day 6: Departure from Edinburgh
Our final day was scheduled to be a relaxing departure day, with some extra sleep in the morning and no real itinerary. However, our flight did not leave until the afternoon. I took the opportunity to poke around Edinburgh a bit further in the morning.
I started with Dean Village, which is a cute picturesque area near the West End of Edinburgh. There’s nothing particularly to do in Dean Village other than to admire the view, but if you’re in the mood for a bit of a walk anyway, it’s a great area to check out.
Finally, I made my way to Cockburn Street, which I had heard was especially pretty. This street was lined with cafés and eclectic shops, making it an excellent place for me to enjoy a last meal in Edinburgh.
I ate breakfast at the Southern Cross Café, but I’d note that the most popular spot seemed to be The Milkman (pictured above). This coffee and pastry shop seemed so sought-after that they needed two locations within 50 yards of each other – one at the top and one at the bottom of Cockburn Street.
Conclusion
A road trip is, by far, the best way to see and experience Scotland. Even despite the difficulties we encountered with the flat tire, driving ourselves around allowed for amazing flexibility in schedule. Six days in the country was just enough – I could have stayed in Scotland for longer! Although the weather was a bit unpredictable at times, it did not take away from our enjoyment of the country’s scenic vistas and rugged charm.
I hope you found this itinerary helpful and inspirational for planning your own trip to Scotland!
