Hi guys, I am heading to Scotland for the first time and will do Airbnb at multiple places.
I am thinking of renting a car just because I want to be flexible also some hikes are strenuous so I don't want to be tired and wait of busses or cut short my hikes based on public transportation schedule.

This trip spans within from start to mid. Please advice me if this is doable and will weather be supportive to hike in these areas. Also do i have a carry any special type f bugs spray ( midge spray)?

This trip is around nature, mountains and scenery.

by Horseman_

40 comments

  3. Definitely need a car and it’s scotland expect bipolar weather sidewards winds and lots and lots of sudden rain

  4. man i thought this was r/mapporncirclejerk (post title something like “you can drive for 15 hours and still be in Scotland”) and was about to downvote.

    idk man. you haven’t given us any indication where you actually want to hike.

    will the weather be good? who fucking knows? probably not, but you know, you’ll just get rained on a bit. if that’s a dealbreaker don’t come.

    yes you need midge spray.

    also we ain’t big fans of airbnb in these parts. see if you can get a hotel/hostel instead.

  5. I forgot to add a crucial part. My trip is in first two weeks of September. Sorry I don’t see an option to edit the post

  6. All I’ve took from this is you walked the perfect outline of a snake

  7. I’ve recently read Landlines by Raynor Winn and though route knowledge is sparse, as is my own, 15 days seems suuuuuuper short. 15 days feels like you’re doing it to say you’ve done it rather than to appreciate Scotland.

  10. “I have a 15 hour drive in 15 days and I’ll do some hikes. Is this doable? Do I need midge spray?”

    Put some effort in mate.

  11. Not sure where you’re from, the temp in September should be idle though. 9°c to 15°C, it will be very wet most likely at various points, west tends to be wetter. Should be getting a good 13+ hours between sunrise and sunset. Takes a while to get dark dark though.
    Looks like an interesting route, hope you get the best of it and enjoy your time in Scotland

  12. Yes, it is possible to drive around Scotland and do some hikes over 15 days.

    You could do the Cape Wrath Trail and get back to an airport in 15 days if you’re competent/brave/unhinged enough, or you could split your trip up and do a mixture of shorter long distance and/or day hikes.

    r/OutdoorScotland might be a good place for actual hiking tips.

  13. The route is perfectly doable, in the sense that there’s roads (and a couple of ferries) there.  Edinburgh to Dingwall and Irvine to Edinburgh I’d even call them main roads.  Have you picked this route to target some chosen hikes/munros that you want to do? 

    Weather: it’ll definitely rain at some point, there’s no way to know in advance whether it’ll rain every day or just one afternoon.  Bring good hiking boots, Scottish mountains can be a real test underfoot depending where you are (the black cuillins on Skye love to shred soles).  Mountain rescue have to rescue experienced hikers every year because it looked like a fair weather day at the bottom: always check the MWIS, and be prepared to suddenly be in a cloud, freezing wet with little visibility (and patchy phone signal!)

    Midges are worse to the west, wind is your friend, a midge net to go over your head can be a lifesaver if the wind dies at the wrong time.

  14. I think it’s a fine route, depends on what your priorities are but IMHO two places worth missing others to spend more time in are the Cairngorms and Wester Ross/West Sutherland. If you like hills and you like quiet, those are some of the most special places we have. You might find the central belt very dull by comparison, but then again maybe not.

    As others have said I’d avoid using Airbnb where possible. Try and find places that are purpose-built for short-term accommodation or can accommodate lots of people (so you aren’t contributing to the market which is robbing locals of permanent housing, a horrific problem across the highlands).

    Only other main piece of advice is learn to drive single track, and pull over when someone is behind you. I like tourists but being stuck behind one going 20mph drives me absolutely mental.

  15. You should try to use B&B to help support local communities instead of Airbnb.

  19. Looks like a great trip I’d rent the car. Also, if you can, try to add some time in the outer Hebrides

  22. I like the Ardrossan/Brodick/Lochranza/Claonaig combo but you should stick to the A82 to Fort William taking you through Loch Lomond, Crianlarich, Tyndrum, Devils Staircase and Aonach Eagach and Glencoe.

  25. Imo you’re missing some of the best by not going further north. Assynt and torridon are fantastic. Sutherland is also great.

  26. Scotland is different from other countries. The extremes of weather can be challenging-never mind the terrain. Good luck, stay safe and mountain rescue can be got on 999 👍

  27. I read this wrong and thought you were wanting to hike this route over 15 days…

  28. I’m sorry but are you dumb? You think you can walk this in 15 days?

  29. Insane, IMO. Have driven NC500 and been recently to all other than Arran. The midges alone will make for misery. WAAAAY to much. Do so nice hikes on Isle of Skye or Glencoe or Cairngorms and call it good. This is so misinformed it seems a joke

  30. Given that you’re basically passing it already, you should definitely drive through the pass over into Applecross. One of the best roads on the planet.

  31. If coming around dingwall I’d recommend the 4 mile detour to fyrish monument

  32. Public transport? While reading my pocket hiking book recently we were looking at a hill walk much further south than you. The bus options were once weekly! You cannot rely on public transport for this trip.

  33. I never mentioned anything becoming suddenly available…
    Also, there are ‘locals’ who move into communities to buy multiple properties to profit from short-term lets. I know of one couple who now live on Bute, having relocated from South East England, and they bought four properties precisely for this purpose. These properties lay empty for most of the year.

  34. So you’ll drive an hour or so every day to a new location, then hike for a few hours, repeat till the end? Sounds ambitious but not impossible. 

  35. You can DM me, wife and I did a 12ish day visit in September 2023. Mostly hiking with some castles.

  37. Brodick to loch ranza
    Good luck with that. Spent a week at Lochranza yh doing my geology mapping. Yes midges. All the best. Time is no objectiv, The journey is.

  38. You should be fine, just make sure you have a good water proof wind-breaker, midge cream and blister treatment. A lot of these hikes are very hilly so don’t treat it as flat walking, consider it full days of hillwalking, It can be tough on your knees. You are travelling through some of the most scenic areas on the planet. It’ll be a blast.

  39. Am I the only one that thinks this route looks like E.T. sticking his tongue out?

  40. Please don’t use AirBnB. It is helping to make life much more difficult for us in remote and Highland communities. Please consider using guest houses, B&Bs instead. If you need recommendations for the West Highlands, I can help.

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