Five days in the Highlands
Five days by car, from Edinburgh to Glasgow.
The route
Five days is a lovely length for the Highlands: long enough to settle into the rhythm of the road, and short enough to save Skye for another trip.
This route leaves Edinburgh for Perthshire, with a royal palace, an osprey loch and the tall trees around Dunkeld before the first night in Pitlochry. Next it climbs over the Drumochter Pass to Aviemore and the pinewoods of the Cairngorms. On the third day you meet the reindeer at Glenmore, then walk the battlefield at Culloden before a night in Inverness. From there the Great Glen leads past Loch Ness and Fort Augustus to Fort William, with an afternoon walk to a waterfall in Glen Nevis. The last day crosses Glencoe and Rannoch Moor and runs down Loch Lomond to Glasgow.
Before you go
Book beds near Pitlochry, one night
Book as soon as your dates are set: here are ours nearest the night.
4 miles awayCharlottefieldSleeps 4
6 miles awayPheasant CottageSleeps 6
6 miles awayLittle PheasantSleeps 4
Blair AthollMilton of KincraigieSleeps 4
8 miles awayThe House at Dun AluinnSleeps 18
10 miles awayJuniperSleeps 2
13 miles awayLarch HouseSleeps 6-large-1774895976.jpg)
15 miles awayGarden CottageSleeps 2
16 miles awayWest Tempar BothySleeps 2
16 miles awayLassintullich BothySleeps 2
16 miles awayLassintullich HouseSleeps 16
17 miles awayThe Old FarmhouseSleeps 8
20 miles awayLoch at Redhill RetreatSleeps 2
20 miles awayKin at Redhill RetreatSleeps 2
20 miles awayRannoch at Redhill RetreatSleeps 2
20 miles awayKinSleeps 2
20 miles awayLochSleeps 2
21 miles awayThe Cabin at FairygreenSleeps 2
23 miles awayFairygreen CottageSleeps 4
23 miles awayNàdairSleeps 6
24 miles awayMurrayshallA place to stayBook beds near Aviemore, one night
Book as soon as your dates are set: here are ours nearest the night.
Book Cairngorm Reindeer Centre
Book as soon as tickets open, 30 days ahead to the hour of the trip: they sell out, weekdays included, and the Centre has only a few wellies to hire for anyone without boots.
As early as you can for summer: tickets often sell out far in advance, and once they have sold out online none are sold at the castle.
Online before you go: cheaper, with fast-track entry.
Buy online before you go: it is £1 a head cheaper than the gate, which takes cards only.
Booking a time slot online is advised, and an audio guide can be added.
Day one
Perthshire
Over the Forth and into Perthshire, for the crowning place of Scotland's kings, ospreys on a quiet loch and the big trees of Dunkeld, with the night in Pitlochry. Leave Edinburgh by about twenty to nine.
2 hr 40 min at the wheelAbout 84 miles
Scone Palace
An attraction
It's 85 minutes' drive north from Edinburgh to Scone Palace, on the edge of Perth. Robert the Bruce was crowned here in 1306, and a copy of the Stone of Scone sits on the Moot Hill in front of the red sandstone house, rebuilt for the Earls of Mansfield in the early 1800s. Out in the grounds there's a star-shaped maze of copper and green beech, planted in the pattern of the family tartan. It opens at ten from April to October, and tickets are cheaper online.
35 min by car
Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve
An attraction
Loch of the Lowes, a Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve on a still, quiet loch, is 35 minutes' drive on through Dunkeld. From April to August a pair of ospreys nest about 150 metres from the hides, and the big window in the visitor centre looks straight onto feeders where red squirrels and woodpeckers come and go. The centre is open from half past ten to five, March to October. Adults pay £6.50, and children go free.
6 min by car
Dunkeld Cathedral
An attraction
Drive 6 minutes back into Dunkeld and down to the cathedral, on a wide lawn beside the Tay. Half of it is a roofless ruin, and the other half, the old choir, is still the parish church. The ruined west end is fenced off for conservation work, but the grounds and the church are open and free to wander. Dunkeld has several good places for lunch, all within a few minutes' walk.
