Driving down the West Coast of Scotland – Glencoe, Oban, Skye and the Harry Potter Bridge

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
9
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
7
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
7
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
7
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
7
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
8
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
77 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
71st/454
Top 20%
continent
Europe
country
UK
Length of time
3-4 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$160 ($250-$550 in 2017 prices)
Time of year visited
December
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Castles / Fortresses Distilleries Driving
All Tags
Cliffs Forests Hiking Islands Lakes Local villages Mountains Waterfalls
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐
Summary

The west coast of Scotland is stunning – right up there with the likes of the fjords of Patagonian, Alaska, New Zealand and Norway . . . and with the added advantage of castles and whiskey.  As an Englishman, I’d travelled far and wide to see great sites around the world and didn’t realise that one of the most impressive was, comparatively, on my doorstep.  Stunning and one of the 2 standout highlights of the UK alongside London (see London’s top 10 in summer).

There are various routes to take, but I suggest the sweet spot is the driving route from Oban and up to the Isle of Skye.  Plenty of highlights to keep you busy for 3-4 days.

 

Dog in foreground and Castle Stalker in background, west coast of Scotland

 

Top tip #1 – you must drive.  Whilst you could I suppose make your way by public transport, you would miss out on the real highlight which is being able to stop for 5mins in the various stops along the coast to gorp at the magnificent views, and it would take you overall just a lot longer as public transport in these parts is quite limited.  The driving is very much part of this experience

Top tip #2 – even if you don’t like whiskey, the learning about how it is made, the history and the different tastes to look out for in each dram is a very Scottish, and very much fun experience.  The distilleries of Talisker and Oban are some of the most famous is Scotland and give you that great taste of the art that is whiskey making

Top tip #3 – you can do this trip all year round.  I’ve visited 3 times in winter and found the atmosphere at this time or year, with the far fewer tourists, magical.  Of course, summer is also great as the hikes are more enjoyable

Highlights
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#1 Driving through the beautiful glens, lochs and mountains in the curvy roads that hug this western edge of the Scottish Coast

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#2 The morning hike up to the spectacular rocky outcrop of the Old Man of Storr on the Isle of Skye

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#3 The wonderfully set Eilean Castle, nestled by the entrance to Loch Long

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#4 The Glenfinnan Viaduct aka the Harry Potter Bridge

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#5 The sensation views out across the super long Loch Shiel by Glenfinnan

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#6 Learning about the art of single malt whiskey making from the masters at the Talisker and Oban distilleries

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#7 Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls that cascade sharply from the edge of the Isle Skye into the sea

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#8 Taking one of the ferries across from the mainland to the Isle of Sky with its dramatic snow capped mountains in the distance

Itinerary

 

The whole trip is actually quite short at less than 200 miles / 320km, so super manageable for 3-4 days.

 

  • Day 1 – start off in the waterfront town of Oban to learn how they make the local whiskey at the wonderful Oban whiskey distillery.  Have an early lunch and then have the afternoon to drive the 1.5 hours along the coastline to see the beautifully set Castle Stalker sitting on its island in Loch Linnhe and Glencoe, Scotland’s most grad and famous glen.  Spend the evening near Fort William

OPTIONAL EXTRA – if a nice day, give yourself and extra day to climb (or take the chair lift) to the top of Ben Nevis, the UK’s tallest point at 1345m/4410ft

  • Day 2 – drive up to the spellbinding Glenfinnan viaduct, the inspiration and setting for the Harry Potter train ride, but also with sensational views across nearby Loch Shiel, and then on to the ferry port of Mallaig to take one of the regular car ferries over to Armadale on the Isle of Sky.  Spend the afternoon checking out the highlights of central and western Skye – the Fairypools for their pretty emergence all the way along the valley; the Talisker Distillery, the only distillery on Skye; and Dunvegal Castle and the Neist Point Lighthouse in the far west.  Spend the evening in the super pretty town of Portree
  • Day 3 – start early for the 2 hour hike up to the spectacular rocky outcrop of the Old Man of Storr (famous site for, amongst other things, the start of the movie Prometheus) and to drive to see the Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls that cascade sharply from the edge of Skye into the sea.  Have lunch in Staffin and then head away from the island of Skye to leave via the Skye bridge and finish at the wonderful setting of Eilean Castle that is at the entrance to Loch Long

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

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Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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