6 nights in Scotland - please critique

[TarHeel2002]

We are traveling to the UK in March and have 6 nights scheduled in Scotland. We would like to see some historical places as well as hiking the beautiful Highlands. Our itinerary is:

Arrive from London via train
1 night Edinburgh
1 night Isle of Glencoe
2 nights Portree (Isle of Skye)
1 night Inverness
1 night Edinburgh
Depart for London via train

I know we won’t be able to see it all but does this seem reasonable? Any suggestions? Thank you!

[jebmke]

Burning a lot of time transporting between locations. Not my idea of a vacation. For 6 days, I'd pick one place and stay put.

Traveling a lot when much younger we discovered that place hopping was incredibly inefficient, burning too much time transporting and packing/unpacking, checking in .......

So for us -- we tried to average no less than a week per location.

[bobn60014]

Perhaps just concentrate on two areas of interest as it's too much travel for such a short period of time, imho.

[Valuethinker]

We are traveling to the UK in March and have 6 nights scheduled in Scotland. We would like to see some historical places as well as hiking the beautiful Highlands. Our itinerary is:

Arrive from London via train
1 night Edinburgh
1 night Isle of Glencoe
2 nights Portree (Isle of Skye)
1 night Inverness
1 night Edinburgh
Depart for London via train

I know we won’t be able to see it all but does this seem reasonable? Any suggestions? Thank you!

How are you travelling within Scotland? If driving that's a fair bit of driving. Quite a lot of single lane roads in Highlands (you meet someone, one of you backs up).

LNER train drivers union (ASLEF) have announced strikes - so that would affect the East Coast Mainline trains. Something you will need to keep an eye on (typically strikes are announced with a couple of weeks warning, and last for 24 hours over 2 days; but again you should keep an eye out on the relevant websites).

That East Coast journey is very pretty, particularly the part from Durham on north. Try to be on the water side (ie the right hand side going N) for seating. Some striking vistas north of Newcastle.

[TLC1957]

My wife and I vacationed in Scotland and Ireland mid May until mid June, 2019, some things we learned from our 31 day trip.

1. Do Scotland first IF you plan to rent a car. Why ??? the roads are better ie wider then in Ireland. You will get used to driving on the wrong side of the road. If you rent a car with a stick shift you will get used to changing gears with your left hand very weird experience had not driven a stick shift in 30 years. They do have automatic transmission but you will pay a premium for it may want to consider it.

2. Make sure you bring your GPS with you, using google maps was not as helpful as our gps particularly at the MANY roundabouts you will encounter. The Garmin gps indicated which turn to make when entering a roundabout with many have 4 options as to where to turn. They have roundabout every mile or so even on major highways you will encounter them. Many times 3 lanes of traffic are entering the roundabout at the same time. No one uses blinkers or gives you any indication where they are going soooooo much fun!! Try to plan your stops to the N and M roads they are so much better and easier to drive.

3.Signage in Ireland was VERY POOR without the gps we would have not found many places we visited. BUT make sure you look at where the gps is taking you, sometimes it took us down 1 lane roads that were really 2way roads. Nothing like a big truck heading towards you with no place to go!!

4. I only got beeped at 2 times BUT they will ride your tail very quickly when going too slow. They have many small narrow roads with 60 mph speed limits which I did not feel comfortable doing. I would wait until a place they could pass and put my 4 way emergency lights on and they would pass. Some roads had places you could pull over which was very helpful.

5.Beware of others using the road such as groups on bicycles who would ride 2-3 bikes across taking up the lane. Coming around a blind corner with no shoulder and seeing this was soo much fun. People walking in the road. Sheep are EVERYWHERE including walking in the road or along the road not to mention sheep dogs going after them.

6. We only brought enough clothes for 8 days. We used laundry facilities in town not at the hotel, where we dropped off the clothes and within 24 hours we picked it up. Saved us a lot of time and was was very reasonable priced about $15.

7. On and off bus tours in the cities give you a great overview. We used Park and ride buses in Edinburgh which saved trying to find parking and driving in this ancient city. For 4 pounds per person you can ride all day with many buses and routes to choose from. Be prepared to walk a LOT up and down BIG hills.

8. The OPW Heritage pass in Ireland and the Explorer Pass in Scotland helped you bypass the long lines Stirling and Edinburgh Castles.

9. Distance on google maps are short BUT because of the roads you need to add extra time to your destination.

10. Castles both ruins and finished/furnished, Cathedrals/Churches and distilleries are in EVERY Town so plan accordingly.