4 min by car
The Hermitage
An attraction
It's 4 minutes' drive across the river to the Hermitage, a National Trust for Scotland woodland on the River Braan. The path runs upstream under huge Douglas firs, among Britain's tallest trees, to Ossian's Hall, a little folly of 1757 that looks straight onto the Black Linn Falls. The walk takes about an hour. The car park is £5, and if it's full, park in Dunkeld and walk over rather than stopping on the A9.
30 min by car
Pitlochry Dam Visitor Centre
An attraction
Pitlochry, your home for the night, is 30 minutes' drive up the A9. Walk down to the dam on the River Tummel, built between 1947 and 1952, and the fish ladder beside it, a chain of 34 pools that lets salmon climb past the dam on their way upstream. The visitor centre closes at half past four and on Mondays, but the fish ladder is outside, so an evening stroll down from the town is no trouble.
If it rains
Scone Palace is mostly an indoor visit, so give its rooms longer. At Loch of the Lowes the hides and the visitor centre's big window keep you dry while you watch the ospreys and the feeders. In a downpour, swap the Hermitage for Birnam Arts, just over the bridge from Dunkeld and 4 minutes' drive from the cathedral. Have lunch in its café, then see the Beatrix Potter exhibition, open daily from 10.30am to 3.30pm, with last entry at 3pm.
Worth a detour
- Meikleour Beech Hedge
A beech hedge about 30 metres high, planted in 1745, running beside the road at Meikleour.
PitlochryVictoria'sOn Pitlochry's main street
PitlochryThe Old Mill InnInn in an old corn mill
PitlochryAtholl Palace HotelBaronial hotel dining room
MoulinMoulin Hotel and BreweryVillage inn, its own ales
DunkeldARAN BakeryArtisan bakery and lunches
DunkeldThe TaybankRiverside pub, live music
PitlochryHettie's Tea RoomsTea room and loose teas
PitlochryCafe CallunaPitlochry café and bakery
PitlochryEscape RouteCoffee at the outdoor shop
PerthEffie's of PerthTraditional afternoon tea
PerthCoffee and ThingsItalian-style coffee bar
AlmondbankTickled Trout CaféA caféDay two
Cairngorms
North past Killiecrankie and Blair Atholl and over the Drumochter Pass, for a gorge, a castle, a waterfall and a Jacobite barracks, ending with a walk in the old pinewoods near Aviemore. Leave Pitlochry at half past nine.
1 hr 48 min at the wheelAbout 68 miles
Queen’s View
An attraction
Fourteen minutes west by road is Queen's View, where Loch Tummel stretches away into the hills with the peak of Schiehallion beyond. Queen Victoria came in 1866 and took it that the view was named for her, but the story goes that it was named after Isabella, the first wife of Robert the Bruce, more than five hundred years earlier. Parking is £3 for the day, and the café and visitor centre open at ten.
11 min by car
Pass of Killiecrankie
An attraction
It's 11 minutes' drive to Killiecrankie, where the River Garry rushes through a deep, wooded gorge. On 27 July 1689 a Jacobite charge broke a government army on the hillside just north of the pass, and one of the soldiers who ran, Donald McBane, is said to have cleared 18 feet of river in a single jump. A steep path from the National Trust visitor centre leads down to the Soldier's Leap. The car park is £5.
7 min by car
Blair Castle
An attraction
Blair Castle, the white turreted home of the Dukes of Atholl, is 7 minutes' drive on. The Duke's own regiment, the Atholl Highlanders, is based here and has been called the only legal private army in Europe. Give yourself two hours or so inside and in the walled Hercules Garden. It's open from ten to five, April to October, with last entry at a quarter to four, and tickets bought online are £1 cheaper than at the gate.
7 min by car
Falls of Bruar
An attraction
Another 7 minutes' drive brings you to the House of Bruar, and the path to the Falls of Bruar starts from the car park behind it. When Robert Burns came in 1787 the banks were bare, and he wrote a poem pleading with the Duke of Atholl to plant them. The fourth Duke put in 120,000 larch and Scots pine. The path climbs past a natural rock arch to the lower bridge and on to the upper bridge, half a mile up, and lunch is easy at the House of Bruar.
50 min by car
Ruthven Barracks
The day's longest stretch is next: 50 minutes' drive over the Drumochter Pass and down into Badenoch to Ruthven Barracks, just outside Kingussie. The government built it after the rising of 1715, on the hill where the Wolf of Badenoch once had his castle. After Culloden the beaten Jacobites gathered here, and when the end came they set the barracks alight. The roofless walls stand on a green mound above the Spey floodplain, free to explore at any hour.
