Introduction
This article is a personal narrative on my 2-week road trip in Scotland. It includes 19 of the best places including Glasgow, Edinburgh, and St. Andrews. This article will provide you a recommendation of a road trip you can take as an alternative to the famous NC500 throughout Scotland.
- Introduction
- Start: Edinburgh
- Stop 1: Falkirk
- Stop 2: Stirling Castle
- Stop 3: St. Monans
- Stop 4: Kingsbarns
- Stop 5: St. Andrews
- Stop 6: Inverness
- Stop 7: Chanonry Point, Black Isle
- Stop 8: Cromarty, Black Isle
- Stop 9: Urquhart Castle
- Stop 10: Fort Augustus
- Stop 11: Loch Cluanie Viewpoint
- Stop 12: Eilean Donan Castle
- Stop 13: Fairy Pools
- Stop 14: Portree
- Stop 15: Fort William
- Stop 16: Glencoe Three Sisters Viewpoint
- Stop 17: Firkin Point, Loch Lomond
- End: Glasgow
- More from Scotland…
Overview of the trip
I went on a 10-day road trip in March throughout Scotland. 2 of my friends accompanied me, who happen to be from the country. As weather and funds were limited, we realized our dream of completing the NC500 (North Coast 500 miles) had to be compromised. Snow was due to set in the north of the country leaving us with no option of traveling on the remote roads that the original route comprises of. Also, as I am a budget traveler, the exploding fuel prices of the United Kingdom were the largest obstacle to our planning. We realized we had to pivot plans.
Goal of the trip
The goal of our Scottish road trip was to see as many places as possible in a short amount of time. We also wanted to get a rich cultural experience. This meant stopping for a pint in a local pub, sipping a (cheap) scotch while watching trad (traditional) music, eating street fish and chips in the Scottish Highlands, and more. As time was limited, we briefed over most of the locations but had multiple days in both Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Overview of the route
The route that we picked allowed us to see a large portion of the country. As we planned the route, we knew we had to focus on some main points: mountains, coastlines, castles, food, music, and pubs, all while being budget cautious and finding the most efficient route. As I was with two local experts, the route, activities, and places are all strategically planned out for someone like me who wanted a well-rounded experience.
This narrative will start you in Edinburgh, heading up the scenic coastline towards St. Andrews. It will then take you through the Cairngorms National Park mountains until you arrive in Inverness. From Inverness, it will show you a brief tour of the Black Isle, before cutting west into the beautiful Scottish Highland mountains all the way to Portree in Isle of Skye. The next part will take you back down south towards Loch Lomond National Park until you finish in the amazing city of Glasgow.
The following sections will break down each of my days in Scotland as I visited more than 18 destinations throughout the country. I wrote this story in chronological order, making it easy to follow and mimic for someone wanting an alternative road trip to the famous NC500. Each section will provide a distance breakdown from the last point, highlights of the place, and first-hand recommendations on things to do in the location. Some stops are simply cool pitstops and some are cities where you can spend more time in. There is also a map at the bottom of the article that provides a visual representation of the route we took.
Start: Edinburgh
Highlights: Royal Mile, National Gallery, Edinburgh Castle, Arthur’s Seat.
Edinburgh was the perfect place to start our Scottish road trip. The (free) museums that the city offers is a great way to get some historical and cultural background before exploring the rest of the country. Edinburgh is also home to a famous ancient volcano hike known as Arthur’s Seat, that has the best views of the city.
Edinburgh was an entertaining start to our journey. With so much to do, it is impossible to cover it on this post. Check out my Edinburgh travel guide in a separate article!
Stop 1: Falkirk
Distance: 28 miles (52 minutes) from Edinburgh
Highlights: The Kelpies, Falkirk Wheel
Falkirk is home to the massive steel monuments known as the Kelpies. They are meant to signify the start of the eastern section of the Forth and Clyde canal. The Kelpies are surrounded by a beautiful park that runs along the canal. I spent about an hour exploring this area.
