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The Ultimate Scotland Road Trip in one week!

My guide one week in Scotland! It is possible but you will need a good itinerary.

Scotland’s national animal is a unicorn! Wouldn’t you want to visit a country that has unicorn statues abounding and has a unicorn on its coat of arms? Scotland has been associated with a unicorn since the 1300’s. A unicorn stood for purity, nobility, and masculinity and was the natural enemy of the lion (the symbol of England). Super cool!

We had eight days to spend in Scotland, and I was told by every visitor’s guide that eight days would never be enough to see more than Edinburgh and Glasgow. But, knowing that my kids are good travelers in the car, we set out to defy that advice, and boy am I glad we did. While Edinburgh is truly a city full of things to do, the highlands were the highlight of the trip for all of us.

Where to go in Scotland?

 

That is a tricky question! There was not a single part of Scotland that we didn’t find beautiful, historically fascinating, or of worth. We did find that the spectacular topography of Western Scotland, and the gorgeous highlands were our very favorite. Honestly, you can’t go wrong! If we had more time, we would have gone to the Scottish islands.

We enjoyed the itinerary we chose, but if we go back, we will spend more of our time in Skye.

7 Day Driving Itinerary for Scotland

• Day 1 plus a tiny bit of night-We flew into Glasgow late in the afternoon and spent 1 nights in Oban which allowed us to explore Oban and Loch Lomond.
• Day 2- We drove to Skye by way of Glencoe and Fort William and spent the night in Skye.
• Day 3-5 we drove to Aberdeen stopping by Loch Ness on the way and stayed for 2 nights.
• Day 6-7 We drove to Edinburgh via Stirling Castle and spent the last of our time in Edinburgh. We drove to Glasgow early the next morning to catch our flight.

We picked up my brother who was studying in Aberdeen and took him along with us for the rest of the trip. (so if you wonder who the hairy guy is in the pictures, you will know). Keep reading to see how we were able to see Scotland in a week!

Loch Lomond

If you don’t know the song Loch Lomond, you can listen to it here. This traditional Scottish song is about the largest loch (or lake) in Scotland. We visited the very pretty town of Luss on the banks of Loch Lomond. As we rambled around the thatched village homes and down tiny lanes, I looked out over the loch and thought of the lyrics to the well-known song and thought, “No wonder someone would write a song about this beautiful view.”

Glencoe

The awe-inspiring valleys and mountains of Glencoe are a must-do in my book. The views are overwhelmingly majestic. I honestly don’t know enough good adjectives to do Glencoe justice. I will simply say, if I had to make a top 10 list of most spectacular views, Glencoe would be on that list.

Drive through or stop for a while and hike. You won’t be disappointed.

Plan on 1 hour to drive through, stopping at scenic overlooks or longer if you want to hike.

Isle of Skye

Skye was a highlight of our trip and one that if we had a do-over would give more time to. This island in the highlands is reached by ferry from the south or bridge from the east. The entire island is full of hidden and often deserted crags, valleys, and mountains.

Be on the lookout for highland cattle. They are so cute and furry.

Fairy’s Glen

Conical hills, spiral rock formations, and upended trees will make you believe you really are in the land of fairies. Honestly, this is one of the most amazing places any of us have ever been. The kids ran around a scrambled up hills for two hours, and we only left because it was getting dark. Sheep dotted the steep hills, and they were our only company while we visited. (Probably because it was March.) This is an excellent place for smaller kids to hike, as nothing is too strenuous.

 

Plan on an hour or two.

Old Man of Storrs

If you love to hike and enjoy stunning vistas, this is for you. The rock formations at the top of this hike are the reason to make it to the top, but the scenery is beautiful enough to warrant a shorter hike. Be aware the sign at the bottom shows the hike to only be a little over a kilometer, and after hiking for over a mile, I was nowhere near the top.

There is a parking lot at the bottom and good directions.

Plan 1-3 hours

Eilean Donan Castle

Although this enchanting castle is not technically on the Isle of Skye, it is just over the bridge in Kyle of Lochalsh. If you have been dreaming of Scotland and looking at travel photos, odds are, you have seen this castle. It is surrounded by 3 lochs with a long bridge connecting the mainland to the castle and makes for one of the most beautiful scenes you will ever see. It is one of the must-see castles in Scotland.

In addition to being beautiful, Eilean Donan castle played a significant role in the Jacobite uprising of the 1700s. The tour is a great way to cement Scottish history in your mind. Your kids will love the footbridge and running up and down the old stone steps inside the castle.

 

Plan on 1-2 hours.