19 min by car
Loch an Eilein
An attraction
It's 19 minutes' drive to Rothiemurchus and Loch an Eilein, deep in the old Caledonian pinewood, with a ruined castle from the 1300s on a little island. The castle is said to have belonged to the Wolf of Badenoch too. A flat path circles the whole loch in about an hour and a half, though the first good view of the castle is only ten minutes from the car park, which costs £5. Aviemore is just up the road for the night.
If it rains
Blair Castle is the day's big indoor stop, so give it the extra time. Killiecrankie's visitor centre has a café, and the gorge path turns slippery when it pours. If the rain sets in, skip the walk at Bruar, have lunch there and drive on 45 minutes to the Highland Folk Museum at Newtonmore. It has old buildings to shelter in and is open daily from 10.30am to 4pm, so be there by three. Ruthven Barracks is 12 minutes on and open at all hours, and Loch an Eilein can wait for a dry day.
Worth a detour
- Linn of Tummel
A short woodland walk down to where the Tummel pours over the rocks.
AviemoreThe Barn at RothiemurchusEstate café and takeaway
Blair AthollBlair Atholl WatermillBakery in a watermill
PitlochryKilliecrankie HouseMichelin-starred country house
AviemoreCairngorm CaféCafé at the ski centre
AviemoreRoute 7 CaféA café
AviemoreFoxfire CoffeeA café
GlenmoreAllt Mor CaféA caféMoulinMoulin Hotel and BreweryVillage inn, its own alesPitlochryHettie's Tea RoomsTea room and loose teasPitlochryThe Old Mill InnInn in an old corn millPitlochryCafe CallunaPitlochry café and bakeryPitlochryVictoria'sOn Pitlochry's main streetDay three
Inverness
A morning with the reindeer in Glenmore, then north to the battlefield at Culloden and the stones at Clava before a night in Inverness. Leave Aviemore at half past nine.
1 hr 47 min at the wheelAbout 52 miles
18 min by car
Loch Morlich
An attraction
Loch Morlich is 18 minutes' drive from Aviemore up the Glenmore road, and its sandy shore is often called the highest beach in Britain, with the Cairngorms rising beyond the water. Come early for a quiet walk along the Beach Trail before the reindeer. A wildfire in July 2026 closed some of the forest park's paths east of the ski road, but the loch, its beach and the circular trail round it are all open. There's a charge in the car park.
40 min on foot
Cairngorm Reindeer Centre
An attraction
Two minutes on is the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre, home to the herd Mikel Utsi began with Swedish reindeer in 1952. Book the 11am hill trip online and collect your tickets at least 15 minutes before it, then follow the herder a mile and a half up the hill in your own car; there's a small parking charge. From there, walk 20 to 40 minutes over rough ground to stand among the reindeer and hand-feed them. The whole trip takes one and a half to two hours. Wear boots, and leave the dog behind.
1 hr 5 min by car
Culloden Visitor Centre
An attraction
It's 65 minutes' drive north up the A9 to the battlefield at Culloden. Here, on 16 April 1746, Prince Charles Edward Stuart's army was crushed in under an hour, and with it the last Jacobite rising. The visitor centre tells the day from both sides, and in its immersion theatre the fighting plays out all around you. Afterwards, walk the moor to the stones that mark the clan graves. Last entry is at half past four, so try to arrive by three.
About 4 min by car
Clava Cairns
An attraction
Three minutes down a narrow lane are the Clava Cairns, a cluster of burial cairns ringed by standing stones in a grove by the River Nairn. They were raised around four thousand years ago, and at the two passage graves you can follow the short passage right into the open chamber. It's free, open at all hours and usually peaceful, so take your time.
20 min by car
Ness Islands
An attraction
Inverness, where you'll stay tonight, is 20 minutes' drive away. Once you've checked in, follow the riverbank south to the Ness Islands, wooded islets in mid-river linked to both banks by footbridges. The first bridges went up in 1828; a flood swept them away in 1849, and the Victorian suspension bridges there now replaced them. Old-fashioned lamps light the paths, and a loop over the bridges and back down the far bank takes around half an hour. It's free and open at all hours.