After the Kelpies, I hopped back in the car and drove to the other side of town to check out the Falkirk Wheel. Built in 2002, the wheel is a significant piece of engineering in Scottish history. It connects two canals by an 80-foot rotating wheel. There is also a brief exhibit explaining the significance of the wheels inside the visitor center next to the bathrooms.
Stop 2: Stirling Castle
Distance: 17 miles (24 minutes) from Falkirk.
Highlights: Stirling Castle, National Wallace Monument, Cambuskenneth Abbey.
Stirling is a historical town that is home to the famous Stirling Castle. The castle dates back to the early 12th century and has shifted purposes over time. There are more than 5 different museum exhibits within the walls, covering all corners of Scottish history.
There is much to learn about Stirling, so I wrote a separate article explaining how to visit Stirling in a day.
Stop 3: St. Monans
Distance: 69 miles (1.5 hours) from Stirling.
Highlights: typical Scottish fishing village, pretty coastline walk.
St. Monans is a tiny fishing village that provides a nice break while driving along the scenic A917 road. While on the way to St. Monans, you will see typical Scottish greenery, as the coastline collects an abundance of rainfall.
We got out and walked around the dock. There really is not an abundance of things to do, but you can have a relaxing walk for a few minutes before hopping back in the car. There is free parking at St. Monans Car Park. Once parked, head a few meters towards the water. You will notice crab traps and boat fishing everywhere. You will also pass through another small village, named Elie, before St. Monans that is worth a shout.
Stop 4: Kingsbarns
Distance: 13 miles (27 minutes) from St. Monans.
Highlights: fun beach, famous golfing.
Continue on the A917 north until you pass through another village named Crail. The faster route to reach Kingsbarns will take you further inland, but the scenic coastline is worth the extra minute or 2 in the car.
We stopped in Kingsbarns to check out the beach. You can park for free at Kingsbarns Beach Car Park which also has free toilets and a seasonal shack that offers food. The beach has tons of little snails, shells, and crabs that are fun to search for. The beach is large and long enough to walk along the coast on a nice day.
Kingsbarns is also home to Kingsbarns Golf Links, a fancy golf club. This region of Scotland is famous for golf, which makes it a cool thing to drive by. As this is a budget travel blog, I am not recommending this activity, but due to its significance, it’s worth mentioning.
Stop 5: St. Andrews
Distance: 7 miles (12 minutes) from Kingsbarns.
Highlights: Wardlaw Museum, St. Andrew’s Castle, Old Course golf club, beach, St. Andrews Cathedral, fun university town.
Once you are in St. Andrews, it is quite hard to find free parking. Consider trying to find a free space at St Andrews Public Parking.
What to do in St. Andrews
Below is a brief list of first-hand recommend places to explore for a few hours in St. Andrews.
Check out the famous Old Course
St. Andrews is the most popular town in this region because it is the birthplace of golf. Golf fans from all over the world flock to this place for a memorable game. Golf people usually like the finer things in life, so consider this place more expensive. Despite the cost of living, it was nice walking through the Old Course, as it is world-famous.
Visit the Wardlaw Museum
After checking out the Old Course, we walked over to the Wardlaw Museum, the University of St. Andrew’s museum. The museum starts off with a history section of the university, customs, and traditions. Once you head upstairs, you will get a more regional-specific museum with different topics that the university specializes in. My favorite exhibitions were Enquiring Minds, Reformers and Innovation, and the Peatland section. There is a patio once you finish the exhibit that provides an aerial view of the town and over the coastline, making it a nice place for a picture.
Walk past St. Andrews Castle and Cathedral.
After the museum, we circled towards the coastline to walk past the ruined St. Andrew’s Castle. Built in the 13th century, it is one of Scotland’s most famous castles. Unfortunately, the castle cost about £10, so we avoided entry. Since it is in ruins, you can get a good feeling of the unique structure from the outside of it. You can learn more about the history, entry times, and ticket prices on their website.
Right next to the Castle lies the St. Andrew’s Cathedral. This structure is also in ruins, and it is uniquely preserved. The cathedral also costs almost £8. Similar to the castle, it is a nice view from the outside, but it is not worth the fee to enter. Both St Andrew’s Castle and St. Andrew’s Cathedral are quite unique because they have allowed nature to play its course. Many old buildings like such have been scaffolded and renovated.
