There’s a lot of Scotland, and don’t underestimate driving times. Argyll is good, but can be rather wet any time of the year. Going around now you should be safe from the midgies. Recommend getting onto some of the islands too, and boat rides are always nice. Kerrera is a lovely little island just by Oban. It has a very atmospheric castle, though the teashop isn’t as good as it was so pack a lunch. If you like a dram, make a tour of some distilleries, each has it’s own character. Argyll has lots of archeology & standing stones if that’s your thing. There are loads of lumpy bits of you like walking too. Pretty much anywhere is good, tourist hotspot are ok, but try to get off the beaten track once in a while.

If you’re driving, and going onto country roads, please please please learn to reverse.

If you’re lucky you may get to spot some wild haggis, but they’re quite rare now. The farmed ones are cute but have a nasty bite so be careful.

Also don’t neglect the borders, loads of history.

It may not sound your thing, but consider geocaching… It takes you to some interesting out of the way places.

Edinburgh is the obvious answer. If you’ve never been there you absolutely should stop in. Old town was amazing as a tourist, although it does get very touristy, but that was definitely a Scottish moment for me I had there. New town also had a ton of fun places to stop in, good food, and exploring.

We went to Stirling Castle, easy to get to by rail from there, and had a great tour.

We loved Scotland so much we’re going back in a few months, but this time farther north into the highlands, Inverness will be our main base. If anyone has suggestions around there I’d love to hear them! (And it’s already starting to sound like I need to go to the western side on another trip there someday…

I flew to Inveness and stayed in a place called Beauly then just drove around really. I drove around Loch Ness stopping at all these little castles, then took a boat trip. I went whale watching fom Gairloch, that also took use to see seabirds in the Shiant Islands and some white tailed eagles, then over to the Cairngorns.

I knew the places we went would be cool obviously, but every drive was amazing, brilliant landscapes everywhere. I had lunch in these cool little pubs on mountainsides, stopped in cute little villages, I was leaving like 2 hours to get anywhere so we could stop multiple times just to get pictures and stare.

I went to Inveraray a couple years ago, and really enjoyed it. There’s a place that rents out essentially entire apartments for about the same as a hotel room. Nice little town, with a lot of food options. Castle and hiking trail within walking distance. On the water. Just a great time all around.

Here’s a photo I took from the overlook at the end of the hiking trail. You can see the castle and town below.

If you’re hailed by 3 witches, think twice before you act on anything they suggest. You’ll achieve what they say but you may regret it.

I took a hike up in to the Lost Valley in Glen Coe on the recommendation of a very drunk Scotsman at a nightclub in Edinburgh. It was the absolute highlight of my trip and I’m so glad I made it.

Edinburgh. Beautiful city. A bit crowded, but still nice. Once you get used to the techno-bagpipe music they play outside every shop that sells whiskey glasses, just walking around the city is fun in itself.

Aberdeen, on the other hand, smells like piss.

I don’t know where you’re coming from (either geographically or in life experience) but I go on holiday several times a year to Scotland. I started out sleeping in the back of my car and loved it so much I bought a camper van after a few years. Sometimes I go alone in the van and sometimes I go with family and use hostels or B&Bs.

Download a map of the whole of Scotland on your phone, pick a general area and go there. Drive until you reach somewhwre that looks nice. This won’t take long at all. Get out the car and walk in any direction. There probably won’t be any man made structures (including fences) other than the road. Walk until you are tired. Turn around. Read a book for a bit, then move on. Near the end of the day, get out your map and head for the nearest town to find somewhere to stay. Depending on the time of year, this could be a bit frustrating and take a couple of visits to hotels but I’ve only ever failed to find somewhere once. Next morning, visit a supermarket and buy all your food for that day. Repeat until you miss home. You are entitled to walk almost everywhere in Scotland as long as you are responsible and respectful.

If that kind of experience is what you’re after, I’d suggest:

Galloway Forest Park. If you like forests (obviously). Very easy to stay in the forest then just dip out to a town and go back in. Lots of planned footpaths there, or just follow a forestry track (obey all signs if there are forestry works ongoing). I spent about nine days here last year, based near New Galloway and Newton Stewart.

The Cairngorms. Big mountain range with lots of stunning valleys. The main places I have been are up the A9 (main road from south to north) based around Pitlochry. You can turn off onto the A924 and there’s loads of lay-bys if you’re in a van, but it’s mostly just a desolate heath up there so maybe not great for camping. Very beautiful. Be careful if you choose to walk and wear waterproof boots because it can be easy to sink into the undergrowth. Ask me how I know… Probably best to stick to walking along the road here honestly. Very nice drive at night with the snow poles reflecting and showing the way.

