Planning a family trip to Scotland? International travel planning is so stressful, but a two week trip in Scotland with kids is worth it! Travel can be very overwhelming especially when you’re scheduling internationally. But… Don’t let this scare you off from dreaming of your family trip to Scotland. There will be bumps in the road, but it’s totally worth it. Let me simplify it for you with this Scotland travel guide.
Already feeling overwhelmed and asking yourself, “Is Scotland worth visiting with kids?” The answer is yes; keep going.
~~~> Planes. Trains. Automobiles. and my ultimate 10 day family trip to Scotland itinerary. Here for you to steal.
Take Me to the Scotland Family Vacation Info… Now!
If this is your first trip to Scotland, you’re going to have to be realistic. If you’re traveling to Scotland with kids, don’t overplan and be realistic. You will not be able to see every castle or every Harry Potter filming location or every Outlander set site. Stick to the big cities and towns which are easily accessed from train. Unless you’re feeling very adventurous – and trying to make your trip unnecessarily complicated – pick five or six amazing places to visit on your Scotland family vacation. You’ll just have to visit Scotland again later to see even more.
Exploring Scottish towns on foot is one of the best parts of the trip. Scotland towns are made for walking… lots of it! The kids became train experts to get around the countryside, and all-in-all, transportation turned out being easy… once the at-home planning was done. Ready to go yet? Now we can start the fun part. I know you want to “see it all”, but you just can’t.
~~~~> Make sure you also check out Five Must-See Outdoor Experiences in Scotland and Ten Days in Scotland: The Epic Itinerary You Need.
Two Weeks in Scotland with Kids Itinerary
As homeschoolers, we were blessed with the ability to travel at the end of April. While the weather was still a bit chilly, it seemed to be a great time to travel. The goal was to be gone from home in Georgia for about three weeks and see as much as we could. For us, 10 days Scotland with kids was enough; don’t overdo it. Via train and car, we made a clockwise circle and took the train further into England to stay in London for a few days. Our specific clockwise route was as follows:
- 1 – Fly into Glasgow, see Glasgow
- 2 – See Glasgow
- 3 – Train to Fort William, see FW
- 4 – “Harry Potter” train to Armadale and ferry to Skye
- 5 – Explore Skye; Dunvegan Castle and ancient ruins
- 6 – Explore Skye, explore the Fairy Pools
- 7 – Drive to Inverness, stop off for a Plockton seal trip
- 8 – Drive to Aviemore’s Reindeer Center, back to Inverness
- 9 – Train to Edinburgh with day-stop-off in Stirling
- 10-12 Explore Edinburgh with day trip to North Berwick for puffins
- 13-16 Explore London until heading home
How to Find Flights for Scotland
The plane tickets to Europe will definitely be the most expensive part of your family tour of Scotland, but with a bit of planning, you can save quite a bit of money. Figure out how many days you can be away from home, subtract one day on each end for plane travel, and base the itinerary on the number of days in-country. Then look at it and figure out how to squeeze in a couple more vacation days for good measure.
My Favorite Way to Save Money on Tickets
Since our Scotland trip, I have gotten into “Travel Hacking”. This means that through wise use of credit card points and opening new credit cards, you accrue points that you can then transfer to plane tickets. Our family 2024 trip to Europe was purchased mostly with flights – I got the husband to Athens, Greece for only $5! It’s still a work in progress, but websites like this amazing point.me take all your accumulated points, and help you use them.
If you want to look into traveling with points, there are some amazing resources out there like the Travel Mom Squad or my friend at Points and Miles Teachers. Or reach out to me, and I can send you the link to my favorite starter card that got me in on this “game”.
Don’t Do This to Save Money on Tickets!
I planned and priced plane tickets for the longest time. There were so many decisions, and I didn’t have anyone with experience in Scotland to talk to. Instead of flying out of Atlanta, my family drove to Orlando and saved $200 per ticket. However, don’t automatically think flying from a distant airport is always the best idea. I didn’t take into account how jet-lagged we would be. For safety after landing, we ended up staying in a hotel for the night instead of driving exhausted. Make sure this method actually saves you money.
Tips to Save Money on Buying to Scotland
- Use the flexible date options on Kayak. Changing departure or arrival days earlier or later may be a cheaper option.
- Set an alert on Kayak on your phone for the dates you can fly. It will tell you if the price has dropped.
- Compare different airlines for possible cheaper options. This is another feature Kayak can do.
- Fly out midweek. Wednesday and Thursday are the cheapest for international travel, but for obvious reasons, this isn’t doable for many people.
