July 19th

We’re back in the car and headed north on our Scotland road trip! This time we had no problems renting our cute little Mini Cooper from Sixt, the same company we used for our Ireland road trip. It took us about 15 minutes to get everything settled and then we set off towards Glen Coe.

We drove the A82 route which was littered with some of the most spectacular views I’ve ever seen. Green grass, rocky mountains, cliffs, and more, this place is what dreams are made of.

We checked into the first and only hotel we stayed in while on our two month trip and then set out for an early dinner at Glencoe Cafe where we had delicious soups and paninis.

Where we stayed: The Ballachulish Hotel. It was nice enough and the main reason we stayed here is because we waited too late to book a place in Glen Coe and we couldn’t find any available. Our reservation came with a hearty Scottish breakfast and it was delicious.

July 20th

Today we set out to a hike out to the Lost Valley in Glen Coe. Unfortunately, I accidentally took us the wrong way and we ended up doing a completely different hike. It was quite strenuous as it was up the side of one of the Three Sister Mountains, where we had to scramble a few times and cross a waterfall, but the scenery was stunning.

After our hike we went to Crafts and Things for a scone with cream and jam and some tea.

The sun was coming out so we decided to head back out for a different walk to Signal Rock and An Torr. This was a much easier walk except that it was very boggy and muddy. Also, a lot of the trees in this area were being cut down, so that took away from the views.

We went back to the Glencoe Cafe for another early and delicious dinner before heading back to our hotel.

Where we stayed: The Ballachulish Hotel.

July 21st

Today we took off in our lil Mini Cooper towards the Isle of Skye! Here’s some scenery along the way.

We also saw some Highland Cows along the way!

This drive took us quite awhile (according to Google Maps—3 hours and 12 minutes) but with stopping all along the way to take pictures, it was more like 5 hours.

Where we stayed: A beautiful place we found on Booking.com called the Old Greenhouse in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye. We loved this place!

July 22nd

Unfortunately, it rained pretty much the entire time we were on the Isle of Skye, which was obviously very disappointing as Skye has so many different outdoor things to see and do. We weren’t able to do the hikes we had planned, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying our time here. After a nice lie-in, we got in our trusty Coop, and drove up towards Quiraing, which is a hikers paradise sporting some of the most spectacular views on Skye. We didn’t get a close up view like we would have if we were able to hike, but we did drive through some seriously stunning views.

We kept driving and stopped at Kilt Rock (named because it resembles a Kilt). It was super windy up top and quite crowded but we were able to take a few photos.

Where we stayed: The same Old Greenhouse in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye

July 23rd

I’d love to say that we were able to do something stunning today on the Isle of Skye, but that just wasn’t the case. It was gusting with winds and rains, so we decided to head out and take on the next part of our road trip, which also happens to be the longest drive. Google Maps said it would take us 6 hours and 19 minutes, but it really ended up taking us over 9 hours! We did a lot of stopping along the way, plus Michael had to drive the hardest stretch of road during this trip. The majority of the road we drove today was only one lane, so every few minutes we came to a passing vehicle where we had to pull over to let them pass. This is really interesting but it does get old pretty fast and it adds quite a lot of time to your driving time.

A little about The North Coast 500: Affectionately known as the NC500, this scenic route stretches for over 500 miles along the Northern Coast of Scotland. We didn’t know much about this route until we where actually in Scotland and did some research but we decided that this would be the route we took for our road trip. The route is pretty easy to drive with long stretches of time in the car. The roads weren’t terribly busy and the farther up north we got, the less people we saw. While there were still tourists up in the north, the miles and miles of fields filled with sheep, cattle, and horses, made us feel like we were the only ones exploring this part of the world.

Compared to our Ireland road trip, we spent some pretty good chunks of time just driving through the stunning scenery of the Scottish Highlands. This was, without a doubt, one of the best parts of our trip.

After leaving the Isle of Skye, we picked up the NC500 starting with Bealach na Ba and continued around clockwise. Bealach na Ba road is a windy and twisty one lane road on the Applecross Peninsula which rises to a height of 2,053ft. This was easily one of the coolest (read: stressful) parts of our road trip as it was very exciting to twist and turn around hairpin bends, not knowing if you were going to meet a car coming the opposite way!

We also met some friends at the end of the road!

We continued driving, taking in even more stunning scenery through the windy hills, along the coast, and through the forests all on our way to Ullapool, running into many friendly sheep along the way!

Where we stayed: We, thankfully, anticipated that this drive would take us quite awhile, so we booked a one-night stay in Ullapool in a cozy AirBnB.

Keep your eyes open for the second part of our Road Tripping Scotland series!

Safe travels,

Emily