The Ultimate Road Trip Around Scotland
DO YOU WANT TO SEE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE ON YOUR TRIP TO SCOTLAND? YES? OKAY, THEN THIS IS FOR YOU!
Eilean Donan Castle
Last August, my dad and I flew to Scotland and drove in a humongous circle around the whole country! We stayed for 12 days/11 nights and crammed SO much stuff into our days. We drove for hours everyday to see new things and to stay in new cities. We ran into many sheep blocking the narrow roads, endless amounts of castles, and lots of rain. It rained every single day, multiple times a day! I absolutely love rain so I really enjoyed myself haha. If you’re planning a trip to Scotland, I will lay out our exact road trip day by day and include everything you must see! There are links to everything we did, memorable places we ate, and all of the places we stayed. Plus, being a photographer, I really wanted to have a place to put some of the photos I took along the way (some are cell phone pictures though)!
DAY 1
We started off the trip by flying into Glasgow, Scotland! We got to the airport early in the morning and we ended up having to wait hours for our rental car. Once we finally got our car, it took almost all day to get used to the backwards driving and endless roundabouts (thank goodness for the awesome bus system). We drove to some beautiful sights and ate at my all time favorite restaurant of the whole trip.
Day 1 wrapped up:
Melrose Abbey - Gorgeous ruins that you can walk inside of. I cannot believe that people actually built something so beautiful. This is a MUST SEE!
Rosslyn Chapel - All of the details throughout Rosslyn Chapel are mind-boggling. They have quick tours of the chapel so you can learn the story behind everything! I’m not much of a tour person, but for this one I was all in!
Kings Arms - The BEST restaurant of the entire trip in my opinion. I ordered the Saucy French Chicken and I would do anything to have that meal again. The restaurant itself is also adorable.
Courtyard Marriott at Heriot-Watt University - Where we stayed for the first two nights. It’s your typical hotel, but was super nice and the bus system there is incredible.
DAY 2
We started off the second day by jumping on the bus from the hotel to Edinburgh! The bus system is SO easy to use, it will make your life a million times easier! We walked around the Royal Mile all day and explored many closes, which are small alleyways and courtyards. It was so much fun to go in all of the small shops and scope out places for dinner. We walked every inch of Edinburgh Castle and got ice cream from the BEST little bus/car! If you see a bus outside of Edinburgh Castle that says “Luxury Scottish Ice Cream” you NEED to stop there! It’ll be the best ice cream of your whole trip. After leaving the castle we walked to Arthur’s Seat, which was about a 2 mile walk. We climbed a bunch of the hills which gave us a great overview of Edinburgh, it was stunning! Thankfully, we got a taxi back to our hotel because we had walked miles and we were exhausted. Then after resting a tad, we hopped back on the bus and headed back Edinburgh to eat dinner at the Malt Shovel. After dinner we got to attend the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which was absolutely phenomenal.
Day 2 wrapped up:
Edinburgh Royal Mile - MUST DO! There’s TONS of shops, alleyways, places to eat, literally everything is here! There were even a ton of street performers when we visited. If you’re near Edinburgh, the Royal Mile is definitely worth your time. I couldn’t get over the architecture!
Edinburgh Castle - You can walk alllllll around Edinburgh Castle and go in all of the different parts of it which was super cool to experience! They even fire the cannon everyday! I would definitely go back here! It does get pretty crowded though.
Arthur’s Seat - If you like hiking, this is totally for you! There’s a handful of different trails to walk around that overlook the city. There’s also a ton of wildflowers along the way! It was breathtaking and we had a lot of good laughs here.
Malt Shovel - The exterior of this restaurant instantly grabbed my attention and when I saw that they had mac & cheese on their menu, I instantly knew this is where we were going to eat. I recommend having an early dinner if you stop here because I got the very last mac & cheese, they started to run out of food!
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo - No, this doesn’t mean we went and got tattoos (sadly haha). The Tattoo only takes place once a year, every August. It’s a huge festival put on by hundreds of performers and it’s awe-inspiring. If you’re in Scotland in August, it’s a MUST DO!