Tip:

We had trouble finding some of the things we wanted to see on Skye as there is not always great signage. Our GPS helped with some of it, but our cell service was spotty and so it wasn’t enough. If there is something you are dying to see, screenshot the directions before you go!

Good Eats in Skye

Uig Hotel

This was our favorite meal of the trip, and we ate here due to sheer laziness. We happened to be staying at the Uig Hotel and were too tired to venture out for dinner. We got really lucky!

The thing we still talk about eating here was the cheese sampler platter. We tried local cheeses that were so different from anything we have tried before. My favorite was a lightly smoked cheddar that tasted like apples. I also highly recommend smoked fish or seafood pasta. We ended our meal with sticky toffee pudding and had to be rolled back to our room.

There are so many lovely hotels and inns in Skye you are sure to find a great place to stay wherever you are

The best things to do in Aberdeen

Aberdeen was a special stop for us because we got to meet up with my brother! He showed us around the University of Aberdeen (very charming) and took us on a walking tour of this city.

Aberdeen is gray, and I am sure on a beautiful summer day is very beautiful, but in the drizzle and wind, it felt to be made of its surroundings. On our second day there, my youngest son asked, “Could they paint at least one house yellow?” The story goes that Aberdeen was built from local granite that had a high concentration of mica. The result was to be stone that glittered in the sun. The problem is Aberdeen is built in the highlands of Scotland. A region that gets 250 rainy days in a year.

Don’t let me turn you off! Aberdeen still has tons to offer including:

Botanical Gardens at Duthie Park

This indoor oasis is surrounded by the extensive grounds of Duthie Park. We saw lots of families on playgrounds, walking dogs, and generally enjoying the cold bracing winds of March. We opted for the warm humid interior that was jam-packed with flowers, cacti, and plants from all over the world. It was wonderful, and I am a garden aficionado.

 

University of Aberdeen

The historic part of the University of Aberdeen is called King’s College. It was founded in 1495 and incorporated into the University of Aberdeen much later. The campus is very walkable, and I would advise doing just that. Cobblestone streets and tiny alleyways make for a charming walk around. Make sure to peek into the chapel to look at the beautiful stained glass and let your kids pretend they are in a Harry Potter book. Your kids will love the unicorn statue in the courtyard.

 

 

Pubs in Aberdeen

Aberdeen has pubs on every corner, which is unusual for Scotland. What is unusual is that we went to a few of them. Being non-drinkers, pubs don’t hold a lot of appeal, but my brother promised us good food, so we happily went to Old Blackfriars pub.

My fish and chips were delicious, and the steak and guiness pie my husband had made me jealous. My little guy didn’t understand why we would take him to a bar. He kept saying, “There are probably drunkards here. I don’t know why you brought me here!” No matter how many times we told him that pubs were restaurants in most parts of the world, he kept his incredulousness.

Tip -Be aware that most pubs don’t allow kids past 9 pm. We ran into trouble one night, and it made it hard to find somewhere to eat.

Shopping in Aberdeen

Shopping in Aberdeen is a charming and easy experience. I decided I needed to actually buy a rain coat even though we had encountered no rain. I thought surely Scotland has millions of raincoats. We had many choices of shops in Aberdeen’s Union Square Mall. This is a very modern mall with lots of restaurant choices and a movie theater. I found a great rain coat plus way more things than I needed.

Dunnator castle

This was the castle I was waiting to see. I looked at pictures, watched a drone video, and read all about Dunnator. We pulled up to visit it…. and it was closed for high winds! It was probably the biggest disappointment of the trip for me. Dunnator is an outdoor attraction as it is a castle in ruins on a cliff surrounded by the North Sea. A footbridge allows for visitors but apparently not in high winds.

If you go, take some good pictures and send me one, will you?

What to eat in Aberdeen

In addition to Old Blackfriars Pub, I would be remiss not to mention

The Bay Fish & Chips in Stonehaven

The line for this place was out the door, even at 2 pm. That always bodes well for any restaurant you want to try. Inside is a very narrow place for a line where you order and walk down the line to pay. The smell of fresh fish greets you when you enter, and the line moves quickly and efficiently. I recommend the haddock and chips with tartar sauce. I was grateful they also offered baked haddock for my son with celiac disease.

 

There is no room to eat inside but plenty of spots outside along the beach. The day we were there the wind was making waves crash over the cars in the parking lot, so we opted to eat in our car.

Loch Ness in Scotland and Urquhart Castle

The story of the Loch Ness monster really captured my imagination as a child. I was utterly convinced that he was real and as an adult, I’m half convinced. We couldn’t visit Scotland without at least a drive by this mythical lake. We decided to look for the Loch Ness monster at Urquhart Castle.

