8-day driving tour of Scotland: what to visit

If you are planning a holiday trip to scotland for the purpose of making a route by car enjoying its beautiful landscapes and visiting its towns and castles, the question is how to prioritize to try to see the most interesting places.

Depending on the days you have for your trip, you will have the possibility of seeing more or fewer places, but it is important that you do not miss the most attractive tourist spots.

With the purpose of help you plan your tripI'm going to propose to you what to see in Scotland in a 8-day car route, from the experience of the trip I took in a recent summer.

El travel by car that I carried out was recommended by a Spanish friend married to a Scottish woman, who has been visiting Scotland every summer for years, so he knows these lands very well.

Therefore the objective was not to miss the most important corners and get the most out of the planned visits.

I'm sure this travel plan will be very useful to you.

Driving route through Scotland

Day 1.- Arrival in Edinburgh

This first day is dedicated to making a first contact with the city of Edinburgh.

Depending on the time your plane arrives, you will have more or less time to take your first walk around the Royal Mile, axis of the medieval city.

If your trip is in August, I can tell you that you will find a great atmosphere of music and street performances, reflection of the cultural festivals that are celebrated in that month in the Scottish capital.

After this first contact with the life of the city, we will leave the main visits to do them in the following days.

Days 2 and 3.- What to see in Edinburgh in two days

With two days You will have enough time to make a good approach to Edinburgh, although if you have more time, you will be able to better understand the Scottish capital.

I advise you to dedicate the first day to visiting the aforementioned Royal Mile and visit the monuments and places found there.

Specifically you should visit the Edinburgh castle, the great fortification of the city, and the St Giles Cathedral, as well as some of the medieval houses on the Royal Mile that are visitable.

In this regard, it is worth highlighting the house Gladstones Land of the 16th century, and medieval house John Knox House, the oldest in Scotland.

During the second day you can visit the palace of holyroodhouse, headquarters of the scottish monarchy and current summer Palace for the Queen of England, who visits it every August.

You must also go up to the calton hill hill from where you have some of the most typical and famous images of Edinburgh.

And visit the area known as CNew city, at the foot of the hill where the old medieval city extends.

In the Edinburgh New Town you will walk along its central axis, the street Princes street, in whose gardens you find the Scott monument. another of the most charismatic monuments in the city.

Don't forget to go to dinner or have a beer at Grassmarket, at the foot of the castle, where you will arrive from the street that goes down from the Royal Mile next to the aforementioned Scott Monument.

Day 4.- St Andrews, Pitlochry and Blair

You start your journey by car and head to St Andrews, the small university town that is also the birthplace of the sport of golf.

Be sure to climb the tower of an old church next to the remains of the historic cathedral, from where you will have excellent panoramic views of St Andrews and surrounding areas.

From there you go to pitlochry, a beautiful town with a holiday atmosphere, already in the Highlands Scottish Highlands.

Nearby you will find the blair castle.

If you arrive later than 17 p.m., access to its interior will be closed, but it is worth walking through the gardens that surround it, where you will have the opportunity to see the imposing scottish bison.

You may have time to arrive on the A9 road to sleep near Fort William.

It is a route of great beauty, but with winding roads and, in many sections, very narrow.

I can tell you that in these sections you will only find space for a single vehicle to circulate, so you must use the areas that you will find on the road marked as passing places.

Day 5.- Loch Ness and Wester Ross

The next day you will go up to the Lake Ness, where you will visit the remains of Urquhart Castle, the most prominent place in said natural area.

From there you head west to reach the Atlantic coast, already far north of the Highlands.

Specifically, you will visit the natural sites of Wester Ross, with the option of seeing the curious Inverewe Gardens.

You are in a very inhospitable area, so to sleep I advise you to go to the Isle of Skye, at whose doors, in Kyle of Lochalsh, You can now find accommodation.

Day 6.- Isle of Skye

The next day you start with the visit of the Eilean Donan Castle, near the aforementioned town of Kyle of Lochalsh, a fortification that stands out for its beautiful location on the banks of the fjord.

Then you will dedicate the rest of the day to visit the isle of skye.

First you must go to Portrait, the main town on the island, and then take a tour around the entire island.

Already en route to the south, you must go again to Fort William, what you can do by returning through the aforementioned town of Kyle of Lochalsh: crossing by ferry from the Isle of Skye to Mallaig.

Day 7.- Fort William and Stirling

On this day it is worth taking a walk through the holiday town of Fort William, and then you head towards Stirling, already in the Lowlands Lowlands.

You have two optional routes, both running through the beautiful Trossachs natural region.

You can go either through the mountains or along the lake shore. Loch Lomond; matter of taste.

when you get to Stirling you will find a pretty village and an imposing castle at the top of the hill, which due to its characteristics will somehow remind you of Edinburgh.

Day 8.- End of the route in Edinburgh

This is the final day of trip through scotland, where you will take the flight back home.

Depending on the time of the tour, you may have additional time to make another visit to Edinburgh or its surroundings.

In summary, this is a route proposal for eight days, which allows you to make a very varied trip visiting the essentials of Scotland, and leaving some other place for visits on a later trip, such as Glasgow o Inverness.

P.S. In the case of my trip, the route was broader, because due to the choice of flights, it began at the airport of Liverpool, where it also ended.

This allowed me to make interesting visits to the north of England, such as medieval Fountains Abbey, Durham or Lake District National Park.

Map of the driving route through Scotland