Scotland
Here’s how I spent one week in Scotland!
When I went:
July 2019
Itinerary:
Days 1-3: Edinburgh
Days 4-6: Portree / Isle of Skye
Days 7-8: Fort William / Glenfinnan
How long:
8 days
Notes (things you should know before going):
1) We walked everywhere in Edinburgh and rented a car for Isle of Skye and Fort William.
2) I can’t recall any cash only places. Everywhere accepted credit card and Apple Pay!
3) Driving on the left side of the road is scary at first, but then you’ll get used to it.
4) Sheep are EVERYWHERE once you get out of the city.
5) There’s no limit to how many times you can order sticky toffee pudding ;)
How I got there:
We flew from Los Angeles to Edinburgh. There are no direct flights to Edinburgh, so we had a layover in Washington DC.
After a few days in Edinburgh, we took an Uber back to the airport and rented a car. We drove to Isle of Skye then Fort William area, then back to the Edinburgh airport.
Edinburgh (3 days)
We encountered amazing sunny weather while we were there. It could not be any more perfect.
The city is very cute, walkable, and many buildings have the same aesthetic.
Accommodations:
We stayed at a nice Airbnb not too far from The Meadows Park and University of Edinburgh. There were three of us and we all had our own room. Here’s the listing.
Activities/Sights To See:
Arthur’s Seat at Holyrood Park (2.2 miles/3.7km RT)
Time: 60-80 minutes total
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Arthur’s Seat is a hike to the highest point in Edinburgh. The views are spectacular on a clear day. I can imagine a bit tougher to see things when it’s rainy and the trail is probably pretty slippery. Getting up to the top took around 30-45 minutes and going down took slightly less than that.
It’s a loop and there are different starting points. I recommend you start at the entrance that is behind the Palace of Holyroodhouse and go east (away from the city). It was a gradual uphill that wasn't too bad. There were a decent amount of people up there enjoying the view. It can get very windy up there, so be sure to bring a jacket.
We went on the western side on the way down (towards the city) and there were more steps compared to the eastern side. Overall, it looked tougher to climb up.
Edinburgh Castle
The Castle looks very majestic when you look at it from different points of the city, especially north of it.
You can order tickets online or get it at the Castle. You pick a time frame in which you want to come and it’s £17.50 per ticket, but there is also a fee at checkout. If you don’t have a printer, you can go to a machine at the castle and print out your tickets.
There were some good views from the castle. It was pretty and crowded when we got there. We saw some old prisons, the Crown Jewels, etc. I wouldn't say going into the castle is a must though. Felt pretty touristy.
Victoria Street & Grassmarket Square
Victoria Street is a cute little side street with colorful buildings, restaurants, and shops. Same with Grassmarket Square. They are both very close to the Castle/Royal Mile
Calton Hill
Calton Hill isn’t too far from Palace of Holyroodhouse and it’s north of the castle. There are many monuments here and some good views of the city. Lots of grass for you to chill out on, and would be a good place to bring a lunch or some snacks. It’s not hard to get to, but it’s an uphill walk since it’s on a hill of course.
Princes Street Garden
It’s just north of the castle. It’s nice to just take a relaxed stroll through and take in the greenery.
Afternoon Tea!
When in the UK, have afternoon tea! We’re all big fans of afternoon tea so we did it twice. First time at The Witchery, and the second time at Colonnades at The Signet Library.
The Witchery was £30/per person. The setting was a bit dark, which isn’t like typical afternoon tea. The Witchery is very close to the castle, along the Royal Mile (the stretch from the castle to the palace). The tea was pretty good, but the food was not the best. I would say overall a little touristy and you can find somewhere better to have afternoon tea.
Somewhere better? We loved tea at the Colonnades at The Signet Library. It was £38/per person. The setting was bright and roomy within a very cute library setting. It’s not too far from the castle and it’s also on the Royal Mile. The tea selection wasn’t as vast as I would’ve liked, but boy do they feed you! We had a savory and dessert tier finished off by a palette cleansing sorbet. We were so stuffed after all of this.
Places we didn’t have time for
Some places that I heard were cool, but we didn’t have time for are:
Royal Botanic Garden, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Leith (neighborhood), Camera Obscura, Mary’s Milk Bar
Food
The Chop House - few locations around town, but the closest to our Airbnb was Bruntsfield. I thought the desserts were the best, but they also had a good brown butter & maple chicken.