- Is there a cheaper day of the week to buy a ticket? “Buy a ticket on Tuesday” is what I was told to save money. Expedia says Sunday is the cheapest day. Plan around and see.
- Clear out your browser before buying tickets or go “incognito”. It’s sounds so sneaky, but the websites keep cookies and may increase the price based on your search history. Figure out what you want and use the work computer to purchase.
Consider “Breaking Up” the Scotland Flights
- Look at nearby airports both for leaving home and arriving in Scotland. Driving a couple of hours may save you hundreds of dollars especially when the savings are multiplied by everyone in the family. (But see above about what not to do.)
- Book a multi-city trip. Having different arrival and departure airports may be cheaper than a round trip ticket. Not to mention, then you don’t have to spend a day getting back to your start. Sometimes the cost of train travel to get back to the airport is more expensive that a different ticket cost.
- Consider an intentional layover. If you’re flying into Glasgow but have a flight up from London, why not make it a 23 hour stop and have a day to explore an additional city. I’ve heard this will still be considered one flight, but I’ve never done it personally.
Plan A Train Trip Around Scotland
There are so many great things to do in Scotland with kids…. but again, you don’t have to do it all. Once you get your plane ticket arranged, start trying to tackle your train plan. When our family traveled around Scotland, we made a big, clockwise circle around the mainland with a little detour to Skye via car. The train system is so easy that, if you want to continue your trip down into England, it’s still the same transit system and very easy to combine.
For us, one week in Scotland by train was enough. Get a pass. Add on some days before and after. Quit complicating things.
Scotland Transportation Links
Ready to book your Scotland trip or check out pricing? Here ya go. For price estimates on individual trips, Omio is my favorite travel app and website. Here are the individual train trips:
- Train from Glasgow to Fort William
- Train from Fort William to Mallaig
- Ferry from Mallaig to Armadale on Skye
- Train from Inverness to Stirling to Edinburgh
- Train from Edinburgh to London
Which Train Ticket Pass Is Best in Scotland?
Family train travel in Scotland is so simple once you figure out the basics. While you can just get same-day tickets at the stations, do a bit of math ahead of time and work out the different price options. There are several different discounts available if you’re traveling with kids. Search for the prices of individual tickets, add these up to the total trip itinerary, and compare it to the price to just get a pass. It may save you money to buy a pass.
Many of these longer travel tickets are for a certain number of travel days that have to be used within a set number of days. We ended up getting the Spirit of Scotland passes which gave four days of travel across eight consecutive days. This means that within eight days of our first day of usage, we could use the rail pass four times with unlimited travel during those four days.
These up-to-date trains go all over the country, are comfortable and easy, and save you extra car rental money! Not to mention, you get to see more of the land. If you’ve already gotten your plane ticket, you know how long you can be gone. Plan to finish the trip up with at least three days in Edinburgh and work backward to figure out your train schedule.
~~~> Remember that even though this is a different type of road trip, the kids are still stuck during travel. Make sure you read “10 Tips to Family Road Trip with Less Stress…” and take away even more family travel craziness!
Tips for Getting the Most from a Train Pass
There are so many best cities for kids in Scotland, and you’ll want to explore them all with your train pass. But don’t use the pass for shorter trips within the city like in Edinburgh. Get a separate, cheaper day pass; don’t waste one of your pass days; save it for the long, more expensive train rides. Additionally, you may just qualify for the discounted Kids for a Quid program where the kids ride with you for practically free.
Consider using the train to allow you to see a town as you pass through. This saves on an extra hotel cost and lets you see more of the country. We did this in Stirling on our way to Edinburgh.
- Leave early enough to get to your mid-journey stop in the morning.
- Storing your luggage at the train station or at a pre-planned stop.
- Explore the town for a couple of hours and get to your overnight stay back on the train.
Should I Take the Famous Harry Potter Train?
If your little Harry-Potter-loving-child would love to take the Hogwarts Express over the aqueduct as in the movie, make this a priority. It’s called the Jacobite Steam Train. Starting in Fort William, you ride the steam engine west to Mallaig where you can ride it back or cross over to Skye on the ferry.
Consider though that a regular train ride will ride the same tracks, and you’ll see the same aqueduct and go on the exact same track. It’s soooo much cheaper; you just don’t get to ride the steam engine. However, if this full experience is your number one reason for visiting Scotland, book this first and plan around it. Don’t mention it to the kids until you know for sure, and they won’t know the difference. There are so many Scotland places to visit with kids – not getting this tickets isn’t going to ruin the whole trip. It’s okay.
