My Itinerary: Edinburgh to The Scottish Highlands

The best way to get to the Scottish Highlands is to fly to one of the Scottish cities and drive to the highlands. One of the quickest ways would be to fly to Inverness or Aberdeen and then drive down. However following my itinerary, Edinburgh to the Scottish Highlands was our preferred route. It was perfect for us as we got to revisit a city that we love so much.

The Scottish highlands is a popular location to visit. It is of the most beautiful areas in the world and a visit there will leave you in awe. There are a lot of routes to the highlands and it took me sometime to figure ours out. We wanted it quite relaxed with meaningful pit stops; knowing it is impossible to see everything on one trip.

So let us get into my itinerary: Edinburgh to the Scottish Highlands. This post covers our exact 5-day itinerary in the Scottish Highlands.

Disclaimer – There will be some Outlander references just because that was a major inspo for this trip.

Day 1 – London to Edinburgh

We flew from London to Edinburgh on British Airways. This was our first flight since March 2020 so it was exciting. We arrived Edinburgh, checked into our hotel and I had the longest nap. One of the greatest things about our travel was the weather. We had blue skies the whole week, which made the trip 10000x more fun. Not to waste the whole day, we explored some familiar spots and hunted new ones too. Princes Street Gardens was charming as always with the roses in full bloom and Dean Village was a lovely new find.

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Day 2 – Edinburgh to The Scottish Highlands

Now this is where the adventure began. I had no mapped out route and was so disorganised with this part of the trip lol. In my mind, we were going from Edinburgh to Glencoe and there was not going to be any stops. Of course, I was wrong. It would not be Bugo if we did not stop at unplanned spots.

Since I had researched the possible routes, driving on the A82 via Callander seemed to be the quickest so that was what we decided to do.

In this part, I will take you through all my stops in my itinerary: Edinburgh to the Scottish Highlands

Doune Castle

For my Outlander fans, Doune Castle might not make much sense but if I said “Castle Leoch”, you would smile in excitement. Castle Leoch was home to the Mackenzie Clan and in the series; we got to meet them in the first season. This was not a stop I ever imagined I would see on this trip but as we were driving, I saw the sign “This way to Doune Castle”. This is where I will tell you that if you are ever driving this route, you need to stay awake, thank me later.

Back to the sign. I knew we had to follow it. We did and it led us to this medieval castle built in the 1400s located in Stirling, just before Dunblane. My goodness, I was overcome with happiness and excitement as I immediately recognised Castle Leoch. It was closed for the period we visited due to maintenance; but I was fine to just look at it from where I stood. It still blows my mind that a castle built in the 1400s stands quite solid in 2021.

Dunblane is another interesting stop and is marked in history due to the Dunblane School Massacre.

It is also where Andy Murray, tennis champion is from so it is definitely worth a stop. However, we did not stop there.

Callander

Callander is a popular tourist stop enroute the highlands. I believe this is where you start to see that you are in the highlands or at least, approaching the highlands. Anywhere before Callander gives off city vibes. But once you are in Callander, you start to feel more countryside with the dramatic cliffs in the distance. It is steeped in history and the most popular reason for stops is to see the Bracklinn Falls Bridge and Callander Crags.

Loch Lubnaig

Loch Lubnaig is a part of Loch Lomond and was my first loch to deep my feet in. It was so beautiful and I’m glad we stopped. As with most stops, I saw the sign, recognised the name and we checked it out. After we left Loch Lubnaig, we decided no more stops until Glencoe. We passed through Strathyre and then I saw my first ever viaduct.

Glen Ogle Viaduct

The great thing about travelling on the A82 is all what you see on the road. The Glen Ogle viaduct is a blink and you miss it one. I just knew it was enroute but had no idea where exactly so I stayed awake and had my eyes on the road. It is a disused viaduct in Lochearnhead and is now a popular walking trail. The viaduct was built around 1870 and remains intact.

For those who are interested in a more popular and in-use viaduct, head to Fort William to see the Glenfinnan viaduct. Harry Potter fans will already know this lol!

And then, there was Glencoe. We settle into our beautiful woodland cabin knowing that the next day was going to be a full day of exploration.