DAY 3
We woke up bright and early the morning of day 3 to travel to the Falkirk Wheel and Stirling Castle. We got to the Falkirk Wheel before it opened, so we didn’t get to see it in use, but we were able to walk all around it! Then we got to Stirling Castle before they opened as well. I recommend getting there a little before they open because the parking lot fills up quickly and there was already a long line forming to get inside! Once the gates were opened, everyone was spread out and it didn’t seem too crowded! It was AMAZING! I loved this castle because there were so many amazing parts of it to walk around. The architecture and gardens were to die for. We then traveled to Anstruther and took the May Princess to the Isle of May. Our main goal was to see puffins, but sadly we were a few days late and just missed them. There were thousands of birds on the island and we were able to walk around the entire thing for a couple of hours once the boat dropped us off. We ate dinner at the Waterfront Restaurant, which was right by the boat launch, and then we got ice cream and headed back to the The Bank (our hotel for the night).
Day 3 wrapped up:
Falkirk Wheel - This is a rotating boat lift that connects two different canals. It was really cool to see how everything worked! I think this would be a great spot for kids as well. There were even little splash pads!
Stirling Castle - One of my favorite castles of the trip! This one is a MUST SEE in my opinion. Queen Anne Garden was my favorite part of the castle, it was absolutely stunning. There were so many parts of the castle to walk around and it overlooked beautiful scenery.
Isle of May - This is a MUST DO!! Traveling by boat to this island was an experience in itself, as it was sort of a rough ride and a few people got sick. If you get sea sick easily, this might not be for you! I thought the waves made the ride more fun though and everyone on the boat had great laughs! You get dropped off on the island and get to explore the whole island on your own! It was AMAZING! Even though we were too late for puffins (the best time for puffins is June-July), there were so many other birds and wildlife to see. Seeing all of the burrows made from the puffins was worth the trip too!
Waterfront Restaurant - This restaurant overlooks the water and had delicious mac & cheese! The fries and hot chocolate was also yummy. It’s a great stop if you’re in the town!
Lisa’s Ice Cream Parlour - This was right next to the Waterfront Restaurant and the ice cream was sooo good! The shop also has tons of candy!
The Bank - MUST STAY! One of my all time favorite hotels of the entire trip! This hotel was SO cute and the breakfast at the restaurant was absolutely phenomenal. I got the waffles and they were the second best waffles I’ve ever had in my life (the best were in Hawaii).
DAY 4
Day 4 was one of my favorite days. There’s just something about visiting a beach when it’s not sunny and 80 degrees outside. We headed to Montrose to visit St Cyrus National Nature Reserve. It was extremely windy, raining, and cold, but the views were stunning. There was even a waterfall near the beach! I also saw the biggest slugs ever here!! Afterwards, we went to Stonehaven and visited Dunnottar Castle! The castle was almost on its own island and it was closed due to wind, but we were still able to walk around the outskirts of it. We walked down to the beach next to the castle and I found a cave! Then we, of course, got some ice cream and went to Cruden Bay to visit New Slains Castle. We spent so much time at this castle! Finally, we went to Ballater and stayed at the School House.
Day 4 wrapped up:
St Cyrus National Nature Reserve - This is a MUST SEE in my opinion! The beach here was SO beautiful. The fact that it was so windy and raining made it feel even more powerful. The views of the open water, tall grasses blowing in the wind, and the waterfalls on the nearby cliffs make this stop so worth it. It’s also a different landscape than the rest of the trip.
Dunnottar Castle - MUST SEE! This castle is SO cool since it’s basically on an island! The inside of the castle was closed due to wind when we went, but we still enjoyed seeing it and walking around the rocky beach below. It was unique from the other castles!
New Slains Castle - I feel like this is overkill now but… MUST SEE! This castle is amaaazing! We parked in someone’s yard, who actually had the same last name as us (funny story), and we walked down a long trail to get to the castle. We rounded a corner and all of a sudden there was the ocean and the castle. The rough waves down below were beautiful. You can walk in every single room of the castle ruins which was so fascinating! There’s even a little upstairs! My dad and I definitely loved this castle.
School House - This is where we stayed inside of Cairngorm National Park. It was a really cute place and they serve breakfast in the morning!
