Mike and I are dreaming up a trip to Scotland starting in late April or May 2025 and are inviting you siblings and in-laws in the hope that at least some of you will want to join us. There's plenty of time for the plan to evolve but we've been brainstorming and it feels good to put this draft itinerary together. Please note that some might want more or less time away - we don't all need to do everything together.
Weather in Scotland is variable and tough to predict but May generally has a little less rain, average daily highs in the 60s, and a relative lack of midges which can become annoying in June. It's a shoulder season so prices tend to be lower and there are fewer visitors than during the summer months. Scotland's latitude is similar to SW Alaska's so we can expect more than 16 hours of daylight per day in May.
Here's the current dream - live links to more information are pink:
Fly to London, maybe take the Caledonian Sleeper train to Fort William. I loved doing that in 2015 on a sola trip; I slept well and woke up to breathtaking scenery. Alternately, we could fly into Edinburgh or Glasgow (likely through London) and take the train to Fort William. I think we'll purchase Brit Rail passes to save on rail travel.
From Fort William we'd like to take the Jacobite steam train to Mallaig - it's the one they feature in the Harry Potter movies.
From Mallaig we'll take a ferry to the Isle of Skye and stay at least 2 or 3 nights for hiking and castles and (at Mike's request) whiskey.
Then we'll retrace our steps to Fort William for the start of our trek on The Great Glen Way, a 79 mile path along the massive Great Glen fault to Inverness, hiking to the north east, coast-to-coast across Scotland. We'll hike unguided but hire an agency to help us plan how to break up the trek and to make reservations and arrange for our luggage to be transferred to the next stop. We'll hike with small packs that include the layers, first aid stuff, snacks, and water we'll want for the day.
The usual plan takes about a week and the legs are 7 to 20 miles long. We're planning to break up at least the longest day into 2 and take at least one rest day. I think we could figure out an option if anyone wants in but doesn't want to hike or only on some days.