11. It rains a lot going from a beautiful day to pouring rain so bring rain gear and layers.

12. Locals do not wear baseball hats...gee I wonder why??

13. Souvenir T Shirts for places you visit do not exist!!!!

14. Woolen shops are EVERYWHERE!!!!!!

15. Locals are wonderful and very helpful.

16. Leave time to get through the customs lines in Dublin airport. We had Global Entry and it took us 2 hours to make it through the process. Our plane was delayed for 1 hour because folks did not make it through on time, yea they actually waited for the passengers.

17. Do not bother with the Ring of Kerry or as we called it the Ring of Terror!! Instead do the Dingle Peninsula and the A2 road to Northern Ireland, and the costal highway between Galway and Westport. The Ring of Kerry road was narrow, changed suddenly to one lane bridges with no warning with MANY tour buses driving like it was a 4 lane highway. The Killarney National Park is definitely worth seeing but not the entire Ring of Kerry. If you do decide to do the Ring consider doing via a bus tour. If a rainy day you will not see much.

18. Scotland has no toll roads but Ireland does make sure you have some local $$.

19. Pots of tea and scones were wonderful, coffee not so much as well as full Irish breakfast....baked beans in the morning???

20. Hotels require you to place your door entry card to turn on the power in the room. They have a slot as soon as you walk in to insert the card....make sure you get TWO cards so if you need to leave the room the other person is not sitting in the dark. They also use the card to get onto and operate the elevator. Hair dryers are in the desk drawer sometimes not near a mirror....lol. Each showers we encountered operated in its own unique way!! They do not believe in washcloths..... Make sure your hotel has parking some did not and we had to walk several blocks and pay for parking. Sometimes they had underground parking which was nice BUT it was like driving through your patio door into your basement....yea that tight. We had a Volkswagen Golf not a big car and it was VERY challenging,!

21. Make sure you have adequate rental car insurance including the tires! My 3 credit cards did not cover Ireland.
22. We had no problem getting gas with a credit card the stations we stopped at you did not pay at the pump, you had to go in and pay the cashier. As in the USA you sign a receipt for the transaction. Your card never leaves your sight, they bring the machine to you. No pins numbers needed at all.
23. On motor ways the left lane is the slow lane, the right is the passing lane. The speed limit signs just have a number on them nothing else given in the USA which states “speed limit” on the sign. On the motorway they do not post the speed limit on the motorway they only are posted as you come onto the motorway and are trying to merge!!
24. We purchased a SIM card for my iPhone once we got in the country. Sometimes we had google maps and the Garmin running at the same time, the Garmin was so much better. Google maps would say go east on the road, we had no idea what direction we were going, especially when in a roundabout! Where the Garmin gave you a blue line to follow.
25. The Dublin airport is a $50-60 euro taxi ride one way so plan accordingly. We stayed at The Schoolhouse Hotel in Dublin to give you an idea. We considered the bus from the airport but given we were up for 20 hours, had 2 rolling duffel bags and 2 carry on bags and the hotel was several blocks from the bus stop we took a cab.

Overall we had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves. They were both wonderful countries with spotless thriving towns, and amazing green country side.

[JordanIB]

3 nights Edinburgh, 3 nights Skye IMO.

If you are really wanting to see Inverness you could stop for lunch on the drive to/from Edinburgh. I wouldn’t take time away from either of these destinations for it.

Have spent 6 nights on Skye across two different trips and repeated only one activity (Quiraing - absolute must do). There is so much to do there and it’s gorgeous everywhere.

[dsmclone]

My wife and I vacationed in Scotland and Ireland mid May until mid June, 2019, some things we learned from our 31 day trip.

1. Do Scotland first IF you plan to rent a car. Why ??? the roads are better ie wider then in Ireland. You will get used to driving on the wrong side of the road. If you rent a car with a stick shift you will get used to changing gears with your left hand very weird experience had not driven a stick shift in 30 years. They do have automatic transmission but you will pay a premium for it may want to consider it.

Did you happen to drive on the Isle of Skye? I've driven in Scotland and Ireland and Skye was by far the worst place in Europe that I had to drive. At one point I was scraping my left fender on a rock, and folded my right mirrors in so that a car could pass by. The car that passed by looked to be inches from falling off a cliff. The rest of scotland was fine but the roads on Skye were really bad.

[calmaniac]

We are traveling to the UK in March and have 6 nights scheduled in Scotland. We would like to see some historical places as well as hiking the beautiful Highlands. Our itinerary is:

Arrive from London via train
1 night Edinburgh
1 night Isle of Glencoe
2 nights Portree (Isle of Skye)
1 night Inverness
1 night Edinburgh
Depart for London via train

I know we won’t be able to see it all but does this seem reasonable? Any suggestions? Thank you!