Black Ivy - this was around the corner from our Airbnb. The inside and outside was very cute. We had breakfast and dinner here. The pancakes for breakfast were decent, and I also got the breakfast roll with bacon which was way larger than I expected. It was basically just bacon on bread, nothing else on it.
The Birchwood - this is the first place we went to when we arrived to town. I wasn’t terribly hungry, but I got the toasted banana bread and hot chocolate. Both were great.
Coro The Chocolate Cafe - if you love chocolate, this is your place. Even if you don’t love chocolate, they have other desserts too. We got a bubble waffle along with a cookie dough. Very rich, but very delicious. This is located close to Princes Street Garden.
Tuk Tuk Indian Street Food - I’m not a huge fan of Indian food, but I was able to find some things that I enjoyed here. Mike and Caitlin said the Indian food was very good though.
Enough time?
Three full days in Edinburgh seemed perfect, but I think we could’ve also filled a 4th day if we had it.
Isle of Skye (3 days)
We took an Uber to the Edinburgh airport where we picked up a rental car. It was scary driving on the left side of the road for the first time! I had to constantly tell myself to stay on the left at the beginning, but it wasn’t too bad when there were people to follow.
Urquhart Castle
We drove a little over 3 hours to get to the Inverness area. We stopped by Urquhart Castle which is on Loch Ness. Tickets were £12.00/per adult. The castle was mostly ruins, but still cool to see.
Eilean Donan Castle
About 1 hour and 20 minutes away from Urquhart Castle, we stopped at Eilean Donan Castle in Dornie. This castle was fully intact and it was stunning. We got there after hours so we couldn’t go in, but seeing it from the outside was still really nice. From here it was an hour until we reached Portree in Isle of Skye.
Accommodations:
We stayed in Portree at an Airbnb. The town of Portree is really tiny and the Airbnb was in a great location because we could walk to everything.
Activities/Sights To See:
Old Man of Storr (2.5 miles/4 km RT)
Time: 1.5-2 hours
Difficulty: Medium
This is a very popular hike in Isle of Skye and the parking lots can fill up quick. We got there around 10am and found a close spot on the side of the road.
It’s a steady uphill to get to the Old Man and then there is opportunity to go even further. I suggest keep going cause then you get an even cooler view of the rock formations. At some point it started raining and we decided to hide behind a rock and wait for a little bit. We waited 5-10 minutes and then it cleared for the rest of the hike!
Fairy Pools (2 miles / 3.2km RT)
Time: 1 hour-ish
Difficulty: Easy
Fairy Pools is around 35 minutes away from Portree. Once you get there, there’s a parking lot, but you have to pay £5.
We arrived when it was overcast, but it wasn't raining yet. The hike was ever so slightly uphill, but it’s an easy ‘hike’. There are a series of small waterfalls along the way and it seems like you could keep going forever on this trail. However…we knew rain was in the forecast and it started to rain so we decided to head back maybe 30-40 minutes into the hike. As we were walking back, it started POURING. We were drenched by the time we got back to the car.
If you’re short on time and the weather isn’t great, I would try going to another hike on the isle. If it’s sunny, I can imagine this hike is quite pleasant. But I would still go to other hikes before going on this one.
Kilt Rock
This is a view point of a waterfall that goes into the ocean. We got there around 10pm and we were the only ones there! Pretty amazing. This is also on the coastline close to Brother’s Point and on the way to Quiriang hike.
Neist Point Lighthouse (1.36 miles miles / 2.2km RT)
Time: 45-60 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
We parked on the side of the road, but it was pretty full. We came right after it rained, so I can imagine it’s a lot more crowded on a sunny day. This was about an hour from Portree.
I would call this a walk, not a hike. You start off by going straight downhill, so you know what that means on your way back. Once you go down, there’s another small hill until you see the lighthouse. The lighthouse isn’t that pretty, but I think the appeal is more of the surroundings.
Portree
The town of Portree is quite small. During busy summer months, you must make dinner (and lunch to be safe) reservations! There are only a handful of restaurants in town.
The colorful buildings of Portree are their staple. We also stumbled upon a walk call The Lump. It takes you around a part of the town and was a nice little surprise.
Places we didn’t have time for
We attempted Brother’s Point and Quiriang, but the sun was setting and we ran out of time. It was raining pretty much a full day we were there so we lost some time cause of that.
Food
So…the food didn't impress us too much once we left Edinburgh, but here’s where we ate. Remember that there are only a handful of restaurants in town. Make reservations for lunch and dinner! For real!
The Granary - Small cafe where you can grab coffee/tea, pastries, and they have sandwiches they can warm up for you. On a rainy day, this place is packed. This was my favorite place in town though.
