Roadtrip to Scottish Highlands - Itinerary

The Scottish Highlands are a mountainous region in northwest Scotland. It’s home to the famous Loch Ness (yes, like the Loch Ness monster), rugged landscapes, and some amazing natural beauty. It also is a popular filming spot, with many scenes from Harry Potter and Outlander being filmed here. Our trip to the Scottish Highlands was part of a larger 4-day road trip: 2 days in Edinburgh and 2 days in the Scottish Highlands. This road trip to the Scottish Highlands itinerary from Edinburgh will take you up to Glencoe and Loch Ness.

go to our Scottish highlands itinerary

Scottish Highlands Weather

Generally, the best time to visit the Scottish Highlands is between May to September, due to the warm weather. July and August tend to be the months for the best weather, and the Highlands see an influx of visitors during this time.

Summer = midges

What the heck is a midge? Midges are little flies that bite and typically live near marshes or water, sort of like mosquitoes. Midges love Scotland because of the rainy weather, and you can find swarms of them in the Highlands during the summer. Despite this, summer is still a popular time to visit Scotland, and if you are still set to book your trip during the warmer months, I’d suggest arriving prepared. Check out the official midge forecast and this Midges in Scotland: Ultimate Guide 2024 blog by Call to Adventure UK.

April to May and September to October are considered the shoulder seasons for visiting Scotland. We took our trip at the beginning of October, mainly because we viewed Scotland as the perfect trip for fall. In October, Scotland experiences cooler and more autumnal weather, but the weather also becomes more unpredictable, meaning you risk running into some serious rainfall and wind. We experienced rain and even some floods ourselves, but the tradeoff was seeing Scotland’s incredible fall foliage. Below are the average highs and lows of Glencoe, one of the most popular stops during a trip to the Scottish Highlands.

April: High of 52ºF/11ºC and low of 41ºF/5ºC
May: High of 57ºF/14ºC and low of 45ºF/7ºC
June: High of 61ºF/16ºC and low of 50ºF/10ºC
July: High of 63ºF/17ºC and low of 54ºF/12ºC
August: High of 63ºF/17ºC and low of 52ºF/11ºC
September: High of 57ºF/14ºC and low of 50ºF/10ºC
October: High of 54ºF/12ºC and low of 45ºF/7ºC

Where to Stay in the Scottish Highlands

We took this Airbnb in Fort William. It’s built for 2 people, so if you’re traveling with a larger group then this Airbnb won’t be a good option. For us, it was great. Depending on what your budget is, I’ve listed a few options for lodging below. Below are a few options for you, wherever you are in your budget for this trip:

Sea Breeze Pod Airbnb – $$ (~$150 a night, 2-night minimum during summer)
Clachaig Inn – $$ (~$200 a night, 2-night minimum, breakfast included)
The Ballachulish Hotel – $$ (~$200 a night)

Transportation in Scotland

Rental Cars

We booked our rental car through Rentalcars.com, specifically with Sixt, because we used the same company for our trip to the Ring of Kerry.

I highly recommend renting a car vs. doing a bus tour of the Scottish Highlands. You’ll be able to enjoy the trip at your own pace and stop whenever you want for a photo op (and trust me, there will be plenty).

Tips for Driving in Scotland

If you come from a country where you drive on the right side of the road know that in Scotland, they drive on the left. It was a little nerve-racking at first, but the rep at the car kiosk gave us a few pointers (like hugging the left side of the road vs. the right) which helped us adapt quickly.

Another thing to note about driving in Scotland is the rain. If you happen to be visiting during very heavy rainfall, check out Traffic Scotland for any official updates regarding road closings or traffic. This site was handy to know what roads to avoid and what detours to take. Hopefully, you won’t have to use this site, but better safe than sorry in case you do.

Our Itinerary – Scottish Highlands in 2 Days

Day 1 – The Kelpies, Sterling Castle, Trossachs Woollen Mill, Callander

We flew from Paris to Edinburgh and picked up our car from the airport. By the time we picked up the car, it was about 10am. From there, we set out on our day, starting with a quick stop at the Kelpies.

The Kelpies

In Scottish folklore, kelpies are shape-shifting, horse-like water spirits that have the strength and endurance of 100 horses. Scottish artist Andy Scott designed these sculptures as a tribute to Scotland’s engineering progress and the Falkirk area’s industrial heritage. To be honest — these are skippable, but it’s an easy stop so we thought why not? Parking was about £2.

Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle is probably the second most famous castle in Scotland, behind Edinburgh Castle, which says a lot. Until the Union of the Crowns (the moment when England and Scotland shared the same monarch) in 1603, almost every Scottish monarch had either lived, died, or been crowned in the castle. In fact, Mary Queen of Scots was crowned at Stirling Castle at just nine months old.

