Best of Scotland in One Week

Scotland has to rank high on the wonderful places I’ve been to! It is an ideal destination for a fun road trip to see green rolling hills, steep cliffs, abundant sheep, beautiful lakes, and historical castles! I traveled to Scotland with a girlfriend back in 2011 and want to share our itinerary which I consider the Best of Scotland in One Week.

We planned the entire itinerary ourselves from the detailed driving route to the towns we visited and the unique hotels we stayed in. It turned out fantastic! Below was our one-week itinerary. I will share the road routes, highlights of these areas, and my awesome photos.

• Day 1 – Arrival in Edinburgh
• Day 2 – Edinburgh Castle, Whiskey Tour, Royal Mile
• Day 3 – Edinburgh to Inverness
• Day 4 – Inverness, Lochness, Eilean Donan Castle
• Day 5 – Isle of Skye
• Day 6 – Ferry to Mallaig, drive to Fort William
• Day 7 – Fort William to Oban
• Day 8 – Oban to Glasgow and Edinburgh

If you are looking for assistance to plan your next trip, I am here for YOU! I love to plan travel itineraries for myself and others. For more details on how I provide this service, please check out my Itinerary Planning page and drop me a quick email at jan@janadventures.com to get started!

Day 2 – Edinburgh

As my girlfriend was traveling from Texas and I was coming from Switzerland, most of Day 1 was taken up with flying to Scotland and getting settled in. We met in Edinburgh as our starting point. The hotel we chose (Apex International Edinburgh) was a stone’s throw from Edinburgh Castle and offered great views of it.

We really started our trip on Day 2 by exploring all of Edinburgh. First stop was to walk up to the top of the famous Edinburgh Castle.

Edinburgh Castle is one of the oldest fortified sites in Europe. It was constructed in 1103 and stands on Castle Rock which was formed by a volcano erupting several hundred million years earlier.

The castle was occupied by many kings and queens and also served as a military base.

The castle area is quite impressive as it offers 360-degree views of the city and surrounding area. We opted to just walk around the outside and not do the inside castle tour.

After spending ample time visiting the castle area, we went back down to walk along the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile connects two significant sites by a cobblestone and vibrant street. It runs from the Castle down to the Holyrood Palace. The distance is roughly one mile or 1.6 kilometers.

The pedestrian street offers much entertainment with its shops, restaurants, bars, and street performers.

On the Royal Mile, we made an impulsive decision to do the Scotch Whisky Experience Tour. I knew very little about whisky before this trip and it was an excellent occasion to learn. We were able to taste whisky from the different regions of Scotland. I’m not a huge fan of whisky alcohol but I loved this learning experience!

Continuing down the Royal Mile (even if a little bit swaggering), we ended up at the Holyrood Palace. The palace is the official residence of Her Majesty the Queen in Scotland.

We walked all around the beautiful grounds and checked out the abbey ruins. The abbey was founded in 1128 by David I of Scotland. The abbey church was used as a parish church until the 17th century and has been in ruins since the 18th century. 

Day 3 – Edinburgh to Inverness

After a day or so getting acclimated to Scotland, we took off in our rental car to the far north to discover the area of Inverness. We were a bit anxious about having to drive on the left side of the road, but we managed just fine.

We chose the driving route to see the Highlands and go through Cairngorms National Park. The scenery was typical Scotland with wide-open spaces and sheep at every turn. We were amazed by the lack of cars on the roads. I think we chose a good time to visit Scotland in early June to avoid the high tourist season.

We didn’t make too many stops along this route as this was a long driving day of around 4 hours. The views along the route were entertainment enough.

We finally reached our next accommodation, a beautiful country house in the middle of nowhere called the Loch Ness Country House Hotel. It was a lovely place. The grounds were lush and the ambiance was peaceful.

We had a huge room with green-colored decorations. The restaurant was exquisite and yes, we had some whiskey after the meal as a digestive liquor.