One of the most frustrating parts of a trip to Scotland in March is so many castles are closed. Urquhart was undergoing some structural changes to their bridge and so it was closed as well. The visitors center was open, so we watched a movie about this castle on the banks of Loch Ness. We scanned the lake for about half an hour and continued our drive. I’m sad to report that no sightings of the Loch Ness monster occurred.

 

Plan 1-2 hours to visit Urquhart castle, or 10-30 minutes to look for the monster.

Stirling Castle, Scotland

When I told people I was visiting Scotland, this was the recommendation I got over and over again. Seeing how so many castles we wanted to visit were closed, this became a priority for us.  The history of Stirling Castle is long and fascinating. Stirling Castle is arguably the most famous castle in Scotland, and it was one of the most often-used royal residences of the 15th and 16th centuries. Mary Queen of Scots was crowned here, and legends have connected it with King Arthur.

However, the story of the castle is that of James IV, James V and James VI of Scotland. They were responsible for most of the structures that remain today. Your tour will focus on them and give you a lot of historical information about their heydey in Stirling.

Stirling Castle makes use of natural defenses by being built on a large crag. To get to Stirling, you will drive up some pretty steep hills for quite a long time. A few times I thought our little rental car wouldn’t make it.

This castle has been lovingly restored, and more restoration is underway. The most beautifully done part is the Great Hall. The intricate roof was reproduced and replaced and is a sight to behold. I also enjoyed the Chapel Royal, a church rebuilt to christen James VI’s son Henry.  They are still restoring paintings from the walls at this time.

The tour guide we had here was excellent! I mean, truly excellent! She spoke very clearly, answered lots of questions, and truly made the tour a pleasurable learning experience.

Edinburgh

It seems that Edinburgh is a word no American can manage to say. You have probably heard it pronounced rhyming with Pittsburgh. You may have heard of the popular Edinboro or Edinburrow. But the Scots pronounce it Edinbruh. However, try saying that without a Scottish accent; it feels overly precious. However, you pronounce it, you can be assured that someone will correct you! Why can’t we all agree to disagree?

With only two days in Edinburgh, we had a lot of ground to cover and no earthly way to cover it all. We decided to choose things that the kids would really enjoy and found that we really enjoyed them too.

To Do in Edinburgh

Camera Obscura

This museum is a multi-story museum dedicated to the illusion and tricks of the eye. It features a camera obscura on the top floor. The camera obscura was the most fascinating part of the museum, but the other floors offered plenty for my kids to do. The attractions included a mirror maze, an optical vortex, science displays, and lots of hands-on entertainment. The camera obscura is over 100 years old and is able to project Edinburgh onto a drum-like surface in the center of a darkened room. The guide for the camera obscura was well suited to kids and let them take turns “splatting” visitors to Edinburgh castle with the use of a notecard.

Be aware the museum has a lot of stairs and strollers need to be left at the entrance.

Tip:

The view of Edinburgh from the roof of the museum was the best we saw the entire time we were in the city.

Palace of Holyroodhouse

The queen’s official Scottish residence was once the residence of Mary Queen of Scots. The tour features many rooms that housed Mary Queen of Scots and her court. There was an audio tour of the palace, and in addition, there were costumed actors in Mary Queen of Scots’ rooms. They were enchanting. They interacted with the guests as if we were modern-day visitors to the court. The kids didn’t seem to mind this tour because they had an audio headset to play with, and they raced each other to see who would get ahead to the next track first.

 

Plan on an hour or two.

If you are visiting in the summer, buy your tickets ahead of time to avoid the lines!

 

Arthurs’s Seat

Upon leaving Holyroodhouse, you can easily walk to the beginning of the trail to Arthur’s seat. We didn’t have the time to climb up to the top, but we did a little bit of hiking and got a great view of the lower city.

The Real Mary King’s Close

There are numerous Closes advertised in Edinburgh, but we chose this one because the trip advisor’s ratings were by far the highest. A close is an alleyway that is privately owned, and this one was owned by Mary King, who was a real person (hence the “real mary king” part). These closes led north and south off of the Royal Mile, and as Edinburgh built upon itself, many of these closes were cut off from daylight. Mary King’s close was one of those that was built on, and in doing so, it preserved a fascinating part of Edinburgh’s history.

The tour through the close starts at modern-day street level, and you descend lower and go back in time to 400 years. While on the tour, you learn of many of the actual residents of the close and see how they lived in Edinburgh through various years.

If there was, one must-see in Edinburgh, this would be it for us and our kids!