The coastline is gorgeous, and you can snatch a perfect picture overlooking the ruins of the castle and cathedral as the waves hit the rocky beach below. Definitely take your time and take a walk around St. Andrews Beach to the East Sands.
As we headed north after spending a few hours in St. Andrews, the typical green Scottish landscape set in. As we started to approach the highlands, the rolling hills got larger. This part of the country is breathtaking and underrated.
Stop 6: Inverness
Distance: 149 miles (3 hours) from St. Andrews.
Highlights: Cairngorms National Park, perfect scenery, Inverness Castle, trad music.
The 3-hour drive from St. Andrews to Inverness seems a bit long and intimidating, however, this was one of the best driving sections of the entire trip. As you ascend into the Scottish Highlands, the mountains begin to surround you. I found it particularly interesting how most of the mountains in this region, and throughout Scotland, are bare of trees and have a tundra-like look to them. This is because the peatlands and unique soils make it difficult for trees to grow. You will feel like you are in a high-alpine region when really the elevation does not topple 1,300 meters.
We were lucky to be driving through this region shortly after a blanket of snow covered the top of the mountains. If you happen to make this trip in the winter or spring, you will find luck like we did.
We choose to stop for the night in Inverness simply because it is a perfect location for cheap accommodation and its relativity to the mountains. As Inverness has a population of about 50,000, we figured we would be able to find some cozy pubs to listen to some trad (traditional) music. We ended up stopping in a small music bar named Hootananny, which was reasonably priced and had some fantastic energy.
Overall, after spending only a few hours in Inverness, it seems like a good place to spend some more time and a perfect location to launch an adventure into the Scottish mountains, as they have a train station and multiple buses to hiking areas.
Stop 7: Chanonry Point, Black Isle
Distance: 16 miles (31 minutes) from Inverness
Highlights: Bottlenose Dolphins, merging of water, pretty views.
From Inverness, we passed over the impressive Kessock Bridge to the north and continued northeast along the coast of the Black Isle. I am not sure why it has a dark name to it, as it is one of the most colorful places I saw in the country. We did a counterclockwise loop around the peninsula, with the first stop being Chanonry Point, on the east point of a village named Fortrose.
Chanonry Point is a bit of a hidden gem situated on a peninsula where the freshwater of Moray Firth meets the saltwater of the North Sea. It is also one of the best locations in the world for bottlenose dolphin watching. From the viewpoint, you can also see Fort George, an 18th century army barrack, from across the channel on the mainland. There is also a pleasant beach and a lighthouse with nice views. I recommend prioritizing this attraction when visiting the Black Isle.
If you want to learn more about the best time to catch the dolphins, I recommend checking out the Moray Dolphin website.
Stop 8: Cromarty, Black Isle
Distance: 11 miles (25 minutes) from Chanonry Point
Highlights: cute shops, views of cliffs, old oil rigs, quiet seaside town.
Cromarty is a sleepy village at the northern tip the Black Isle with some interesting offerings. For such a tiny village, it had quite a bit of authentic trinket shops like Cromarty Pottery, Gardiner & Gardiner Antique store and Slaughterhouse Coffee. There is also a nice view from across the Cromarty Firth of some stunning cliffs, and some abandoned oil rigs.
We parked near the Cromarty East Church, walked through the town, and circled back around the coastline. Cromarty seems to have some of the friendliest people we encountered on the trip, as everyone was smiling and kind to us. It is quite a unique and remote location with plenty to check out. I recommend spending about an hour here.
After Cromarty, we continued our loop towards the western part of the Black Isle, then back down south past Inverness towards Loch Ness.
Stop 9: Urquhart Castle
Distance: 40 miles (1 hour) from Cromarty
Highlights: Loch Ness, more castle action.
We arrived at Loch Ness, and this stunning loch (Scottish for lake) is largest in the country by surface area, though it may not seem like it due to its long and narrow appearance. There are tons of beautiful places to pull off and take in the loch’s gorgeous scenery, but I recommend spending a few minutes’ breaks to check out the views of Urquhart Castle.
