8 Days, 7 Nights Itinerary. Not complete. Any suggestions?

Phew! I was breathless reading your itinerary!

Having said that I have the opportunity to visit Scotland regularly (I'm based in England and visit fairly frequently) and am 43 so energy levels might be a little lower than yours.

You will spend a lot of time driving, getting to and settling in your accommodation. Given your tight timescale, my suggestion would be to miss out Edinburgh and Oban/Mull - because there is enough to see and do in Glasgow and you do not need a ferry to Skye. Missing out Mull will save the time and cost of the ferry. I'm not saying G is better than E as a city - rather that spending a little more time in fewer places may be more rewarding than shooting about. I'll stick my neck out and say there is more to see and do on Skye than Mull. I do love Mull though before too many brickbats come my way.

I'm sure there will be more advice along soon and whatever you decide to do you will have a great time - and you will want to return for more.

Try to avoid getting the hire car until you need it i.e as you leave Edinburgh/ Glasgow to head to the other places.

Your itinerary sounds fairly similar to a bus tour I did a few years ago & I was able to fit a lot in, although at that time I skipped Glasgow. Not to diss Glasgow but you could probably get more (from a tourist perspective) out of Edinburgh than Glasgow. On a similar timeframe I stayed o/night in Oban and caught the ferry to Mull. Took the wee train ride out and back, then hopped back on the ferry and left Oban at about 3pm. Saying that, probably worth considering skipping Mull and spending more time on Skye?

Dun Caan is a great hostel in Kyleakin (first village on Skye). The Portree hostel is not so great and from Kyleakin you can do the 'loop' up to Portree and Trotternish and then take a morning trip down to Sleat or even a boat trip (there are some from Kyleakin, Broadford and Sleat - slower trips and there used to be jetboats etc).

Another worthwhile hostel on Skye is the Carbost Bunkhouse and Bothy (the bothy would be great for a group - bit remote though!).

Enjoy your trip!

@ Scoodly — I hear you on the lot of driving thing and will reconsider Oban/Mull. While looking for hostels there I also ran into a problem (I could only find Male/Female dorms and I'm travel with two Females, which would make it not as fun with for me.) Should I consider staying 2 nights in Edinburgh? I have everything booked hostel-wise except Wednesday the 6th and Thursday the 7th. So I still have some flexibility.

@ coops2000 — It's already booked, but if we gotta pay for parking it's no biggie.

@ saoghalbeag — I am getting the impression that Skye is the best bet... I'd love to stay a night at a place in between Edinburgh and Skye (to avoid a long drive). As far as hostels go we are staying in Beersbridge Lodge (Glasgow), Budget Backpackers (Edinburgh) and Skywalker Hostel (Portnalong on Skye).

Can anyone recommend the best drives in between and maybe a worthwhile stop in between Edinburgh and the Isle of Skye?

Too much driving, not enough sightseeing... I would do 2 nights in Edinburgh as you suggest. If you're going to Skye I would drop Oban/Mull, maybe spend a night in Fort William to break it up. Also I think it would make more sense to go Glasgow > Skye > Edinburgh > Glasgow, something like this

Agree with #5's route.
Glasgow to Fort Wiliam 3 hours.
Fort William to Portree 2.5 hours
Stay at Aviemore on way back - Portree to Aviemore 4 hours
Aviemore to Edinburgh 3 hours

Hi rmarshbank

I can't answer your question about male/female hostels in Edinburgh because of a lack of personal experience.

IMO the "best drive" would be M90 E to Perth (prosaic), A85 Perth to Crianlarich (views getting better), A82 to Fort William (through Glen Coe, wonderful, wonderful views) continuing to Invergarry then A87 to Skye (fantastic views throug Glen Shiel including the Five Sisters of Kintail).

As for a good stopping place between E and Skye - when driving this route I've done it in one hit. There are a number of possible ways of splitting this route overnight; you could head to Crianlarich (not a great deal to keep you occupied); pushing on brings you to Fort Bill, a larger town with more accommodation options (and maybe more entertainment). You could also choose to continue on the A82 to Fort Augustus and stop on the shores of Loch Ness (in a checking the boxes stylee).

I'm sure there are other options of avoiding the long drive...

Good luck

Thanks for the tips!

#5 Looks like the right way to go... Going to use your google maps tip and follow those roads. I also love that we can at least see Loch Ness for a little.

We already booked some of the hostels, so the Edinburgh last route will not quite work... but I think we are going to do this...

May 4th: Arrive in Glasgow. Stay overnight.
May 5th: Drive to Edinburgh (45 mins / 1 hour). Stay overnight.
May 6th: Edinburgh. Stay overnight.
May 7th: Drive to Fort William (4 hours). Stay overnight.
May 8th: Drive to Portree (2.5 hours). Stay overnight.
May 9th: Portree. Stay overnight.
May 10th: Drive to Aviemore (4 hours). Stay for a few hours. Drive back to Glasgow (3 hours?). Stay overnight.
May 11th: Fly home from Glasgow.

(May 10th can change, it's just the route back to Glasgow, so which ever route offers the best scenery or stops along the way and least time.)

If you are not returning to Edinburgh then I suggest you don't go via Aviemore. Come back to FW and then via Oban and Loch Lomond.