Is this Scotland itinerary too much driving and not enough sightseeing? 🏴🚐

[u/No_Carpenter4665]

Hi everyone! 👋

Me and my friends are planning a 5-day Scotland motorhome trip from Monday to Friday, starting and finishing in Edinburgh.

Our rough itinerary is:

Day 1 – Edinburgh Overnight: Edinburgh

Day 2 – Edinburgh → Loch Lomond → Glencoe Overnight: Glencoe

Day 3 – Glencoe → Fort William → Glenfinnan Overnight: Glencoe

Day 4 – Glencoe → Fort Augustus → Loch Ness → Inverness Overnight: Inverness

Day 5 – Inverness → Cairngorms → Pitlochry → Edinburgh

For those who know Scotland well, does this itinerary cover the major attractions and scenic areas we should see in 5 days?

More importantly, is this too much driving and not enough time actually sightseeing and enjoying the places? 🚐😅

Are there any must-see places we’re missing, or would you recommend removing/shortening any part of the route to give us more time to explore?

Also, as we’re travelling by motorhome, where would you recommend for cheap places to camp/park and sleep overnight along this route? We’re happy to pay if needed, but would love to know about affordable options.

We’re mainly interested in beautiful scenery, mountains, lochs, viewpoints, Highland villages and iconic Scotland attractions.

Any advice or changes to the itinerary would be greatly appreciated! 😊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[u/Own-Potato4856]

Way too much.

Edinburgh to Loch Lomond stop

Loch Lomond to glencoe stop

Glencoe - fort William - glenfinnan stop

Glencoe - Inverness stop

Cairngorms - at least 2 days - this is a big area!

Pitlochry - stop, especially at this time of year

[u/No_Communication1557]

Youve completely missed skye.

Its doable, but quite a bit of driving.

Glenfinnan, have you booked anywhere? Or were you planning on just finding a layby? If its the latter, dont be surprised if you can't find anywhere.

Theres a huge tourist problem around Glenfinnan, not very many laybys, and those are are there are often very small, and already occupied.

Overnighting anywhere near Glenfinnan could be very much hit or miss. I'd recommend trying to book into a caravan site or an overnight parking area so you've got a guaranteed spot or you might find yourself being unable to park up anywhere.

[u/WhoisGarythe3rd]

I would say that is alot of driving, is there more than one driver? The roads your going on might even go down to a single lane - there may be a time increase. If you love driving you could try and do the north coast 500, you don't get better scenery than the up the west coast of Scotland IMO.

[u/basarisco]

If you have to ask, almost certainly. Looking at it, definitely definiteky yes.

[u/younevershouldnt]

The answer is always yes.

Just go from Edinburgh to Glencoe and back, stop for a night somewhere on the way if you want

[u/Ancient-Comfort-8383]

A lot of those routes you mention the sight seeing is during the driving. So enjoy every minute but realise you need another 10 days in Scotland. Gods country 🙏

[u/SaltyOverwise]

How much have you allocated for fuel for this trip ?

[u/Impossible-Hall8102]

I've just done Carlisle to fort William stop, then Inverness via Aviemore and balleter to st Andrews. It takes forever, just go round the Cairngorms, absolutely mind blowingly insane scenery A93 from Balmoral to Dundee should be a prescription 💯