Day 4 – Inverness, Loch Ness, Eilean Donan Castle

We started our full day 4 off by checking out the downtown of Inverness. There is a big river in the town called the River Ness where you will find the 19th century Inverness Castle perched beside it. We enjoyed walking along the river path before heading into the shopping district.

There we saw a man walking along in the traditional Scottish attire with colored knee socks, a plaid pleated skirt, and a sweater. I thought those garments were only worn in the movies but I was wrongly mistaken. We also saw young people playing bagpipes in the street. Loved it all!

After visiting the town, we headed south to do the tourist trap activity to look for the Loch Ness Monster. The Loch Ness Monster or Nessie is a creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. I’ve heard about this story since I was a child so it was a must-do for this trip. Of course, we didn’t see any live monster, only a statue of one in the water. It was however a scenic boat ride and nice to be out on the water.

Loch is the Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Scots word for a lake or for a sea inlet. The Loch Ness is a large freshwater lake just south of Inverness and has a depth of 788 feet (240 meters) and a length of about 23 miles (36 km). We passed the impressive 16th-century ruins of Urquhart Castle. For more info about the cruise we took, check out the Jacobite website.

After our lake cruise, we headed in the direction of Isle of Skye where we stopped off at the famous Eilean Donan castle. This castle is situated on an island where three great lochs meet. It is one of the iconic images of Scotland and worth the visit.

Eilean means island and Donan is from the 6th century Irish Saint, Bishop Donan, who came to Scotland around 580 AD. The castle was first inhabited in the 6th century but was fortified and constructed in the mid 13th century. Since that time, at least four different versions of the castle have been built and re-built.

The next stop on our drive was the Skye Bridge, a road bridge over Loch Alsh, Scotland which connects the Isle of Skye to the island of Eilean Bàn. Before we passed over, we stopped to admire the 500 meter bridge and take some shots.

There was much controversy when the Skye Bridge was opened in 1995, connecting the Isle of Skye with the mainland of Scotland. Locals from the Isle of Skye had wanted a road bridge from the mainland for decades because of the many visitors and pressure on the ferry services. They also wanted 24/7 access to the mainland and hoped that a bridge would attract more tourists and boost the island’s economy.

We shortly arrived at our adorable hotel for the next two nights. The Eilean Iarmain Hotel is situated in a very picturesque area next to the Sound of Sleat and the distant hills of Knoydart. This hotel was home to the late Sir Iain Noble, champion of the Gaelic language and founder of Skye’s Gaelic University,

We were in awe of the place. We had a cute apartment with two levels and fell in love with the country-like interior of this 16-room Inn.

The best part of the view from this quaint hotel was the Ornsay lighthouse, which was built in 1857 and automated in 1962. This place had to be the most peaceful area of our trip. We ordered local beers from the wooden bar and sat outside by the water to enjoy the beauty of this paradise.

Day 5 – Isle of Skye

We wanted to dedicate a full day to drive around the Isle of Skye, which is famous for its breathtaking landscapes.

Our first stop was the colorful town of Portree. I loved the cuteness of this small village, but it is the largest town and capital of the Isle of Skye. The population is approximately 2400. Portree was created as a fishing settlement at the beginning of the 19th century.

We walked all around the town to see amazing views of this port.

We also found many cute craft shops worth checking out. My favorite one was called ‘Over the Rainbow’. This town is definitely worth stopping at and taking pictures of the pretty colored houses.

The next scenic view on our tour of the island was Old Man of Storr. I had seen pictures of these oddly shaped rocks and was looking for them at every turn of the road.

The ‘Old Man’ is a large pinnacle of rock of the Storr ridge that was created by a massive landslide. You can walk right up to the rocks but we didn’t take the time due to our full-packed schedule.

Just around the bend was the well-known Kilt Rock which we did walk to from the nearby parking lot. This view was splendid to see the waterfall and cliffs all around. Kilt Rock is named for the towering basalt columns that make up the cliff and resemble the pleats on a traditional Scottish plaid.