DAY 5
Day 5 was a dud of a day honestly. After eating breakfast at the School House we drove to Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve to do some hiking. I saw some beautiful pictures of this spot online while planning the trip so we went there to find those pretty spots! When we got there, there was a little station that had free maps which was super helpful. The maps were very clear so I’m 99% sure we went on the right trail, but we never really saw much of anything! When we reached the top of a big hill I said, “Look! A lake!” But it turned out that it was just the parking lot hahaha. We left and drove across Cairngorms National Park, which is STUNNING! We stopped at multiple pull offs to take in the scenery. The Scottish Heater was blanketing the mountains beautifully. We entered the Highlands and finally saw our first Scottish cows of the trip! Then, we made it to Aviemore for the Strathspey Railway. Now, the whole point of this was to go on the real Harry Potter Train which is an awesome steam train. We were SO excited! We got there early to make sure we could get a ticket and we walked around the town. We got some sweets and I got a gorgeous purse. It came time to go on the train, exciting right? Well, our excitement died pretty quickly. We realized that we were on the completely wrong train!! The train we had meant to go on was over an hour away! We didn’t get to see much on the train, my dad even fell asleep at one point! It was a total bust but a great laugh hahaha. We ended the night by going to our next hotel, Fairwinds Hotel, and we walked around the area. We ate dinner at Rowanlea Bar (yum!) and found the Carr-Bridge afterwards, which was an old packhorse bridge from 1717!
Day 5 wrapped up:
Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve - I think this would be great if you had kids! But for us we had seen much prettier, less crowded places so I wouldn’t have been sad skipping this once I saw it in person.
Strathspey Railway - Repeat after me: This is NOT the Harry Potter Train hahaha. This would also be great for kids because there are a few stops along the way to get out and walk around and it’s not a long train ride. This train ride was quite underwhelming based off of what we had thought we were supposed to see. I totally recommend trying to get to the actual Harry Potter Train, the Jacobite Steam Train.
Rowanlea Bar - People had dogs in this bar!! All the reason to go right there! But really, the food was good and our dessert was fantastic.
Carr-Bridge - We just stumbled upon this while walking around town, but it was so cool to see! It’s an old packhorse bridge from 1717. I can’t believe people actually used to walk across this bridge! If you’re in the area, totally check it out.
DAY 6
Day 6 was one of my FAVORITE days of the trip!! It was a much needed day after day 5 haha. We got to hangout with reindeer!! Real life reindeer!! We went to the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre and climbed the hills of Aviemore to meet the herd! We got to feed and pet the reindeer; it was one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life! My dad and I were the last people to leave because I was having such a great time! After leaving the reindeer centre, we drove to Inverness and visited the Inverness Castle. We walked around downtown Inverness and had lunch at Bella Italia. Then, we walked through Urqhart Castle and stood in Loch Ness! It was so cool to stand in such a famous loch! We drove to Loch Ness Inn, our hotel for the night, and we tried to find dinner. Everywhere was already full so our dinner was some ice cream from Scotmid Co-op. A worker showed us how to get two scoops of ice cream from the machine and the manager yelled at us! Haha, it was a great day overall!
Day 6 wrapped up:
Cairngorm Reindeer Centre - MUST DO!! Please please please stop at the reindeer centre!! Walking amongst and feeding the reindeer will be a highlight of your trip! This is Britain’s only free-ranging herd of reindeer! It’s incredible, I really can’t say enough good things about it.
Inverness Castle - Honestly, this castle was quite underwhelming and reminded me of a school. You can’t go inside the castle whatsoever so you can only walk around the small outside of it. I think it is definitely skippable if you’re short on time.
Bella Italia - I was really in the mood for Italian food and this place hit the spot! I would recommend it!
Urqhart Castle - This castle was crowded but I really enjoyed it! There are a lot of places to walk through and the fact that it overlooks Loch Ness is super cool. It was beautiful!
Loch Ness Inn - This was our smallest room of the trip. We could barely fit the two of us and all of our suitcases in this room! But the outside was super cute, the breakfast was great, and apparently a movie was filmed here!
DAY 7
Day 7 was one of my favorite days as well!! We ate breakfast at the Loch Ness Inn (Scottish pancakes - yum) and then we drove to Eilean Donan Castle. This castle was breathtaking and there were a lot of rooms to walk through! There was a busker outside of the castle and my dad borrowed his bagpipes to play a song. Then, we drove to the Isle of Skye, which was one of the things that I was most excited about!! We stopped at the Fairy Pools, which were so stunning! There were so many different little waterfalls, but also SO many midges. The bugs were almost unbearable at some points, so make sure you’re prepared for that! There’s also a steep hill to get down to the Fairy Pools, which I didn’t know about! After the Fairy Pools, we drove to Portree and ate some sandwiches at The Granary. Later, we enjoyed Kilt Rock and had an animal filled drive on the way to Fairy Glen. Fairy Glen was full of unique landscapes! We went back to our bed and breakfast, Cruinn Bheinn, which was one of my absolute favorite stays!! I truly wish that I could live there!