Tip:

Get your tickets as early as possible as they sell out most times by 11 am. (according to an employee)

A buy-ahead ticket was just released!!  Buy it before you go so you can make sure to see this fabulous attraction! For information, click here.

The Royal Mile

The Royal Mile is the main street in old Edinburgh. It runs from Edinburgh Castle down to Hollyroodhouse Palace. It is a cobblestoned street with areas closed off to traffic. Restaurants, museums, and shops line the street. It is a great place to shop for your Scottish treasures. My kids loved buying Campbell tartan scarves in honor of my Scottish great-grandmother.

Edinburgh Castle

The castle dominates the skyline of Edinburgh on the high point of Castle Rock. The Castle has seen battles and military campaigns for hundreds of years and has stood since the 12th century. The large drawbridge will welcome you in to visit Royal apartments, the Crown Jewels, the prisoner of war museum, and various chapels.

I highly recommend a guided tour to help you understand the enormous amount of Scottish history within the fortress. Here are some great tips on visiting!

Plan on 2-3 hours.

Good eats in Edinburgh

Meze Meze

This is hardly a traditional Scottish restaurant, but it was close to downtown and delicious.

Meze is a grouping of small dishes in the Middle East, which is exactly what this restaurant serves. It is a great option for kids, as there are lots of choices, and some are very familiar (think pita bread and french fries.) The food was authentic and delicious!

Other Eats in Scotland

When we turned over the visit to Edinburgh to the kids, and what they wanted to do, that included food.

Their favorites included: Shortbread, haggis, sausage rolls, and Irn Bru. All of these foods are easy to grab and go, so I thought I would include it.

Shortbread

Scotland is proud of this buttery, mildly sweet cookie, and they should be! It is ubiquitous in every store, every gift shop, and every restaurant. And after trying multiple brands, we determined that our favorite was…Walker’s shortbread.

Walker’s is available the world over, so one would naturally assume that they are good at marketing and maybe not so good at baking. But those tasty cookies melt in your mouth the way other varieties just didn’t. And the great thing is you can get them at home too! Click here to order!

Haggis

Haggis is the Scottish national dish and gets a lot of teasing. It is a mixture of sheep liver, heart, and lungs that is mixed with oatmeal and seasoning. It tastes like a slightly gamey sausage if you can forget what goes into making it. My boys, loving all weird meats, took to haggis like a fish to water. Grocery store haggis was a common request, and it was ordered almost daily when we ate out.

Sausage Rolls

Sausage rolls might be the world’s most perfect portable food. Browned and seasoned sausage encased in a flaky pasty. Not only is it delicious it is quite inexpensive. I don’t think we ever paid more than a pound for a sausage roll, and they were easy to grab and go at any bakery we passed.

Irn Bru

Affectionately called Scotland’s other national drink, it is the bestselling soft drink in Scotland. You will be able to find this everywhere! It is a bright orange soda and has a very unusual flavor. I would describe it as a mix between orange soda and root beer, but that’s not completely accurate. It is a taste that is hard to describe. My little guy thought it was the best thing ever, the rest of us were not big fans.

 

 

Scotland Road Trip Planner and Scotland Road Trip Tips

Learn some Scottish history

If you are like me, you knew about Mary Queen of Scots, you knew Scotland fought a lot with England, and knew not much else. Due to the historical nature of so many attractions, you will want to be in the know.

I highly recommend this one for adults and older teens. We read it aloud, and even my younger ones were interested.

My kids also liked these two.  book 1  book 2

Rent an automatic car

Many of you will be driving on the opposite side of the road. Scotland has small lanes and generally no shoulder. Most rental cars we found were stick shift, so we decided that wouldn’t be a problem as my husband and I drive a stick. However, shifting gears is backward too. We stalled so many times! Do yourself a favor, and rent an automatic transmission.

Do you love Scottish Castles? Go in the spring!

Apparently, all but the largest castles are closed in the winter. I can’t tell you how many times a website would say a castle was open, and we would get there, and it would be closed until April. We still managed to see plenty, but my husband is castle crazy and was super disappointed any time we couldn’t get into one.

 

Go to Scotland in March or April if you don’t like crowds

We loved having the Isle of Skye almost to ourselves. Our hotels and Airbnb were a fraction of the cost in May. Yes, it was a little windy and a little bit less green, but we relished our aloneness.

We were the only car at multiple stops in Glencoe. We truly felt like we were in a land of Giants and the only people who existed. In Fairy Glen, we were the only people the entire time we were there. We had the whole place to run around, sing, and enjoy the landscape.

 

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