Road Trip through the Highlands over Easter

Hello everybody.

My girlfriend and I are going on a 6 day road trip (mostly) through the Highlands this Friday. It is our first visit to Scotland and I was hoping to get some advice on the feasibility of the trip as such:

We are flying into Aberdeen Friday around noon, renting a car at the airport (unfortunately only equipped with all-season tires - should we try to change that?). Our goal is to go to the North West (Ullapool and further north) then back south to Edinburgh from where we're flying out again.

We booked our first B&B in Elgin. Thats why we first hoped to be able to see a nice castle somewhere west from Aberdeen (around Ballater??) and then head north to Elgin. I am afraid we won't have time for the castle when we arrive in Aberdeen only at noon, but we shall see.

Our second B&B is in Ullapool where we stay two nights.

We then have another night where we did not book anything yet (as a buffer on our way south to Edinburgh) - maybe stay around Plockton and drive over the bridge to the Isle of Skye?

I know that on some of the roads one can go 20mph at max and if the weather doesn't improve we can only use the major roads anyways I guess?

I am happy about any comments on additional destinations or on what rather to cut short / change.

Thanks!

Phil

Edited by: PMOnTheRoad

I didn't know you could even ask for winter tyres in this country. There's so little need for them, generally speaking, even in Scotland, where the roads are much more often wet than icy, even in midwinter.

Yes Scotland has a lot of snow on the ground just now, but that is really very very weird, and no more heavy snow is forecast in the next few days, and thus I guess all but the most remote little hill roads will be fully open as usual in before very long. However the direct route from Ballater to Elgin goes over the Lecht pass, which is one of the hairiest little hill roads in Scotland, therefore is at risk of being just such a closed road. Most up to date info here http://www.lecht.co.uk/ I read there that they have opened the north side of the pass and are working on the south side. It might be fun if you are careful, but it might be 10-20mph as you say so, you might find that measured in driving time Elgin is a lot further from Ballater than from Aberdeen Airport.

The only tourist castle I am aware of "around Ballater" is Balmoral, about 6 miles further west, which of course is the queen's residence so more of a chateau than a fort. 29 March is literally its first normal opening day of the year. There's an extremely ruinous castle at Braemar, (Kindrochit) but not something you'd go out of your way to see.

where we did not book anything yet

It is the Easter hols, though hopefully the worst of the peak pressure is off by the Monday evening. Plockton is very sought-after, but there's loads of guesthouses in Kyle of Lochalsh a short distance away if you find it full. (Not sure I'd stay in the one called Nessun Dorma though.)

Fortunately for you the road between Ullapool and Kyle of Lochalsh is open again. It had been closed due to a landslip at Stromeferry. The 120 mile detour is no longer required.

Many thanks for your quick reply!

Where I am from it is quite common to use winter tires. But the person at Arnold Clark car rental I spoke with was indeed bewildered when I asked for them... haha.

Balmoral sounds great, but it is closed this Friday. ;( Could you recommend anything else in terms of sightseeing or places to have a bite on the way from Aberdeen to Elgin? I was thinking of visiting one of the whiskey distilleries, but I am afraid they will all be closed on Good Friday. Maybe we should stay in Aberdeen and make it to Elgin only in the evening...?

We will keep Kyle of Lochalsh in mind for our "buffer" night on the way south to Edinburgh. I am still wondering if Isle of Skye is a must or if we should not rather ignore it and take a completely different route from Ullapool to Edinburgh.

Phil

Balmoral clearly says it is open on 29-3-13 on its website, http://www.balmoralcastle.com/admissions.htm but I think it might be rewarding to visit a more historic castle like http://www.delgatiecastle.com/ or http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Crathes-Castle-Garden-Estate/ instead. There's a list of Aberdeenshire castles here. http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/visit/castles.asp

Aberdeenshire is also known for its stone circles, etc, if those interest. http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/archaeology/sites/index.asp

There's no prohibition on visiting distilleries on Good Friday and some at least will be open. You can easily check the opening dates of them here. http://www.scotlandwhisky.com/distilleries/speyside/

There is also some beautiful coastal scenery in the county.

For me, the main reason to drive from Ullapool towards Kyle of Lochalsh is that it passes through quite one of the most remarkably beautiful parts of Scotland, especially around Torridon. That really is worth it, provided you aren't punished with low cloud, etc. I don't think you'll get very much out of a rushed out and back onto Skye from the mainland. It's a long drive from Kyle back to Edinburgh.

That is very helpful indeed, thank you so much.

If we stayed our "buffer night" in Kyle of Lochalsh (and ditched the Isle of Skye plans), would it be feasible to head in the direction of Edinburgh and still have enough time to enjoy the scenery around Loch Lochy, Fort Williams and in particular Glen Coe? Google says it was about 200miles.

In this case it would probably be better to stay somewhere more south / central than Kyle of Lochalsh (coming from Ullapool), right?