I had been tentatively planning a trip to visit Scotland for about six months. One of my best friends got the news that her study abroad would take place in Aberdeen, Scotland! As soon as I knew she would be living there for a year, I made a mental note to go and visit her!
We had decided to meet up in January at the end of her winter break and escape the city life to explore the Scottish Highlands. Since we were traveling out of the peak season, we scored really great deals on bed and breakfast places and our car rental.
For this post, I decided to split it up by what we did day by day. I like to put it in perspective how crazy my friends and I travel sometimes and we truly live the go-go-go lifestyle when we take trips.
Day 1: Arrived in Aberdeen and Picked up Our Rental Car
We landed in Aberdeen around 9 pm. If you are a traveler who is scared of airports and gets overwhelmed easily… do not stress here! The airport is tiny and trust me you can’t get lost!
To pick up our car we went with a company called Keddy. Europcar actually owns Keddy and I have had great experiences with Europcar in the past so I knew I was dealing with a good company by going with Keddy.
Finding affordable car rentals:
I find my car rentals on Kayak. They check all the prices between multiple car rental companies and give you the most affordable option. We were able to rent our car for super cheap: 170 pounds for 7 days. We even got a free upgrade to a bigger car! These are some of the perks of traveling during the off-season.
Just remember in Scotland, people drive on the opposite side of the road (compared to the U.S.). This threw me for a loop for a few days not going to lie. I’m just thankful we got an automatic car and I didn’t have to tackle driving manual with jet lag!!
Day 2: Left Aberdeen and Drove Through Inverness to Fort Augustus
We left Aberdeen in the morning to get a good start to our day. We knew we had about a 3.5/4 hour drive ahead of us and wanted to maximize the daylight. Keep in mind it’s winter in Scotland and sunset is at 3:30 pm.
The drive from Aberdeen to Inverness was so scenic, driving through farm land, small UK cities with cold stone features. We were taking all the beauty in.
Side story: Car malfunction
So unfortunately you can’t always plan for hick-ups along the way. We were about one hour away from Aberdeen when we noticed our washer fluid wasn’t working. Since it was winter, they salted the roads and our windshield was pretty foggy with road residue. We had to drive back to the car rental company at the Aberdeen airport and exchange our car… to then hit the road again (round two let’s go!!)
This took a good chunk of our daylight away and unfortunately, we arrived in Inverness at night. We took a little pit stop, stretched our legs, and got a bite to eat. Then it was time to hit the road again and head south toward Fort Augustus.
We finally arrived in Fort Augustus around 7 pm after driving for 6 hours at this point. We checked into The Loch Ness Guest House. Needless to say, we were exhausted and ready for a hot shower and bed.
Day 3: Left Fort Augustus, Hiked Around Loch Ness, and Arrived in Fort William
When we woke up in the morning, we were able to enjoy the view from our Bed and Breakfast in Fort Augustus. It had a beautiful view of the surrounding mountainous valley and the sunrise on the opposite side across the road was gorgeous! This place is surrounded by classic Scottish stone buildings.
After our breakfast, we hit the road again and drove toward Loch Ness for our hike. Visiting the Loch Ness was a MUST on this trip. We grew up hearing about the myths and monsters that were seen in this lake and had to check it out for ourselves.
The drive from Fort Augustus to the start of the hike was around 40 minutes. There was a cute little homemade pottery place that was near the hiking parking lot. Of course, we stopped in and my friend got a cute little mug!
We hiked to Meall Fuar-mhonaidh from the pottery place. It took us around 3 hours there and back and had stunning views of the Loch Ness and the surrounding mountains. The grass was such a vibrant orange color, I was amazed at the winter colors here. I highly recommend this hike if you want a good view of the Loch Ness!
From the hike, we ended up driving down to Fort William and checking into another Bed and Breakfast. From the hike to Fort William, you drive past this gorgeous lake called Loch Lochy. The views from the 2 sided highway were like nothing I had seen before! Sort of a mix between Iceland and Switzerland.
When we checked into our bed and breakfast it seemed like we were the only guests at the place because it was completely quiet except for us. Perks of traveling in the off-season!!
Day 4: Explored Fort William, Hiked Steall Falls Near Ben Nevis, and Toured Glenfinnan Viaduct
We woke up and also had an early start to the day. We drove about 20 minutes from Fort William to Steall Falls to start our hike. This drive was one of the most scenic drives we had seen so far on our trip! We were greeted by Highland cows on the road.
They are such majestic creatures and a lot bigger than I thought they were when I first saw them in person. They remind me of the “Clydesdales” of Cows!
