Last updated on April 7, 2025
In May this year we made our highland road trip dreams come true with a four-day trip to Scotland for my birthday. Last November, Britain changed some entry rules and regulations with a few countries, including Peru. So JC was finally able to travel to Britain without a visa (he has a Peruvian passport). With this great news we took the opportunity and booked flights to Edinburgh and from Glasgow. We had 4 full days to travel from Edinburgh to Glasgow by car. With so many awe-inspiring locations in Scotland to see, it was very difficult to narrow down our list. In the end, we created an ambitious but doable itinerary that covers most of the must-haves for a first-time visit to Scotland. Read below how to plan a road trip through Scotland, including our 4-day itinerary.
Our 4-day Scotland itinerary:
Arrival day: Fly to Edinburgh Airport. Pick up rental car. Eat dinner and spend the night in Edinburgh No. 11 Boutique Hotel & Brasserie.
Day 1: Spend the day in Edinburgh. Do one Harry Potter Walking Tour. Have an Indian lunch Dish. Enjoy a typical Scottish dinner The Scran and Scallie. Drive an hour outside of Edinburgh and stay there Bed & Breakfast De Smederij.
Day 2: Wake up, have breakfast and get ready for your Highlands road trip! Drive 3 hours to Fort Augustus to see the southernmost tip of Loch Ness. Grab a quick lunch Monster Fish & Chips Co. before you hit the road again. Drive an hour to Donan Castle Island. After touring the castle, cross the bridge to the Isle of Skye and stay overnight Katie’s Cabin.
Day 3: Spend the day on the Isle of Skye. Walk Old Man of Storr And The fairy pools. Stay a second night in Katie’s cabin.
Day 4: Leave the Isle of Skye and drive two hours to the Glenfinnan Viaduct to watch Jacobite train(also known as the Hogwarts Express) pass by. Drive three hours to Glasgow. Eat dinner Os and Vink. Spend the night in the Z Hotel Glasgow.
Departure day: Drive to Glasgow airport, return the rental car and fly home (or to your next destination! We flew on to Paris to visit Disneyland).
Read more: How to plan a trip to Disneyland Paris with a toddler
How to Plan a Scotland Road Trip – Fly to Edinburgh
Pick up your rental car – but remember to drive on the left side of the road!
We flew to Edinburgh and picked up our rental car Green Motion Rental Cars. We found the deal VIP cars. It cost £326 for 5 days and limited mileage (500 miles) with delivery to Glasgow airport. Our planned route was already almost 500 miles, so we knew it would be close. The sales agent at the counter tried to convince us to purchase an automatic and navigation. In the end we stuck with the manual transmission and used my phone to navigate, which had reception the entire trip. But if you are nervous about driving, it is better to buy the automatic car. Remember to drive on the left side of the road! The car rental company gave JC a bracelet to remind him while driving.
Do all the Harry Potter things while you’re in Edinburgh
I’m a big Harry Potter fan. I knew that if we made a trip to Edinburgh we had to do a Harry Potter tour. Luckily I found it one on Airbnb experiences. It was a 2 hour walk that started at the famous Royal Mile. We started the tour looking forward The Balmoral Hotelwhere JK Rowling wrote the famous seventh Harry Potter book, the Deathly Hallows. For 2600 GBP per night you can stay in the ‘JK Rowling suite’. We continued on, passing sights like Victoria Streetthe real Diagon Alley. Our guide showed us the cafes where JK Rowling wrote the famous series, such as the Elephant house. We walked to Greyfriars Kirkyardwhere Thomas Riddell’s grave lies. The tour ended with JK Rowling’s golden handprints just off the Royal Mile. On Victoria Street we stopped at the official Harry Potter store Museum contextwhere you can take a photo with the Sorting Hat, but also buy lots of Harry Potter merchandise. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’ll love Edinburgh!
Stay at No 11 Boutique Hotel in Edinburgh
We stayed in the No. 11 Boutique Hotel & Brasserie while in Edinburgh. The hotel is approximately a 20 minute walk from the center of Edinburgh. Although we were not right in the center, it was an easy and pleasant walk. It was also nice to be on a quiet street and there was street parking in front of the hotel (but you have to pay for it). The hotel itself is a very beautiful mansion. It has a restaurant on site, where we ate the first evening. The food is delicious! The rooms are small and there is no elevator (but someone took our bags up the stairs). The breakfast was also very tasty: we had a nice spread of poached eggs, yogurt, oats and mimosas. I would 100% stay there again.
Where to eat in Edinburgh
In addition to our delicious meals at Brasserie No 11, we also ate at Dish And The Scran & Scallie whilst in Edinburgh. We love Dishoom and have eaten there several times in London. We were very happy when we discovered that they are also in Edinburgh. If you like Indian food, you must visit them. We ate at The Scan & Scallie for my birthday dinner. It is a modern Scottish restaurant, serving typical Scottish dishes with a twist. I had the fish pie and JC had the steak pie. Everything was really delicious. If you are looking for a special place for dinner that is casual, unpretentious and serves local dishes, I would give it a try.