Day 7 wrapped up:
Eilean Donan Castle - I LOVED this castle! It was probably one of my favorites because the surrounding view is stunning and you can walk through a lot of it. It does get pretty crowded though because it is a popular castle. There’s also a shop right next door that had sweets! I got some shortbread and it was the best shortbread I’ve ate in my life.
Isle of Skye, Fairy Pools - Honestly, the Fairy Pools aren’t really what you see in pictures. There’s a steep hill to get down to them, they’re smaller than you would think, and the midges are plentiful. Although, I would still recommend it because all of the little waterfalls were so pretty! You’re also right up close to the mountains so the background is stunning.
Isle of Skye, Fairy Glen - Driving to Fairy Glen was one of our favorite drives because we saw SO many animals along the way! The unique landscapes that Fairy Glen offers is definitely worth the trip! It was amazing to see and just a cool spot overall. I would definitely make a stop here again!!
Cruinn Bheinn - MUST STAY! If you’re on the Isle of Skye, you NEED to stay here!! The room was absolutely stunning, the view was breathtaking, and the food was delicious! They make croissants every morning! Ugh, this place was the best!
DAY 8
Day 8 contained some of my favorite views of the entire trip. We headed to the ferry to leave the Isle of Skye, since the ferry was supposedly faster than taking the bridge from where we were at, and there were little shops all around. I got an awesome leather keychain from Isle of Skye Leather Co, some pearl earrings that I ended up being allergic to, and some delicious hot chocolate. Once we were off the Isle of Skye we finally saw the real Harry Potter Train in Mallaig! The bridge that the train goes across was stunning (and the whole reason I wanted to ride on that train in the first place). We visited the Glenfinnan Monument, which is right across from the train! The Glenfinnan Monument was literally one of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen. We left the monument before the stream train drove across the bridge because apparently it gets extremely crowded since everyone wants to see the train go by! We ended up seeing the train while driving, so it all worked out! Then, we traveled to Glencoe and drove on the road Glen Etive. The road wound through the mountains and ended up at Loch Etive. It was a frightful, narrow drive but soooo worth it! We then arrived at Aspen Lodge and went out for dinner at Oban Fish and Chips.
Day 8 wrapped up:
Isle of Skye Ferry to Mallaig - This was supposedly faster than taking the bridge from where we were at. There’s multiple little shops next to the ferry and the ferry ride was fun in itself! I definitely recommend this to switch it up if you’re driving everywhere!
Glenfinnan Monument - MUST SEE! The view here was indescribable, seriously. I could have sat here all day just looking out at the water and mountains. Plus, with the Jacobite Steam Train bridge being right across the street, the views are plentiful. I’ll never forget this place.
Glen Etive/Loch Etive - MUST DO! This is a road that leads to the most stunning lake in the middle of the mountains in Glencoe. It’s really tricky to find, my dad wanted to give up, but I had hope and we ended up finding it! He honestly hated driving on this road because it was so narrow and there were only a few places to pull over for oncoming vehicles, but we only passed a handful of other cars! If you Google the road name, you’ll find a few blogs that describe in detail how to find the road. I suggest screenshotting the blogs so you can easily access them anytime because the service isn’t great in Glencoe!
Oban Fish & Chips - Supposedly the best fish & chips Oban! I got mac & cheese (shocker). It was a cute place and the food was really good!
Aspen Lodge - MUST STAY! If you’re staying in Oban, you HAVE to stay here! The lodge is so adorable, clean, and fresh. The hosts are absolutely the most amaaaazing, kindhearted people ever! They even leave you chocolates from the Oban Chocolate Company in your room! The food is also delicious, I ate a ton of waffles for breakfast! We stayed here for two nights and LOVED it!
