A winter road trip in the Highlands of Scotland
Most of our friends and family thought we were kind of crazy. But we like cold weather, so when our friends Nicole and Ryan asked if we’d like to go to Scotland with them in February, we didn’t think twice. You see, Nicole and Ryan love Scotland. They honeymooned there a few years ago, and have been back twice. In fact, they’d visited in every season except winter, so naturally they needed to go back. They floated the idea to us right after we got back from Iceland, showed us a rough itinerary, and we began planning! Fortunately we all have very similar traveling styles and interests so the planning was easy- we visited many of Ryan and Nicole’s favorite spots in the Highlands, and a few new places they wanted to explore.
We traded a typically mild Tennessee winter for the much more extreme Scottish version- and we absolutely loved it! Winter in Scotland was stunning- it was also cold, snowy, and very windy. I saw more snow in that 8 days than I’ve ever seen before- it snowed literally every day of our trip. Winter, especially in the Highlands, is most definitely the off season. Many accommodations and restaurants, especially in more rural areas, close for the winter. There were several days we had difficulty finding open restaurants, often driving out of our way or backtracking to the closest one. But you will likely have some or even most of the sights all to yourself. And you won’t have to contend with any crowds. As an introvert I though it was an excellent time to visit. All of our hosts were kind and welcoming, and we came home with a long list of places to go next time.
Our trip began on February 21st, 2020. Right before the pandemic was declared. Only one day after the first case was diagnosed on US soil. Looking back, we were incredibly lucky in the timing of this trip. Had we gone even a week later our experience, especially flying home, would likely have been very different. And of course, though we didn’t know it at the time, it would be our last chance to travel for the year, and our last chance to experience “normal” pre-COVID travel for a long time. As it was, our travel to and from Scotland was pretty standard. We saw very few people in masks, and when clearing US customs (on March 1st) we were merely asked if we or anyone in our party had been to China in the past 4 weeks.
Day 1: Edinburgh International Airport to Glencoe
We arrived at Edinburgh in the early afternoon and immediately hit the road headed for Glencoe. While I’d love to go back and actually see Edinburgh, this trip was all about the Highlands. And we didn’t waste any time getting there. We took a slightly longer route so we could drive the A82 past Loch Lomond. We stopped for some snacks and groceries in Balloch and took a couple of other short breaks in Luss and at the Green Welly Stop in Tyndrum.
Drive time: about 2.5 hours not including stops
Day 2: Exploring Glencoe
On our first full day in Scotland we explored the beautiful Glencoe area. We started with a visit to Glencoe Lochan for walk. Then we drove out down Glen Etive and saw Loch Etive- the scenery is incredible, so it makes sense that the glen and loch have been featured in films like Harry Potter and Skyfall. After lunch in Glencoe we took a drive around Loch Leven, and ended up driving down Loch Linnhe to see the ruins of Castle Stalker.
Day 3: Glencoe to Staffin, Isle of Skye
On our third day in Scotland we took a long, snowy drive from Glencoe up to Staffin on the Isle of Skye to our next AirBnb. We took a side trip from Fort William out to see the Glenfinnan viaduct and Loch Shiel, both “Harry Potter” filming sites. Once we were back on our route we had a very snowy drive up to the Isle of Skye, where we had lunch in Broadford. We stopped a few more times on our way up to Staffin- I’d definitely recommend stopping in Portree to stock up any food or fuel you might need, especially in the off-season. We had a nice dinner at the AirBnb by the fire.
Drive time: 3 hours and 15 minutes without stops, side trip to Glenfinnan added 1 hour round trip
Day 4: Hiking the Quiraing and exploring Skye
We got up early and drove up the hill to hike the Quiraing circuit, a 4.2 mile loop on the Trotternish ridge. It was a wild experience (more on that later), but the scenery was incredible and it was by far one of my absolute favorite things that we did on our trip. After our very active morning we spent the afternoon driving around Skye and doing some sightseeing. We visited the Fairy Glen, drove out the Waternish peninsula, and ended up back in Portree for a bit of shopping. We ended up having a nice dinner in Uig that evening before settling in for the night.
Day 5: Staffin to Ullapool
This was a big driving day for us- we definitely took the long way- but luckily we had beautiful sunny weather for most of the day and got to see some spectacular views. We stopped for some photos on our way off of Skye, restocked our snacks in Kyle of Lochalsh, and headed towards the Applecross peninsula with hopes of driving the Belach na Ba. Unfortunately it was closed due to snow, so we headed on to Torridon in hopes of finding some lunch, but ended up back-tracking to Sheildaig for our meal. From there we wound our way thru Kinlochewe, Gairloch, and Poolewe, over to Little Loch Broom, past Dundonnell, and finally to Ullapool. We saw tons of red deer and gorgeous snowy landscapes- it may have been the long way, but it was most definitely scenic!
Drive time: about 4.5 hours, without stops
Day 6: Exploring around Ullapool
After walking around Ullapool and stopping in some shops, we spent most of day six driving around the area, mostly on the Drumbeg loop just north of Ullapool. It was another day of wild weather- sun, sleet, snow and everything in between- and much of our drive was thru a snowy winter wonderland. The Drumbeg loop was beautiful, especially the beach at Achmelvich. We had a quiet evening visiting with our hosts.
Drumbeg loop driving time from Ullapool: about 3 hours, without stops
Day 7: Ullapool to Inverness
Day seven began with a quick drive to Beauly, where we stretched our legs and got some food before heading all the way down Glen Affric to go horseback riding! We visited Plodda Falls on the way, which was well worth a stop. We went riding with Highland Horse Trekking in Cougie. It was raining pretty hard when we arrived, but the rain quickly turned to snow and we had a magical ride up the glen in the snow! After that we thawed out on the drive to Inverness where we visited Culloden and had nice evening in a cozy AirBnb.
Driving time (stops not included) :
Ullapool to Cougie: about 2 hours
Cougie to Inverness: about an hour
Day 8: Inverness to Stirling
Our last full day in Scotland was one of my favorites. We left Inverness early and headed down to Aviemore in the Cairngorms to visit the reindeer. It was a wonderful experience and we had an amazing time. After a really nice lunch in Aviemore we headed out in search of an Outlander filming site near Kinloch Rannoch. It was quite the adventure getting there, and when we did finally find the spot the snow was blowing sideways. After a short debate amongst ourselves, we layered up (layers are essential!) and made the short trek to the filming site for Craigh na Dun. We thawed out on a scenic drive thru Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park down to Stirling. After getting settled in our AirBnb we had a wonderful dinner with a friend of Nicole’s and spent our evening packing up and getting ready for our long day of travel back home.
Driving time: about 4 hours total, without stops
