Douglas Brothers, bespoke Scottish experiencesDOUGLAS BROTHERSBespoke Scottish Experiences

Planning Guide

Planning a trip to Scotland

How long you need, when to come, whether to drive yourself, and what to book before anything else. Written from here, not from a brochure.

Four Principles

What actually makes a trip work

Start with the region, not the list

Most first trips try to cover too much ground. Scotland looks small on a map, and the road network does not behave the way the distances suggest.

A better approach is to pick one or two regions and go deep. Edinburgh and Fife. The west coast and Skye. The Cairngorms and Speyside. A trip built around two bases will feel unhurried and see more than one built around six hotels.

Decide how you are getting around before anything else

This single decision shapes the whole itinerary. Self drive gives you freedom and costs less, but it means someone is on unfamiliar single track roads, on the left, often in rain, and not drinking at lunch.

A driver costs more and removes all of that. For groups of six or more it is frequently the better value once you account for multiple hire cars, and it is the difference between a distillery day being enjoyable and being logistics.

Book the fixed points first

Some things dictate the shape of a trip because they cannot move. Tee times at the best known courses. Ferry crossings to the islands in summer. A small number of restaurants and distillery tours worth planning around.

Everything else can be arranged after. Building the itinerary in the other order is why people end up driving four hours to make a booking they made too early.

Leave room in the days

The most common regret is a schedule with no space in it. Weather changes, roads are slower than expected, and the best parts of a trip to Scotland are usually unplanned: a view worth stopping for, a bar worth staying in, a walk that takes longer because it should.

An itinerary that is full is an itinerary that will break on the second day.

Common Questions

The questions we are asked most

How many days do you need in Scotland?
Seven to ten days is the realistic minimum for a first trip that takes in both a city and the Highlands. Five days works if you stay in one region. Under that you will spend most of the trip driving, which is the most common mistake people make when planning from abroad.
When is the best time to visit Scotland?
May, early June and September are the strongest months. You get long daylight, the landscape at its best, fewer visitors than July and August, and far fewer midges. July and August have the most reliable warmth but also the crowds, the highest prices and the worst of the midges.
What are midges and when are they a problem?
Midges are small biting insects found mainly in the west Highlands and islands. The season runs from late May to mid September and peaks in July and August. They need still, damp, overcast conditions, and they disappear in wind, rain and bright sun. They are a nuisance rather than a reason to avoid Scotland, and they are largely absent from cities and the east coast.
Do you need to hire a car in Scotland?
For the Highlands and islands you need a car or a driver, because public transport does not reach most of the places worth going. Within Edinburgh and Glasgow a car is a liability rather than an asset. Many groups take the train between cities and arrange a driver for the Highland section.
How long does it take to drive across Scotland?
Longer than the map suggests. Allow roughly three and a half hours from Edinburgh to Inverness, and five to six hours from Edinburgh to Skye. Highland roads are frequently single track with passing places, and average speeds are far lower than the distance implies. Planning three hours of driving as a maximum on any day you also want to do something else is a good rule.
How much daylight is there?
It varies enormously with the season. In midsummer the far north barely gets properly dark, which makes long days genuinely possible. In midwinter you have around seven hours of usable light, which constrains how much you can fit in.
Do you need to book golf tee times in advance?
Yes, and further ahead than most visitors expect. The best known courses book up many months out, and some allocate rounds by ballot rather than first come first served. Quieter courses are far more available and are often the round people enjoy most.
What is the weather actually like?
Changeable in every season, which matters more than temperature. Plan for the possibility of rain on any day of the year, bring layers, and build itineraries with indoor alternatives rather than fixed outdoor plans. Scotland is rarely extreme, but it is rarely predictable.

Or Skip The Planning

We can do all of this for you

Everything above is what we do for a living. Tell us what you want from your time in Scotland and we will build the trip around it, starting with a free 20-minute call.

Tell Us About Your TripGolf Trips