MY NO 1 DRIVING ROUTE TO SKYE

How to travel to Skye? How to see the best scenery? There are 4 wonderful driving routes to Skye from Glasgow and Edinburgh. Each of them warrants an overnight to break up the route.They are not simply roads to ‘get through’ to reach Skye, but an introduction to the magnificence of the Highlands and some of the most iconic sights in Scotland.

I’ve ranked them according to which I prefer for scenery and sights and therefore drive the most (we drive to Skye from Glasgow and back most  months.) For more on building a great trip to Scotland’s most fantastic scenery see AN EPIC 10 NIGHTS IN SCOTLAND (Map) and AN EPIC 10 NIGHTS IN SCOTLAND

My NO 1 ROUTE: Via the A82/87 taking in Loch Lomond, Glencoe, then Glen Shiel and the Skye Bridge.See below for details and photos.175 miles or 292km. 4hrs 30 approx to the Skye Bridge without stops.However, you will want to stop often! This is the map.

From Edinburgh the Skye Bridge route goes initially via Stirling and Callander and takes about an hour longer:

It would be around 45 mins extra driving from Edinburgh to go via Loch Lomond…

NO 2 route : A close second is up through Glencoe same as No 1 route but at Fort William take the Road to the Isles and the Mallaig – Armadale(Skye) ferry.See MY NO 2 DRIVING ROUTE TO SKYE

NO 3 route : Via the A9  past Stirling, Pitlochry, Dalwhinnie, then pick up NO 1 route at Spean Bridge and continue to Glen Shiel and the Skye Bridge.See MY NO 3 DRIVING ROUTE TO SKYE This route offers the best cafe and pretty village stops.

NO 4: Take No 1 route but at the end of Glenshiel, detour (signposted) to the tiny, community run Kylerhea ferry at Glenelg.OVER THE SEA TO SKYE: THE KYLERHEA FERRY ROUTE

MY NO 1 ROUTE *****

To me, definitely the one I’d recommend to anyone driving to the island for the first time. Over 175 miles of mostly incredible West Highland grandeur and passing some truly iconic Scottish landmarks.We drive this route most months, occasionally varying to enjoy No 2 route and less often, No 3. They each take the same time to reach Skye.

From Glasgow, this drive takes 4.5 hours (non stop) to the Skye Bridge but it’s easily double that with photo stops, sightseeing, detours, hikes, lunch etc.It really does offer so many ‘jaw drop’ moments and always looks different depending on time of year, time of day, weather etc.It’s a match for the more ‘famous’ NC500. Some of Scotland’s most iconic views are on this No 1 route!

From Edinburgh, this journey will take an additional 60 -75 mins at least.For the Edinburgh to Glencoe section see:EDINBURGH TO GLENCOE via THE TROSSACHS   and also EDINBURGH TO GLENCOE via LOCH LOMOND)

1.LOCH LOMOND

After around 40 minutes driving from Glasgow,  depending on traffic,  you emerge from the urban sprawl of the city, Paisley and Dumbarton and Loch Lomond’s sparkling blue water makes a welcome appearance. From now on, this No 1 route delivers wonderful Highland scenery round every corner.

Duck Bay Marina

A huge cafe/restaurant and hotel , signposted just past the Balloch roundabout at the turn off for 5 star Cameron House Hotel.Duck Bay is really handy for early breakfast/coffee and has a wide ranging food menu available all day (it’s a big operation so food quality is ok not ‘excellent.’ That said, I can be overly critical when it comes to food.) However,  excellent ice cream from the little van outlet they have beside the outdoor terrace.In fact, the outdoor terrace on a nice day has become my go to place for  tea and a scone or cake, with the loch lapping gently just metres away.It gives lovely views of the loch.I’ve even watched an Osprey hunting for fish while sipping my tea!