DAY 9
Our plans for day 9 were ruined due to rain, so it was a little more relaxed and I think that was needed! We were supposed to tour the Isle of Mull, Staffa, and Iona, but the rain and wind were too bad to take a boat so the trip got canceled. I still recommend looking into those tours here, because I think it would have been a great time! Instead of the boat tour, we stopped at the Oban Chocolate Company and then walked to the McCaig Tower and Dunollie Castle. We reserved a window table at Coasters for dinner and watched all of the people walk by as we ate. It rained all day long so we just did some walking around and relaxing!
Day 9 wrapped up:
Three Isles Excursion - This was supposed to be our whole day, but since it got canceled due to weather, I can’t say much about it! It looked amazing though and I was really excited for this, so I recommend checking it out!
Oban Chocolate Company - The chocolate from here was soooo delicious. I ordered hot chocolate and it came with a giant chocolate covered marshmallow on a stick, it was awesome. Definitely stop in here if you’re in Oban!
McCaig Tower - This tower is right near downtown Oban which makes for a great stop if you’re looking for a walk! It’s a tower that’s in a big circle. The walk to get here was pretty uphill, but the tower itself was actually really cool! There’s some benches to relax on inside the tower and some lookout points.
Dunollie Castle - This was really fun to walk around! The castle overlooks Oban which is a stunning view, and there’s also gardens! There’s a lot of history and things to learn about here. If you’re looking for something to do in Oban, this isn’t a bad choice!
Coasters - I loved the view at this restaurant and the atmosphere is great! I got spaghetti and it was really good! I would totally recommend this restaurant, it was one of the most memorable on our trip due to the view!
DAY 10
Day 10 was a day I’ll never forget. We left Aspen Lodge and ran into a traffic jam caused by Scottish cows (best traffic jam ever). We then wound up in Queen Elizabeth Forest Park to climb up Ben A’an. I’ll never forget our Ben A’an experience haha. We thought it would be an easy walk, but instead it was like climbing a mountain. The description of Ben A’an reads: “Ben A’an’s summit is at 1,512 feet and it’s a round trip of 2.25 miles. Don’t let this mini-mountain fool you - it’s a strenuous route and suitable for fit and experienced walkers.” We figured that it would be an easy, short walk based off of what we could see from the parking lot… but we were incredibly wrong! I still think it was longer than 2.25 miles haha. My dad made it almost right to the very top and I was so amazed by that! The summit overlooks Loch Katrine, Loch Achray, and Ben Venue, but we were in a rain cloud at the top and couldn’t see very much! We then stayed at New Lanark Mill Hotel for the night.
Day 10 wrapped up:
Ben A’an - MUST DO! This hike was so much fun and it was one of the highlights of our trips. I was so impressed that my dad practically got to the top because it’s such a steep path. If you love hiking, this is totally for you! The experience itself was so much fun and the view was great even with all of the clouds! It was so cool to literally be inside a rain cloud at the top too.
New Lanark Mill Hotel - This hotel is awesome! It’s a restored 18th-century cotton mill village and there’s a lot to do around it! Our room was extremely spacious and very comfortable. We even ate dinner and breakfast here and the food was very good!
DAY 11
Our last full day :-( We walked the trails right next to New Lanark Mill Hotel to see the Falls of Clyde (the main reason we stayed at this hotel). The path led to an open field that had horses roaming in it. After our walk, we grabbed some ice cream and headed back to our starting spot, Glasgow. We checked into our hotel, DoubleTree by Hilton, and grabbed some sandwiches at Bread Meats Bread. Then we wandered around downtown Glasgow for the rest of the evening and went in a variety of shops. We then woke up bright and early the next day and flew out of Glasgow, had a layover in Dublin, and then landed back in Windsor.
Day 11 wrapped up:
Falls of Clyde - This was such a gorgeous waterfall and way bigger than expected! The trails are so pretty and there’s a lot of wildlife. It’s a nice spot to walk around it you’re in the New Lanark area and I definitely recommend it! It was super tranquil.
Bread Meats Bread - YUM! This restaurant was sooo good! If you’re in Glasgow, definitely eat here! I got a grilled cheese and it was extremely yummy. You also get to watch all of the people walking around downtown if you get a bar-top window seat!
There you have it! Our entire road trip around all of Scotland, day by day!
If you have any questions about Scotland or things to do, please feel free to email me! I absolutely LOVE talking about travel and I would love to help you plan your trip! :)
Glenfinnan Monument