I've travelled to all of the above and particularly enjoyed hiking around Glencoe and Skye. I've hiked a lot of amazing locations and these areas are up there!

1. That's a lot of time on the road, not realistic. I would limit to Edinburgh & Glencoe, if you really want to get some hiking in.
2. To reduce driving, I would put Skye on a future trip.
3. Is your "hiking" 1-3 mile of gentle rambling, or are you prepared to really hike? The Scottish Highlands can be rough and wild terrain and may be a bit much for some.
4. That could be even more of an issue in March, as cold weather & rain are likely. You will need good rain gear!!
5. If you do go to Skye, don't stay in Portree. It's just another tourist trap city. Lots of great places to stay in quieter locals. Can always drive into Portree.
6. I don't recall any problems with roads on Skye, just the Applecross Pass.

[BrooklynInvest]

If it were me I'd move less, stay a couple of nights in a row in Edinburgh and, without question, one night in a pub or B&B in the highlands somewhere. Not in a city or large town.

But a week anywhere in Scotland is awesome. Have fun OP!

[neilpilot]

Rather than fly London trip, have you considered a return flight from Edinburgh? An open jaw ticket is often not more costly, and you’d avoid the time and expense of backtracking to London.

We flew into Shannon last weekend, spent our first week in SW Ireland, then flew into Heathrow. We’re currently in UK for an additional 3 weeks, and will then fly back out of Edinburgh.

[Valuethinker]

We are traveling to the UK in March and have 6 nights scheduled in Scotland. We would like to see some historical places as well as hiking the beautiful Highlands. Our itinerary is:

Arrive from London via train
1 night Edinburgh
1 night Isle of Glencoe
2 nights Portree (Isle of Skye)
1 night Inverness
1 night Edinburgh
Depart for London via train

I know we won’t be able to see it all but does this seem reasonable? Any suggestions? Thank you!

I've travelled to all of the above and particularly enjoyed hiking around Glencoe and Skye. I've hiked a lot of amazing locations and these areas are up there!

1. That's a lot of time on the road, not realistic. I would limit to Edinburgh & Glencoe, if you really want to get some hiking in.
2. To reduce driving, I would put Skye on a future trip.
3. Is your "hiking" 1-3 mile of gentle rambling, or are you prepared to really hike? The Scottish Highlands can be rough and wild terrain and may be a bit much for some.
4. That could be even more of an issue in March, as cold weather & rain are likely. You will need good rain gear!!
5. If you do go to Skye, don't stay in Portree. It's just another tourist trap city. Lots of great places to stay in quieter locals. Can always drive into Portree.
6. I don't recall any problems with roads on Skye, just the Applecross Pass.

All good points.

Scotland in March. The weather can be a wee bit... horizontal. Rain. Wind blowing off the Atlantic. It could even be sleet. Snow at higher altitudes. I am not sure hiking on the West Coast of Scotland in March ... it will be challenging.** You need to be fit, and have good waterproof gear.

(When it's not raining and the cloud clears a bit, or at sunset, it can be one of the most beautiful places in the world. Note also that it will be fairly early darkness at that time of year - the latitude is like middle of Alaska).

OTOH later in the year you get the midges (mosquitoes, but smaller and more annoying) and they really are a Biblical Plague. West Coast of Scotland would probably have a population of 10m (v say 1-1.5m?) if it were not for them.

** If anyone is tempted by Ben Nevis. Every year it kills some unwary hikers. Set off for a nice hike, but Scotland is "4 seasons in one day". The cloud rolls in, visibility drops to zero, people get lost, even with GPS. Every year. Without fail.

[Valuethinker]

Rather than fly London trip, have you considered a return flight from Edinburgh? An open jaw ticket is often not more costly, and you’d avoid the time and expense of backtracking to London.

We flew into Shannon last weekend, spent our first week in SW Ireland, then flew into Heathrow. We’re currently in UK for an additional 3 weeks, and will then fly back out of Edinburgh.

Agree that avoiding going back through London is a good plan, if one can.

Besides the omnipresent industrial action (strikes) there are just a host of things that can go wrong in crossing the country. A flight back to Heathrow may also be sensible. Weather interruptions are not usually a big problem *but* I would leave lots of slack time (ideally overnight at a Heathrow Hotel but at least 4 hours arrival to departure) to allow for SNAFUs.