How Many Days on a Scotland Road Trip – Plan for More

It Takes Longer to Drive Than You Think

When you look at the map of Scotland and utilize estimated driving times, you may get the idea that the country is small and you can do a lot with a rental car. Technically, yes, this is true.

But driving time estimates often are only accurate on highways and in cities, and may not account for the small back roads with passing lanes, sheep blocking the road, frequent attraction stops, and all of the lookout stops you absolutely will pull over at to take photos. 

It’s not uncommon in rural areas for that 30 minute trip to take 45 minutes, 60 minutes, or much, much longer for all of these reasons, and we have heard from many friends who had built a far too busy road trip itinerary that had to make cuts when drive times started to spiral to make their final destination at a reasonable time.

So when planning your drives, allow for ample time to get from Point A to Point B, because you will likely have a number of unexpected finds along the way that cause your transit time to increase more than you will expect. It doesn’t have to be much, but just be sure to give yourself ample padding, especially if you’re trying to make a scheduled activity or distillery tour an hour or more away from your starting point.

But how does this influence how many days you need for a road trip? It all comes down to whether you’re comfortable with cutting out experiences on big driving days if driving times begin to add up. The easiest way to avoid this one is to make more stops with shorter distances, and that ultimately lends itself to adding more days to an itinerary.

This is why it took us two days to get from Edinburgh to Glencoe instead of one, despite it only being a 3-hour drive according to most map software. Yes, it is doable, but you can also take the long way and check out Loch Lomond, Doune Castle, and so much more over two (or more) days. This trend continues for just about every drive you will want to take, as you’ll undoubtedly be making a lot of detours along the way!

• Per most map software, our direct drive times on any given day were estimated to be about 1.5 to 2 hours. In reality, we were out exploring for 5, 6, or even 8 hours before reaching our final destination. So if you’re thinking of a route that has quotes of 4+ hours from A to B, just take a moment to stop and think what that will really mean when you throw in stops along the way. You may find that breaking that up with an extra night stop could make sense.

Scottish Weather is Incredibly Variable

There’s a saying about the weather that we think is apt for Scotland- if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.

This was absolutely true during our May visit (in the dry season, mind you). The sun would be out, then suddenly the winds came in with a vengeance, it poured, then five minutes later the sun was back out, and repeat.

And that’s at the best of times.

The simple truth is that it rains in Scotland, a lot. Even in the dry season, it rains a lot.

So for those who are traveling around Scotland for hiking and nature, you will have to expect rain at any moment, for any reason. Sometimes it may be short bursts. Other times it may be all day. But it will likely rain, and rain, and probably rain some more multiple times on your trip.

As such, when planning an itinerary, it’s a safe bet to assume you’ll have poor weather over amazing weather, and that lends itself to adding more time at any given stop as a hedge. Have bad weather on your first day in Glencoe? Do non-hiking activities and hope the next day is better. Have bad weather on the second day, too? Well, now you can see why three nights anywhere with nature could be a good idea.

We personally did three nights in Glencoe and three nights on the Isle of Skye for this very reason. Did we need that much time if there was perfect weather? Probably not. Did it rain enough that those nights made all the difference? It really did.

The good news is that if the weather is great, you’ll get more chances to go out and explore Scotland’s beautiful nature, and we will take that over the downside of not getting that at all, which is what you may get if you visit any nature spot for just one night.

When in Doubt, Add a Day (or Two)

All of this comes together to one conclusion- add more days at every stop and plan your itinerary to cut down the distance between overnight stops, if possible.

We heard several stories from locals that many visitors to popular areas like Glencoe, Speyside, and Skye only visit for a day. They drive in, hit the highlights, and move on the next day.

But one long rainstorm, and those plans may be ruined. One or two extra hours driving due to sudden impulse stops, and you are now cutting out places to see. We could go on. 

While we could see how two days would be ideal in some of the above destinations, if you pack it all in, it really comes down to bad weather and travel delays really cutting into that considerably. Do you really want to travel all the way to Scotland, hit a dream destination, and miss everything due to rain? Or come to find out you are spending way too much time in a car and have to skip a castle you wanted to see?

The answer should be no, so add on more time wherever possible and adopt a “I can return on another trip for everything else” logic if that means skipping other parts of the country outright. That’s exactly what we did, and we will be saving the rest for our next trip.

How did you plan your road trip around Scotland? Did you want more time or less time in any place? Comment below to share!

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