I’ve wanted to go to Scotland for as long as I can remember, but for whatever reason, we just never made it happen. In September of 2023, we finally had our chance.
With just a little more than a week, we couldn’t do all the things on the wish list. So we decided to string together a few key destinations with a road trip that would give us a sense of the different parts of the country and where we’d like to spend more time on the next trip.
We ended up spending quite a lot of time in the car, which had it’s challenges with a one-year-old in tow. It was a beautiful, albeit rainy, drive, but there were a number of bright spots on the trip that I would definitely recommend.
In this post, I’ll highlight five of my favorite things we did: from historic walks to dramatic castles to some of the best hikes we’ve ever done. In just nine days we sure did manage to see a lot!
An Overview of Our 9-Day Scotland Itinerary
Before jumping in, here’s a quick overview of our trip so you can get a sense of how we spent our time.
We flew into and out of Glasgow airport, solely because the airfare was cheaper. We then drove straight to Edinburgh, where we spent a couple of days before venturing north into the Scottish Highlands.
After an overnight stay in Grantown-on-Spey, we made a quick stop by Inverness and Loch Ness before turning west.
We spent the night in a B&B near Glenmoriston before heading on to the largest island of the Inner Hebrides, the Isle of Skye.
After two full days exploring the Trotternish Loop, we drove to the coastal town of Oban for our last overnight stay. On our final day, we drove back to the airport with a brief stop in Glasgow.
Our route in a nutshell with overnights in red:
And now, on to the list. We’ll start with number 5, counting down to 1…
5. Visiting Eilean Donnan Castle
There are a lot of castles in Scotland. Before our trip, I did some research to try to narrow down the options and figure out which ones were worth a stop along our route.
There were a couple of big must-see castles (like Stirling Castle) already on the list, so I wanted to round things out with something a bit more quaint and in a beautiful location. I ultimately settled on Eilean Donnan Castle, which is well-known for being especially picturesque. It was also conveniently located along our route to the Isle of Skye.
By the time we visited Eilean Donnan we’d already toured several other castles, so we decided to skip the guided tour of the interior this time and opted instead for the less expensive grounds-only ticket. For this particular castle, the scenery is really the star of the show anyway.
The castle occupies a small island that’s connected to the mainland with a beautiful arched stone bridge. We walked across the bridge and around the base of the castle, taking in the views along the way. We even got lucky with a bit of blue skies peaking through the clouds.
4. Working Sheepdog Demonstration
Next on the list is another stop we made en route as we drove from Edinburgh to Grantown-on-Spey.
Our travel guide book for Scotland recommended the Working Sheepdog Demonstration, which is just what it sounds like: a demo of real working sheepdogs herding a flock of sheep.
There’s limited information online for where and when the demonstrations take place. The only breadcrumb is a phone number for the hersman himself, Neil Ross. After attempting to call a few times with no luck, we finally got a call back just as we were on the road from Edinburgh.
We arrived just before the demonstration began and joined a small group of tourists. We watched as Neil shouted and whistled at the dogs, who then expertly guided the flock of sheep from a distant field all the way to where we were standing. It was pretty amazing to see them work.
Afterward, Neil sheered one of the sheep and answered any and all questions from the crowd. He then handed out bottles of milk so we could take turns feeding the sheep and Scottish Highland calf. We also got to pet the sheepdogs, which was the highlight for our daughter.
Neil was was a bit rough around the edges, which in my opinion just added to the authenticity of it all, but super knowledgeable and clearly a master in his craft. It was such a unique and memorable experience.
After the demonstration, we had just a short 30-minute drive to our B&B in Grantown-on-Spey. The Tigh na Sgiath Country House Hotel ended up being our favorite accommodation of the trip. The interior was cozy and the breakfast was fantastic.
Next time we visit Scotland, I’ll definitely plan to stay longer at this hotel and spend some time exploring Cairngorms National Park.
3. Walking Tour of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile
If you’ve been following my blog, you likely know I’m a big fan of Rick Steves’ travel guides. One of the things I like most about his books are the self-guided tours, and the one for Edinburgh was perhaps my favorite of the dozens we’ve done on our travels.
The tour was structured around Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, a mile-long stretch that connects Edinburgh Castle to Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Some highlights of the walking tour included St. Giles’ Cathedral, the John Knox House, and of course Edinburgh Castle. Even more interesting were the smaller details that we would have easily overlooked without our guide book (this is what I love about these tours!): a small placard and memorial dedicated to witches burned at the stake, a sign above Deacon Brodie’s Tavern of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and of course no Rick Steves tour is complete without a few narrow alleyways leading to surprisingly spacious courtyards.
Had we not done this self-guided tour, I’m not sure Edinburgh and it’s Royal Mile would have made the list. It’s one of those places that is appreciated more when you know the history. So if you’re planning a trip to Scotland, I’d definitely set aside a few hours to explore this part of Edinburgh with Rick’s book as your guide.
The walk took us a few hours to complete, and by the end we’d worked up a big appetite.
We decided to stop for a late afternoon lunch at Clarinda’s Tea Room, another recommendation from the guide book. The interior was super cute and the food was simple but tasty. It’s a popular spot but worth the wait!
