The Scotland Essential: Edinburgh, Stirling, the Trossachs, Highland Perthshire and St Andrews, with short driving days.
The Scotland Essential is an 8-day self-drive tour designed by Anastassia at The Kilted Unicorn, a local Scotland agency in Edinburgh. It starts with two nights in Edinburgh and a private walk through the Old Town with one of our guides, then takes the car to Stirling, the Trossachs, Highland Perthshire and St Andrews.
It is about 360 miles in all, and no day takes more than two and a half hours at the wheel. It does not go to Loch Ness or Skye: for those, our 10-day tour of the Highlands and Skye is the one. We book every night, the car, the walk and the entry fees.
Arrive and settle in. There is no car while you are in Edinburgh: the city is best on foot, and you collect the car on the morning of day 3. Take in the view from Calton Hill, then eat in an Old Town pub from the list in your travel book.
Two hours through the Old Town with one of our Edinburgh guides, private to your party: the closes off the Royal Mile, Greyfriars and the stories the plaques leave out. Then Edinburgh Castle on its volcanic rock, entry included, and the afternoon free for the New Town or Arthur's Seat.
Collect the car at Edinburgh Airport. Linlithgow Palace, where Mary, Queen of Scots was born, then the Kelpies, two horse heads thirty metres high. Stirling Castle takes the afternoon, and Doune Castle, Castle Leoch in Outlander, is on the road to Callander, the gateway to the Trossachs.
Over the Duke's Pass from Aberfoyle to Loch Katrine, where the steamship Sir Walter Scott has carried passengers since 1900. Then west to Luss, a village of stone cottages on the shore of Loch Lomond, and back to Callander through the hills.
North to Killin, where the Falls of Dochart run through the middle of the village. Follow Loch Tay to Kenmore, then walk the Birks of Aberfeldy, the wooded gorge Robert Burns wrote a song about. Pitlochry by late afternoon, in time to see the salmon ladder at the dam.
A gentle day. Blair Castle, the white-walled seat of the Dukes of Atholl, and its gardens fill the morning. The Queen's View over Loch Tummel, then Dunkeld, its cathedral half in ruins on the Tay, and the Hermitage walk to the Black Linn Falls.
Scone Palace, where Scotland's kings were crowned on the Moot Hill. Falkland, a royal palace and a village of narrow streets that stood in for 1940s Inverness in Outlander. St Andrews by late afternoon: the cathedral ruins, the West Sands and the Old Course from the road.
South along the East Neuk, the string of fishing harbours on the Fife coast: Crail first, then Anstruther and its fish and chips. Return the car at Edinburgh Airport in the afternoon, in time for an evening flight, or add a last night in the city.
The route as driven, numbered by overnight stop. Coastline from Natural Earth, roads from OpenStreetMap. Hover a day to find it on the map.
Distances and times come from OpenStreetMap routing and leave out stops.
Accommodation is 4-star boutique as standard, with restored manors and castle hotels on the upper tiers. Every address is in your travel book rather than on this page: these are small places, and we book them for you.
| Stop | Nights | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Edinburgh | 2 nights | Boutique hotel or guest house in the centre |
| Callander | 2 nights | Country house or B&B at the edge of the Trossachs |
| Pitlochry | 2 nights | Victorian country house or guest house |
| St Andrews | 1 night | Townhouse hotel or guest house near the sea |
April to October, when the Loch Katrine steamship sails and every castle keeps its full hours. May, June and September are our favourites: long days and roads that are quieter than in the school holidays.
This is also the route we suggest for the winter months. The distances are short, the roads are good, and Edinburgh in December is a trip in itself; some properties close from November to March, so we adjust the visits.
In a week you can see Edinburgh, Stirling, the Trossachs and Loch Lomond, Highland Perthshire and St Andrews without long drives. This tour spends two nights in Edinburgh, Callander and Pitlochry and one in St Andrews, and no day takes more than two and a half hours at the wheel. Loch Ness and Skye need ten days; our tour of the Highlands and Skye covers them.
No. Edinburgh is best on foot, parking in the centre is expensive and limited, and your guide walks the Old Town with you. You collect the hire car at Edinburgh Airport on the morning of day 3, when you leave the city.
Yes. The driving days are short, between one and two and a half hours at the wheel, you unpack three times in seven nights, and the walks can be as short or as long as you like. Tell us who is travelling and we will match the rooms, the pace and the visits.
Yes. One of our Edinburgh guides walks with your party only, for about two hours, on the morning or afternoon of day 2. It is the same Old Town walk we sell as a day tour, and it is included in the price of this trip.
Yes. It is the route we suggest from November to March: the distances are short and the roads are good. Some properties close for the winter and the Sir Walter Scott steamship does not sail, so we adjust the visits and tell you before you book.
10 days
Self-drive
Staff pick
Edinburgh · Highland Perthshire · Loch Ness · Skye · Glencoe
Highland Perthshire, Loch Ness, Skye and Glencoe, two nights in each.
From £3,500 per person
Full day
Day tour
Staff pick
Stirling · Doune · Aberfoyle · Loch Katrine · Luss
Two castles, a steamship on Loch Katrine, then Luss on Loch Lomond.
Flat rate £650 1 to 8 travellers
7 days
Guided
Staff pick
Edinburgh · Doune · Glencoe · Loch Ness
Two nights in Edinburgh, then the Highlands with your driver-guide.
From £4,000 per person