Use the town of Portree as your base and explore from there. A 13-minute drive north of town will bring you to the Old Man of Storr, a set of jagged, iconic rock formations formed by an ancient landslide. We arrived at John O’Groats around 4pm and went straight to Seaview Hotel for some fish and chips because the weather was so cold and windy! Our top tip for planning your Scottish highlands road trip would definitely be to do it how we did it, backwards! Scotland was such a mystery to us. We are sharing our Scottish highlands road trip itinerary with you! mobile app. All Rights Reserved. Scottish Highlands. 1. 1) Be very careful driving When driving in Scotland, you’ll drive on the left. Unfortunately for us we were tired and cold so we didn’t have the patience to sit around for too long. Hi y’all! After a few snacks and scenic stop offs along the way, we stopped at the very touristy and busy area called Smoo Cave. We ended up making camp around a small area named Tongue we found a quiet spot off the main road and made camp there, we spent the evening seal spotting and listening to the water lapping against the rocks! May 19, 2019 I Heart Britain Scotland, Scottish Highlands 2. Check out Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile, Princes Gardens, and stumble home through the cobbled alleyways after a night at one of Edinburgh’s famous pubs. Travelling to the Scottish Highlands is going to be all of those experiences and more. Planning Your Loch Ness Visit. Glencoe is one of the Highlands’ most beautiful regions, particularly famous for a group of three massive peaks called “The Three Sisters.” There are several turn-offs where you’ll be able to park and photograph the stunning landscape. Blair Castle is easily accessible, just past the town of Pitlochry at the southern edge of the park. Follow the road past Dunvegan Castle and you will find a great view of this medieval castle and you may even spot a seal or two in the bay! These are the world’s best, Download the Inquire Now Add to Ideas + The Highlands of Scotland. Investment is piling in along the route and elsewhere, as local businesses realise the benefits of extending … Rita and Susie are here to help give you the inside track. Get ready for jaw-dropping landscapes, gorgeous waterfalls, lochs, century-old castles and beaches that look like they are straight out of the Caribbean. You can drive around the park at your leisure and take in the landscape with your eyes, or spend the day exploring by foot. People planning a Scottish Highlands itinerary generally plan to spend some time walking, hiking, or climbing on at least part of their holiday. Keep your eyes peeled as the seals like to sunbathe on the rocks! A lot of roads are blocked off, so just park in the small car park area just before the visitor center and walk down to the visitor’s center. North Coast 500: the best Scottish road trip for the ultimate getaway. Of course in good old Scottish fashion, it poured on us so we hit the pub and had a couple drinks and lunch before heading back to Inverness to drop off our vehicle! Our drive from the Kingdom of Fife to the Western Highlands might as well have been called “the trip that just wouldn’t end.” Who knew 139 miles could literally take six hours to drive? When our New Zealand trip fell through we really wanted to go on a road trip. From these two, you can take day trips to the locations across the Highlands. We met two years ago on Tinder and have been together ever since. The same applies to Fort William, below Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland - another gateway or route centre, giving you further touring options. Before setting out from Edinburgh, explore everything the city has to offer. Pin this 4 Days in the Scottish Highlands itinerary to help plan your trip! Here are four suggestions to help you get started planning your trip to the Scottish Highlands. To venture even farther, take the eight-hour ferry from Kirkwall to the Shetland Islands. Hike Old man of Storr Visit Portree Visit Dunvegan Castle. After Glenmorangie we made a stop off at a castle! One of my favorite stops on this road trip was the Eileen Donan Castl… This castle is definitely a stop we would recommend on your Scottish Highlands road trip because it was massive and so beautiful! When you’re done exploring the lake, it’s time to return to civilization. Pin it! We had gone from beautiful lush green sheep farms over on the east and north, but now it truly felt like we had reached the Scottish Highlands. You could spend a couple of days exploring the Isle of Skye, but if you’re short on time, begin heading south along the coast until you reach Fort William. On our most recent trip to the UK, we were lucky enough to spend a few days around Loch Ness. Stacey is a personal trainer and Jason works in signage. The North Coast 500 road trip, created in 2015, has opened up the Highlands to a new breed of visitor, with their motorbikes, campervans and convertible cars. Braemar Castle, however, is located in the heart of Cairngorms, and you might need to take a brief detour to see it. Its fifty shades of green lured me into forests, brick bothies were captured with my cameras, and we explored the mountains in search of Highland cattle. Our first day we arrived in Scotland and picked up our truck from WildTrax and headed to Chanonry Point. If Stirling Castle inspires you, you can even drive another 15 minutes north to visit Doune Castle, which you might recognize from the iconic opening scene of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Here is my 5-day road trip itinerary to the Scottish Highlands. It sits right on Lochness, so of course you can go and look for Nessie. Our Trip Planner function is now no longer available, but don't worry! Take your time and explore as many of the bays as you can, our favourite was visiting Dunnet Beach which is apparently home to lots of dolphins (we didnt see any!) Visit Glenmorangie Distillery Visit Dunrobin Castle Eat fish and chips at John O’Groats Visit Duncansby Head. If you are nervous about a road trip through Scotland then read our tips for driving in Scotland. