Planning a Trip to Scotland, Part 2

Make sure you’ve read Part 0 and Part 1 before you dive in.

Welcome back! Last time we looked at the best time to visit Scotland, taking into account weather, cultural events, and tourism’s high and low seasons. Now it’s time to consider where, in this incredibly varied country, you should spend your hard-earned vacation.

I won’t sugarcoat it; you won’t be able to see it all. Not in one trip at least. Planning your destinations in Scotland is at once a horrible war of attrition and some of the most fun I’ve ever had trip planning. Difficult decisions are ahead. Prepare yourself.

The amount of time you have for the trip dictates how much you can see, and I’ll cover these trade-offs in more depth next Monday. For now, let’s turn our eyes to the map of Scotland to understand the lay of the land.

Lowlands

The lowlands represent the land south of Glasgow and Edinburgh to the border with England. This region differs from the highlands both culturally and geographically: this area was not home to clans and much of the landscape is pastoral, rolling hills. The lowlands have been the stage for many battles between the Scottish and the English, home to ruined castles and abbeys guard the coasts and valleys, and home to some of Scotland’s greatest authors, men like Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott.

If you’re looking at the map of Scotland, you’ll notice it’s a rather large part of the country. And yet I’ve only been to this region for a handful of days on one previous trip. For non-UK residents, the lowlands often are a casualty of logistics. Most of the country stands to the north of the major cities. To visit the lowlands requires a strong desire or a longer trip as visiting it means going in the opposite direction from the rest of your destinations. If you’re driving into Scotland from England, the lowlands make a sensible, if short, addition to the itinerary.

To the north, the lowlands give way to Scotland’s fascinating cities…

The Central Belt

This area of Scotland covers the major cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, as well as the Kingdom of Fife. While there’s much rivalry between Edinburgh and Glasgow, visitors owe it to themselves to see both. I hesitate to get in the middle of this rivalry, and this may sound stupid, but Glasgow is more of a typical modern city and Edinburgh is kind of like a living museum on a city-wide scale. Scotland’s excellent rail infrastructure makes it easy to jaunt out to picturesque villages in Fife, Stirling, or between the two major cities as day trips. Incredibly, 70% of Scotland’s population lives in this densely populated central belt.

For international visitors, Glasgow or Edinburgh make obvious first stops thanks to the international airports. This will also be your only taste of real city life in all of the country. These cities are a lot of fun and make an excellent introduction to Scottish culture. For a quick dash into Fife, consider that it takes little over an hour to get to St. Andrews from Edinburgh by train or car.

When you’ve had your fill of the cities, it’s time to cast your eyes north…

Eastern Highlands

Northward! The land from Perth in the south up to Inverness (with the A9 as a western border) and everything east represents the eastern highlands. This is an exciting region encompassing wooded chunks of Perthshire and the rolling hills of Angus in the south, the massive Cairngorms National Park, a beautiful coastal road up the east side through Aberdeen and around the northern edge, the malt whisky trail in Speyside, and a veritable cornucopia of castles throughout. There’s something for everyone in this part of the country: extreme sports in the Grampian Mountains, a little liver damage on the whisky trail, castle after historic castle for the history buff, or tiny villages for a spot of relaxing.

The A9 road is the easiest way to get into the highlands, and, with the convenient bounds of the sea to the north and east, I think this approachable chunk of Scotland makes the perfect introduction to the highlands. Because the largely untouched Cairngorms National Park sits in the center of this region, much of the travel will be around the perimeter on roads privy to spectacular mountain and coastal scenery. With a little extra time and effort, you can delve into the center of the eastern highlands. Inverness sits at a nexus between several different regions and provides a good base for day trips.

And to the west lies…

Western Highlands & Skye

The mainland west of the A9, north of Glasgow, and south of the A835 is what I think of as the western highlands. I lump the Isle of Skye into this region when trip planning because you can easily drive onto it from the mainland at Kyle of Lochalsh. Within this vast swath of land you find the forbidding Loch Ness, Ben Nevis and Glen Coe, lonely Rannoch Moor, Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, and some of the most mind-blowing vistas on the planet.

This area was the last leg of my first circuit around Scotland, in 2006. I thought I’d seen it all by this point and couldn’t stop smiling stupidly as we drove. But then we hit the A87 west toward Skye and I realized that we had inadvertently saved the best for last. Sea lochs shred the coastline and all around peaks rise up into mists. It will take longer than you imagine to drive through this part of Scotland since you will be pulling over every ten minutes to stand and gape at the landscape. Skye is the tempting encapsulation of the western highlands, but it is not so easily “completed.” A sparse couple of days here will have you planning return trips in the future.

And what of the area north of the A835?

Northern Highlands

North of the A835, a full third of Scotland stretches into the sea. This land is still very much wild and few roads follow the glacier-carved valleys from east to west. The vast majority of the sparse population exists along the eastern coast, hugging the A9 as it traverses the Black Isle, Easter Ross, and Caithness. Wick and Thurso stand sentinel to the far north, and many visitors come this way only to catch a ferry to the Orkney Islands.

What I can say about this region is that I was one of these visitors driving through it on the way to Orkney. Even this trip endures in my memory, though, as the road corkscrewed up and down towering cliffs flanged by sandy catchments for runaway semis. Along the north coast and down the west side I understand it’s all ancient rocks, lashing winds, and pounding surf. Tiny villages hide in the valleys. Much like the lowlands, visiting this portion of Scotland requires purpose as it lies off the typical circuit. That is not to say your time would be ill-spent, however.

Last but not least, hundreds of islands fleck the coasts of Scotland…

Islands

The islands of Scotland are a huge draw and they require careful planning to fit them into an itinerary. I consider the Inner Hebrides (minus Skye but including Arran), Outer Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland in this grouping. Why? Getting to these islands requires using ferries (if you have a car) or very small planes, and this adds both time and expense to your trip. That said, some of the oldest structures known to mankind can be found on these islands at places like Skara Brae in Orkney and Jarlshof in Shetland. They are all sparsely populated and perfect for wildlife watching and relaxing. Coincidentally, some of the best whiskies can be found on Islay, Mull, and Orkney.

It’s a lot of fun taking ferries to Scotland’s islands. In the past I’ve ferried to Arran, the Orkney Islands, and from Skye. It can be hard to get to these islands (remember what I said about attrition?) and I’ve yet to see the Outer Hebrides. What I have seen has made me eager to see more, but I’m an island type of guy. Many people are content with just a visit to Skye to cover their island curiosity. Making it out to the more far-flung island chains will depend on whether or not you are an island person, too.

Need more help planning that trip to Scotland? Check out the Scotland trip-planning services I offer. Also, continue on to part 3.