Caroy House - Cute interior. We got into town late so there was ample seating. I believe I got fish n chips and we shared dessert.
Sea Breezes - This place was pretty decent. I got the sea bass with Mediterranean potatoes.
Cafe Arriba - A place where you can get coffee, tea, and breakfast. Vibe was very colorful inside.
The Lower Deck Seafood Restaurant - This is when we realized we needed to make reservations for dinner. Everywhere we went to didn’t have seating or at least not until 9pm. Lower Deck doesn’t take reservations so we waited maybe 30-45 minutes? in the rain for the restaurant to open. We were waiting at like 5pm too. We thought we’d be in the clear eating at an early hour, but clearly we were wrong! The interior was stuffy and the food was okay, but it did the job.
Co-op Food - Portree - Bank Street - Thank goodness for the Co-op. We cooked some meals from the groceries purchased here.
Enough time?
We had one travel day, then 2.5 days. If it wasn’t raining constantly, then I think it would’ve been enough time to fit in the two other things we wanted to do — Quiriang and Brother’s Point. But the fact that it rained a majority of both full days, left us closely watching the weather apps and picking when we’d head out.
Fort William (2 days)
We drove 2.5 hours to Fort William. We heard the Glencoe area was nice and this was the closest accommodations we could find. I did the least amount of research here, but I was pleasantly surprised. The drive back to Edinburgh airport from here was a little less than three hours which made the drive a lot more manageable.
Accommodations:
We stayed in Fort William at a bed and breakfast called MacIntosh Bed and Breakfast. The place was very clean, breakfast was nice, and our host was very sweet.
Activities/Sights To See:
Nevis Range Mountain Gondola
The UK’s only mountain gondola! Ticket was £11/per adult. We got there close to closing time so we didn’t get to spend as much time up there, but the view was great.
We went to the Sgurr Finnisg-aig viewpoint which was an easy walk and had great views of the region.
Glencoe Lochan (1.5 miles / 2.5km RT)
There are three different trails that vary in difficulty. I don’t think any of them were particularly hard just a little more uphill than the others. The easy stroll around the lake was really pleasant. We had barely seen the sun in the past couple of days so we were loving it. The lake isn’t huge, but this is a great place to take it easy and enjoy the surroundings.
Glenfinnan Viaduct
If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you will know this as the Hogwarts Express! It’s actually called The Jacobite. It goes from Fort William to Mallaig and back. If you’re coming in the summer months, be sure to reserve a ticket several months in advance.
We didn’t get tickets, but we really wanted to see the iconic train crossing. First of all, figure out what time the trains will cross. I recommend going in the afternoon so you can see the train going to Mallaig and the one going back to Fort William. The train should cross 30-40 minutes after it leaves Fort William (according to a blog I read), however the train was late by 10-15 minutes.
We went to the Glenfinnan Trail View Point which is different than the viewpoint for the monument and viaduct right next to the visitor center. The entrance to this is the 2nd parking lot after the visitor center lot. We parked in the visitor center lot for a small fee and it was a short walk. Once you see the gate at the second lot, keep going about 10 minutes and then you’ll see a sign for the trail view point. We got there maybe 45 minutes before the supposedly train crossing and there were already a bunch of people there. I would make sure to get there early for the sake of parking more so than finding a place to stand at the view point.
The train goes by fairly quickly, so make sure to get your pictures in. Shortly after the afternoon train, the train coming back from Mallaig will cross the other direction.
The trail keeps going and will pass the museum and train station. We went on it for a little bit, but weren’t feeling as ambitious to go all the way and back.
Places we didn’t have time for
A lot! There are a lot of hikes in Glencoe and Fort William is dubbed the ‘outdoor capital of the UK’.
Food
Ben Nevis Inn & Bunkhouse - Well, the food left a lot to be desired. It has fun community style tables and a good view of Ben Nevis mountain, but maybe just go there for drinks or keep your food expectations low.
Crannog Seafood Restaurant - Nice view on the water. The fish (hake) I had was pretty good. Nice way to end our time in Scotland.
M&S Fort William Foodhall - nice market with a cafe. We got lunch and some souvenir snacks to take home.
Enough time?
One more day of hiking in the area would’ve been great.
Overall, loved Scotland! We got good weather most of the trip which made it really enjoyable. There’s obviously a lot of ground to cover in Scotland, but I think it’s worth renting a car and driving out of the cities to see the highlands and countryside for a few days at least.
