Scotland self-drive holiday planning

[Fatbelliedgirl]

Posted in both Travel and Chat for traffic.

Planning an 11 day tour of Scotland for mid October. The idea is to start somewhere south of Glasgow, e.g. Ayr/Kilmarnock, and travel in a clockwise direction up, around and down, perhaps visiting Orkney/Shetland enroute, finishing in the far north east of England e.g. Berwick On Tweed or Alnwick areas.

Can this all be done in 11 days or are we bonkers to even consider it?

What will the weather be like in Scotland that time of year? Especially around the highlands and far north?

Any recommendations on where to stay?

So much to think of!!

It's worth remembering that once you get off the A9, the roads aren't great (very picturesque), from Ayr to Skye you're probably looking at over 7 hours, and you'll need to book accommodation. A lot of hotels will be fully booked.

The weather will be wet. It's always wet in October.

October in Scotland is cold wet and miserable. Make sure your car has decent window wipers!

Agree re the roads. You will also find annoyingly that the most picturesque roads never have anywhere you can stop and take pictures of said scenery

Remember that the clocks go back at the end of October and it will be dark from about 5pm.
In the Highlands a lot of the A roads are single track with passing places.
And there are sheep flipping everywhere.

Are there petrol stations along the N-500 route?

We just came back from a 2 week tour of Scotland, 2 nights each in 7 different campsites. It took alot longer to get anywhere than I had remembered or realised. We didn't get north of Inverness but did go to Skye and down the West coast. 8 hours to get from hull to aviemore. 7 hours to get from Glencoe back to hull. Had a wonderful time. That sounds quite ambitious i think .

You'd be better coming in May.
October will be horrible and won't show off the beautiful scenery at all.

**kaytee87

You'd be better coming in May.
October will be horrible and won't show off the beautiful scenery at all.**

Oh. I was under the impression that October is one of the best times to visit Scotland :(

Agree that May (or June) is a better time to visit. May tends to be sunny and dry. Shetland is a 14 hour ferry from Aberdeen and 8 hours just from Orkney. I don't think you can travel as far as you're thinking about in 11 days & have any time to enjoy it.

Yeah thinking we may have to give Shetland and Aberdeen a miss. Perhaps give the whole idea a miss for now as it sounds like October could be a bad time to visit.

Solebizz of course there is plenty of them. People live here we need fuel for our cars too. It can be more expensive than your used to further north but we are quite civilised up here.

October isn’t a bad time to visit. I live in the highlands and October is often as nice if not nicer than August. The tail end of October can see the weather turn a bit colder and greyer though. I live the highlands in the autumn. Crisp mornings and sunny days.
I do agree though that once you get further north the roads aren’t as good and it can take forever to get anywhere but it depends how far north you are thinking of coming.

We are, and know, lots of walkers, climbers, cyclists etc. We had our honeymoon in Skye on the basis of the outdoor sports enthusiasts’ rule of thumb that “It never rains on Skye the last week of May”.

They also say that in Scotland it’s either June or winter. In October it’ll be pretty more likely winter than June! Also much datjer, earlier, than you’d expect if you are coming from the south of England.

About 10 years ago, I had a glorious October week in Scotland that included swimming in the sea nr Lochinver - crystal
clear seas and white sand. So you might be lucky with the weather.

I agree with others that Orkney and Shetland would be a lot to fit in during that time.

If you look at some of the north coast 500 routes that should give you a good plan for the highlands though.

Weather is the weather I suppose. Less midges, bonus. We go November every year and to be honest worst we have had is frost. Other than that it's mild and just average Autumn weather.

Thanks everyone. Think we will give Orkney a miss and also Aberdeen and that area.

Still, we have hired a 4x4 and are prepared for bad weather! Will get booking accommodation today.

October can be lovely! Have a look at Perthshire for autumn colour, Pitlochry has the Enchanted Forest event -

www.enchantedforest.org.uk

Also check out Visit Scotland website. The autumn walks here are stunning

www.visitscotland.com/see-do/landscapes-nature/forests-woodlands/autumn/

The weather is so variable, I wouldn't say with certainty what it will be like. Be prepared for anything. The west coast gets a huge amount of rain for sure but a few years ago we had scorching weather on the north-west coast in March, so you just never know!
We often have a break in Pitlochry in October (and sometimes go to the Enchanted Forest) and it's usually quite chilly but dry and bright.

It won't be earlier dark than the south in mid-October, surely? It's before the clocks change.

There are enough filling stations; just don't get too low on petrol and use them when you see them in the more sparsely populated areas.

Most of the N-500 route is beautiful especially as you head north from Ullapool so even if you can't manage Orkney and Shetland you'll see some fantastic landscapes.

Can't help with accommodation as we always rent a self-catering cottage.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!