Three days: the Highlands from Edinburgh
Three days by car, from Edinburgh and back.
The route
Three days is just enough for a real taste of the Highlands, and this loop from Edinburgh takes in Glencoe, Loch Ness and the Cairngorms.
The first day heads north by Stirling, Callander and Killin, then over Rannoch Moor and into Glencoe for the night. The second follows the Great Glen from Fort William past Spean Bridge and Fort Augustus, up the shore of Loch Ness to Drumnadrochit and on to the battlefield at Culloden, with the night in Inverness. The last day brings you home down the A9 by Aviemore and Pitlochry. Skye is too far to fit into three days without spending most of them in the car, so it's saved for a longer trip. Every day is planned around real driving times.
Before you go
Book beds near Glencoe, one night
Book as soon as your dates are set: here are ours nearest the night.
3 miles awayWoodlands GlencoeSleeps 2
15 miles awaySlochdSleeps 2
17 miles awayThe Old SchoolSleeps 4
17 miles awayCurlew CottageSleeps 5
17 miles awayElastic CottageSleeps 4
17 miles awayPier CottageSleeps 2
17 miles awaySeaview CottageSleeps 2
17 miles awayThe Gate LodgeSleeps 4
17 miles awayThe Old Post OfficeSleeps 2
20 miles awayGlenhurich LodgeSleeps 11
22 miles awayUisge BothySleeps 2
22 miles awayBeathaSleeps 2
23 miles awayGlencruitten HouseA place to stayAs 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, for a set time: it is £2 cheaper than at the gate.
Day one
Glencoe
Out of the city by Stirling and the Trossachs, then across Rannoch Moor and down into Glencoe, where the mountains close in around you for the night.
3 hr 30 min at the wheelAbout 125 miles
Stirling Castle
An attraction
It's 75 minutes' drive from Edinburgh to Stirling, where the castle stands high on its crag above the old town. Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned in the castle's chapel royal as a baby in 1543, and the Royal Palace has been restored to the way it looked in her childhood, with new tapestries made by hand for its walls. Allow two or three hours, and book online, where tickets are cheaper. The castle's own car park is kept for disabled visitors, so park in town or use the park and ride.
40 min by car
Loch Lubnaig
An attraction
It's 40 minutes' drive through Callander and into the Trossachs to Loch Lubnaig, a long, narrow loch lying between Ben Ledi and Ben Vorlich. Its name comes from the Gaelic for crooked, and you'll see why as the road follows its bends. Pull into one of the car parks on the east shore to stretch your legs by the water, with the first real mountains of the trip rising all around.
28 min by car
Falls of Dochart
An attraction
Drive 28 minutes north through Glen Ogle to Killin, where the River Dochart pours over wide shelves of rock right in the village. The old stone bridge, first built in 1764, gives you the best view, and the flat rocks below it are the place to sit. The wooded island in the middle of the falls, Inchbuie, is the ancient burial ground of the Clan MacNab. There are places for lunch in the village, too.
55 min by car
Buachaille Etive Mòr
An attraction
Now comes the longest stretch, 55 minutes' drive by Crianlarich, Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy, and out across the wide, empty bog of Rannoch Moor. At the far side, where the road begins to drop into Glencoe, the great rock pyramid of Buachaille Etive Mòr rises straight ahead. Its name means the great herdsman of Etive, and it's probably the most photographed mountain in Scotland. Pull in at Altnafeadh, where the little white Lagangarbh cottage sits across the river at the mountain's foot, for the classic view.
7 min by car
Three Sisters of Glencoe
An attraction
It's 7 minutes' drive down into the glen to the lay-by for the Three Sisters, the three great ridges running down from Bidean nam Bian on the south side of the road. This is the view most people picture when they think of Glencoe. In summer the lay-bys along the glen can be full from about nine in the morning, so if this one is taken, try the next one along. Keep children close, as there's no barrier between the lay-by and the road.
About 5 min by car
Glencoe Visitor Centre
An attraction
Five minutes further down the glen, the National Trust for Scotland's visitor centre tells the story of the massacre of 13 February 1692, when government soldiers who had been staying with the MacDonalds of Glencoe turned on their hosts. You can step inside a rebuilt turf and creel house, too. It's open until half past five in summer, and the village, where you'll spend the night, is just down the road.
If it rains
Stirling Castle is mostly under a roof: the Royal Palace, the Great Hall and the Great Kitchens. In low cloud the Buachaille and the Three Sisters can vanish altogether, so don't wait for them; give the time to the Glencoe visitor centre instead, which is indoors and has a café. The Falls of Dochart are at their loudest after rain, and you see them from the bridge.
