Scotland - please help!

[PinkPondQueen]

Been wanting to do a road trip to Scotland for years but keep being put off as I literally have zero idea where to even start! Have finally decided to go for it next year and have downloaded a guidebook to my kindle but in the meantime I would love to see what others think about it.

We want to do whalewatching and swim off beautiful beaches, eat amazing food and see some impressive mountains. Where do we head to?!

We have 2 elderly cats and don't like to leave them for any longer than 5 nights which also includes the drive up from the south - which we're happy to do in 1 day there and 1 day back. So we won't be able to head too far up into the far north. Is it worth getting out to any of the islands or should we stick to the mainland?

Any ideas very gratefully received and thanks in advance!

@ICouldHaveCheckedFirst sorry not sure what you mean, the whalewatching operator I looked at only does a once-a-day departure at 9.30am.

I usually plan our trips around meals out. We've had great food at...

the Pier House in Port Appin
Inver restaurant in Cairndow
Three Chimneys in Skye
Crabshakk in Glasgow
Macdonalds bakery in Portree (the doughnuts!!)
Dulse & Brose in Portree

I remember getting up really really early to witness the 'amazing natural leaping and cavorting' of the seals on some beach in the western isles. A dead cert, according to DH. 'We used to see them every single summer.' No seals, just lots of humans in cagoules on a stony beach at 5.30am. We looked like a living Anthony Gormley installation. The seals must have loved it.

I have seen shedloads of dolphins and porpoises in Scottish waters but sadly no orcas or whales yet despite living in hope every time we go. I think the best whale watching is in Shetland where there is a resident pod of orcas and fairly frequent sightings of whales.

As others have said you have not allowed enough time to get to northern Scotland and with time so tight it's not the best use of your time to try to get onto the islands (with more time available I would recommend the small isles Rum Eigg Muck and Canna - sail from mallaig - you've got very little chance of getting in this summer though)

Or were they dolphins? Anyway, nothing showed up.

Hell we go to Mull for 2 weeks and it still isn't long enough.. We may have ahem 4 trips booked there this year...... 😱

All of that won’t happen in 5 nights OP.

I think you're going to spend most of your time driving and not much time actually seeing and experiencing anything.
I agree with suggestions to stick to the south of Scotland since your time is limited. Dumfries and Galloway is lovely and under visited so you're going to have a better time there and there are still great views, lots of amazing wildlife. You could drive as far as Arran if you wanted an island experience. You get everything in Arran, even mountains.

I've also never seen a whale. I have seen lots of dolphins though, Chanonry Point near Inverness is a good bet for dolphins but you have to time your visit with the change of tides. I can't remember now whether they come in chasing the fish just before the tide turns or just after, I'm sure google will tell you.

Scot here an well driven all over Scotland, wild swimmer and been most of the places mentioned, never seen a whale. Some dolphins, seals and porpoises only in all my years.

I think your first day might be pushing it OP. We're going to Mull for a couple of nights from the north of England and it's going to take us at least four hours to get to Oban.

Wheres your starting point in England if you are planning on getting to Oban on day one?

I would try and go off rh beaten track.

And we're only about half an hour from the Scottish border.

Well you need more than one day to get to Oban,
The whale watching trip sometimes sees whales, you've a decent chance of dolphins or porpoises rather than whales,
It get ps back about five and it will then take you more than two hours to drive down to the south of the island. You'll be too knackered to enjoy it, put your cats in a cattery and enjoy mull properly. So two weeks.

We go to Mull regularly (DH has family there) and we reckon on 6 hours from Bristol to Glasgow and the same from Glasgow to Tobermory.

You're doing a lot of driving with that itenary and I think underestimating the driving time.
Whale watching tours as others have said is pretty hit or miss.

Arisaig area on the west coast is stunning. We've visited every year for the last 10 years. Good seafood restaurants in Mallaig. Have seen minke whales/dolphins on the boat trips from that area.
Gairloch/Torridan/Ullapool on the NC 500 route, spectacular scenery.
Cairngorms is pretty unbeatable aswell.
Bit of a trek from England though.

Do you want to climb mountains or just admire them from a distance?
Oban or that general area is a good base with a bit of everything. Ditto Arran. Both fairly full of tourists for that reason though.
Arrochar Alps is an option for climbing actual mountains within an hour ish of Glasgow.
Argyll coast eg Tighnabruich would be an option for scenery & road trip which is further south, although still about 2hrs from Glasgow.