Luss Conservation village

Just a few mins drive further up the loch, Luss is a tiny, single street of stone cottages and farmland, right on the loch and well worth a stop. The Luss hills rear up behind the village, offering some great hiking.See my write up on enjoying the  Best of Loch Lomond if time allows THE BEST OF LOCH LOMOND

There is a narrow strip of pebbly beach at Luss with lots of ducks which tend to amuse young children.Lovely gift shop on the corner of the village with really high quality items.Also a quirky wee shop beside the beach.Play park at village edge.The beach in winter…

There is also the Faerie Trail for children.Park behind the Loch Lomond Arms Hotel.More info on the trail and the village in general here:

https://www.lochlomondfaerietrail.com

Boat trips leave from the pier in summer.The Coachhouse Coffee Shop is excellent and in a very pretty building.Great home made soup, huge portions of quality bread  and some decent cakes.

The scones are enormous – one between two is more than enough! Ask for it heated.Their homemade meringue with raspberries and cream is sublime and again, one portion is easily enough for two people.Their shop sells nice things too.The Coffee Shop in photo below…

Luss from the pier in winter…

For one or two days around this area see THE BEST OF LOCH LOMOND

With just one day or several hours, consider:

A short boat trip from Tarbet

Beautiful little trip of 1-2 hrs letting you see the best of the loch (its northern end) and giving mountain views not possible from the busy, tree-lined main road.I did it recently on a rubbish weather day and it was still stunning.It’s so nice too sometimes to just get out of the car, enjoy being on the water and relax from all the rushing about.Book in advance in peak season.I’d recommend the Inversnaid Explorer cruise – https://www.cruiselochlomond.co.uk/cruise/inversnaid-explorer

This gives you some time ashore at the very pretty spot that is Inversnaid (in the photo above, just a hotel there, waterfalls and little trails to follow to viewpoints.Delightful!) Picnic tables too so you can bring your own food.Some photos of a trip I did over to Inversnaid in summer…the hotel and little jetty the boat docks at…

Looking across to the mountains from the top of the short (steep woodland path) Viewpoint trail.15 mins to the top approx.

Looking across to Tarbet with Beinn Vorlich rearing up behind the tiny village…

The loch’s colours change so much in autumn…my favourite time for colours and light.

Walking

Beinn Dubh above Luss is a tough wee hill walk of 2- 4 hours.Outlined in more detail in  THE BEST OF LOCH LOMOND

The two photos above are from the summit of this little mountain which takes us about 75 mins to ascend. It’s a grassy path but a steep slog!

You can also simply walk up part of this grassy hill to a little transmitter tower which still gives fantastic views over the village and the loch.

The walk starts from Luss village; go up the path beside the Primary School, then cross the bridge over the A82 and hill access is through a gate , straight ahead and past a large house.

Conic Hill is much smaller, a good family walk, at the other side of the loch, accessed via a longish detour via Balloch and Drymen to Balmaha. Car park there, gets busy. Great views from the top and a good path.

Firkin Point (photo below) – good parking and an easy flat stroll using the old loch road, tarmac surface, pedestrians and cyclists only. As far as you want up to 3 miles. Quite wooded but some access to the loch’s stony shores.

The A82 beyond Tarbet is a narrow, winding, twisting road used by coaches, lorries, campervans and of course, these are usually met at a tight corner! This section only lasts less than 20 mins and the road improves vastly and becomes quite fast again, once past the Drover’s Inn (very old, quite famous Inn – worth a look inside!)

Falls of Falloch

Beautiful waterfall with a tiny car park, signposted off the A82 a few mins drive beyond the Drover’s Inn.It’s difficult to park and cars have increasingly been (unsafely) parking on the grass verge of the main road.Police are trying to stop this.From the car park, a path leads to a purpose – built viewing area over a deep pool and the impressive waterfall.The pool is known as Rob Roy’s Bathtub, as this famous Scottish hero would have driven cattle along this route in the 17th century.He was a ‘drover’, a cattle mover on foot, steering herds to market. Hence the Inn’s name too.

2. TYNDRUM/ BRIDGE OF ORCHY 

Tyndrum’s Green Welly cafe, shops and huge parking area goes like a fair all year round. Nice toilets with ‘Arran Aromatics’ Hand Wash – posh stuff.Breakfast, filled rolls, cakes (not very home-made looking) and gift/outdoor shop.https://www.thegreenwellystop.co.uk

Fuel available here too.