The hike to Steall Falls was also very scenic. We barely ran into anyone there and had the whole place to ourselves. Again… perks of traveling during the off-season!
The hike wasn’t too challenging either, maybe around a 2-hour hike with stops to eat lunch and take pictures.
Since the hike was pretty mellow (low elevation gain), we had enough energy to do one more thing on our To-Do List. This included visiting the famous Harry Potter Bridge also known as Glenfinnan Viaduct. My friend and I were blown away that it was built in 1897 and the structure still functions today!
Day 5: Drove to the Isle of Skye, Explored Old Man Storr, and Checked into our Bed and Breakfast in Portree
The drive from Fort William to Portree was around 2.5 hours. We drove through very scenic 2 lane highways and barely came in contact with anyone on the road! We took the A87 and drove past Loch Garry, Loch Cluanie, and Glen Moriston. Let me tell you this was insanely beautiful! It’s still hard to put words into it!
Getting to Portree was a smooth and easy drive. Instead of checking in right away, we decided to drive past the town and start our exploration of Old Man Storr.
At this point, the weather was moving in and the wind started to pick up. When we got to Old Man Storr, the rain started to come down a bit more. We decided to still keep on going with the hike and see The Storr up close. Just because it was cold and miserable outside wasn’t going to stop us from adventuring!
This was our view:
But after we finished our hike, we were soaking wet, freezing cold, and wind burnt. But it was all worth it for this view! The clouds surrounding Storr made it seem spooky and added another layer of mysticalness that is only seen in movies.
We then decided to check into our bed and breakfast in Portree. We chose this place because of the location right across the way from the beautiful colorful houses that make this town so charming.
Side note: Traveling in Winter
If you’re planning on traveling to Scotland in Winter, please note that a big chunk of the city goes into winter hibernation mode. Meaning many restaurants, hotels, bed and breakfast places, and cafes are closed for the winter and won’t open till spring when more tourists are in the area. So make sure you do your research before you go!
Day 6: Drove to Greshornish, Explored the Western Side of Isle of Skye
We drove down this very scenic road in Waternish that nobody seemed to be on. We had this view all to ourselves. We also visited Coral Beach but it was so windy and rainy that we couldn’t see anything. I guess Scotland is showing its true colors now.
The drive to Greshornish House was off the beaten path. We followed this narrow driveway all the way to the hotel. Along the drive, we came across so many sheep. This place was secluded yet so peaceful and away from the main road.
The bed and breakfast place in Greshornish offered dinner to all their guests. And after a day of exploring and getting wind chill, we opted for it. Since we had been eating cup of noodles for 3 days straight, this homemade dinner was like taking a bite of heaven!!
Day 7: Explored Old Man Storr (again), and Finished the Loop Road (A855) Around the Isle of Skye
Spoiler alert!! This was by far the best day we had in Scotland so far!!
We started our day off by exploring Old Man Storr! After the storm the night before we had hoped that the weather blew over and would clear up for us. We were in luck! Driving up to the Storr was surreal. It had reached cold enough temperatures to snow and there was a light dusting scattered all over the mountains.
The sun was also out and shining! It was almost as if Mother Nature personally said “Kristy and Tanya please enjoy what I have created”. Again, we had barely run into anyone who was on the mountain exploring.
This hike honestly felt like we were on a different planet. The Storr shot up so high into the sky and the surrounding “daggers” were so jagged and detailed.
Nothing like getting outside, and enjoying nature with good company!
After our hike, we continued driving up the coast to Culnacnoc. There is a small walk you can take down the ocean from here. It looks residential but you can just walk down the dirt path and follow it all the way down to the coastline.
You will be met by a ton of sheep and beautiful rock cliffs budding up to the crashing ocean waves. This place is truly idyllic.
We continued driving up North and stopped at Kilt Rock Waterfall. It was so unexpected… My friend and I walked to the cliff edge not expecting anything too crazy and BOOM!
It was a crazy drop off and we continued to get sprayed by the crash of the water on the rocks below.
Day 8: Drove back to Aberdeen on the A890 Highway
We woke up early to get a head start on driving back to Aberdeen. We decided to take a different way back, opting for the more northern route back to Aberdeen. Just a little change of scenery.
The drive from Greshornish back to the airport took around 5.5 hours. This was one of the longest drives we made during the entire trip, but it was totally worth it!
Taking a new way back meant we were going to see new views! I love exploring new places and seeing how diverse certain areas are. I highly recommend taking this route back into civilization.
Happy winter traveling through Scotland!
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