Day 3 – Explore Glencoe

Staying in Glencoe was the highlight in my itinerary. Edinburgh to the Scottish highlands is a fantastic route via Callander. In all honesty, anywhere on the route is perfect for an overnight stay. However, I wanted somewhere that was easy and equally breathtaking. I also realised Glencoe might have been one of the pricier locations for an overnight stay so this is something to keep in mind.

We made pit stops in Loch Leven and Loch Leven Seafood café. If you are in the highlands, seafood is a MUST. The langoustines are like no other in the UK and we had our fill when we were in Glencoe. I literally ordered a side of langoustines with every meal.

For incredible sites, Three Sisters of Glencoe, Buachaille Etive Mor, Lagangarbh hut are some of the most unbelievable sites we visited. We headed into the village to check out the Glencoe Massacre Memorial and of course, Glencoe Café.

For the most beautiful and intimate moment, it was Glen Etive, where we found a little river that we had all to ourselves for a few hours of chill.

We ventured into Fort William and stopped at Loch Linnhe, which was possibly the prettiest loch we visited.

I have written all about our Glencoe stay and gone much more in depth. Glencoe is actually “small but mighty” – there is a lot to see in and around so it’s a fantastic base in the highlands.

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This is where we branch deeper into Outlander fandom so if that is not your thing, skip to Day 5.

Day 4 – The Scottish Highlands to Edinburgh

By day 4, it was time to round up our trip and head back to Edinburgh. However, I was just getting started with my Outlander tour. I really am not sure what I expected to see and did not plan anything in particular. However, I knew that on the drive back, just before Edinburgh was South Queensferry. I had already read that some major Outlander locations were there, had no idea if they were open or even allowing visitors, but we decided to try our luck.

Hopetoun House

The first place we visited was Hopetoun House; not the easiest to find but well worth it in the end. Hopetoun House is a country house, built in 1699 and is privately owned by the Hope family. The grounds are ginormous and it is no wonder a lot of scenes were filmed there. Its front door was the Earl of Ellesmere’s home and on its grounds, Jamie and Black Jack fought their duel.

The interiors were used also used as the Duke of Sandringham’s “red room” and one of its rooms was where Mary Hawkins recovered from her attack. The Paris street scenes were also filmed in the back and it is also where Jamie teaches Willie to ride. Hopetoun House is really an Outlander fan’s dream and it is worth visiting. Next time I’m in Edinburgh, I’ll go back to take it in more slowly as we were already tired by the time we got there.

Midhope Castle

Midhope Castle brought tears to my eyes. It was Midhope Castle that was used as Lallybroch, home to Jamie. Who can forget when Claire comes back from the stones and tells Jamie “take me home to Lallybroch” *cue the tears*

That scene lives rent free in my head and is one of my favourite scenes in the series. Midhope castle is a 16th century derelict castle, situated on Hopetoun estate. Even though it is on the same estate as Hopetoun house, it is a different entry, which meant another payment lol. It was only £4 to go in but I thought it was quite cheeky of them to separate the cost from Hopetoun House’s cost.

There is not much to see on the Midhope Castle grounds, as it is not a functional building. However, it is very nostalgic. Much of the front was used in filming, the arch that you see from a distance and even the stairs that led into the house. Is it worth the £4? Absolutely! Even though there is so much more to see in Hopetoun House, Midhope Castle was my favourite Outlander location I visited. I cannot explain the feeling that comes with walking up the path to the castle; it is just incredible.

By the time we had seen Midhope Castle, it was raining and it was time to head to Edinburgh. Typical that it had to rain lol, I can’t complain anyway, we had the best weather until it was time to go back to Edinburgh. We were SO tired and I just knew we were going straight to bed as soon as we checked in.

Day 5 – Edinburgh to London

Our flight from Edinburgh to London was at 1pm so after breakfast, we called an uber and it was bye bye Edinburgh. Bye Bye Scotland.

My Itinerary: Edinburgh to The Scottish Highlands

We really enjoyed following this route and totally recommend it. I wish we had explored Inverness because I’d love to visit Culloden. Also, I would have loved to visit more Outlander filming locations. However, I was very keen not to do too much on this trip. The last thing we wanted was to get back to London feeling like we needed another holiday. I have decided to have another Scottish trip dedicated to Outlander filming locations with my best friend, since she introduced me to the show. Whenever that is, I will tell you all about it.

Bisous, ‘Bugo x