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Stunning Photos: Scotland Road Trip

Scotland road trip through nonstop beauty from the first kilometer to the last. Discover mysterious lochs, crumbling castles, and playful sheep!


Who wouldn’t want to go on a Scotland road trip? There’s so much more to this amazing country than just Edinburgh and Glascow. Beautiful vistas await you at every turn, over every hill. You’ll be driving along the rugged coast, or a mysterious loch, or through a highland meadow popping with colorful wildflowers.

You might not exactly have the road to yourself, but you won’t find too many others so you can go at your own pace, stopping for photographs whenever you want. In fact, this lack of traffic can be problematic for us right side of the road drivers.

Turning into the road with no visual cues to remind you keep to the left often means pulling out and keeping to the right. This isn’t really a problem, until you come head to head with oncoming traffic wondering why you’re on their side of the narrow road.

Scotland Road Trip
Highways and byways driving though the Scottish Highlands.

Aside from this, driving in Scotland and the rest of the doing road trips in all the UK for that matter, is very easy and safe. Roads are well signed, informational signs are all in English, and the roads are very well maintained.

On many of these byways you won’t find much for shops, gas stations, and eateries, so plan accordingly. A good traditional Scottish food pub lunch is always nice so be sure and make reservations somewhere along the route.

Scotland Road Trip
The view of Eilean Donan Castle on Loch Duich

We have a few different strategies when we go road tripping. The first is the great circle route. On this road trip we’ll have a definitive starting point like our home or the airport where we pick up a rental car. Then we’ll travel along a long route for two or more days, stopping to spend the night in a new place along the way each day. This was how we did our week-long Iceland road trip.

Scotland Road Trip
The lakes in Scotland are deep and mysterious

Another plan we like to use is the classic star road trip. For these journeys we’ll head to a central location for accommodations for the duration of the trip and then take day trips out and back to the home base.

Both ways have their merits, and for longer road trips we use a synthesis of the two. For instance, on our UK trip we drove from our home in Germany to the Lake District spending the night in a new place pretty much every day on our way.

Then we spent a week exploring the Lake District from our base at Siobhan’s spectacular farmhouse caravans; taking several day trips out into the countryside and back. From there we drove on to our next home for a week, near Inverness.

Scotland Road Trip
If you go at the right time of year, Scotland will reward you with wildflowers.

I personally think that it’s impossible not to have stunning views anywhere in Scotland, but we found two particular drives that were just nonstop beauty from the first kilometer to the last. Both of these routes will lead you through the rolling hills, meadow lands, lakes, mountains, and forests of the Scottish Highlands.

Along the way you’ll see sheep grazing on the emerald green hills, crumbling castle ruins, and mysterious lochs. So pack your bags, your camera, some drinks and snacks, download the map and get out and drive!

Scotland Road Trip Map.
Click here to access our interactive Scotland Road Trip Map.

Enjoy a few more gorgeous views from these incredible drives in Scotland!

Additional Reading: 3 Beautiful Abbeys in Scotland
Scotland Road Trip
Looking across the water at the ferry landing point at Stromeferry.
Scotland Road Trip
The view at the Commando Memorial is thought provoking and inspiring
Scotland Road Trip
Early summer in Scotland is full of surprises like these!
Scotland Road Trip
You’ll still see a few of these whitewashed, thatch covered farmhouses in Scotland.
Scotland Road Trip
Harry Potter I presume? That could be the Hogwart’s express crossing the Glennfinnan viaduct in Scotland.

Are you planning a Scotland Road Trip? What are your must see sites?

Author Bio: Jim Vail, is a travel, food, and video creator and a perpetual traveler who has been travel writing for over 15 years. For many years he lived overseas in Germany, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, and the Netherlands, and he’s visited over 90 countries.

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Scotland Road Trip

Melody Pittman (@melodytravels)

Tuesday 21st of March 2017

Hooray! Your trip will be fantastic. I've done 11 days around Scotland and through the highlands. Quite a memorable trip. All too many castles, follys, scones, and sheep but it was a blast. Definitely stop in Fort William and you can see the Jacobite Express and then from that Glenfinian Viaduct you can see it drive by early in the mornings for the best view. Don't miss Fettus College in Edinburgh either if you are a HP fan.

Corinne Vail

Wednesday 22nd of March 2017

Melody, Scotland is one of those places we can go back to time and again. I just love it!

gokulr27

Tuesday 21st of March 2017

What a quaint and serene landscape. Looks like a paradise for an introvert like me.

Corinne Vail

Tuesday 21st of March 2017

Gokul, Scotland is a gorgeous place, lots of room to get out into nature.

Elisa Subirats

Monday 20th of March 2017

I did the same "west" tour than yours so I looking at your pictures brought me nice memories. Gorgeous landscapes, yes but when it rains (and in Scotland rains A LOT) the views are less stunning.

Corinne Vail

Monday 20th of March 2017

Elisa, I know. I do love the rain, but not when I'm looking for views.

Sandy N Vyjay

Monday 20th of March 2017

The pictures are enchanting.Road trip in Scotland is like a dream road trip. The nature and the lovely landscapes are picturesque. The moors of Scotland really haunt me and urge me to get there fast.

Corinne Vail

Monday 20th of March 2017

Sandy, Scotland is such a great destination, both for beauty and for historical sites. You definitely would love it.

Skye Gilkeson

Monday 20th of March 2017

This brings back some incredible memories of Scotland. I would go back tomorrow. I agree that driving is the only way really to see everything, it's such a lovely, small country with so much to see, stopping off for a night along the way, is the best way. Great post.

Corinne Vail

Monday 20th of March 2017

Skye, Thanks. We can't wait to go back to Scotland and do some more.