If it rains
The reindeer hill trips go out in most weather, and a waterproof jacket and boots are part of the kit anyway. If you'd rather stay dry, the paddocks and the new exhibition at the Reindeer Centre are open 10am to 5pm from Easter. Give Loch Morlich a miss in a downpour. At Culloden the visitor centre is all indoors, so leave the walk on the moor for a dry spell.
Worth a detour
- The Old Packhorse Bridge
The high, thin arch of 1717 over the Dulnain at Carrbridge.
Where to eat
InvernessCoyote BurgerAmerican-style burgers
InvernessThe Malt RoomInverness's first whisky bar
InvernessThe Mustard SeedA restaurant
InvernessThe KitchenA restaurant
InvernessThe Rendezvous CaféA café
InvernessCoffee AffairA café
InvernessXOKO BakehouseA café
InvernessPERK Coffee & DoughnutsA café
InvernessRocpoolA restaurant
InvernessBlack Isle BarA restaurant
InvernessMcBain's by the RiverA restaurant
InvernessThe Walrus & CorkscrewA restaurantDay four
Lochaber
Down the Great Glen, from Urquhart Castle on its point above Loch Ness to the locks at Fort Augustus, then a walk up Glen Nevis to a waterfall before the night in Fort William.
2 hr 47 min at the wheelAbout 84 miles
35 min by car
Urquhart Castle
An attraction
It's 35 minutes' drive down the north shore of Loch Ness to Urquhart Castle, on a rocky point below Drumnadrochit. In 1692 the garrison wrecked their own gatehouse with explosives to keep the Jacobites out for good, and the huge fallen blocks still lie beside it. Climb the Grant Tower, the tallest part still standing, for the long view down the loch. Book a timed slot online, the first at half past nine; on a sold-out day there are no tickets at the gate.
25 min by car
Fort Augustus
An attraction
Fort Augustus, 25 minutes' drive on, is where Loch Ness ends and the Caledonian Canal climbs out of the loch through a flight of five locks in the middle of the village. From spring to autumn there's a fair chance of catching a boat on its way through, and the lock gates make a lovely spot for an early lunch. Park at the Riggs car park on the main road: the first half hour is free, and up to four hours is £3.
40 min by car
Commando Memorial
An attraction
It's 40 minutes' drive south past Loch Oich and Loch Lochy to the Commando Memorial above Spean Bridge. Three bronze commandos stand on their plinth facing Ben Nevis, looking out over the country where the wartime commandos trained, at Achnacarry. The Queen Mother unveiled it in 1952. Families still scatter the ashes of commandos in the memorial garden next to it, so give it a few quiet minutes.
35 min by car
Steall Falls
An attraction
Drive 35 minutes through Fort William and up Glen Nevis to the road-end car park. The path climbs through the Nevis Gorge, rocky and with steep drops in places, then opens onto a flat green meadow with Steall Falls pouring over 100 metres down the cliff ahead. It's about 3.5 kilometres there and back, with 220 metres of climbing, and takes an hour and a half to two hours, so wear good boots. Cross the wire bridge one at a time, and only if you're sure-footed.
23 min by car
Neptune's Staircase
It's 23 minutes' drive back down the glen and round to Banavie, on the edge of Fort William, for Neptune's Staircase. Thomas Telford's eight locks lift the Caledonian Canal 19 metres up the hillside, and it's the longest staircase lock in Scotland; a boat needs roughly 90 minutes to work through. Walk up the towpath to the top lock, where Ben Nevis fills the skyline, and then it's into town for the night.
If it rains
Urquhart's ruins have no roof, though the visitor centre's café looks out over them. The Nevis Gorge path is rocky with steep drops, so in heavy rain leave Steall Falls for another day and spend the afternoon in the West Highland Museum in Fort William instead, free and open from 10am, Monday to Saturday. The Loch Ness Centre in Drumnadrochit is another good dry hour.
Worth a detour
- Invermoriston Falls
Falls below Telford's old bridge, a few minutes on foot from the road.
- Well of the Seven Heads
A monument by Loch Oich to a clan feud of the 1660s.
Day five
Glencoe
Through Glencoe and across Rannoch Moor, then down past the Falls of Falloch and the shore of Loch Lomond to the end of the trip in Glasgow. Leave Fort William by a quarter to nine.
