Scotland itinerary, day by day

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.

🗓️ 4, 7 or 10 days📍 4 stops☀️ Best time: May to September

Île de Skye · Photo Vincent Delsuc / Pexels

Route map (numbers = order of the stops).

Scotland in 4 days

2 stops · 11 things to do · ≈ 170 km

1Edinburgh

Days 1-2

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.

🎟️ Worth booking

Edinburgh Castle, skip the line2h · from €25
The crown jewels, the Stone of Destiny and the one o'clock gun. The queue on the esplanade is the part worth skipping.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Old town ghost tour2h · from €20
The closes and vaults under the Royal Mile after dark, told by someone who knows which stories are documented and which are not.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Royal Mile · Arthur's Seat · Calton Hill · Dean Village

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Castle Rock Hostel (€35 a night) · Mid-range: The Scotsman (€195 a night) · Luxury: Gleneagles Townhouse (€380 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Dishoom Edinburgh ↗ ★ 4.8 · 20919 reviews · €€
Makars Mash Bar ↗ ★ 4.8 · 10128 reviews · €€
Society Bar & Kitchen ↗ ★ 4.8 · 6515 reviews · €€
Locanda de Gusti ↗ ★ 4.8 · 1216 reviews · €€
LYLA Restaurant & Rooms ↗ ★ 4.8 · 462 reviews

Photo Alex Quezada / Pexels

🚗 Car · 2h30 · 170 km

2The Highlands and Glencoe

Days 3-4

Empty glens, long lochs and Jacobite history. Glencoe still carries the massacre of 1692, and half the film crews that come here.

🎟️ Worth booking

Whisky distillery, tour and tasting2h · from €25
Malt, mash, still and cask, in that order, then the taste of what the cask did. The driver gets a sample to take away.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Glencoe itself, from the road and on foot · The Glenfinnan viaduct · The lochs and the hills · Walking routes

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Glencoe Youth Hostel (€35 a night) · Mid-range: Clachaig Inn (€130 a night) · Luxury: Glencoe House (€400 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Kitchen Food Truck ↗ ★ 4.9 · 354 reviews
Moss ↗ ★ 4.8 · 270 reviews
Lochleven Seafood Café ↗ ★ 4.6 · 1502 reviews · €€
Ballachulish Visitor Centre , The Quarry Centre ↗ ★ 4.6 · 516 reviews · €€
The Laroch Restaurant and Bar ↗ ★ 4.5 · 1006 reviews · €€

Photo Lisa Simpson / Pexels

Scotland in 7 days

4 stops · 22 things to do · ≈ 490 km

1Edinburgh

Days 1-2

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.

🎟️ Worth booking

Edinburgh Castle, skip the line2h · from €25
The crown jewels, the Stone of Destiny and the one o'clock gun. The queue on the esplanade is the part worth skipping.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Old town ghost tour2h · from €20
The closes and vaults under the Royal Mile after dark, told by someone who knows which stories are documented and which are not.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Royal Mile · Arthur's Seat · Calton Hill · Dean Village

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Castle Rock Hostel (€35 a night) · Mid-range: The Scotsman (€195 a night) · Luxury: Gleneagles Townhouse (€380 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Alex Quezada / Pexels

🚗 Car · 2h30 · 170 km

2The Highlands and Glencoe

Days 3-4

Empty glens, long lochs and Jacobite history. Glencoe still carries the massacre of 1692, and half the film crews that come here.

🎟️ Worth booking

Whisky distillery, tour and tasting2h · from €25
Malt, mash, still and cask, in that order, then the taste of what the cask did. The driver gets a sample to take away.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Glencoe itself, from the road and on foot · The Glenfinnan viaduct · The lochs and the hills · Walking routes

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Glencoe Youth Hostel (€35 a night) · Mid-range: Clachaig Inn (€130 a night) · Luxury: Glencoe House (€400 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Lisa Simpson / Pexels

🚗 Car · 3h · 180 km

3The Isle of Skye

Days 5-6

The island of mist, and the strangest landforms in the country: the Quiraing, the Old Man of Storr, the Fairy Pools.

