6 - 8 Days in Scotland Itinerary Ideas (2024)

One week in Scotland gives you enough time to see the famous places without feeling too rushed.

An itinerary for 7 days in Scotland could comfortably include visits to Edinburgh, Culloden, Loch Ness, Skye, Glencoe, and Loch Lomond. You might even fit in a day trip to Iona or a ride on the Jacobite Steam train.

But these are all mainstream tourist attractions and the aim of Secret Scotland is toshow you the great places in Scotland that other people miss.

For example, a great way to spend a week in Scotland would be island hopping up the west coast. With 7 days, you could start with a day in Edinburgh then cross the country to spend a relaxed 2 nights on the Isle of Arran. From Arran, it is a short hop to the Mull of Kintyre for a great scenic drive to the lively harbour town of Oban. After a stopover in Oban, you could catch a morning ferry to the Isle of Mull and base yourself there for 2 nights whilst exploring Iona, Staffa and Ulva.

Our range of 6 - 8 day itineraries caters for all sorts of interests and paces of travel. So we can help you whether you want an itinerary that ticks a “bucket list” of famous places OR you prefer a relaxed road trip away from the crowds.

6 - 8 Day Tours from Edinburgh

Classic Scotland East to West

We call this the “Classic Scotland” as it is a tour plan that covers all the famous places that come to mind when you think of Scotland. If using this itinerary for 7 days in Scotland, you could pace it as follows. >>> READ MORE

Scenic Flexi East to West

The Scenic Flexi tour plan caters for people who want to see a lot of Scotland, but also like the idea of staying 2 nights in each location. The tour is called “Flexi” as we provide lots of day trip options around Edinburgh, Inverness, Skye, and Oban. So you can choose which day trips suit your interests best. For a 7 dayScotland itinerary you couldschedule the tour planas follows: >>> READ MORE

Day 1 - Explore Edinburgh
Day 2 - Edinburgh to Inverness
Day 3 - Day trips fromInverness
Day 4 - Inverness to Skye
Day 5 - Tour Skye
Day 6 - Skye to Oban
Day 7- Oban to Glasgow or Edinburgh

Best of Scotland East to West

Like the Scenic Flexi tour, this itinerary includes lots of day trip options to let you adapt the tour to your schedule and interest. The Best of Scotland takes you up to Gairloch in the North West Highlands. The scenery around Gairloch is stunning and Mike rates it as his favourite place in Scotland. For 8 days in Scotland, we’d suggest a schedule such as below.>>> READ MORE

Day 1 - Explore Edinburgh
Day 2 - Edinburgh to Cairngorms
Day 3 - Cairngorms to Gairloch
Day 4 - Gairloch to Skye
Day 5 - Tour Skye
Day 6 - Skye to Fort William / Glencoe
Day 7 - Day trips from Fort William
Day 8 - Fort William to Glasgow / Edinburgh

Famous Landmarks

This itinerary is similar to the Classic Scotland, but it features a visit to St Andrews as part of the driving route. If you have 8 days in Scotland you can use this itinerary as a plan for visiting Edinburgh, St Andrews, Culloden, Loch Ness, Eilean Donan, Skye, Glenfinnan, Glencoe, Mull, Iona and Staffa. To pace as an itinerary for 8 days in Scotland, we’d suggest the following:
>>> READ MORE

Day 1 - Explore Edinburgh
Day 2 - Edinburgh to Pitlochry via St Andrews
Day 3 - Pitlochry to Inverness
Day 4 - Inverness to Skye
Day 5 - Tour Skye
Day 6 - Skye to Oban via Glenfinnan
Day 7 - Day trips from Oban to Mull & Iona
Day 8 - Oban to Glasgow / Edinburgh

Romantic Scotland

Ideal if you have one week in Scotland and preferto tourat a relaxed pace. This itinerary features lots of pretty villages, woodland walks and romantic settings. For a Honeymoon, or just alaidback week in Scotland, you could pace this itinerary as below. >>> READ MORE

Day 1 - Explore Edinburgh
Day 2 - Explore Edinburgh
Day 3 - Edinburgh to Pitlochry
Day 4 - Day trips from Pitlochry
Day 5 - Pitlochry to Loch Fyne
Day 6 - Day trips from Loch Fyne
Day 7 - Loch Fyne to Glasgow / Edinburgh