3 hr at the wheelAbout 110 miles
35 min by car
Glencoe Visitor Centre
An attraction
It's 35 minutes' drive south from Fort William over the Ballachulish Bridge to the National Trust for Scotland's Glencoe visitor centre, which opens at half past nine. It covers the glen and the early morning of 13 February 1692, when soldiers who had been guests of the MacDonalds turned on them. Outside there's a rebuilt turf house to step into. Give it an hour; parking is £4.
About 4 min by car
Three Sisters of Glencoe
An attraction
Four minutes up the glen is the lay-by below the Three Sisters, three steep, dark ridges reaching down from Bidean nam Bian to the south of the road. It's the classic picture of Glencoe, and it costs nothing to stop. The lay-by takes about 20 cars and fills from mid-morning in summer; if there's no room, the next pull-in along gives much the same view. Mind the traffic as you get out.
7 min by car
Buachaille Etive Mòr
An attraction
It's 7 minutes' drive east, up out of the glen, to Altnafeadh, where Buachaille Etive Mòr rises like a great rock pyramid beyond the River Coupall. The Gaelic name translates as the great herdsman of Etive. Look across the water for the small white cottage of Lagangarbh at its foot. The gravel lay-by has room for about ten cars, and the verges are soft peat, so keep your wheels off them.
9 min by car
Rannoch Moor Viewpoint
An attraction
The viewpoint lay-by beside Loch Ba is 9 minutes' drive on across Rannoch Moor. The moor is around 50 square miles of bog, heather and small lochans, so soft that the builders of the West Highland Line floated their track across it on a mattress of tree roots and brushwood. A short path climbs a little mound from the lay-by for the full view, and it's free to stop.
35 min by car
Falls of Falloch
An attraction
It's 35 minutes' drive south by Bridge of Orchy, Tyndrum and Crianlarich to the Falls of Falloch, a short walk from a small car park just off the A82 that fills early on sunny days and takes no motorhomes or caravans. The river drops about nine metres into a deep pool known as Rob Roy's Bathtub, and a steel viewing structure, added in 2013, lets you look down into the falls safely. Dorothy Wordsworth is said to have admired them on her tour of Scotland in 1803.
35 min by car
Luss
An attraction
It's 35 minutes' drive down the west shore of Loch Lomond to Luss, a village of pretty cottages on Pier Road, with the pier running out into the loch. From the pier and the little beach, Ben Lomond fills the view north. The parish church was built in 1875 by Sir James Colquhoun in memory of his father, who drowned in the loch. Park in the council car park by the visitor centre, at £1.20 an hour, and stop here for lunch.
50 min by car
Glasgow Cathedral
An attraction
It's 50 minutes' drive into Glasgow and up to the cathedral, which with St Magnus in Orkney is one of only two medieval cathedrals in Scotland to come through the Reformation virtually intact. Go down into the Lower Church, where the tomb of St Mungo, the city's patron saint, lies at the centre. Entry is free, with last entry at a quarter past four; from October to March, Monday to Saturday, it's a quarter past three, so keep lunch at Luss to 45 minutes. On Sundays it opens at one.
If it rains
In low cloud the Three Sisters and the Buachaille can vanish altogether, so give the Glencoe visitor centre longer and don't wait for a view. Glasgow Cathedral is indoors. With time to spare in the city, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and the Riverside Museum are both free and open until 5pm.
Worth a detour
- Loch Achtriochtan
The small loch on the floor of the glen, under the Aonach Eagach ridge.
- Dumbarton Castle
A fortress on a volcanic rock above the Clyde, just off the road into Glasgow.
Where to eat
GlasgowThe Anchor LineA restaurant
GlasgowThe Spanish ButcherA restaurant
GlasgowThe SpiritualistA restaurant
GlasgowPanangA restaurant
GlasgowCelentano'sSeasonal Italian by the cathedral
LussThe Village RestCosy cottage café
GlasgowThe Wild Olive TreeA café
GlasgowDrygate BreweryBrewery with a kitchen
Loch LomondCoach House Coffee ShopQuirky café by the loch
GlasgowBibimbapA restaurant
GlasgowTabacA restaurant
GlasgowChaakoo Bombay CafeBombay café, St Vincent StreetPhotographs by sobolevnrm, iainsranndach, connormollison and lomondtrossachs; Queen's View Visitor Centre, Scott McCall, David Stransky and Renaud SL via Google