Worth a detour
- Deanston Distillery
By the Teith at Doune, a single malt distillery in an eighteenth-century cotton mill, with tours and a café.
- Falls of Leny
Just past Callander, a short woodland path from the roadside to the river crashing through a rocky gorge.
- Loch Tulla
Pull in above Bridge of Orchy for the old pines standing in the water at the edge of Rannoch Moor.
BallachulishKingshouse HotelHistoric inn on Rannoch Moor
GlencoeClachaig InnWalkers' pub in the glen
StirlingThe PortcullisA restaurant
StirlingDarnley Coffee HouseA café
StirlingMintA café
StirlingUnorthodox RoasterA café
StirlingCaffe PompeiA café
StirlingThe Golden Lion HotelA restaurant
StirlingBob and BertsA café
StirlingIndian CottageA restaurant
StirlingBite EastA restaurant
StirlingLegends at the MonumentA caféDay two
Inverness
Up the Great Glen from Fort William to Loch Ness, with a Jacobite museum, a castle on the shore and the battlefield at Culloden before the night in Inverness. It's a full day, so leave Glencoe by nine.
3 hr 23 min at the wheelAbout 102 miles
Glencoe Lochan
An attraction
Start the day with a walk round Glencoe Lochan, a few minutes' drive from the village. Lord Strathcona planted these woods with trees brought from the Pacific Northwest, as a private refuge for his wife Isabella, who was homesick for Canada. The lochan trail is flat and takes about half an hour, with the Pap of Glencoe rising behind. Parking is £1 for up to an hour.
35 min by car
West Highland Museum
It's 35 minutes' drive north over the Ballachulish Bridge to Fort William and the West Highland Museum on Cameron Square, which is free. Its Jacobite collection is the reason to come, and the treasure is the secret portrait: a painted base of random-looking marks that becomes Bonnie Prince Charlie when a mirrored cylinder is stood in the middle. Take the mirror away, and nobody could tell who the owner was loyal to. It opens at ten, Monday to Saturday.
About 22 min by car
Commando Memorial
An attraction
The Commando Memorial is 22 minutes on, just past Spean Bridge, where three bronze soldiers in their woollen caps stand on a stone plinth looking south to Ben Nevis. The memorial was unveiled by the Queen Mother in 1952 in memory of the commandos of the Second World War. The garden of remembrance beside it is still where the ashes of commandos are scattered today, so it's a place to take a quiet few minutes.
40 min by car
Fort Augustus
An attraction
It's 40 minutes' drive up the Great Glen, past Loch Lochy and Loch Oich, to Fort Augustus at the southern end of Loch Ness. A flight of five locks on the Caledonian Canal climbs right through the middle of the village, and watching a boat work its way up them is a good excuse for lunch. Keep it to an hour, though, to reach Culloden in time. The village is busiest in the middle of the day in summer, so the earlier you get here the better.
About 25 min by car
Urquhart Castle
An attraction
Follow the north shore of the loch for 25 minutes to Urquhart Castle, a great ruin on a point above the water near Drumnadrochit. Its defenders blew up the gatehouse in 1692 so the Jacobites could never use it, and you can still climb the Grant Tower for the view down Loch Ness. Tickets are sold online in timed slots, and once they sell out there are none at the castle. Book your parking at the same time, as it's only guaranteed online.
50 min by car
Culloden Visitor Centre
An attraction
It's 50 minutes' drive past Inverness to Culloden Moor, where on 16 April 1746 the Jacobite army was beaten in less than an hour, in the last pitched battle fought on British soil. The visitor centre's immersion theatre puts you in the middle of it, and afterwards you can walk out among the headstones marking the clan graves. Aim to be here by half past three: the centre closes at five from March to October, with last entry at half past four, and the museum and battle theatre need a good hour and a half. The battlefield itself is open at all hours.
About 3 min by car
Clava Cairns
An attraction
Three minutes down the lane are the Clava Cairns, a group of burial cairns and standing stones about four thousand years old, in a quiet grove of trees by the River Nairn. At two of the cairns a short passage leads into the open chamber at the centre, and you can walk right in. They're free and open all year, and after a day of castles and battles it's a peaceful place to end the sightseeing.
21 min by car
Ness Islands
An attraction
It's 21 minutes' drive into Inverness, your home for the night. Before dinner, follow the riverside path upstream to the Ness Islands, a string of wooded islands in the middle of the River Ness joined by Victorian suspension bridges from the 1850s. Otters are sometimes seen here, and the loop out along one bank and back along the other makes an easy evening stroll from the city centre.
