5 days on the West Coast of Scotland - An Itinerary

Scotland. A place where you've either visited loads or not at all. I was brought up in Dundee in Scotland, but moved to England when I was 11 years old so I never appreciated or had any desire to explore Scotland's beauty. Now however, I have had a wonderful opportunity to explore the west coast of Scotland over 5 days! I didn't manage to explore everywhere (as there is so much to see!) but I hope that this itinerary inspires you to visit and see Scotland for yourself.

Day 1 - Glencoe/Fort William/ Glenfinnan If you are starting your trip from Glasgow, start your trip by enjoying a 2 hour scenic car journey up to Glencoe. Take opportunities to pull over by the side of the road to admire the scenery or take a few photos! Glencoe's visitor centre has a 30 minute circular walk, a cafe and an exhibition centre. They can also direct you further into the village of Glencoe, to admire the loch and show you slightly longer walks (we did the Lochan trail). Parking is free in the village of Glencoe, and free at the visitors centre if you are a national trust member (£4 for the day of you are not!). Travel on to Fort William; It takes approx another 30 minutes of driving. This town is the base of Ben Nevis (I didn't climb Ben Nevis on this trip but if you did want to, add another day to your trip to Scotland). Fort William consists of a beautiful loch and is a cute little town, consisting of traditional Scottish shops and places to eat. We stopped here to walk through the town and by the sea. Travel a further 30 minutes up to Glenfinnan. The highlight of this part is seeing the Glenfinnan viaduct (which is also better known as the Harry Potter Bridge!) - if you have more time you can actually get a themed train across the viaduct! It is still also a working bridge for regular trains also! You can walk up and around the bridge to get class photos, as well as look around the Glenfinnan loch. There is national trust parking with a visitor's centre and cafe at the site. You can do these 3 places in any order, as we ended our day by driving down to Oban, in which you pass through each of these 3 places. Fort William is the best place for supermarket shopping if needed and fuel for the car! Oban is about a 1 hour drive from Glencoe (and obviously more if you are coming from Fort William or Glenfinnan). Now our plan was to just chill when we got to Oban (we arrived about 7:30pm) but it was blue skies and sunshine, so we spent half an hour at McCaigs Tower to admire the view over the little town of Oban and get some lovely photos. We stayed in a self-catered flat in Oban which I'd recommend - very comfy, stylish and suitable for 3-5 people, including families.

Day 2 - Oban and Isle of Mull Starting the day early again, we walked from our accommodation around the streets of Oban and by the water, taking in the beauty and quaintness of this little seaside town. If you had more time, I'd recommend spending half a day here to visit some of the local cafes and the famous distillery. We then got the 09:50 ferry from Oban to the Isle of Mull. Tickets should be bought in advance if you are taking a car with you (click here) and the same if you are a foot passenger but there is possibility you can pay on arrival and there is still room on the ferry. Prices are £8 return per adult and approx. £30 for a regular car. The scenic journey over, takes 45 minutes, where you can view the coast line of Oban and Isle of Mull. On board the ferry, there is a restaurant, shop and facilities. On arriving to Isle of Mull, we drove straight to Tobermory (approx. 35 minute drive) - which is the main town on the Isle of Mull. If you were brought up in Britain, you would know this town by the famous children's TV programme, Balamory - which was filmed here. Parking is free, and now take some time to explore this little town and all its colourful houses. I would recommend Tobermory Handmade Chocolate shop to either buy some exciting goodies or to sit in their cafe. We also enjoyed fish and chips at the Pier cafe, where we sat outside to admire the view as we ate. Next we drove to the base of the highest peak on the Isle of Mull - Ben More. In hindsight, if it has been very wet the day before then the terrain is not the easiest to hike upon. You must definitely have walking shoes as well, as their is no defined path and is subject to turning into a little bit of a bog! It is a hike that starts off at a pleasant incline but becomes specifically steep as you near the top. Allow yourself 4-5 hours for this. More information on this hike can be found here. The drive to Craignure is a 40 minute drive from the Ben More base, we drove there after the hike and just sat by the clear water and chilled before getting the 19:20 ferry back to Oban. If you don't want to do the hike, there is so much more that can be done on the Isle of Mull such as seal trips, or nature reserves around different parts of the coast etc. See the visit Isle of Mull website for more information. On arriving back in Oban, we drove 1 hour to the north of Loch Lomand and stayed in some self catering wigwams in Tyndrum. These are fairly basic and I'd read the reviews to ensure that these are what you'd like to stay in for a night! There are also other hotels and BnB's situated at the north of Loch Lomond to choose from. Alternatively, you could stay another night in Oban and drive to Loch Lomond in the morning.

Day 3 - Loch Lomond On day 3 we explored the beautiful Loch Lomond. There is a variety of things to do and see here, depending on what you fancy! We worked our way down the west side of Loch Lomond, stopping at Falloch Falls, Inveruglas pyramid, a cute town called Luss for lunch and then drove through the national park to the Ben A'an Car park and hiked Ben A'an. This is an easier hike with a defined path and lots of people doing it. You should allow 2-3 hours depending on how many breaks you take and how long you spend at the summit. Our accommodation for this evening was located in Helensburgh, a town situated on the firth of the Clyde. However anywhere at the south of Loch Lomond would fit well with this itinerary.

Day 4 - Glasgow The following morning we drove 35 minutes to Glasgow and parked on the outskirts (I'd recommend using a park and ride, but Ubers are also very useful in this city). Glasgow is a big city, so we spent the morning on the West side, where we explored the river, Glasgow tower (well we intended to go, but due to high winds it was shut!), admired Kelingrove art museum (if you are an art fan, it is apparently brilliant and is free admission), walked through the Glasgow University campus and went to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens (really beautiful, and do great scones in their tearoom!). We then for an Uber to the other side of Glasgow (about £7 or an hour walk), where we explore the Glasgow Cathedral, Glasgow necropolis, the People's Palace which is situated on a lovely park called Glasgow Green and then spent the rest of the afternoon in the city centre of Glasgow at St George's Square and the girls I was with wanted to do a bit of shopping before they caught their flight back home that evening.

If you have more time, the Glasgow Science Centre and Glasgow Transport Museum are also very popular.

Day 5 - Isle of Arran This was my last day which I did by myself. If you are mainly travelling from Glasgow, I'd suggest doing the Isle of Arran as your day 4 then exploring Glasgow on Day 5. I drove 40 minutes to Ardrosson and got a 55 minute ferry to the Isle of Arran. Here I hiked up Goat Fell (allow 3.5 - 5 hours depending on fitness ability) which has a clear path but a little bit of boulder scrambling at the top but it provides stunning views over the Isle of Arran. At the base of the hike you can also explore Brodick castle (owned by the national trust, so if you are a member then there is free admission) and to end my day I sat on the beach in Brodrick and ate ice cream as it was such beautiful weather!

Unfortunately I didn't manage to explore any other parts of the isle on this occasion, and all of the above is situated in the same town that the ferry arrives into. If you plan on doing the same activities I have done, then your car is not required to bring across on the ferry (you can park it in Ardrosson) - the hike start point is about a 30 minute walk from the ferry terminal.

And that concludes my West of Scotland Itinerary! I had an excellent time, and the beauty is magnificent. My main 3 tips for this trip would be:

1) Prepare as if the weather will be cold and rainy everyday and if it isn't, it's a bonus! 2) Bring plenty of car snacks. 3) If you plan on hiking, walking boots are essential.

Any other questions, I'd love for you to contact me! See the contact form here.

Happy Travelling! Ruth xxx