🎟️ Worth booking

Guided tour of Skye: Quiraing and the StorrFull day · from €55
A full day around the north of the island, which saves you the car park scramble at the two busiest stops.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Old Man of Storr · The Fairy Pools · The Quiraing · Neist Point

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Portree Youth Hostel (€35 a night) · Mid-range: Sligachan Hotel (€140 a night) · Luxury: Cuillin Hills Hotel (€250 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Pizza in the Skye ↗ ★ 4.9 · 930 reviews · €
The Shellfish Shack ↗ ★ 4.9 · 367 reviews
Edinbane Lodge ↗ ★ 4.8 · 320 reviews · €€€€
The Ferry Inn ↗ ★ 4.8 · 315 reviews
Loch Bay Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.8 · 282 reviews

Photo Vincent Delsuc / Pexels

🚗 Car · 2h30 · 140 km

4Loch Ness and Inverness

Day 7

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.

🎟️ Worth booking

Loch Ness cruise1h · from €20
An hour on the water with a sonar screen running, which is as close to the legend as anyone has got.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Urquhart Castle1h · from €15
A ruin on a headland over the loch, blown up in 1692 so the Jacobites could not use it.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The shores of Loch Ness · Inverness · The Falls of Foyers · The Caledonian Canal

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Inverness Youth Hostel (€35 a night) · Mid-range: Rocpool Reserve (€180 a night) · Luxury: Bunchrew House Hotel (€220 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Pasha Turkish Kitchen ↗ ★ 4.9 · 834 reviews
River House ↗ ★ 4.8 · 1079 reviews · €€€
Black Isle Bar & Rooms ↗ ★ 4.7 · 3417 reviews · €€
Rocpool ↗ ★ 4.7 · 1237 reviews · €€€
Fig & Thistle ↗ ★ 4.7 · 907 reviews · €€

Photo Michal Robak / Pexels

Scotland in 10 days

4 stops · 22 things to do · ≈ 490 km

1Edinburgh

Days 1-3

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.

🎟️ Worth booking

Edinburgh Castle, skip the line2h · from €25
The crown jewels, the Stone of Destiny and the one o'clock gun. The queue on the esplanade is the part worth skipping.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Old town ghost tour2h · from €20
The closes and vaults under the Royal Mile after dark, told by someone who knows which stories are documented and which are not.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Royal Mile · Arthur's Seat · Calton Hill · Dean Village

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Castle Rock Hostel (€35 a night) · Mid-range: The Scotsman (€195 a night) · Luxury: Gleneagles Townhouse (€380 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Alex Quezada / Pexels

🚗 Car · 2h30 · 170 km

2The Highlands and Glencoe

Days 4-5

Empty glens, long lochs and Jacobite history. Glencoe still carries the massacre of 1692, and half the film crews that come here.

🎟️ Worth booking

Whisky distillery, tour and tasting2h · from €25
Malt, mash, still and cask, in that order, then the taste of what the cask did. The driver gets a sample to take away.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Glencoe itself, from the road and on foot · The Glenfinnan viaduct · The lochs and the hills · Walking routes

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Glencoe Youth Hostel (€35 a night) · Mid-range: Clachaig Inn (€130 a night) · Luxury: Glencoe House (€400 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Lisa Simpson / Pexels

🚗 Car · 3h · 180 km

3The Isle of Skye

Days 6-7

The island of mist, and the strangest landforms in the country: the Quiraing, the Old Man of Storr, the Fairy Pools.

🎟️ Worth booking

Guided tour of Skye: Quiraing and the StorrFull day · from €55
A full day around the north of the island, which saves you the car park scramble at the two busiest stops.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Old Man of Storr · The Fairy Pools · The Quiraing · Neist Point

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Portree Youth Hostel (€35 a night) · Mid-range: Sligachan Hotel (€140 a night) · Luxury: Cuillin Hills Hotel (€250 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Vincent Delsuc / Pexels

🚗 Car · 2h30 · 140 km

4Loch Ness and Inverness

Days 8-10

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.

🎟️ Worth booking

Loch Ness cruise1h · from €20
An hour on the water with a sonar screen running, which is as close to the legend as anyone has got.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Urquhart Castle1h · from €15
A ruin on a headland over the loch, blown up in 1692 so the Jacobites could not use it.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The shores of Loch Ness · Inverness · The Falls of Foyers · The Caledonian Canal

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Inverness Youth Hostel (€35 a night) · Mid-range: Rocpool Reserve (€180 a night) · Luxury: Bunchrew House Hotel (€220 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Michal Robak / Pexels

Hotel prices are per room per night, activity prices per person, checked when written. Some links are affiliate links (Booking, GetYourGuide): we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

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Good to know before you go

🍽️ What to eat

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.

⚠️ What to avoid

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.

Plan this trip

📒 The free printable Scotland guide→ 🗓️ Best time to visit Scotland, month by month→ 🎟️ What to book before you go→

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