Whisky Explorer

One week in Scotland givesyou time to visit a lot of distilleries and samplewhisky at its source. But this itinerary has also been designed to cater for the family members who aren’t so interested in whisky and it includes options to keep spouses happy whilst their “other halves” are in the tasting rooms. >>> READ MORE

Day 1 - Explore Edinburgh
Day 2 - Edinburgh to Pitlochry
Day 3 - Pitlochry to Royal Deeside
Day 4 - Royal Deeside to Speyside
Day 5 - Speyside to Inverness
Day 6 - Inverness to Cairngorms
Day 7 - Cairngorms to Edinburgh

Island Explorer

Island Hopping is one of the most enjoyable ways of touring Scotland and in one weekyou can “bag” quite a few islands. Our “Island Explorer” tour can start from Edinburgh or Glasgow and then visits Arran, Oban and Mull with options to visit a few other small islands along the way. Schedule this tour as follows for one week in Scotland. >>> READ MORE

Day 1 - Explore Edinburgh
Day 2 - Edinburgh to Arran
Day 3 - Explore Arran
Day 4 - Arran to Oban
Day 5 - Oban to Mull
Day 6 - Explore Mull, Iona & Staffa
Day 7- Mull to Glasgow / Edinburgh

Historic Scotland

This itinerary is a good option for a week in Scotland if you want an itinerary that features some 2 night stays. The route takes you to castles and battlefields that witnessed some of the pivotal events in Scottish history. You can pace this itinerary over 7 days as follows: >>> READ MORE

Day 1 - Explore Edinburgh
Day 2 - Edinburgh to Pitlochry via Stirling
Day 3 - Pitlochry to Inverness
Day 4 - Day trips from Inverness
Day 5 - Inverness to Oban
Day 6 - Day trips from Oban
Day 7 - Oban to Glasgow / Edinburgh

6 - 8 Day Tours from Glasgow

Classic Scotland West to East

The “Classic Scotland” tour plan features all the iconic places that Scotland is best known for. It is agood choice if you are a first time visitor looking for a comprehensive tour of Scotland. If scheduling this itinerary for 6 days in Scotland, we suggest you pace as below. >>> READ MORE

Day 1 - Glasgow to Oban
Day 2 - Oban to Skye
Day 3- Skye to Inverness
Day 4- Inverness to Pitlochry
Day 5- Pitlochry to Edinburgh
Day 6 - Explore Edinburgh

Scenic Flexi West to East

The Scenic Flexi tour plan caters for people who want to see a lot of Scotland, but also like the idea of easing the pace with some 2 night stays. The tour is called “Flexi” as we provide lots of day trip options around Oban, Skye, Inverness and Edinburgh. So you can choose which day trips suit your interests best. One week in Scotland could be paced as below. >>> READ MORE

Day 1 - Glasgow to Oban
Day 2 - Day trips from Oban
Day 3 - Oban to Skye
Day 4 - Tour Skye
Day 5 - Skye to Inverness
Day 6 - Inverness to Edinburgh
Day 7 - Explore Edinburgh

Best of Scotland West to East

Day 1 - Glasgow to Fort William
Day 2 - Day trips from Fort William
Day 3 - Fort William to Skye
Day 4 - Tour Skye
Day 5 - Skye to Gairloch
Day 6 - Gairloch to Cairngorms
Day 7 - Cairngorms to Edinburgh
Day 8 - Discover Edinburgh

6 to 8 Day Tours from Inverness

North Coast 500

The best way to drive the NC500 is to plan some 2 night stays along the route so you have time to explore the quiet corners. Although it’s not part of the NC500, we also include a guide for exploring Orkney. To drive the NC500 in one week, you could schedule a tour as follows: >>> READ MORE

Day 1 - Arrive Inverness / Inverness Day trips
Day 2 - Inverness to Gairloch
Day 3 - Day trip to Applecross
Day 4- Gairloch to Ullapool
Day 5- Ullapool to Thurso
Day 6 - Day trip to Orkney
Day 7 - Thurso to Inverness