Opposite lies the Real Food Cafe , to me a glorified fish and chip shop with cakes which are no better in quality than the Green Welly) but it has a fire going in winter which is nice.I’ve never rated it particularly but it has its fans.Carry out tea/coffee outlet too if in a rush.

Beyond Tyndrum, the first view of the pyramid of Beinn Dorain looms over 3,000 feet above the roadside.

3. LOCH TULLA and RANNOCH MOOR

A fine section now, as the road passes wild Loch Tulla and climbs up towards Rannoch Moor.I love this section (a phrase I know I keep repeating  – so many great sections!)

The view over lonely Lochan na h’ Achlaise is one of my favourites,  but it’s difficult to pull over easily here. This area is a favourite haunt of photographers.On the opposite side of the Black Mount range, Rannoch Moor itself is flat and studded with lochans, a wild and lonely place of great beauty.

Soon,  the first view of Buachaille Etive Mor looms, translated from the Gaelic as the Great Shepherd of Etive. This is one of Scotland’s most iconic mountains, a rock pyramid of over 3,000 feet , standing sentinel at the entrance to Glencoe, with its tragic history of betrayal and massacre.

3.GLENCOE

Sensational. No matter how often we travel through it, it just takes our breath away. Best of all is to walk/hike its glens and hills.Otherwise, there are several small parking areas for getting out to stand and admire and take in the grandeur of it all.

Beyond The Buachaille, the road dips down into the heart of the glen itself. For more on Glencoe which , if you love the Great Outdoors, really deserves an overnight see THE BEST OF GLENCOE

A photo taken in mid-winter showing the incredible difference in colour compared to summer greens. I think the Highlands are at their most colourful in autumn/ winter, but really, all year round they are magnificent.

Just when you think you are leaving it all behind, lovely Loch Achtriochtan appears, great for photos.Good parking.The Clachaig Inn is now signposted, two minutes drive away, in a superb location and good for a coffee or lunch stop.Very well known climbers/walkers pub.

Walks in and around Glencoe

The Lost Valley hike is very popular. About 2 hours.See walkhighlands website for details: https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/fortwilliam/lostvalley.shtml

My own favourite (for a shortish 2 hour walk) is up the Devil’s Staircase, part of the West Highland Way.It requires a slog uphill on a good path from Altnafeidh and you’ll need boots and waterproofs  – for details see   Kinloch Lodge, Skye and a hike in Glencoe

It’s also possible to continue on from the top of the Staircase section and carry on to my favourite viewpoint of Stob Mhic Mhartuinn.

The hike above is on a good path, part of the West Highland Way and takes you up to the top of the Devil’s Staircase(benign, big open moorland.) Views are truly fantastic from the first footstep.Go on to Stob Mhic Mhartuinn only if energy and time allows and beware that the path is now very eroded and boggy..Even better views but another 25 mins or so.

For a full hill walk of about 4-5 hours : GLENCOE’S BUACHAILLE ETIVE BEAG

This is easier and shorter than Buachaille Etive Mor and has an excellent path all the way up to its small summit.Fab views.

Or look at the Pap of Glencoe – 4 hours and a steep, tough slog at the end of the glen – The Pap of Glencoe

GLEN ETIVE

If you can detour here, you should. This is a superb glen down a single track road off the main A82 just before Glencoe itself.Much quieter given the lack of traffic. A great place for a picnic stop on a nice day, down by the rushing river or the small lochan beyond the big country pile at Dalness. The road winds and twists for 10 miles to Loch Etive itself but there’s no need to go all the way down.This was the glen used in the Bond movie, Skyfall.

BALLACHULISH BRIDGE

Some wonderful views now open up of Morvern and Ardgour, really beautiful hills rising out of the big sea loch of Loch Linnhe. Well seen from the Holly Tree hotel,  Appin which is nice for a coffee or lunch stop given its location and only a 10 min detour.

FORT WILLIAM

Fort William is a busy wee place though not an attractive town. Good for petrol, supermarket supplies (Morrisons, Lidl) train and bus station. Tons of B&Bs, some fairly cheap. Not where I’d base, too urban and semi-industrialised but some folk like it for a night. Look out for views of dome-like Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain at 4,400 feet or 1345m.It looks higher because it rises directly from sea level, as so many Scottish mountains do.