We were a bit disappointed by the steep price of 15 quid to go down to the castle, but you can still get a nice view of it from the road.
Stop 10: Fort Augustus
Distance: 17 miles (26 minutes) from Urquhart Castle.
Highlights: Canal locks, nice town,
Fort Augustus is a pretty town, but quite touristy. I can imagine this is probably because of the fictional Loch Ness Monster. As hard as we tried, we did not find the monster.
Other than loads of tourist buses, Fort Augustus has a neat canal lock system, allowing the canal to level with the loch. We walked around the canal for a quick car, as we were due for a few more hours towards the Isle of Skye. The town also has loads of outdoor recreation, lodging, and restaurants so I am sure that any pilgrimage trip to find the Loch Ness Monster will not go unrewarded.
After a pitstop in Fort Augustus, we made our way west through more mountains via the stunning A87 road, also known as Old Military Road.
Stop 11: Loch Cluanie Viewpoint
Distance: 23 miles (29 minutes) from Fort Augustus.
Highlights: mountain lake, striking views.
Loch Cluanine Viewpoint is just a point that is navigable on Google Maps, however, any pull off along Old Military Road is breathtaking. The mountains shoot up around Loch Cluanie, making it one of my favorite sights in all of Scotland.
The drive through this region is worth the trek towards the Isle of Skye. If you are planning to follow this route, allow yourself some time to stop and hike around.
Stop 12: Eilean Donan Castle
Distance: 26 miles (33 minutes) from Loch Cluanie Viewpoint.
Highlights: mountain views, Loch Duich, a castle on an island
The Eilean Donan Castle is a castle that sits on an island right at the convergence of three lochs. The castle has a bridge that connects it to the mainland. It is only a true island castle during high tide, but when the waves recede, there is just a muddy area around it. Because of this, I would highly recommend visiting this castle earlier in the day.
The entrance to the castle is (as we expected) a steep £11. In my opinion, this was not a problem because the best views of the castle are from the parking lot anyways. There is a dramatic mountain backdrop, making it one of the most picturesque castles I have ever seen. Make sure you at least stop for a few minutes to check out this special place!
Stop 13: Fairy Pools
Distance: 44 miles (1 hour) from Eilean Donan Castle.
Highlights: easy hike, gorgeous mountain basin, water pools.
The Fairy Pools is the most popular hike on the Isle of Skye. Because of this, it is quite an easy stroll for any type of person. The trail is a manageable 3.7km round trip and will not take you more than an hour. Once you turn off the main road towards the trailhead, the road gets slightly rougher. It is still paved, but there are frequent potholes. Nonetheless, it is not anything that should deter you from this place. Expect to pay 6 quid for parking as well.
We loved the natural beauty of this place. It is very secluded from any neighboring towns, making it quite the adventure. The trail basically takes you into a valley at the base of a few mountains, one being the prominent Bruach na Frìthe mountain peak. Along the trail, you will see the various “fairy pools” that you follow for the whole trail. The Fairy Pool hike technically ends when the path turns to mud, but if you want more of an adventure you can continue the trail further up the mountain.
If you want a preview, I recommend checking it out on AllTrails.
Stop 14: Portree
Distance: 25 miles (34 minutes) from the Fairy Pools.
Highlights: fishing village, the Old Man of Storr, neighboring cliffs, fish and chips.
Portree is the largest town on the Isle of Skye, making it a nice location to spend a few nights somewhere that offers everything you will need. It also has stunning natural beauty surrounding it, with cliffs rising over Loch Portree. The town is comprised of gleefully colored buildings. The Isle of Skye is small enough to access any hiking area for the day from Portree.
There are plenty of places to spend the night. The cheapest I could find is the Portree Independent Hostel, costing only about £26 per night. I rate it as decent, but make sure to bring your own bed linens because for some reason they charge for them. The hostel is right in the middle of town and is a short walk to plenty of pubs and restaurants.
