Scotland/Edinburgh day trip question
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Anonymous
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We are doing a trip to London and Scotland in August. We will be in Edinburgh for 3 full days. 1 day will be exploring Edinburgh. The other 2 days we will rent a car. Is it worth a wow factor to drive all the way up to Loch Ness/Urquart Castle, stay one night, and drive back through Glencoe? This is a LOT of driving time.
Or we would stay all nights in Edinburgh, do a day trip to Glencoe (still a decent amount of driving), and another day trip either to Stirling Castle or St. Andrews (leaning toward coastal St. Andrews). I think my real question is whether driving all the way up to the Highlands is worth the driving for the wow factor vs. what we can see of nature/beauty in a closer distance to Edinburgh. |
Anonymous
| Unless you really want to see Loch Ness (like that’s on someone list of things to do while visiting Scotland) I would skip it. It is pretty but it isn’t all that and there isn’t all that much left of Urquhart castle. |
Anonymous
| PS I should add that driving in rural Scotland was among my least favorite places to drive because the small roads are quite small with “passing places” for where you meet an oncoming car (so that might bias my advice— haven’t checked the route you’d need to take). |
Anonymous
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We loved the drive from Inverness to Edinburgh, including stopping at Loch Ness. If you haven't booked your travel from London to Edinburgh yet, consider flying from London into Inverness and then spending a day or two driving down to Edinburgh through Glencoe. That cuts down on the need to drive all the way up to Glencoe and then back down again.
FWIW, we had a 10 passenger van for the drive, and there were a few parts where the road was small, but most of the road was on fairly wide/regular size roads and highways. |
Anonymous
| I have not been to Loch Ness, but I think it’s a 4 hour drive from Edinburgh. If it was my first time in Edinburgh, I would just stay there the whole time. There is plenty to fill your days there. Otherwise, if you want to get out of the city, I would highly recommend Glencoe and the Highlands. |
Anonymous
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The Highlands are gorgeous but I think it's too much for your time frame. I wouldn't do the drive unless you plan an overnight.
I liked St. Andrew's more than Stirling Castle. Outings in/near Edinburgh that we enjoyed: - Afternoon Tea at The Witchery by the Castle - Glenkinchie Distillery - Highland Cows at Swanston Farm |
Anonymous
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We did a day tour (van, maybe 16-passenger?) from Edinburgh with Rabbie's called "Loch Ness, Glencoe & the Highlands." It was a long day and we had only a little time at the destinations, but overall I enjoyed it and was glad not to be doing all that driving myself. My sons (13 and 15 at the time) thought it was a highlight of the Scotland and England trip in general, but they do prefer outdoors and landscapes to cities and museums, even if it's just viewing from a window.
Disclaimer/confession/preference: I have this hangup about car rentals in other countries, so I try to avoid it unless absolutely necessary for the trip goals. Also, we've done a couple of these crazy, long package day tours that breeze through a bunch of destinations on various trips -- but we've found that we can handle only one of them on a given trip and we also make sure that the days before and after are paced more calmly. |
Anonymous
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I've made two trips to Scotland, one just to Edinburgh for a few days and once for a week, mostly to see the Highlands. I saw (and liked Stirling) on this trip, but it's mostly a trip to see a castle and if you've just seen Edinburgh Castle it might seem repetitive depending on how much you're interested in that history.
I loved the Highlands. Going back is on my list of things to do. They're absolutely worth visiting, but it's really tight if you're also trying to see Edinburgh for the first time. If you just want to get a flavor of the Highlands, I'd skip Loch Ness and just drive to Glencoe. There's some companies that do one day bus tours that go to Glencoe and might give you an idea for a one day itinerary. I did one of these, through Rabbie's, and really liked it, although if you can drive in the UK it's probably more efficient to drive yourself. |
Anonymous
My husband dragged us to St. Andrew’s to see the world’s most famous golf course. I’m glad he did! The town is charming with a lot to see- North Sea coast, St Andrew’s Castle, medieval ruins, historic buildings and the university. Also, the golf course is also worth checking out, even if you don’t golf. |
Anonymous
+1 I loved this Rabbie’s day tour. It was a long day, but we drove to Loch Ness (Port Augustus), took a boat ride on the loch, then back through Glencoe. I was satisfied with two full days in Edinburgh doing city things, and am glad we added the day in the Highlands. If you choose to drive you could easily spend the night in Port Augustus. |
Anonymous
| For those who did the Loch Ness/Glencoe day trip, how did Glencoe measure up to Loch Ness and further north? We can do just Glencoe from Edinburgh in a much more reasonable amount of time - is it just as beautiful? - especially if we have several hours to spend there. |
Anonymous
I'd rate Glencoe as more beautiful than Loch Ness, though both are lovely. |
Anonymous
| Having seen both, I'd visit the Highlands over Loch Ness. |
Anonymous
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I love Edinburgh, it is such a beautiful city.
However, the Highlands are gorgeous too. I think Skye is stunning. I would either choose two days in Edinburgh and do a day trip to St. Andrews with a couple sites but skip Loch Ness, or do a day in Edinburgh and get a driver to take you to Skye. |
Anonymous
On my last trip to Scotland, we hired a driver to take us to Skye and it was worth it, we did two nights there. It felt like another universe. |