2. Day Trip to Stirling Castle
We spent our first three nights of the trip in Edinburgh, leaving us with two full days before kicking off our road trip north into the Scottish highlands.
The first day was focused on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Having accomplished a lot in that one day, we decided to spend our second day venturing out to see a few sights outside the city limits, the main attraction being Stirling Castle.
The gardens and views from the castle walls of the surrounding countryside were stunning and definitely the highlight of our visit. The unusually sunny weather (our first day without rain on the trip!) also didn’t hurt, although I think it would still be lovely on a rainy day.
Stirling Castle is definitely worth a day trip from Edinburgh. If you have limited time, I’d even put it above Edinburgh Castle. The grounds and the castle itself are, in my opinion, much more beautiful. Although to be fair, the pleasant weather may have made me a bit biased.
We made a couple of other stops near Stirling Castle that are worth tacking on if you can afford to spend the better part of a day in the area.
First we went and saw the Kelpies, a pair of larger-than-life horse heads about 30 minutes outside of Edinburgh. These stainless steel sculptures are huge — 100 feet tall, in fact — and certainly interesting to look at. But the real fun was watching our horse-obsessed 1-year-old’s reaction. So if you have kids, this is definitely a fun stop.
Our second stop was to see the Falkirk Wheel, a huge ferris wheel-like structure that transports boats between two canals at different elevations. It’s quite a feat of engineering and unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
It runs about every half hour, so it’s a quick stopover. If you get the timing just right, you can even get free parking.
1. Hiking on Isle of Skye
Last and certainly not least we have the Isle of Skye.
If there’s one place in Scotland I’d like to come back to, this would be it. We had just two full days there, but you could easily spend a week or more exploring the largest island of the Inner Hebrides.
The scenery on the Isle of Skye is absolutely breathtaking. We spent our time checking out the many sights along the well-traveled Trotternish Loop, the main road that follows the coastline around a large part of the island. We saw waterfalls and rainbows, ate fresh seafood, and stayed in a tiny house, but the highlight of our time here was the hiking.
With limited time at our disposal, we had to be selective with which hikes we wanted to tackle. We settled on the most popular hike on the island, which leads to a large rock formation called the Old Man of Storr, and another hike across a landslide along the Trotternish ridge called the Quiraing.
Both were fantastic — some of the most memorable hikes we’ve done — and left us wishing we’d set aside more time to for other walks and hikes. It’s hard to single out just one hike, so I’m cheating a bit by grouping the two under the #1 spot. If I had to pick, the Quiraing would get my pick, but really both are must-dos for anyone visiting Isle of Skye.
The Old Man of Storr
The Old Man of Storr was at the top of our list, so we made that one the priority for our first full day on the island. We parked at the lot at the trailhead and set out for our walk around 3:30pm.
Aside from a steady incline and staircase at the start, the hike was pretty manageable. After a little under an hour, we reached the main viewpoint at the base of the Old Man of Storr.
We had a bit of rain toward the end of the hike but otherwise lucked out with the weather. The bright green grass and jagged rock formations made for a really striking landscape. It was beautiful even with grey, cloudy skies (maybe even more so).
The Quiraing
For our second day, we decided to try out another highly-rated hike, a trail named after a massive landslide along the Trotternish Ridge called the Quiraing.
There’s one main road that cuts across this part of the Isle of Skye, and the trailhead for the hike is at approximately the halfway point. The drive along is beautiful and worth doing even if you’re not going for the hike.
This hike was definitely more challenging than the Old Man of Storr. Similar to the other hike, there wasn’t much of an elevation gain, but much of the trail was narrow with a steep drop-off to one side. There were also a couple of places where you had to wade cross a stream or straddle a waterfall to continue on the trail (waterproof shoes are a good idea!). We managed to do it with a toddler in a hiking backpack, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.
The first part of the hike was easy-going with a couple of nice lookout points for those not interested in doing the full hike. The crowds quickly faded as we continued on from the lookout point, and soon we were the only hikers in sight.
A thick mist rolled in just as we reached two of the hike’s famous rock formations (the Needle and the Prison). We had a clear view one moment and the next we were inside a cloud — it’s amazing how fast the weather can change on Isle of Skye!
While our panoramic view was obscured, the mist was part of what made this hike so memorable for us. You could hardly make out the massive rock formations to either side of the trail. It gave it even more of an other-worldly feel.
Eventually the mist turned into rain, and we decided it was best to turn around. We’d made it about 1 1/2 miles into the hike, which took us around an hour, and we didn’t want to risk our daughter getting too cold or wet in the backpack on the return journey.
I could go on and on about how much we loved our time on Isle of Skye.
I’ll save all the details for a future post, but to give you a taste of what else you can see on the Trotternish Loop, our favorite stops included: spectacular waterfalls (Lealt and Mealt Falls), beautiful cliffs, and some great locally-caught langoustine at The Galley Seafood Cafe.
And that concludes my roundup of some of our favorite places, sights, and experiences from our 9-day road trip around Scotland.
Is there anything I missed that makes your list? I’d love to hear your recommendations so we can put them on the list for our next trip. Let me know in the comments below!