Another highlight of Stirling Castle is the Stirling Heads, a collection of intricately carved wooden ceiling medallions. They were created during the reign of James V of Scotland in the 16th century and originally adorned the ceiling of the King’s inner hall. 37 replica heads are installed so visitors can get a taste of what the castle would’ve looked like back then. If you’re interested in seeing the original medallions, you’ll find them in an exhibition on the upper floor of the palace.

My 2 cents: I found Stirling Castle more interesting than Edinburgh Castle. Aside from the history, Sterling Castle also showed living conditions in the castle and during the era. It included many interactive exhibits, a life-size set up to demonstrate life in the kitchen, and even had staff members dressed up as the King and Queen’s servants to tell you about their jobs and life at the castle.

Similar to Edinburgh Castle, I recommend booking tickets online. Tickets are cheaper, and if you’re visiting during the summer, it’ll be better to reserve ahead of time. There is parking for about £4 for a maximum of 4 hours. Because we visited during the fall, the parking was pretty empty, but if you’re visiting during a busier season you might have to park your car in the town center and then walk a rather steep climb to the castle entrance.

Trossachs Woolen Mill

This stop won’t be longer than 30 minutes, but it’s worth the stop if you want to more or less guarantee the opportunity to see some highland coos during your trip. This is technically a gift shop/café, but we came here in hopes of seeing the cows. Luckily the cows, Honey and Hamish, were out right next to the gate.

The gift shop itself is nothing crazy, though compared to the prices of souvenirs in Edinburgh, I was glad to pick up a few things here (keychains, pins, postcards etc.) instead.

Callander

Callander was our convenience stop for a very late lunch. Across the street from the Callander War Memorial, a tree happened to be in full fall bloom so we stopped for a few photos. From here we had actually planned a scenic drive to go from Callander → Killin → Falls of Falloch → Tyndrum → Glencoe, but our first day had to be cut short due to flash flooding.

If possible, snag a reservation at Mhor 84. The food is apparently excellent, but if you want to take a look at the menu before booking, you can find it here.

Falls of Falloch

As I had mentioned, we had to make a few changes to our trip due to flash flooding. The roads leading to the falls closed, so we actually never got to see them. This ended up turning into a 3-hour detour to get to our Airbnb, which took up the rest of the day until sundown. If you’re not as unlucky as we were, the Falls of Falloch are only a 20-minute, very easy hike, making it a stop that is well worth the effort. Since I didn’t visit the falls myself, you can check out this blog for everything you need to know in order to see the Falls of Falloch.

Day 2 – Glencoe, Glenfinnan Viewpoint, Loch Ness & Urquhart Castle

Glencoe

Since the A82 was closed, we never actually made it to Glencoe and the Glencoe Valley. It’s definitely a bummer considering the A82 is the most scenic drive in this road trip to the Scottish Highlands. Luckily, the area is filled with many other things to see. Like the Falls of Falloch, below are links to a few blogs that gave me everything I needed to know to visit Glencoe.

Glenfinnan Viewpoint

Scotland is home to many film locations in Harry Potter, but the most famous is likely Glenfinnan Viewpoint. The steam train that passes through the viaduct is called “The Jacobite”, which is also the real-life Hogwarts Express. For everything you need to know about seeing the Harry Potter train, check out my full blog post on it here.

Scene from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – yes, that really is the Jacobite, and the bridge they are crossing is the Glennfinnan Viaduct. If you’re really a Potterhead, you can actually ride the Jacobite train, which you can read more about here.

The train passes the viewpoint twice a day, once at 10:45 am and again at 3:00 pm. You can read more about timing here. For parking, there is parking lot near the Glenfinnan Monument visitor center that costs £3.50 for all-day parking. Parking gets full quickly, so make sure you arrive at least 30 minutes before the train crossing to give yourself enough time to park and walk up to the viewpoint.

Glenfinnan Viaduct Trail

We had some extra time on our hands after the train passed, so we thought we’d head towards Lock Shiel viewpoint while everyone else started to head back to their cars. This ended up being a very happy accident — the Glenfinnan Viaduct Trail was such an easy and beautiful hike. From the viewpoint, we walked all the way to the Glenfinnan Station Museum, which took about 30 minutes. The hike is really only about 20 minutes, but with the rain and how often we stopped for photos, we took some extra time.

Loch Ness + Urquhart Castle

Our last stop of the day was Urquhart Castle Ruins, which sits right on Loch Ness. This is the most scenic spot to view Loch Ness and the prime location to spot Nessie. Unfortunately, we didn’t see Nessie, but exploring the castle grounds made up for it. Before you visit, we recommend watching the short film, located to the left of the gift shop when you enter. Watching the film was completely free and gave us some historical context before we set off to visit the grounds.