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. living on the road in our self-converted sprinter van! about us. You can also check out Balmoral Castle in the northeast of the park — one of the Royal Family’s holiday residences. Make sure you check out our guide to driving in Scotland as well so you can prepare yourself! We unfortunately got a bit of rain when we pulled into town so we hopped back in the truck and left. Europe - Planning A Trip To Scottish Highlands - Looking for recommendations for a 3-day stay in the Scottish Highlands. Located in the western and northern areas of Scotland, the Highlands feature unparalleled scenery, from towering mountain ranges to sweeping, green countryside to sparkling lochs. The most remarkable of them is Ben Nevis (1344m), which is the highest not only in Scotland but in all of the UK. We paid 12 pounds each to visit Dunrobin Castle which was well worth the price. This hike takes about 2 hours and it’s mostly uphill to get the view point. Prepare yourself before you tackle those Scootish highlands roads! The Scottish Highlands are a mixture of history, culture and mind-blowing landscapes. This impressive gorge is also home to the stunning Falls of Measach. As we made our way along Scotland’s infamous single lane roads we noticed a tea shop and decided to grab a coffee! Both Glasgow and Inverness are good points to stop and start a tour of the Scottish Highlands. Few adventures are as memorable as exploring the northern reaches of Scotland by road. For the first part of the journey, we’ll be retracing our steps on the A82 as far as Invermorrison. Mountains, lochs, bright heather and rhododendrons give way to white sand beaches and rugged coves as the train nears Mallaig. You can start your trip pretty much anywhere, but Scotland’s capital city is a natural launching point. This also gives you more practice on the Scottish roads before being thrown into narrow single lane roads through mountains passes like Applecross! To fully experience the awe-inspiring natural wonders of the region, include a leisurely road trip in your itinerary. Just an hour and a half north from Edinburgh y… The Scottish Highlands are well worth a visit. Here’s how to plan a truly unforgettable road trip through the Scottish Highlands. This may be the final leg of the trip, but that doesn’t mean the scenery gets any less impressive. Definitely worth a visit if you have time, the train passes around 10am and 3pm. The Scottish Highlands are well worth a visit. Our top tip would be to make sure you fill up with gas at Thurso as some gas stations further along may not be open depending on the time of year! Travelling the Scottish Highlands. In some cases, we earn commissions from affiliate links in our posts. When you’ve had your fill of rugged adventure, the coastal town of Inverness is just an hour’s drive north. We definitely missed a few things due to our lack of planning. Fans of the popular television series Outlander won’t want to miss out on an opportunity to take a first-hand look at some of the more well-known locations from the show on their trip to the Scottish Highlands. This itinerary assumes that you start your Scotland road trip in Glasgow and finish it in Inverness. Corrieshalloch gorge is basically a gorge about 1.5km long and 60m deep! Although Loch Ness might be the site most heavily associated with Scotland, Scots know that the Isle of Skye is their most breathtaking destination. When they arrive in Scotland, they need to be inspected and repaired before they can be used for whisky. 1. After you’ve spent your morning among the rocks, head a half-hour south of Portree to the Fairy Pools. It’s worth getting up early on day 3 of our Scottish Highlands itinerary to make the most of this beautiful trip to the Isle of Skye. Verdant green rolling hills, majestic mountains and dramatic landscapes, historic castle ruins and ancient megaliths — the Scottish Highlands has them all. Scotland Itinerary 10 Days: Getting to the Scottish Highlands and Getting Around. Before setting out from Edinburgh, explore everything the city has to offer. Our Scottish Highlands road trip itinerary included a few distilleries, but there is even more to the Scotch whisky making process. You can start your trip pretty much anywhere, but Scotland’s capital city is a natural launching point. As we were leaving Skye we opted for a bit of a detour to go and visit Dunvegan Castle, just know that this castle is all the way at the northern tip of Skye and its not just a short drive! Our goal was also to make it over to the Isle of Skye if we had time. Ullapool was our next big town we would reach so we made our way to the nearest gas station and grabbed some much needed snacks and some gas! If you get the chance to take one road trip in the United Kingdom, this is definitely it. This whole area is well manicured and beautiful, you can’t pull over and sleep in your van but there is a camp site nearby where you can relax and wait to see some dolphins here! Definitely a must see if you are driving the North coast 500! A journey through the Highlands is a journey through the history of our planet, as the ancient rocks were … As with most other destinations, a trip to the Scottish Highlands can be as expensive or – well, not cheap but – as doable as you are willing to make it. If you are looking for the best Scottish Highlands itinerary for a road trip, then look no further. This point is where you will find a pod of dolphins that come in every time the tide rises. Never forget a thing for your road trip! This includes personalizing content and advertising. We would highly recommend 7 days for this trip at least, so you can take your time and explore and hike. The travel experts selected the region for its whiskey, wildlife and scenery. It was definitely worth it. We researched Scotland’s North Coast 500 and decided this was our trip! Drive slow, be extra careful on narrow roads, and drive defensively in bad weather. The trails are largely non-strenuous, and you can easily spend an entire afternoon wandering through the hidden gardens, rivers, and old bridges of the Scottish wilderness. We were mesmerized by the lochs and we sat and watched a boat make their way through a few of them! Our morning in John O’Groats started a lot better than our first night ended! Here, Country Living speaks to VisitScotland's Chief Executive Malcolm Roughead, who shares his reaction to the news and the best places to visit the in the area. You can really have a wide range of experiences here. We’re Adam, Kathryn, and Kona, an adventurous married couple (+ pup!) Don’t fear – we’ve lined up an array of itineraries to help you get planning your ideal trip, be that a day in the capital, a week’s island-hopping, or a three-day tour of Highland castles. It’s the last large city you’ll be seeing for a while. Once you’ve hiked the 1.5 miles to the pools, you can even take a dip. Enjoy a road trip with an accredited driver-guide as you explore the Highlands of Scotland. Date: July 17th to 26th… Planning a trip to Scotland? Have tea at Eriboll Visit Smoo Cave Camp outisde Ullapool. Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, is just a 45-minute drive south. If you have more time to spend in The Scottish Highlands, you can go all the way north to the Orkney Islands, which are accessible by ferry from Aberdeen. They have lots of boat tours and all kinds of fun things happening. The United Kingdom, this sparsely populated land is best seen by train on A82! Commissions from affiliate links in our posts be very careful driving when driving in as... 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