Driving tour of Scotland

One way of looking at Scotland is to think of it as divided in two parts: the first is the Highlands whereas the second is known as the Lowlands and contains the industrial heartland. Traditionally the Highlanders spoke Gaelic while the Lowlanders spoke Scots. The "central belt" cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh house the vast majority of Scotland's population. They're worth a visit for their culture, architecture and history. Heading up into the Highlands there are relatively few people, small villages, just the occasional town, and great sights to enjoy.

See also: Scotland#Get in

This itinerary starts in Glasgow, so the directions below are for this city, however, you could start anywhere along the journey, so see the individual Wikivoyage guides for these places for information on how to get there.

• From 🌍 Glasgow head north-west up the A82 towards Fort William, along the side of 🌍 Loch Lomond. At the visitor centre at 🌍 Balloch admire the view down the loch. Stop at 🌍 Luss, a small honeypot village with a pleasant pier you can walk out over.
• At Tarbet, slow down and take the sharp right-hand turn to continue North on the A82. If you continue round with the current road, you will be on the A83. The road from here to Ardlui is extremely winding, narrow in places and often hangs out over the loch so be cautious.
• At 🌍 Inveruglas, just after the hydro-electric pipelines, park up for more loch views.

• Just beyond 🌍 Crianlarich, at 🌍 Tyndrum stop and try your hand at gold panning. Tyndrum is an excellent place to stop off and get a coffee, something to eat and to go to the toilet.

• After 🌍 Bridge of Orchy, the A82 heads out across 🌍 Rannoch Moor, one of western Europe's largest remaining wilderness. Barren, spectacular landscapes!
• Just before Glencoe, you can take a left into Glen Etive - famous for its portrayal in many films and TV series. This road is single-track, so continue on past to Glencoe if you don't feel comfortable with single-track road.

• The road descends into 🌍 Glencoe. Admire the waterfalls at the Meeting of Three Waters. Admire the stone bridges on General Wade's military road. And more than all of these, admire the skyline above - a line of mountains to the left, and to the right the snaky spine of the Aonach Eagach ridge. Finally, at the bottom of the glen, stop and look out across the loch at mist-covered islets.

• From 🌍 Fort William you can climb 🌍 Ben Nevis, the highest peak in the UK.

• Take the Road to the Isles, the A830, to the 🌍 Glenfinnan Monument - an atmospheric spot at sunset. Optionally carry on to 🌍 Arisaig (interesting museum), view the 🌍 White Sands of Morar, or visit the port at 🌍 Mallaig, with options to continue on ferries to the islands, including the 🌍 Small Isles.

• Backtrack to the A82 and take the A87 to 🌍 Kyle of Lochalsh. Cross the bridge to the 🌍 Isle of Skye for a tour of the island.

• Head north to 🌍 Torridon and walk some of the fine mountain paths here.

• Head north via 🌍 Gairloch and 🌍 Poolewe, maybe stop off at Poolewe Gardens. This coast enjoys warms waters from the gulf stream, and on a sunny day the beaches seem tropical. Ullapool is a small pocket of civilisation in this wilderness.

• Keeping on northwards along the coast there's a spectacular landscape of mountains rising from a rumpled blanket of ground - evocative names like Suilven and Stac Polly. See bananas growing in northern Scotland at the Hydroponicum at 🌍 Achiltibuie.

• Return south and eastwards along the A835 toward the highland capital of Inverness. Perhaps stop in on the Victorian spa resort of 🌍 Strathpeffer for a break to enjoy the architecture.

• 🌍 Muir of Ord, on the Black Isle (so named for its peaty soil) offers excellent (and free) distillery tours.

• In 🌍 Inverness, walk along the mighty river Ness, cross the pedestrian suspension bridges, stroll by the cathedral.

• Drive east along the A96 to visit Moray. The sheltered waters of the 🌍 Moray Firth offer dolphin spotting boat trips, or visit the 🌍 Findhorn Foundation - an eco-community complete with houses built from recycled whisky barrels and a hobbit-hole meditation room built into the ground. At the market town of 🌍 Elgin see the statue of the Wolf of Badenoch.

• Head south along the route of the River Spey into the depths of 🌍 Speyside. Stop at 🌍 Craigellachie for a drink in the hotel's whisky room, then on to 🌍 Dufftown for a free tour of the 🌍 Glenfiddich Distillery or the 🌍 Speyside Cooperage.

• Continuing south the placenames read like labels in a whisky cabinet - 🌍 Glenlivet, 🌍 Tomnavoulin, 🌍 Knockando, 🌍 Tomintoul.

• Down again from the hills and you're at 🌍 Balmoral Castle near 🌍 Braemar. Take a castle tour. Or time your visit right and visit the Braemar Highland Gathering in early September.

• Optionally, head down the Glen Muick road from 🌍 Ballater and take a walk through the Balmoral Estate to the summit of 🌍 Lochnagar. (Remember Prince Charles' book "The Old Man of Lochnagar"?) Anyway, this is a fine Munro to climb - much more rewarding than nasty old Ben Nevis. An easy ascent via estate track and good path leads you to a dip in the C-shaped summit ridge, giving fine views across the Grampians.

• Drive south through the 🌍 Spittal of Glenshee pass, to 🌍 Blairgowrie.

• Optionally detour to 🌍 Glamis Castle (pronounced "Glaams"), childhood home of the Queen Mother and a great castle to tour. Returning back onto the A93 you pass the 🌍 Meikleour Beech Hedge, the tallest row of trees in Britain.

• From 🌍 Perth continue down the A9 to 🌍 Stirling - turn off beforehand into 🌍 Bridge of Allan and visit the 🌍 Wallace Monument, a grand memorial to William Wallace. (And learn how inaccurate Braveheart really was!)

• Visit 🌍 Edinburgh, Scotland's capital. Take a walk up 🌍 Calton Hill to view the city, see the 🌍 Old Town around the 🌍 Grassmarket (try the eerie pubs) and the 🌍 New Town just to the north of 🌍 Princes' Street - together a World Heritage Site, or walk up 🌍 Arthur's Seat - an extinct volcano and now a public park.

• Finally, an hour's drive back to 🌍 Glasgow, renowned as the second city of the British Empire, and use any spare time enjoying this city's architectural sights. See some Charles Rennie Mackintosh buildings - 🌍 House For An Art Lover, 🌍 Glasgow School of Art, or the 🌍 Hill House at 🌍 Helensburgh are a good starting place. For some Victorian splendour visit the free museum at the 🌍 People's Palace at 🌍 Glasgow Green, or take in the free museums at 🌍 Kelvingrove.

• North Coast 500

Other than basic precautions like locking your car and not leaving items in view, the Scottish Highlands are safe and friendly.