Hello all -

Looking for perspectives and recommendations on our draft itinerary.

Context: wife and me, in our 40s, very adventurous and active. My wife has dreamed of going to Scotland for as long as I've known her. We've been to Edinburgh, but nothing beyond. We are going from March 31 to Apr 11 and want to get into the countryside rather than be in the cities.

Draft itinerary
March 31 - Arrive late to Glasgow from US West Coast
April 1 - Deal with jetlag / visit Glasgow
April 2 - Pick up car rental in city / Glasgow to Braemar. Stay at Fife Arms
April 3 - Cairngorms. Hiking. Stay at Fife Arms
April 4 - Cairngorms. Hiking. Stay at Fife Arms
April 5 - Cairngorms / drive to Inverness
April 6 - Inverness to Torridon / see Eileen Donan Castle
April 7 - Isle of Skye, Fairy Pools, Old Sligachan Bridge, Portree, Old Man of Storr
April 8 - Isle of Skye to Glenfinnan Viaduct, Glencoe, Fort William
April 9 - Glencoe area hiking
April 10 - Glencoe area hiking
April 11 - Glencoe to Glasgow airport, depart back home

Questions:
- General thoughts on itinerary. There was so much more we wanted to do, and this is already an edited schedule
- My wife really wants to stay at Fife Arms Thoughts on it?
- Beyond the Fife Arms, we don't have hotels, so would love any recommendation.
- Any advice on car rental? My thought is to rent the car from Glasgow city and return to Glasgow airport
- Any other must do's on our trek?

Thanks all!

 

Car hire in/out of Glasgow airport is really easy. Just turn left on exiting the airport and there's a separate building where all the rental companies operate from. If you would rather not pick up a car on arrival (and I can totally understand that) then there are city centre pick up locations but they will vary depending on the company you choose.

 

If you are going in April you need to get moving on finding your hotels. I have a trip planned for April and booked my hotels a couple of months ago. Recently one of my hotels cancelled because of a family issue and I found that hotel supply was very limited. On your itinerary, it looks OK to me.

 

I have been going to Scotland for 25 years, but I'm a golfer. My youngest sister hasn't done as many trips, but she's a hiker, and I know she'd approve of your itinerary as she's been in the Cairngorms and all over Skye. My personal bias for a gateway city is Edinburgh, but on my first trip to Scotland, I flew into Glasgow, and I agree it's an easy airport to rent a car.

Each rental company has different policies, but on two of my trips, I've returned my car to a different city, not just a different location around the same city, and had no problems or extra charges.

 

For context: I'm in my 40s, New Yorker, and since 2016 have tried to get to Scotland for at least a couple of weeks every year. So, I�m not Scottish, I just really like it there.

You will beat the midges in April!

I was unimpressed with the stay at the Torridon last year. We stayed in the Stables, which has been spruced up since our first visit sometime pre-Covid, notably the bathrooms and generally decor. The main house was significantly more expensive (the non-suites didn't seem worth the uncharge over the Stables, and the suites were more than I wanted to spend. If the suites are in your budget, the experience might be fantastic?) The food was overall extremely disappointing in the non-fine dining restaurant (I've never eaten in the 1887 restaurant, so can't comment there); the fairly limited menu was essentially the same both nights. However, the absolutely best part of the stay was the experience in the whisky bar. Despite being underwhelmed otherwise, I would consider staying at the Torridon again just for the service and experience there. Service was incredible, we drank many extraordinary and rare whiskies for incredibly reasonable prices, all considered. I counted the mediocre food/room as fair for price of admission to the Whisky Bar.

The absolute best place we stayed last year was The Dipping Lugger in Ullapool. There are three rooms, it overlooks the ferry, and the food was extraordinary. The dinner was probably the best meal out I've had in a year (I'm irritated by the experience of dining in New York these days, but I'll spare you those thoughts here). It was a tasting menu that was exquisitely done: comfortable pacing, amazing wines, wonderfully local, and just a pleasure throughout. Breakfast was an equally high standard. The bed was plush and comfortable, the freestanding tub was a delight to relax in, and there was a real sense of hospitality from the pantry with sweets and drinks to the gin & tonics that Robert (the owner) brought to us in the room as we got settled. It's just lovely. Ullapool was previously a place to pass through on the way elsewhere, but it's now really on the list of places I'll go out of my way to visit.

In a different vein, I have always enjoyed staying at Inver. It�s a reasonable drive from Glasgow (and I'll agree with others that renting a car from Glasgow is quite easy)� I�ve combined a stay/dinner there as a stop on the way north or to Harris/Lewis. The stay are in �luxury bothies,� wee little hut/sheds that are very comfortable but not large. They bring breakfast to the hut in the morning; dinner is in the restaurant and is very good, very inventive, sometimes veering to the molecular or ambitious (we had freeze-dried ants to provide crunch on ice cream, the ants had been hand foraged? collected? by someone in-house. It was surprisingly good). I�ve only been in the summer, however.

The Lodge at Loch Lomond, also convenient enough to Glasgow, has saunas in the room, which was very lovely after a day out.

In Inverness, I would very happily eat many meals at the Rocpool restaurant. Fantastic food, incredible service, not stuffy at all. If you like onion rings, get the onion rings there. (It�s a fancier restaurant than it sounds by that description, but the onion rings really are fantastic).

Enjoy your trip� I wish I was going in April.

 

Whilst appreciating your primary objective is to hike - and Scotland has some quite spectacular scenery - don't underestimate how much there is to see and do in Glasgow. Its a very different city to Edinburgh, and if your wife wants to see and understand the whole of Scottish life, another day there might be time well-invested. Perhaps you could delay picking your hire car up until late in the day if you feel up to driving to Braemar?

If you have a car, and are travelling as extensively as you plan, I'd also suggest fitting a distillery in - there are plenty around Braemar, including on the Barmoral Estate. Distilling is, again, very much part of Scottish tradition.

Whatever you decide to do, that is a quite fabulous itinerary, and it will create a trip that both of you will remember for the rest of your lives. There's a reason why people fall in love with the Scottish countryside, and you've clearly already researched this very thoroughly - all we can do here is suggest a few extras you might want to consider.

 

I find the drive from Inverness to Eilean Donan Castle is somewhat uninspiring view-wise, but the castle and the drive onward are worth the effort for sure. I would try and allocate time (i.e. start out early) and go over the Bealach na B� to Applecross and then around the top to Torridon. It is a lot more driving but is IMHO well worth extra effort. Another addition I would suggest is the Am Ploc Open Air Church just past Torridon. Then carry on through the village and veer to the right up the hill and follow that road all the way until it descends into Lower Diabag. Not only one of the most incredible roads in that area but the little village is truly inspiring and refreshing.

I too love traveling in Scotland and try to make it an annual affair. This year, in the first week of May I am heading to Portree for a couple days of exploring the Isle and have booked the Cuillin Hills Hotel. Will report back but it looks a winner for sure.

The other part of the country of which I am thoroughly enamoured is Orkney. There I can highly recommend, especially for whisky drinkers and foodies, the Lynnfield Hotel.