Scottish Highlands Road Trip with Kids
We just spent nine days exploring, hiking, eating fish & chips and feeding the coos and I don’t want to be too forward but I think we crafted the perfect itinerary for a Scottish Highlands road trip with kids.
I stumbled across a really great flight deal last fall for us to travel from Florida to Inverness (more on how I scored that deal here) for $600 each, and obviously it would’ve been rude of me not to scoop it up.
Being that we only had about a week, we stuck to the highlands only – which means we’ll just need to come back to explore Edinburgh and Glasgow – and I had a ton of requests for the details, so here’s our Scottish highlands road trip with kids.
Day 1-2: Inverness
Inverness was the destination airport for our flight deal, and because it’s known as the gateway to the Scottish highlands, obviously it sets the stage for the whole trip.
But, it’s worth a day or two on its own as well!
Because we traveled into and out of Inverness, we stayed two nights on arrival and one before we left on a morning flight. We stayed at this Airbnb which had a great location along the river, and we stayed at Glen Mhor Hotel (also on the river) on our last night.
Inverness sits on River Ness which feeds into Loch Ness, and let me tell you, with preschool-aged kids we went hard on the Nessie vibe.
Loch Ness Cruise
We went on a Loch Ness Cruise through Jacobite Cruises which was such a fun afternoon and our tour guide clearly really loved his job which is so wholesome.
He even came over and answered our 5-year-old’s question about what Nessie’s favorite song is (turns out he doesn’t know, but he did say there was a concert on the hill a while back where there was a rumored spotting so presumably it’s whatever that band played).
Loch Ness Centre
After the cruise, we went down the road to the Loch Ness museum. To be totally honest, when we walked in we thought it looked kind of lame and we heard it was a semi-guided tour and thought about leaving but we were so wrong!
You walk through different themed rooms that cover different elements of the Loch Ness Monster theories.
All of us (me, Alex, the kids and even Alex’s mom) said it was a highlight of the trip so it really is great for all ages, plus I kind of believe in Nessie now?
My only note is that I wish we did the museum before the tour so I understood more about the lore of old Nessie gal beforehand.
Feed the Highland Coos
On the same road, between the cruise port and the museum is the cutest little tearoom where you can feed the highland cows (or coos). It’s called the Quila Cridhe Tearoom at Drumbuie Farm, and it has a tiny little restaurant but it’s out back where you can pay for a bag of bread to feed the cows with a really pretty backdrop of Loch Ness.
Urquhart Castle
Also a little drive out of Inverness is Urquhart Castle. There was a good little intro movie about the history of the castle before we got to explore the ruins which was interesting, and there was a little activity for kids to find wolf pictures scattered around the castle for a prize.
Anything that keeps the kids entertained during a – pun intended – historically boring-for-them activity is a win in our books.
Where We Ate
We tend to be snack-along-the-way type people when we travel but usually do one or maybe two meals out a day.
We really liked Wild Wee Pancakes for a sweet, kid-approved breakfast, and the Castle Tavern had good pub meals in a cozy spot that overlooked the river.
On our last morning before heading home we ate at The Waterside Restaurant attached to our hotel that did a surprisingly good buffet breakfast.
Days 3-6: Portree
Portree is the main village on the Isle of Skye and everything about it is basically what I expected of the highlands.
The drive there is so beautiful and we got lucky with almost a full week of clear, sunny skies. We stayed at this Airbnb which was a favorite of the trip for its views (and for the baby cow in the paddock across the street we got to see).
Eilean Donan Castle
This is kind of between Inverness and Portree so makes a good stop along the drive! You’re able to walk through the castle that they’ve got set up as the rooms they would’ve been when the castle was lived in, and staff were on site to answer questions, too.
Our kids, especially our 5-year-old, were surprisingly into this castle and were trying to imagine what it would’ve been like to live like that hundreds of years ago. Definitely worth a stop on a Scottish highland road trip with kids!
Fairy Glen Walk
The fairy glen walk is a pretty easy little trail about 30 minutes out of Portree. You walk along a trail that was – for us – dotted with sheep until you reach a little glen with rocks formed in a spiral shape.
Our kids had their eyes absolutely peeled open looking for fairies, and we climbed most of the way up the little rock path on the side to look down over the glen, too.
Fairy Pools
More fairies! The fairy pools was definitely a harder walk but also a trip highlight for us. It’s also about 30 minutes out of town (though the opposite direction of the fairy glen so probably good for different days), and took us about 90 minutes to do.
There are little pools and waterfalls along the walk to stop at, but even though we didn’t make it the full way because of one kid falling into a stream and complaining her foot was wet, we still saw at least three of the little waterfalls.