The Kilt Rock is 90 meters high with the Mealt Falls plunging 55 meters down into the Sound of Raasay. We were lucky as there were no other tourists there and we could get up close for some nice pics.

More driving and landscapes until we reached the Dunvegan Castle on the west coast of the Isle of Skye. Another ancient castle to admire, this one was built in the 13th century and is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland. What makes it especially unique are the lovely flower gardens situated around the castle.

After a wonderful day of sightseeing, we headed back to our cozy hotel for the second night.

Day 6 – Ferry to Mallaig, drive to Fort William

Another fun day ahead as we planned to ride a ferry that would take us from the Isle of Skye back to the mainland and the town of Mallaig. This was a pretty cool experience to put our car on the ferry and enjoy the views from the top deck.

Once we arrived on the mainland after our 45-minute boat ride, our next planned stop on the way to Fort William was Glenfinnan. We wanted to see the impressive Glenfinnan monument, erected in 1815 in tribute to the Jacobite clansmen who fought and died in the cause of Prince Charles Edward Stuart. Yea, I know, who are these people?

When we arrived at the monument, it was raining quite heavily. That didn’t stop us from climbing the steps to the top. When in Scotland, you must always be ready for the inclement weather with your rain boots, umbrella, and rain hat. It makes the trip more fun when it rains a bit!

From this area, you can also see the famous viaduct that was made popular from the Harry Potter movies. We saw the viaduct but weren’t lucky enough to see the Harry Potter train pass while we were there.

We arrived at our next overnight destination in the town of Fort William. Now was the time to stay in an actual castle called the Inverlochy Castle Hotel.

If you come to Scotland, you have to stay in at least ONE castle, right? We loved this experience and I highly recommend this Castle Hotel.

The inside was enormous including our bedroom suite. We definitely felt like queens in this place! The onsite restaurant was scrumptious and the room service breakfast was pure pampering.

Day 7 – Fort William to Oban

After a hearty dinner, ultra-relaxing sleep in our spacious suite, and a huge breakfast, we packed up again for the next journey to Oban.

The drive along the coastline was very scenic. The reason why Scotland is good for road tripping is the beauty you see along all the routes.

We checked into our new place called the Oban Manor House. It was small, cozy, and situated next to the waterfront. We could walk easily from the house to the town of Oban.

Our main objective in Oban was to visit the distillery and learn about how they make Oban Malt Whisky. It was a fascinating tour and worth the time.

The Oban Single Malt Scotch Whisky story began in 1794. The distillery came first and the town of Oban rose up around it. It is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland. The distillery’s seven operators produce over a million bottles of Oban single malt whisky each year.

We walked around the cute town of Oban before having a cocktail at our Hotel bar and crashing for the night.

Day 8 – Oban to Glasgow and Edinburgh

Our one-week trip was quickly coming to an end as we headed back to our starting point of Edinburgh on Day 8. We drove through Glasgow and stopped to check out this town. We passed some cool castle ruins along the way.

Glasgow was a fascinating vibrant city, much bigger than the other towns we had seen. We walked along the main street and did a bit of shopping there.

We returned to our first hotel to finish our last night of the trip in Edinburgh.

What a wonderful trip it was! Everything turned out perfectly and we survived all the days of driving! Some people may not like to be on the go so much but we wanted to squeeze the maximum into our time and experience the Best of Scotland in One Week!

There was a lot of planning that went into this trip but that’s how we wanted to do it. I personally like knowing where I’m going to sleep each night. My recommendation would be to find the unique hotels you want to stay in and plan your driving days around that.

I have to say that the time of year we did this trip was ideal. There are fewer tourists in early June and the weather was not too cold. Of course, you will probably have some cloudy or rainy days because after all… it’s Scotland.

Would you like to visit Scotland? If so, I could help plan your full itinerary based on my experience in this fairytale region!

If you are looking for assistance to plan your next trip, I am here for YOU! I love to plan travel itineraries for myself and others. For more details on how I provide this service, please check out my Itinerary Planning page and drop me a quick email at jan@janadventures.com to get started!

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