I can also recommend snagging the famous fish and chips from The Chippy Portree. For about £8 you will get the full. Do not even bother trying to find something cheaper in Portree. The cost of food is the most expensive that I experienced in all of Scotland.
We spent a quick night in Portree and it was fantastic. This tiny town packs a lot of activities, and I could easily spend over a week exploring all that the Isle of Skye offers.
Stop 15: Fort William
Distance: 108 miles (2 hours, 26 minutes) from Portree
Highlights: more mountains, Loch Eil, Ben Nevis, pit stop.
The drive from Portree is quite long, but stunning. The drive will take you back over the bridge,
Fort William is an adventurer’s stop, as it is home to Scotland’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis. It also hosts one of the nation’s most popular ski resorts, Nevis Range. There are other mountain attractions nearby like Glencoe. It seems like a perfect home base for an adventure-based holiday to Scotland.
We honestly only stopped here to get a quick lunch, so I cannot provide any firsthand recommendations. It definitely seems like a destination I would prioritize more time in during my next trip to Scotland!
Stop 16: Glencoe Three Sisters Viewpoint
Distance: 21 miles (31 minutes) from Fort William.
Highlights: stunning mountain viewpoint.
As we traveled south around Ben Nevis and Fort William, we traveled through the jaw-dropping Glencoe mountain range. The mountains here are the best in the country in my opinion. As we crossed over the Ballachulish Bridge and headed east, the mountains surrounded us. Once we entered the Glencoe Canyon, waterfalls and stunning peaks engulfed our view.
I recommend stopping at the Three Sisters Viewpoint, as you will be able to see the three peaks of Aonach Dubh, Beinn Fhada, and Gearr Aonach. The canyon is unmissable and is one of the most underrated viewpoints in the United Kingdom.
Give yourself some time when you stop here, as there are countless hiking trails leading into and up the canyon. Once you leave Glencoe Canyon, you will start to slowly descend towards Loch Lomond.
Stop 17: Firkin Point, Loch Lomond
Distance: 49 miles (1.25 hours) from the Three Sisters Viewpoint.
Highlights: Loch Lomond swimming spot
After about an hour in the car, we decided it was time for a swim. Even though it was no warmer than 10 degrees out, we went for a dip. Cold-water swimming is quite popular in Scotland. Scotland has a strong tradition of wild swimming, which involves swimming in natural bodies of water such as rivers, lochs, and the sea. Cold water swimming is a subset of wild swimming and involves swimming in water temperatures of 5°C or below. To get a full cultural Scottish experience, we decided to take a freezing swim!
Firkin Point is a random stop along the A82 heading south along Loch Lomond. You have probably heard of Loch Lomond before because it was the first place in Scotland to be given the national park title. It is also one of the most visited parks in the country. The loch surrounds the popular peak of Ben Lomond, making it quite a scenic spot.
You can find Firkin Point at this location.
End: Glasgow
Distance: 40 miles (1 hours) from Firkin Point
Highlights: Kelvingrove Art Exhibit, Glasgow University, amazing nightlife, Glasgow Cathedral.
Glasgow is my favorite city Scotland. The energy in Glasgow caught me by surprise. I stayed with my friend who is from Glasgow, so I got a proper tour. I loved the city so much that a wrote an entire article dedicated to things to do in Glasgow.
- Introduction
- Start: Edinburgh
- Stop 1: Falkirk
- Stop 2: Stirling Castle
- Stop 3: St. Monans
- Stop 4: Kingsbarns
- Stop 5: St. Andrews
- Stop 6: Inverness
- Stop 7: Chanonry Point, Black Isle
- Stop 8: Cromarty, Black Isle
- Stop 9: Urquhart Castle
- Stop 10: Fort Augustus
- Stop 11: Loch Cluanie Viewpoint
- Stop 12: Eilean Donan Castle
- Stop 13: Fairy Pools
- Stop 14: Portree
- Stop 15: Fort William
- Stop 16: Glencoe Three Sisters Viewpoint
- Stop 17: Firkin Point, Loch Lomond
- End: Glasgow
- More from Scotland…
More from Scotland…
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Travel advice from a broke perspective