@PemQueen you have won the internet for me today absolutely hilarious 😂😂😂

Wow ok thank you all so much. A lot to take in there.....! We do love a road trip, took the timings from AA Driving Directions and were prepared for a lot of driving which we don't mind. We drove from Vegas to San Francisco in 1 day many years ago and even done an impromptu 12 hour road trip from South Wales to the Lake District as it was predicted the Northern Lights would be seen that night (we didn't see them unfortunately but we did see a good shooting star & a badger 😍)

Dear god I'd rather stay at home than put the old girls in a cattery 😿

We have a lot to think about right now..

@PemQueen ”We looked like a living Anthony Gormley installation.” Fabulous description 😄

Five days is going to seriously limit you if you're in the south of the UK and driving to Scotland. From where i live on the M1 south of M6 it's 6 hours driving to get to, say, Stirling. After that the motorway ends and barring sections of the A9 not much is dualled.

Going to the Western Isles, as we've done for years, needs at least one night en route. Usually see something in the Whale/Dolphin etc family from the ferry one way or the other and often off the coast of Harris.

Fly/drive, or maybe the Caledonian Sleeper train, would get you to Glasgow/Edinburgh or Inverness cutting out a day's driving.

I'd also second the Dumfries/Galloway option.

Yeah looked at flights earlier and they're cheap enough but hire cars are exortionate 😕 and kind of defeats the object of having the luxury of just loading up the car and off you go... i'm so glad asked you all for advice... will have a think!

I second what other people have said about driving in Scotland - it will take you twice as long to get from Central Belt to North Scotland than it will take to get to Scotland from England. And if you are not used to driving on these kinds of roads, it will be exhausting as it takes quite a bit of concentration. And if the weather is poor it is significantly worse.

There is so much to be seen around the lower regions of Scotland which would serve as a great introduction without overwhelming yourself with an itinerary which is a stretch. I think you'd be disappointed if you tried to do the far north on 5 days.

The drive up to Scotland on the A1 has spectacular views - it's not a road to be rushed though. Visit Coldingham & St.Abbs and try out a boat trip/marine tour to see a variety of marine life. Follow the coast around and stop at North Berwick for a quaint seaside town and visit the beach at Yellowcraigs - the sand is plentiful, soft and neverending. Greywalls in Gullane or Duck's Inn Aberlady has lovely food.

My favourite part of Scotland is Perthshire, it's very lush and green. You could head up to Callendar and cross over past Loch Tay to Pitlochry and then north to Aviemore - the scenery here is gorgeous. Visit the top of the Cairngorms (on the Funicular railway) stopping to vist (or walk around) Loch Morlich Beach. Then if you want to see mountains head back down Grantown on Spey, Ballater, Balmoral, Braemar and Glenshee. If you've got time before home, a visit to my favourite Castle (Stirling) before home.

Now being honest - that is also probably too much to do in 5 days, I'd consider missing out Aviemore or at the least only use the A9 and miss out Glenshee because those rural roads are slow going, especially given the altitude covered as well as the sheer distance.

You could also head up M6 and cross over the Scenic A7 route or leave at Moffat and head over to Selkirk (lovely scenery!). Melrose, Jedburgh & Kelso, and head right over to St. Abbs/Coldingham on the East Coast.

Some ideas here, hopefully more food for thought.

@PinkPondQueen We have recently driven to Oban. We are 35 miles north of London. We allowed 5 hours to Lake District. We actuality stayed for 3 nights but you could carry on up to Glasgow. Oban is 2 hours beyond that. So if time is short, get a flight or the train to Glasgow. You will have to bite the bullet on car hire.

From Oban there are ferries. However, I’d stay on the mainland. We toured the Hebrides but you don’t have the time. So plan what you might want to do about Oban and the west coast. Locals told us ferries are not reliable either.

"@ICouldHaveCheckedFirst sorry not sure what you mean, the whalewatching operator I looked at only does a once-a-day departure at 9.30am."

Apologies - your explanation makes sense! I pictured you watching for whales for 5 minutes before setting off on the next leg of your trip, silly me!

And as @TizerorFizz says, the ferries up and down the west coast are sadly very unreliable at the moment due to breakdowns and lack of alternative vessels, and if they do run they are probably booked up in advance.