If it rains
The West Highland Museum and the visitor centre at Culloden are both indoors, so give them longer and save the walk out on the battlefield for a dry spell. In Drumnadrochit, the Loch Ness Centre tells the story of the loch and its monster hunts in the rooms of an old hotel. Urquhart Castle is open to the sky, but its visitor centre has a café over the ruins.
Worth a detour
- Old Inverlochy Castle
A square thirteenth-century castle of the Comyns at the edge of Fort William, free to walk round.
- Invergarry Castle
The broken tower of the MacDonells of Glengarry on its rock above Loch Oich, seen from the road and the shore.
- Invermoriston Falls
A two-minute walk from the road to Telford's old bridge over the falls.
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
Fort WilliamThe WildcatA café
InvernessXOKO BakehouseA café
InvernessPERK Coffee & DoughnutsA café
Fort AugustusStation Road at The LovatBrasserie at The Lovat
InvernessRocpoolA restaurant
InvernessBlack Isle BarA restaurantDay three
Cairngorms
Home down the A9 through the Cairngorms and Highland Perthshire, with a walk among old pines, a wooded gorge and a waterfall before the last run into Edinburgh.
4 hr 25 min at the wheelAbout 167 miles
1 hr 15 min by car
Uath Lochans
An attraction
It's 75 minutes' drive down the A9 and through Kincraig to Uath Lochans, a cluster of small pools among old Scots pines at the edge of Glen Feshie. There's an easy trail round the water, or a longer climb through the trees to a viewpoint looking out over Strathspey. Some of the pines are more than 120 years old, and on a summer's day dragonflies hunt over the pools. Parking is free, but there are no toilets.
1 hr 10 min by car
Pass of Killiecrankie
An attraction
It's 70 minutes' drive south over the Drumochter Pass to Killiecrankie, where the River Garry runs through a deep wooded gorge. The Jacobites won a battle just north of the gorge on 27 July 1689, and a fleeing government soldier, Donald McBane, is said to have jumped 18 feet across the river to escape. Follow the steep path down from the National Trust for Scotland's visitor centre to the Soldier's Leap and judge the distance for yourself.
35 min by car
The Hermitage
An attraction
It's 35 minutes' drive past Pitlochry and on down the A9 to the Hermitage, near Dunkeld. A woodland path follows the River Braan under Douglas firs that are among the tallest trees in Britain, to Ossian's Hall, a folly built in 1757 above the Black Linn Falls. Allow an hour or two. If the car park is full, don't stop on the A9 verge; park in Dunkeld and walk over instead.
1 hr 25 min by car
Calton Hill
An attraction
The last stretch is 85 minutes' drive home to Edinburgh. Leave the car and finish the trip on Calton Hill, a short, steep climb from Waterloo Place, where the whole city is laid out around you: the castle, the Old Town, Arthur's Seat and the Firth of Forth. It's at its best in the evening light.
If it rains
Uath Lochans is fine in a shower but no fun in a downpour. Swap it for the Highland Folk Museum at Newtonmore, just off the A9, where more than 35 old buildings, from a 1700s township to a 1930s school, are open daily from April to 25 October. At Killiecrankie the visitor centre and café are indoors, and the paths are fine in a shower but slippery in heavy rain. Pitlochry's dam visitor centre is indoors, Tuesday to Sunday.
Worth a detour
- Falls of Bruar
A short walk from the car park behind the House of Bruar to a waterfall under an old stone arch.
- Queen's View
The famous view west along Loch Tummel to Schiehallion, a few minutes from the car park.
- Loch Leven Castle Viewpoint
The island castle where Mary, Queen of Scots was held, seen across the water at Kinross.
Where to eat
EdinburghEdinburgh Street FoodStreet food hall
EdinburghChop HouseA restaurant
EdinburghThe Tolbooth TavernPub in the old tolbooth
EdinburghWedgwoodSeasonal cooking, Royal Mile
PitlochryKilliecrankie HouseMichelin-starred country house
EdinburghLoudons New WaverleyA café
EdinburghRoom & RumoursA café
EdinburghClarinda's TearoomA café
EdinburghAnte CaféA café
EdinburghSpry WinesNatural wine bar and kitchen
EdinburghThe White HorseA restaurant
EdinburghCafé RoyalA restaurantPhotographs by George Hodan, VisitScotland / Kenny Lam, dpc_photography_, connormollison and iainsranndach; Yoshiaki Hashimoto and Gleb Wierziłow via Google