Scotland Car Rental and Driving in Scotland
Top easiest recommendation for exploring Scotland? By train or by foot. To me, unless you plan on heading to some smaller towns or the Isle of Skye, you won’t need to rent a car. Let me rephrase. If you’re going to Skye, I feel a car is a requirement.
Can I Visit Skye Without Renting a Car?
If you plan to stay in one of the bigger towns like Portree on the Isle of Skye, there are some local busses, but they won’t take you around the whole island to see the beautiful areas. Additionally, you could also join a day bus tour in Inverness, but your exploring time will be limited to just that day and their locations.
Car rental was by far our biggest extra expense even though it was only for a few days. However, Skye was all of our favorite part of the trip to relax and explore on our own. Plan to stay at least a couple of days…. driving around in your car without limitations.
How Do I Get to Skye with My Rental Car?
There are several options for getting a car to the Isle of Skye: riding a ferry or driving across the free highway. Approaching Skye from Inverness in the north, the free Skye Bridge connects the mainland at Kyle of Lochalsh to Kyleakin on Skye. Rent a car at the bigger town and drive it across to Skye. If you’re coming in from the south (as we did), take the ferry at Armadale to Mallaig.
If you come in to Skye’s south coast (as those riding the famous Harry Potter train), you will arrive by ferry in Mallaig from the south in Armadale. Although we did have to pay extra for the car to be brought to us at the ferry, my Harry Potter loving kids would say the ability to ride across the Hogwarts Express (on a regular train) was worth the extra expense. It’s only a 45 minute ride. Tickets are here through the CalMac website.
~~~> If you’re a homeschooler or life-long learner (like me; see these posts!), make the most of your drive time but adding in some “Carschooling: 6 Ways to Learn on Road Trips.” Or just enjoy the ride. That’s okay too!
Is It Difficult to Rent a Car in Scotland?
Car rental cost more for our family because we don’t know how to drive a standard transmission (stupid Americans) and we have too many people (six of us in total). Additionally, we paid extra for the rental agency to deliver the car to us at the Armadale ferry. It would have added more travel time and train figuring out to pick it up ourselves.
Before the trip, if you have time, maybe consider learning to drive manual transmission car – aka “stick shift”. Unprepared as my husband and I were, finding an automatic car for a large family was one of the main challenges — but we did manage. You do not want to wait for mountainous, narrow roads of Skye to figure out how to shift gears. As far as paperwork, all you have to have is a driver’s license, and you’re set.
Where Did We Get Our Rental Car for Skye?
Hopefully, you will have more luck finding your Scotland rental car, but I had to send out many emails to car companies until I finally got one to work with us. Check out Turner Hire Drive in Inverness; they communicated with us via email and were super helpful.
Our one-way trip started with the van pickup at the ferry in Armadale. We drove it off the island, used it to drive to the Reindeer Center in Aviemore (another reason I wanted a car), and easily returned it in Inverness.
~~~> If you’re intrigued about those reindeer, head over to “Scotland’s Great Outdoors: Top Five Awesome Family Adventures” to read more about them. Totally worth the day’s drive.
Favorite Places to Stay in Scotland & UK
After a lot of research for our Scotland road trip itinerary, we stayed at some amazing rental homes in Scotland and the UK. Scottish hotels for a family of six don’t exist – so we had to get a UK vacation rental. The links below take you to the places we called home on our Scotland with kids itinerary.
- Isle of Skye – This very similar to where we stayed; rental Skye croft house on VRBO
- Fort William – Stayed at Glenlochy Nevis Bridge Apartments
- Inverness – Stayed at Glen Mhor Hotel and Apartments
- York – Stayed in this Lovely 3 bedroom apartment in Central York
I hope this family trip to Scotland itinerary helps you and takes away a bit of your groundwork. Don’t hesitate to drop me a line and ask away. It has been a few years, but I’ll love to help make your Scottish dreams come true!
Pin These for Later!
Thanks for stopping by my little corner! Here’s to your next adventure.
I’m Bobbie. As transplants from Texas, my family of six is on a mission to discover all of Georgia’s amazing places, experience amazing road trips across the United States, and create a homeschool life along the way.
Want to adventure like me? Reach out! I’d love to chat. Stop by my Instagram or Pinterest page to discover more of our adventures.
Want to work with me? I’d love to work with your destination and tourism board to help other family travelers see all you have to offer.
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