Scotland: Edinburgh, the Highlands and the Isle of Skye at a slower pace

1. Day 1: Arrive in Edinburgh

   Edinburgh Airport to your hotel in the centre, then a briefing and a welcome dinner

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Edinburgh
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Edinburgh Airport (EDI), about 13 km west of the city, where a driver meets you in arrivals, takes your bags and drives you to our hotel in the centre. Nothing is planned until early evening, so land by about 3 pm if you can and rest, or come a day early and have a quiet extra night. At about 5:30 your See Sight Tours guide meets the group in the hotel lounge for a short, seated briefing: how the days are paced, where the free afternoons fall, which sights have a mobility vehicle or a view from the top, what to pack for Skye's rain and midges, and anything you want to tell us about walking, diet or rooms. Then a taxi or the van takes us the short way to a sit-down welcome dinner of Scottish dishes, at a restaurant with step-free access that we confirm with your dates. You are back at the hotel by about 9 pm. If your flight lands late, your guide briefs you at breakfast instead.

   Included

   • Private transfer from Edinburgh Airport (EDI), with your bags carried
   • Seated evening briefing with your guide
   • Taxi or van to and from the welcome dinner
   • Welcome dinner

   Easier option: Stay at the hotel after a late flight; your guide briefs you at breakfast.

   More active option: Walk back from dinner with your guide by Princes Street Gardens, about 1 km, mostly level.

   Free time: Free until the 5:30 pm briefing

   Activity: Almost no walking today: hotel to van and van to restaurant.

2. Day 2: Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile

   Edinburgh: the van to the castle esplanade, the castle, then downhill on the Royal Mile to St Giles'

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Edinburgh
   Day 2 details

   After a slow breakfast the van takes us at about 9:30 up to the castle esplanade, which saves the steep climb from the New Town. We go in on a timed ticket at about 10. Edinburgh Castle sits on an extinct volcanic plug, and the castle runs a mobility vehicle from the entrance up to Crown Square for visitors who would rather not walk the steep cobbled ramps; your guide arranges it. Inside are the Honours of Scotland, the great siege gun Mons Meg and St Margaret's Chapel, the oldest building in the city, named for an 11th-century queen. We take about two hours with plenty of benches, then walk gently downhill on the Royal Mile, about 600 metres, to St Giles' Cathedral, where you can sit inside and look at the Thistle Chapel. Lunch is a sit-down meal near the cathedral. The afternoon is free: rest at the hotel, or visit the National Museum of Scotland, which is free and has lifts, or the Royal Yacht Britannia at Leith.

   Included

   • Van to the castle esplanade
   • Edinburgh Castle on a timed ticket, with the mobility vehicle to Crown Square on request
   • A gentle downhill walk on the Royal Mile to St Giles' Cathedral
   • Sit-down lunch in the Old Town
   • Taxi or van back to the hotel

   Optional experiences

   • The Royal Yacht Britannia at Leith, step-free with lifts (extra, price shown at booking)
   • The Palace of Holyroodhouse (extra, booked ahead, price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Ride the mobility vehicle in the castle and take a taxi from the castle to lunch instead of the Royal Mile walk.

   More active option: Walk up Calton Hill in the late afternoon with your guide's directions, a short, steep climb with a view from the castle to the Firth of Forth.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Edinburgh

   Activity: About 2 to 3 km on foot, on cobbles and castle ramps, with benches and the mobility vehicle; St Margaret's Chapel and the Crown Room have a few steps.

3. Day 3: North to Pitlochry and Inverness

   Edinburgh over the Forth to Pitlochry, then the A9 over Drumochter to Inverness

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Inverness
   Day 3 details

   We leave at about 9:30, after the morning traffic, and cross the Firth of Forth by the Queensferry Crossing, with the red Forth Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, beside it. About an hour and a half later we are in Pitlochry, a Victorian resort town on the River Tummel, where we stop for about two and a half hours, so the longest drive of the trip is split in two. The Pitlochry Dam Visitor Centre has a cafe and a view of the salmon ladder, where fish climb past the dam in summer, and the main street has benches and small shops. Lunch is a sit-down meal in town. In the afternoon the A9 climbs over the Pass of Drumochter, at about 460 m one of the highest main roads in Britain, along the edge of the Cairngorms National Park, with a toilet and coffee stop on the way. We reach Inverness, the Highland capital, at about 4:30, after about 3 hours of driving in all, and the evening is free by the River Ness.

