Road Trip: Scotland

Welcome to the Scotland Series! I thought this post would be the perfect way to kick-off the upcoming blogs all about our trip to Scotland. Here you will find a high-level overview of our 5 day road trip through the Highlands!

When considering a trip to Scotland, put renting a car at the top of your list!  The journey really is a part of the destination when traveling through Scotland. There are so many beautiful places to pull over, snap a few photos and admire the natural beauty.  This itinerary may look very driving heavy but keep in mind it is broken up across 4 days & each day we were in the car for less than 3 hours.

Overview:

Day 1: Arrive in Inverness
Day 2: Inverness to Isle of Skye
Day 3: Isle of Skye to Armadale Ferry through the Great Glen Way to Helensburgh
Day 4: Helensburgh through Glasgow to Edinburgh
Day 5: Edinburgh
Day 6: Morning flight to Belfast

Here are a few trips for driving in Scotland:

• Always drive on the LEFT side of the road! And remember to Americans it’s the opposite side of the road not the “wrong” side of the road.  “Wrong” implies we are the only ones driving on the correct side of the road 😉
• Roundabouts are inevitable and frequent. Yes, they are a bit scary but you will get used to them.  Just remember to give way to vehicles on the RIGHT and always turn onto on the LEFT.
• Some roads up in the highlands are single lane dual roads-meaning at a certain point there will be a car coming towards you but only enough room for one vehicle to make it through. This concept really freaked me out at first but overall Scottish drivers are very friendly! You can usually tell when someone is making way for you to go first. Or if you are nervous, you can pull over to the side and let them pass first.
• Reception can be spotty in the highlands so if you can, input your route ahead of time and download the map offline.  That way you aren’t relying cell service to guide you!
• Request an Automatic Car, and then request it again. No seriously, request it again! Most of the cars in the UK are manual and you do not want to worry about driving on the opposite side of the road using a manual transmission. Double check that your rental car is an automatic, get it in writing and then raise hell if they don’t have one available. It will cost more but it’s money well spent.
• There are no toll roads in Scotland, score!
• Using your cell phone while driving is illegal! I’d recommend bringing something like this with you to hold your phone up so you can view your maps.

If I had to do it all over again I’d pick a very similar itinerary.  At times being in the car was a little much for the toddler but we made plenty of stops along the way. An hour to a castle then thirty minutes to a beautiful loch all while driving through gorgeous mountains really breaks up the car time and makes it feel manageable.

Stay tuned for new posts detailing everything we did during these 5 magical days in Scotland!