Scotland
Scotland, in a few days
Edinburgh, Glencoe, Skye and Loch Ness, driven at your own pace: the map, what is worth booking, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.
- Day by day
- 1 Edinburgh Days 1-2
- 2 The Highlands and Glencoe Days 3-4
- 3 The Isle of Skye Days 5-6
- 4 Loch Ness and Inverness Day 7
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
Day by day
Edinburgh
A capital with a castle on an extinct volcano and a medieval old town below it. In August the whole place turns over to the festival.
- Edinburgh Castle, skip the line2h · from €25The crown jewels, the Stone of Destiny and the one o'clock gun. The queue on the esplanade is the part worth skipping.
- Old town ghost tour2h · from €20The closes and vaults under the Royal Mile after dark, told by someone who knows which stories are documented and which are not.
- The Royal Mile
- Arthur's Seat
- Calton Hill
- Dean Village
The Highlands and Glencoe
Empty glens, long lochs and Jacobite history. Glencoe still carries the massacre of 1692, and half the film crews that come here.
- Whisky distillery, tour and tasting2h · from €25Malt, mash, still and cask, in that order, then the taste of what the cask did. The driver gets a sample to take away.
- Glencoe itself, from the road and on foot
- The Glenfinnan viaduct
- The lochs and the hills
- Walking routes
The Isle of Skye
The island of mist, and the strangest landforms in the country: the Quiraing, the Old Man of Storr, the Fairy Pools.
- Guided tour of Skye: Quiraing and the StorrFull day · from €55A full day around the north of the island, which saves you the car park scramble at the two busiest stops.
- The Old Man of Storr
- The Fairy Pools
- The Quiraing
- Neist Point
Loch Ness and Inverness
A loch 230 metres deep, holding more fresh water than every lake in England and Wales together, and one very long-running legend. Inverness is the way in.
- Loch Ness cruise1h · from €20An hour on the water with a sonar screen running, which is as close to the legend as anyone has got.
- Urquhart Castle1h · from €15A ruin on a headland over the loch, blown up in 1692 so the Jacobites could not use it.
- The shores of Loch Ness
- Inverness
- The Falls of Foyers
- The Caledonian Canal
Worth sorting before you go
Hire a car · The Highlands and Skye open up once you are driving yourself. Remember it is the left-hand side, and that many roads are single track with passing places.
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Compare the agencies before you land.
Compare · Booking
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Haggis: sheep offal, oats and spice in a casing, served with neeps and tatties.
- Salmon and shellfish from the Highland rivers and the west coast.
- Fish and chips, eaten out of the paper at the harbour wall.
- Shortbread: butter, sugar, flour, and nothing else.
- Single malt whisky: worth tasting where it is made, with someone to explain the cask.
⚠️ Best avoided
- The weather changes hour by hour. Layers and a waterproof, in every month.
- Midges swarm from June to August. Take repellent, and avoid still evenings by water.
- Driving is on the left, and single track roads need you to use the passing places properly.
- Book early for the NC500 and the islands. Beds run out long before the season does.
Words that help
The practical page
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/scotland
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.