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5 Days in the Highlands...and to finish in Glasgow!
GiggsyP
Member ✭
Hi, We are going to spend 5 days in the Highlands/Glasgow next month [Aug 23-28] and am looking for any advice on what not to miss and what to see. We have booked accommodation in 4 spots - Inverness, Kyle of Lochalsh [to visit Skye], Fort William and Glasgow - and will be hiring a car. I did an initial bit of research and thought these places would give us a good flavour of this part of Scotland. Plus there's not too much driving between the destinations. However, as the time is fast approaching I would like to formulate a "plan of action". Thing is the more sites and info you read the more options and things begin to multiply. I believe a holiday should be a mix of seeing things but also trying to soak up some of the local atmosphere. Nobody wants be stuck to a regimented dash through a country. I would really appreciate any thoughts or recommendations for the timescale and area in question.
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Horizons
Member, VisitScotland Ambassador ✭✭✭✭
Whether you like it or not, your Skye travel day will be a mad dash as the island is pretty big, the roads rural and the attractions spectacular. Another thing I'd like to add is that you should plan 10-min stopovers as part of your route, there are a lot of gems around Scotland that people miss which is easy to remedy.
Before I can make any recommendations, it would be good to know your interests. As there are a lot of historical and natural attractions, planning normally comes down to finding a split between them. Ex: I have never been to Culloden as I would rather go to a natural attraction but that being said, I loved Eilean Donan castle (both are on your route).
Fort William in the interesting destination as you can choose to do 3 different things during your stay there, Glenfinnan + beach combing at Arisaig / Mallaig or scale Ben Nevis or hike through Glencoe (you can leave Glencoe to be covered during your Fort William - Glasgow drive)
Finally, "there's not too much driving between the destinations" if you stick to the highways. Most of the real Scotland that I love need rural roads to get to and a lot of driving. I would take any driving time suggestion by Google Maps / GPS with a pinch of salt if you're going away from A roads (such as Skye). You are actually covering a fair amount of distance and many people (Americans especially) make the mistake of thinking that the driving experience should be similar to back home where they drive long distances without breaking a sweat. That's not true here. Also most cars in the UK are stick and not Automatic, figure out your car situation slightly before hand if you need the latter.I'm Anirudh, an Indian travel blogger who has explored a lot of Scotland by public transport. My blog. Find me on Facebook | Instagram
Best of Scotland in 1 week itinerary (fully by public transport)
My Scotland travels (includes Edinburgh, Skye, Harris, Mull, Arran, Orkney, Loch Lomond, Islay, Oban, Speyside fest)5 -
LouA
Member ✭✭
I would stay on Skye instead of Ft. William. I wish I had two nights on Skye because there just wasn't time to see everything I wanted to see. I spent the night in Portree. We arrived on Skye about 3:30 and I got about 3 hours of sightseeing that evening, a nice dinner downtown and then several hours the next day. With that, I only saw about half of the Island. I spent several days in Glasgow and loved it. Lots of shopping and live music on Buchanan Street, people watching in George Square, a fantastic 1/2 day whisky walking tour (with lots of learning about the history of the city and about whisky), a 1/2 day trip to the Kelpies and Falkirk Wheel. I then headed up through GlenCoe, Loch Lomand, Eilean Donan and then on to Skye. Leaving Skye I took the ferry to Mallaig and road the steam train to Ft. William. I then went on to Inverness, Aberfeldy and back to Edinburgh. I loved everything about my trip but I would say the highlight was the time spent on Skye.6
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