The Highland Bookshop is a really lovely bookshop with a second hand section too(like catnip to me.)

Once through the town, there is a relatively new selection of supermarkets including Marks and Spencer(excellent) and Aldi(good budget option.)

Also look out for the sign for the Highland Soap Cafe and shop.This is the best cafe stop on this route.Beautiful shop, good food in a very attractive interior, some outdoor seating and mountain views.Right beside the impressive ruins of old Inverlochy Castle.

COMMANDO MEMORIAL, SPEAN BRIDGE

Impressive memorial to Allied troops of WW2 and specifically the Commandos who trained in this area. If clear, there are superb views to the Mamores mountain range and sometimes, Ben Nevis.

LOCH LOCHY

A lovely, under-rated loch which I so often think –  ‘wow’  –  but there have been so many breathtaking moments on this drive so far, it simply becomes another one!

LOCH OICH

Very pretty and best seen from the excellent Glengarry Castle Hotel, preferably after enjoying some of their cream scones and home made cakes; this is a eally nice stop in a traditional old castle.The hotel has a large semi-wild garden which leads down to the loch and a jetty.One October, during the Red Deer rut, we stood at this spot transfixed,  listening to a stag roaring, guarding his harem (or looking for one) as he paced the mountainside on the other side of the loch’s deep dark waters.

LOCH GARRY

I love this loch. It’s wild, almost no habitation, big empty mountain country all around.The ‘official’ signposted Glen Garry viewpoint is very overgrown now with conifer trees so the famous view is now gone.But thankfully, a few minutes further on is a small rough pull in for two cars, easily missed,  which gives a clearer view across to the mountainous wilds of Knoydart. To me, Loch Garry is where the North West Highlands truly begins – the first glimpse of country which is more rugged, emptier, wilder, less populated than what has gone before (though that is hardly heavily populated either.)

LOCH CLUANIE

Another favourite, though it is actually a reservoir but it’s a fine stretch of wild water with empty hills all around. Some truly sublime views.Just beautiful.There are some classic Scottish hillwalking routes in this area and neighbouring Glen Shiel.

Often sizeable herds of red deer around this area making driving this road at night dodgy – watch for them leaping across the road out of nowhere.

The Landour Bakery is a useful stop for carry out or sit in tea/coffee and they have a decent selection of pastries and bakes.However, they do get mixed reviews.

GLEN SHIEL

An amazing glen of wild mountains: look out for the pyramid shape of The Whelk and also The Saddle, big peaks which loom sharply ahead as you descend towards Loch Duart, a sea loch. There are often wild goats grazing by the main road at the bottom of the glen.

There are some amazing views back towards Glen Shiel just before Eilean Donan castle.

EILEAN DONAN CASTLE

Iconic and absolutely beautiful.Interior tour isn’t really worth it but a stroll around the outside certainly is.Don’t miss the War Memorial, inscribed with the deeply poignant and moving extract from the famous World War 1 poem,’ In Flanders Fields’ :-

Written in 1915 by Liet-Colonel John McCrae after the Battle of Ypres.Just beyond the castle and bridge, there is a small road to the left which offers parking and great views back to Eilean Donan.

THE SKYE BRIDGE

‘Speed bonny boat, like a bird on the wing…….’

Well, there isn’t a boat now to take you across, but even better, there is a graceful sweeping arc of a bridge just ten minutes drive beyond the castle. If clear, the first views of Skye from the bridge, with its shapely mountains rearing up from the  wild, wave whipped sea,  really make this, to me, the best way to arrive on the island.Basically, you have now arrived on the Isle of Skye!

For another detour option to Skye after Glen Shiel see:OVER THE SEA TO SKYE: THE KYLERHEA FERRY ROUTE

For the route to Skye via the Mallaig  – Armadale ferry: MY NO 2 DRIVING ROUTE TO SKYE

For more on what I would recommend with 2 days on Skye :THE BEST OF SKYE and for walks on Skye see MY FAVOURITE SKYE WALKS

For alternative, amazing areas that I’d recommend adding to any trip see Torridon Favourites