   Included

   • The Queensferry Crossing and the view of the Forth Bridge
   • Pitlochry: the Dam Visitor Centre and salmon ladder
   • Sit-down lunch in Pitlochry
   • The Pass of Drumochter and the edge of the Cairngorms

   Easier option: Stay in the dam visitor centre cafe or on the main street benches rather than walking down to the salmon ladder.

   More active option: Walk the riverside path from the dam to the Pitlochry suspension footbridge and back with your guide, about 2 km.

   Free time: Evening free in Inverness

   Activity: About 1.5 km on foot, on level town pavements and a riverside path. About 3 hours in the van, with a long stop in the middle and a toilet stop in each half.

   

4. Day 4: Culloden and a free afternoon in Inverness

   Inverness to Culloden Battlefield and back

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Inverness
   Day 4 details

   A short morning. We drive about 20 minutes east of Inverness to Culloden and are at the visitor centre at about 10, when it is quiet. Here, on 16 April 1746, the last Jacobite army was defeated by government troops in under an hour, ending the rising of Charles Edward Stuart. The exhibition is on the ground floor and tells the story from both sides, with an immersive film room where you can sit. Outside, flags mark where the clan regiments and the government lines stood, and level gravel paths cross the moor to the memorial cairn and the clan graves; your guide walks the near part with the group and explains the battle as you go, and there are benches along the way. We have about two and a half hours there, then lunch together in the visitor centre's cafe. The van has us back in Inverness by about 1:30, and the afternoon is yours: rest, or take the level riverside walk to the Ness Islands.

   Included

   • Culloden Battlefield and visitor centre, with your guide on the field
   • Lunch at Culloden

   Easier option: Stay in the visitor centre and its cafe, and look out over the battlefield from the rooftop viewing area if access suits you (we confirm the lift when we book).

   More active option: Walk the full battlefield path out to the Field of the English and back, about 3 km.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Inverness

   Activity: About 1.5 to 3 km on foot, on level gravel and grass paths. Exposed to wind and rain, so bring a warm layer.

   

5. Day 5: Loch Ness, Urquhart and Eilean Donan to Skye

   Inverness to Loch Ness by boat, Urquhart Castle, then Glen Moriston, Glen Shiel, Eilean Donan, the Skye Bridge and Portree

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Portree
   Day 5 details

   Your bags go into the van and we leave at about 9:15 for the north end of Loch Ness, a short drive, for a one-hour boat trip with a seat under cover. Loch Ness is about 37 km long and over 200 m deep, and from the water you see both shores and the hills that close it in. Back on land, we drive a few minutes to Urquhart Castle, a ruin on a rocky point blown up in 1692 so the Jacobites could not use it. The visitor centre sits up by the road, and its viewing area and cafe look down over the castle and the loch, so you need not take the steep path down. The road west climbs through Glen Moriston and down Glen Shiel between bare mountains to Eilean Donan, the castle on a tidal island where three sea lochs meet. Lunch is a sit-down meal nearby. We cross the Skye Bridge, pass Sligachan under the Cuillin, and check in to our Portree hotel for three nights at about 4:15.

   Included

   • One-hour boat trip on Loch Ness
   • Urquhart Castle, with the visitor centre viewing area
   • Eilean Donan Castle
   • Sit-down lunch near Eilean Donan
   • Sligachan and the view of the Cuillin

   Easier option: At Eilean Donan, walk onto the bridge and stay in the visitor centre rather than climbing the narrow castle stairs; at Urquhart, stay at the viewing area.

   More active option: Walk the steep path down to Urquhart's ruins and climb the Grant Tower; go inside Eilean Donan, which has steps and narrow stairs.

   Free time: Early evening free in Portree

   Activity: About 1.5 to 3 km on foot. The castle interiors at Urquhart and Eilean Donan involve steep paths and stairs; both have a step-free view from outside.

6. Day 6: The Storr, Kilt Rock and the Quiraing

   Portree to the Old Man of Storr, Kilt Rock, Staffin, the Quiraing and Uig, then back to Portree

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Portree
   Day 6 details

   Today is the trip's one early start, because the Trotternish coast fills up when the day tours arrive mid-morning. We leave Portree at 8:15 and are below the Old Man of Storr, a basalt pinnacle on the ridge, by about 8:30, when the light is on the rock. You can see it well from the lochside by the road, with a seat, or walk part of the path with the guide. Up the coast, Kilt Rock has a railed viewing platform a few steps from the car park, where Mealt Falls drops off the cliff into the sea. From Staffin we take the narrow road over the ridge and stop at the top for the Quiraing, a vast landslip of pinnacles and hidden plateaus, seen from beside the van. Lunch is a sit-down meal at Uig, the ferry port for Harris. We are back in Portree by about 2, and the afternoon is free to rest or wander the harbour, where the houses are painted in bright colours.