Also Cairngorms: Braemar is a more touristy place, but with good reason. As you drive in towards Braemar you go through a valley with a river to the left. Stop anywhere along here and just hike up the mountains on either side. Well worth it when you get to the top. The river is a good place for a wash if you’re into that. There are paths up the mountains but I don’t know where they start, I only found on when I got to the top. Be careful on the road though, lots of people driving dangerously because it’s a fast wide road. Better to walk on the river bank away from the road.

Also also Cairngorms: Muir of Dinnet is a nature reserve with several planned walks, some of which have interesting educational signs. You can see the landscape which was shaped by the last ice age which I found fascinating. There’s a beautiful boggy patch with a lot of flowers in if you’re at the right time of year. Also a forest walk where I went off the path and explored up a river. Very much recommend. You can stay for one night in the car park and there’s a toilet and drinking water there.

Far north, NC500. I don’t remember this much because it was one of my first trips. The main thing is there’s not much to do there in terms of tourist attractions and not many places to stay. The whole place was empty. I feel like I’d enjoy it a lot more now if I went back, but I always get distracted by something else on the way and never make it that far north.

Isle of Skye: Stunning and beautiful but also quite expensive. The Old Man of Storr was the standout in my memory, it seemed like you could get a view of most of the island from up there. Also, if you take the ferry over to Mallaig, the viaduct the train takes in Harry Potter is nearby. Very impressive building but a lot of people there.

I visited and did a day trip bus tour that visited Loch Lomond, the kelpies (statue), and some ‘airy coos (hairy cows) which was a lot of fun. I hadn’t done a bus tour before but it was pleasant getting to see the scenery. Lomond had these cute little efficiency cabins available for rent and was not crowded if you’re interested in tiny house style accommodation. I also recommend the hike up to Arthur’s Seat* if you’ll be in Edinburgh.

Stirling Castle is the most castley castle anywhere.

Kilsyth town is a terrible place but the area around it is really nice. Loch Banton and Colzium estate, especially in the autumn rain. Auchinstarry Quarry. There are the remains of the Antonine wall around there (this is as far north as the Roman empire got).

If you like hiking, Walk Highlands is a stellar resource. Pick a region, sort by difficulty, get a step-by-step guide with photos and a map. Don’t push your limits unless you’re very experienced; our hills aren’t big, but the weather can turn fast and in some regions (especially Skye, which is popular with tourists) the ground can be treacherous.

Edinburgh is a great city with a lot of history and fantastic architecture. Glasgow is the better base for trips into the Highlands and has more modern artistic stuff going on. If you’re looking at Skye, you may want to consider Lewis & Harris instead, as it’s a similar experience with far fewer people.

If you’re near the Fife area, the boat trip out to the Isle of May is a great day out. Short ride from Anstruther to an island that is a seabird reserve these days, puffins and cormorants everywhere. Also get a fish & chips in Anstruther on the way back, it’s some of the best going.

Depending on when you’re going, the crannog centre by Loch Tay is worth a trip. They’re currently rebuilding after a fire destroyed the original. It was/will be a reconstruction of a type of iron age home built over the water of the loch. If you’re going up that way already, also stop by Iain Burnett’s and get a chocolate tasting flight; he sells chocolate to the likes of the royals and I can believe it with how it tastes. The whole Loch Tay area has some fantastic hill climbs too. I did Ben Lawers last autumn, had a lovely day out.

I spent some time in Cairmgorn a few years ago. It was quite beautiful in that cold, windswept Scottish way. It’s decently popular, but it’s big enough and far enough away from the major cities that I never ran into crowds.

Yoker

Edinburgh may be my favorite city I’ve ever visited. I want to go back again later this year. That being said: thoughts about some of the things we did.

Edinburgh Castle is iconic, has great views, and outside of the Scottish crown jewels it was not that terribly crowded though there is also not as much to see as something like the tower of London though the history is still quite interesting. Can probably see it all in under a half day, realistically I think we were there four hours and saw everything but the crown jewels.

The royal botanic gardens in Edinburgh was not on my list of things to do before visiting but it was beautiful. Would definitely book at least half a day to explore it.

The johnny walker experience wasn’t all that great. Would book a seat at their bar way early but the tasting wasn’t particularly special. The west end brasserie right across the street from there actually has a stupidly long scotch menu if you have an idea of what styles you already like and just want to go taste a broad variety of things you could probably have actually spent less money there for better scotch (I don’t particularly love most of JW’s blends).

We actually took a fly fishing trip for native brown trout on one of the lochs northeast of Glasgow. VERY reasonably priced, gorgeous scenery, and fun letting my (now) wife catch her first trout on a fly. Pun intended but she’s now hooked. Definitely needed to pack better waterproof gear for that though. The rain jacket wasn’t good enough sitting in a boat going across a loch in a strong mist.