Self-paced Scotland

Why not head for Oban via train or bus. Then you could do some sea trips to Mull and other isles.

A week is rather a long time in Edinburgh, I would plan ~3 days in Edinburgh and take your time seeing the sights. Then you can take the train or coach from there over to Glasgow then maybe head up to Fort William (also by train).

You can use National Express and National Rail web sites to plan trips.

Are you still looking for advice on Ireland as well? Or have you canned that part of the trip?

If you're looking for some laid back relaxation time, don't go to Edinburgh at Festival time! It's packed, crazy and very expensive - and also hard to find anywhere to stay. On the other hand, it is a lovely city to explore (plenty of interesting architecture, but make sure you get into the old town as well as the new) and it doesn't get really busy until the fringe actually starts in August, so you should be ok in July.
I would agree that a few days will probably be enough in the city, and would recommend getting out to the west coast. However, be prepared for unpredictable weather - Scotland in July/August can be warm and sunny - but it can also be grey, cold and very very wet!

Thanks to everyone for the responses. Assuming we don't all get quarantined, I look forward to incorporating your suggestions.

I think there is a lesser known Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel Travel in the Time of the Flu that evocatively describes our times.

pedro555: Thanks for the suggestion. It looks like a four hour train trip with one change. There are three trains per day for GBP 88 - 110 r/t. I'll look into the boat trips from Oban.

scaryant: We would most certainly like to see Ireland, but weren't sure if we could include it in our more leisurely approach. We can do up to 14 days excluding the intercontinental flights, but again pacing is probably key if we're going to be away that long. Would 7 days each in Ireland and Scotland be worthwhile without scampering around?

beccamh: It looks as though the Fringe Festival runs Aug 7 - 31, so we thought we could be in and out of Edinburgh the first few days of August. I did wonder if the general economic downturn and pandemic fears would make it a little chaotic this year (and thus a good time to go for someone with a contrarian disposition).

The Fringe is always chaotic, and the combination of the tram works and some major venues being out of action (the Usher Hall, the Spiegeltent and the Meadows) means it's going to set a record for for shambolicness regardless of the flu and the economic crisis.

Remember that there is also the Edinburgh International Festival at around the same time, and other events that are neither EIF nor Fringe. It helps to plan in advance but there will always be things you can only find out about when you get here.

If your wife is sometimes ill enough to have problems with stairs it may not be easy to find appropriate accommodation. (I can suggest somewhere you won't have thought of that can handle disability well, at upper-midrange hotel prices, but as I have an indirect connection with the place I'm not willing to say publicly what it is - send me a PM if you need something like that).

Depending on where you are coming from, you may need a couple of days to get over jet lag etc. I personally wouldn't say that 3 days is enough in the city if you don't want to just rusticate in the country either.

If you could stretch to September, that's a great time to visit Edinburgh as all the festival goers have gone !!

The festival will be well under way before the 7th, there are previews for days before hand and the town gets busy with all the performers arriving and setting up.

Re the tram works, they are stopping them for the month of August so Edinburgh can function during the festival, so the town will seem normal to you and every Edinburgher will be happy for 4 weeks !!

There are lots of nice little day trips out of Edinburgh you could do at your own pace, for example, North Berwick, Stirling. And there are plenty of quiet places to 'hide' during the festival to get peace and quiet and there is always a free bench at the Botanic Gardens you could sit on with a book and a coffee and admire the city skyline.

http://edinburghlove.wordpress.com/ is my blog with some local info and I am happy to help with any other questions you may have.

Jack: My wife is fine with stairs. She got leg strength enough for the both of us, but sometimes her feet feet swell up or go numb. On any given day she may be up for a mild trail hike of a couple miles and the next day we may be constrained to a couple of city blocks of walking in a day - with strategic sit downs. So I'm mostly looking for the flexibility to alter our plans to suit.

Alidoll: We'll be coming from California. Our sleep cycles will definitely be off for the first couple of days, but with some strategic napping I think we can cope.

I probably need to be seriously job hunting by the Fall, so the last two weeks in July are more likely than September. I guess we could shift Edinburgh to the very end and arrive Sept 1st or second for a few days.

My compliments on the blog. Food and gardens and architectural photos - it almost makes our trip redundant. lol

I agree with the comments that Edinburgh is very busy at festival time - the population doubles and there are four festivals going on: the international festival, the fringe, the book festival and the Edinburgh military tattoo. Numbers were up last year as the UK is now more affordable for Europeans. Having said that, the festival atmosphere is unique and there's bound to be something on that you would like to see. You could base yourself in a quieter area which would be more restful. There are a couple of B&Bs and a hotel in the lovely area of Stockbrigde and Comely Bank which are within walking distance of the city centre but still very quiet as there are no festival venues there. If you're interested in distilleries, I might be wrong but I think there's still one in Linlithgow, which is very near Edinburgh. If you're still thinking about Ireland, you can fly to Northern Ireland from Glasgow or Edinburgh in 40 minutes with easyjet. You would need to hire a car to see the (stunning) scenery but it could easily be done in a 2/3 day trip.

Accommodation books up so fast during the festival that those B&Bs in Stockbridge and Comely Bank may well have already gone. You can't expect to get what you want if you put off booking for much longer. Backpacker hostels are your only choice if you really want to keep your options open.