   Included

   • The Old Man of Storr in the early morning, from the lochside or the lower path
   • Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls from the viewing platform
   • The Staffin to Uig ridge road and the Quiraing viewpoint
   • Sit-down lunch at Uig

   Easier option: Watch the Storr from the lochside by the road and the Quiraing from beside the van; both need only a few steps.

   More active option: Walk the Storr path to the foot of the pinnacle, about 3.8 km return with a steady, rough climb; the group waits with coffee.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Portree

   Activity: About 1 to 2 km on foot on the easy plan; about 4.5 km on the active one. Paths are rough and often wet; bring waterproofs.

7. Day 7: Dunvegan Castle and Talisker

   Portree to Dunvegan Castle and Gardens, then Carbost on Loch Harport and back to Portree

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Portree
   Day 7 details

   We leave at about 9:30 for Dunvegan, about 35 minutes west across the island, and arrive when the castle opens. Dunvegan Castle has been the home of the chiefs of Clan MacLeod for about 800 years, and inside are family portraits, the Fairy Flag, a faded silk banner the clan says has magic powers, and rooms reached by stairs. Its gardens, laid out from the 18th century, have water gardens, a walled garden and woodland paths with benches, and look over Loch Dunvegan, where seals often lie on the rocks. We take about two and a half hours, then sit down to lunch in Dunvegan village. In the early afternoon we drive about 35 minutes south to Carbost on Loch Harport for Talisker, founded in 1830 and the oldest working distillery on Skye, for a tour and a tasting of its peaty, maritime malt. We are back in Portree by about 4:30, with time to rest before our farewell dinner together.

   Included

   • Dunvegan Castle and Gardens
   • Sit-down lunch in Dunvegan
   • Talisker distillery tour and tasting, Carbost
   • Farewell dinner in Portree

   Optional experiences

   • A short seal-watching boat from the castle jetty at Dunvegan, in season (extra, price shown at booking; boarding involves a step down)

   Easier option: Stay in the gardens and the castle's ground-floor rooms at Dunvegan, and take the tasting in the Talisker visitor centre rather than the tour, which has stairs.

   More active option: Walk the longer woodland loop in the Dunvegan gardens down to the loch shore.

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Portree before dinner

   Activity: About 2 to 3 km on foot, on garden paths with some slopes and gravel; castle and distillery tours have stairs, with seated alternatives.

   

8. Day 8: Wester Ross to Inverness

   Portree over the Skye Bridge to Lochcarron, Achnasheen and Strathpeffer, then Inverness

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   Day 8 details

   We leave Portree at about 9 with the bags in the van, cross the Skye Bridge and take a different road back from the one we came in on: along Loch Carron by Stromeferry, then inland past Achnasheen through the empty glens of Wester Ross, where red deer often graze by the road. At about 3.25 hours it is the trip's longest drive, because we take the Wester Ross road rather than repeat day 5's glens, so we break it twice: a coffee and toilet stop at Lochcarron, a village strung along its sea loch, after about an hour and a half. At about 12:15 we reach Strathpeffer, a Victorian spa village of grand hotels and a restored railway station, for our last lunch together, a sit-down meal. From there it is about half an hour to Inverness, where we drop at the railway station or the city centre at about 2:30 and at Inverness Airport (INV) at about 3. Book a flight leaving after about 5:30 pm, or take the train to Edinburgh, about 3.5 hours, and fly out the next day; we can book the train and an Edinburgh hotel for you.

   Included

   • The Skye Bridge and Loch Carron
   • Wester Ross by Achnasheen
   • Lunch in Strathpeffer
   • Drop at Inverness station, city centre or Inverness Airport (INV)

   Free time: Afternoon free in Inverness after the drop, if you are staying on

   Activity: Under 1 km on foot. About 3.25 hours in the van in three stretches (about 1.5 h, 1.25 h and 0.5 h). Book a flight leaving Inverness after about 5:30 pm.

Wildlife and weather: Scottish weather changes by the hour, so the guide may swap days 6 and 7 on Skye to catch clearer spells, and the Loch Ness boat can be cancelled in high wind (we then spend longer at Urquhart's viewing area). Days are long in May to July, with light until about 10 pm in the north, which suits the free afternoons. Seals are often seen in the sea lochs around Skye, and red deer and golden eagles are possible on the drives through Glen Shiel and Wester Ross. Midges are worst in still, damp weather from June to September.

• Edinburgh2 nights
• Inverness2 nights
• Portree3 nights