Scotland fills the northern third of Great Britain, and a first trip usually splits its time between the two big cities and the Highlands. Four places have their own pages: Edinburgh, the capital, with its castle above the Old Town; Glasgow, an hour west, for free museums and live music; Loch Ness and the Highlands, the Great Glen from Inverness to Fort William and Glen Coe; and the Isle of Skye, over the bridge or off the Mallaig ferry.
Two entries on the United Kingdom page sit outside those places: the painted harbour of Tobermory on Mull and the distilleries of the Speyside Whisky Trail. This page adds two stops that fit between the cities and the hills: Stirling Castle and St Andrews.
Walk through the grandest secular hall of late medieval Scotland and the chapel where Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned.
What it is
Stirling Castle stands on a crag above the town, with cliffs on three sides, and the Battle of Bannockburn was fought within sight of its walls in 1314. Inside are the Great Hall that James IV was finishing around 1503, the grandest secular building of late medieval Scotland, used as barracks from 1800 and restored by 1999; the Royal Palace of James V, the first Renaissance palace in the British Isles, with the Stirling Heads, carved oak portraits from its ceiling; and the Chapel Royal, where Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned in 1543.
How to do it
It opens daily at 9:30 and closes at 18:00 from April to September and 17:00 from October to March. Buy tickets online before you go.
Good to know
The visit also takes in the kitchens, the tapestries, the gardens and the regimental museum of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
Walk the 18th fairway of the Old Course and stand on the Swilcan Bridge on a Sunday, when golf stops and it becomes a park.
What it is
St Andrews, on the Fife coast about 30 miles from Edinburgh, packs three visits into a small town. The Old Course has hosted the Open Championship 30 times since 1873. At the other end of the old town stand the ruins of the cathedral, begun in 1158 and the largest church ever built in Scotland, with the 33-metre St Rule's Tower beside it; Historic Environment Scotland looks after it and the castle on its rocky promontory. West Sands is the two-mile beach in the opening scene of Chariots of Fire.
How to do it
The Old Course closes to golf on Sundays and becomes a park, so that is the day to walk the 18th fairway and stand on the little Swilcan Bridge without dodging players. Finish on West Sands.
Good to know
There is no station in town: take the train to Leuchars and the Stagecoach 99 bus, every ten minutes in the daytime.
Photograph the painted harbour of Tobermory on Mull
Tobermory, Isle of Mull
A full day from ObanBook ahead
Tobermory's painted harbour was the set of Balamory, and as Mull's main town it gives you more to do than the photo.
What it is
Beyond the row of painted houses from the children's programme Balamory, the town has the Mull Museum, the Mull Aquarium, which releases its local sea creatures back into the wild, the Mull Theatre and the Tobermory Distillery, which runs tours.
How to do it
Getting there is the part to plan. The direct CalMac ferry from Oban to Craignure takes 45 minutes, and from Craignure you drive or take the bus up the east coast. Smaller routes cross from Lochaline in Morvern and Kilchoan in Ardnamurchan. If you have a car, carry on across the island to the white sand of Calgary Bay.
Good to know
CalMac recommends buying tickets in advance and reserving vehicle space.
Tour Speyside distilleries on the Malt Whisky Trail
Dufftown, Speyside
Book ahead
Taste your way round the visitor distilleries strung along the River Spey, with Dufftown as your base.
What it is
Speyside has more working distilleries than any other whisky region, and the Malt Whisky Trail strings the visitor ones together around the River Spey, with Dufftown as the natural base. Glenfiddich, on the edge of Dufftown, is the one most people start with.
How to do it
Glenfiddich's visitor centre opens daily from 9:30 to 16:30. The real decision is who drives. Scotland's drink-drive limit is lower than in the rest of the UK, so a designated driver should not drink at all, or the group should join a whisky day tour from Inverness or Aberdeen instead.
Good to know
Tours fill up, so reserve by phone or email before you drive there. Two distilleries a day is plenty if you want to taste properly and still see the river.
Give Edinburgh three days, then choose how far north to go. With a week, add Glasgow or Stirling and two or three days in the Highlands around Loch Ness or Glen Coe. Skye needs about four days with a car on its own, so it belongs in a trip of ten days to two weeks. Speyside lies east of Inverness and pairs with the Cairngorms; Mull is a ferry ride from Oban and suits a slower west-coast trip.
How to combine them
The classic loop runs from Edinburgh via Stirling to Glen Coe and Fort William, along the Road to the Isles to Mallaig and the ferry to Skye, back over the Skye Bridge past Eilean Donan to Loch Ness and Inverness, then south through the Cairngorms. The railways trace the same shape: the West Highland Line from Glasgow to Fort William and Mallaig, the line from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh for Skye, and the Highland Main Line from Inverness back to Perth. St Andrews is a day trip from Edinburgh; Stirling takes half a day from either city.
Getting around
Edinburgh and Glasgow are about an hour apart by train, and Citylink coaches cover the long Highland routes. Beyond the cities, many roads are single-track with passing places, above all on Skye: pull in to let others pass and never park in a passing place. CalMac ferries carry cars to the islands, and in summer vehicle space should be reserved in advance. Scotland's drink-drive limit is lower than in the rest of the UK, so whoever drives should not drink at all.
When to go
May to September brings the longest days and the most sights open. August is festival month in Edinburgh and the city fills months ahead, as it does again for Hogmanay at New Year. Many Highland and island sights close for the winter in mid or late October, among them Dunvegan Castle and the Elgol boats on Skye, and short days limit driving, so a winter trip leans on the cities. Historic Environment Scotland closes castles at short notice in high winds, so check on the morning of your visit.
Questions travellers ask
How many days do you need in Scotland?
A week covers Edinburgh, Stirling or Glasgow and a short Highland loop to Loch Ness or Glen Coe. Ten days to two weeks lets you add Skye, which deserves about four days with a car. Each destination page gives its own number of days.
Can you tour Scotland without a car?
Between the cities and along the main lines, yes: trains run from Glasgow to Fort William and Mallaig and from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh, and Citylink coaches cross to Skye. Rural buses are few, though, and many sights lie down single-track roads, so on Skye and in Glen Coe a car or a day tour is far easier.
Should I base myself in Edinburgh or Glasgow?
Edinburgh for a first trip: the castle, the Old Town and the festivals are there, and Stirling and St Andrews are easy day trips. Glasgow is better placed for the west, with trains to Loch Lomond and Fort William from Queen Street. The cities are about an hour apart by train, so you can see both from either.
Do I need to book CalMac ferries?
With a car in summer, yes: CalMac recommends buying tickets in advance and reserving vehicle space, for example on the Oban to Craignure crossing to Mull. Foot passengers have more flexibility, and some short crossings, such as Sconser to Raasay off Skye, take no bookings at all.
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