How do you plan a Scotland Road Trip? Continue north to the Highlands
Try to spot Nessie at Loch Ness
We spent our second night about an hour north of Edinburgh in a bed and breakfast to get a good head start on our long drive through the Highlands. We then drove 3 hours to Fort Augustusthe southernmost tip of Loch Ness. Loch Ness is known for the Loch Ness Monster: Nessie. At souvenir shops you can buy Nessie merchandise in one of the many shops. There are also restaurants and ice cream parlors. We ate lunch Monster Fish & Chips Co. before we move on to Donan Castle Island. We really enjoyed our time at Fort Augustus and would recommend stopping there for a few hours on your journey north.
Stop at Eilean Donan Castle on the way to Isle of Skye
About an hour’s drive from Fort Augustus is Eilean Donan Castle. If you want to admire the castle from a distance, you do not have to pay an entrance fee. Simply park your car in the parking lot (not free) and walk there. However, if you want to cross the bridge that separates the castle from the mainland and take a closer look, you will need to purchase entrance tickets. You can only purchase tickets for the day of your visit at Eilean Donan upon arrival. The castle is very beautiful, but small, so you don’t need much time to walk around and take pictures. But it’s worth paying the fee.
Continue to Isle of Skye
From Eilean Donan Castle we continued a short time to the Isle of Skye. There is no need to take a ferry to reach the island. We stayed in a small house in Breakish Katie’s Cabin. We absolutely loved the little house. It was our first time staying in a tiny house and we felt it had everything we needed. There was also enough space for us and our almost 3 year old daughter. The hosts provided us with everything for cooking, as well as free breakfast and games. We also had Netflix and took the opportunity to watch Harry Potter! There is also a guestbook, which was fun to read; guests wrote recommendations about their favorite restaurants and attractions on the island. When planning our Isle of Skye itinerary we referred to the guests’ recommendations!
Enjoy the natural wonders of the Isle of Skye
Search for Highland Coos
The next morning we woke up and planned our full day on the Isle of Skye. There are so many things to see in Skye, but with only 24 hours we had to narrow down our list. First of all we wanted to see Highland Coos. We checked that off the bucket list Hector’s Highland Coos. Our daughter absolutely loved seeing the cows. So cute!
Go to Old Man of Storr
We moved on from there Old Man of Storrstopped along the way Sligachan old bridge And Bridal veil falls to admire the waterfalls. We left the car at the Old Man of Storr parking lot and continued our journey up. Now a warning for those with children: your children will need to walk or be carried! You can’t expect to use a stroller! It is intended to be a 2-hour walk. We were about halfway through, which was hard because I basically had to carry my daughter the entire time. My advice is to bring a baby carrier for your smaller child, or one of them hiking backpacks for children for your older child. Yet, even without having done the entire walk, we had a beautiful view of the rocks from afar. There are also sheep walking around, which is fun for the children to see.
Continue to the Fairy Pools
From Old Man of Storr we drove about 1 hour to the Fairy pools. We took Isabella in the stroller, but even though it was relatively flat terrain, it was still difficult to push the stroller through the sand and rocks. There are many fairy pools along the walk and you can even swim in them if the weather is nice. We saw a couple doing a photo shoot in one of the pools. There are lots of pools and waterfalls along the way and it’s a fairly easy walk, especially compared to the Old Man of Storr. I would recommend it especially with children (just don’t bring your stroller!)
How to Plan a Scotland Road Trip – Drive to the Glenfinnan Viaduct
Catch a glimpse of the real Hogwarts Express!
As you know, we are big Harry Potter fans. That’s why we had to take the opportunity to see the Hogwarts Express in real life! You can actually ride on board Jacobite steam train. However, we were only interested in seeing the crossing Glennfinnan Viaduct as seen in the Harry Potter films. I would recommend taking the timetables and arrive well in advance as the train is very popular. Even an hour in advance it was difficult to find a parking space. You see the train crossing the viaduct in two places. We parked at the visitor center and took a short walk there point of view. However, I would recommend taking instead this trail to get a real close-up of the train passing by.
How to Plan a Scotland Road Trip – End in Glasgow
End your Scottish road trip in Glasgow
We ended our trip driving from the Glennfinnan Viaduct to Glasgow. It’s a 3 hour drive. We succeeded Loch Lomand on the way to Glasgow, but we didn’t have time to stop. When we reached Glasgow we checked in Z Hotel Glasgow and then went to eat Os and Vink. Dinner was fantastic! Easily the best meal we had all trip! It’s tapas style and they have lots of vegetarian and vegan options. The whipped feta with banana chili and honey was to die for! Definitely a must when in Glasgow. Make sure you reserve in advance.
And that ends our four-day road trip in Scotland. We will definitely make a return trip to this incredible country. Any recommendations or recommendations for Scotland, leave them in the comments below!