Quiraing Drive
This scenic drive was so cute, we saw lots of sheep and harbor views and went along winding roads. We made a ton of stops for pictures and it made for a good second half of the day after the fairy glen walk!
Coral Beach
This one isn’t on many of the tourist blogs and lists, but it’s a scenic walk from a little grassy parking lot that feels like maybe the start of a horror movie to a pretty coastal walk.
Alex and I were able to duck out while the kids were sleeping in the car (with nana staying behind) so we could walk alone, what a luxury! We saw a lot of people walking solo or with picnic blankets stopping to chat to each other so it seems like it’s a popular locals’ walk, too.
Where We Ate
Portree will forever be known to us as the place with the absolute best cookie of our lives. It was the salted caramel cookie at The Highland Cow shop on the main street and not only did we get two cookies before the drive to one of our hikes, but we went back the next day to buy another three to last the rest of the trip! The coffee was really great there, too.
We had dinner at Restaurant Rosedale along the harbor which had great sunset views, and one night got woodfired pizza from Pizza in the Skye food truck – the owner was so nice!
Also not food-related, but the Òr boutique just next door to The Highland Cow Shop was adorable and I basically wanted to buy everything in there. I got a few cute little art prints and a pair of clay earrings I love.
Days 6-9: Fort William
I think a lot of why we liked Fort William was the comfortable, family-friendly Airbnb above a shop on the main street – it was truly the best location! And they had kids’ toys!
I imagine this street gets way rowdier and busier in the summer months because it was pretty quiet for us in March, but it’s a great town to explore some fun nearby hikes and villages.
Ben Nevis Gondola & Walk
Ben Nevis is a mountain about 10 minutes’ drive out of town, and you can ride the gondola to the top to do a couple of hikes. Alex’s mum sat at the little restaurant at the top (which has great views for anyone who can’t or doesn’t want to hike) while we went on the walk. We did the Sgùrr Finnisg-aig walk which is the trail to the left when you get off the gondola.
It was the perfect length of walk for young kids and even though it was a bit rocky, we told the kids to act like mountain goats then it was a game and fun, obviously.
The viewpoint at the top is really great, and apparently on a clear day you can see to Northern Ireland (though we got clouds that day).
Glen Nevis
The Glen Nevis area is really beautiful to just drive around, and it was recommended to us by a waitress in town. We stopped at the Steall waterfall for some really great views!
Glencoe/Three Sisters
The village of Glencoe is about 30 minutes’ drive from Fort William and the Three Sisters viewpoint is really cool. Some people were hiking down between the mountains which could make for a fun day but we didn’t have that dog in us that day so we just enjoyed the view from the parking lot and went on our merry way.
Mallaig Scenic Train
One of the days we did a little day trip to Mallaig, a fishing village about 90 minutes’ train ride away. In the summer months, you go on an old Jacobite steam train and pass the Glenfinnan Viaduct (the bridge the train passes over in Harry Potter!).
Because we were in the off season, we did the same route over the viaduct, but took a regular non-steam train. The village itself was pretty dead to be honest with a lot of restaurants and shops still closed for the season, but we got a pastry at The Bakehouse & Crannog and had a good walk around to soak in the fishing village vibes.
We got lunch at the Chlachain Inn which was pretty good, too.
If we had’ve gone in the tourist season, we would’ve done a scenic wildlife cruise to see the animals (they run them in time with the train schedule), and visited the Haggard Alley, Harry Potter-inspired store which unfortunately was re-opening one day after we went.
Where We Ate
The Wildcat was an every day stop for us for a really good coffee to start the morning, and we liked the pub vibes of The Crofter on the main street but the food was meh so I feel like it would be better as a drink-and-live-music kind of stop.
Fishy Fishy had a good view over the main street and Alex claims the fish and chips had the best tarter sauce he’s ever eaten. They gave the kids free ice cream for finishing their dinner which was cute, and our waitress was really sweet.
Final Thoughts: Why a Road Trip Was Perfect
On our last day we just went back to Inverness and then home, but we feel like we got the perfect mix of villages and outdoors, scenic views and tours/activities mixed into this Scottish Highlands road trip with kids.
Our kids are still young – 2 and 5 – so a road trip is totally the way to go for us. Being able to travel at our own pace, stop for potty breaks, divvy up endless snacks from the front seat and utilize car naps is really so handy for getting the most out of the trip.
We rented a car and car seats which made traveling lighter much easier, and it’s so much easier to just keep an outer layer or different shoes in the car as you go if you need them in the changing Scottish weather.
Overall, we mentioned so often during the trip about how everyone in Scotland is so nice, and so accommodating for kids. I’d love to know if you follow this itinerary or visit any of these places on your own trip, and make sure to follow along on Instagram and sign up to our newsletter for more daily life, house projects & travel adventures.
Thanks for reading!
