Planning a family trip to Scotland? International travel can be very overwhelming especially when you’re coordinating flights, transportation, accomodations, and activites for the whole family. Don’t let this scare you off from dreaming of your family trip to Scotland.
Scotland is an incredible destination for families, and with a little planning, you can build a trip that works for both kids and adults. This Scotland guide will help you figure out how to get around and how to plan your family vacation without feeling overwhelmed.
Quit asking yourself, “Is Scotland worth visiting with kids?” Yes! Keep reading and I’ll simplify it for you with this Scotland travel guide. Let’s start the fun of planning.
Links, info, hotels links check and updated Sept 2026
QUICK Scotland Family Vacation Jumps
How Long Do You Need to Be in Scotland?
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. 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.
First trip to Scotland? Be realistic. If you’re traveling to Scotland with kids, don’t overplan. You will not be able to see every castle or Harry Potter filming location or Outlander site. Stick to the bigger towns on the train line. Unless you’re feeling very adventurous – and unnecessarily complicated – just pick five or six amazing places to visit on your Scotland family vacation.
READ NEXT ~~> For the full detailed itinerary of our family Scotland trip, head to Ten Days in Scotland: The Epic Itinerary You Need.
Plan A Scotland Train Trip
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.
For us, one week in Scotland by train was enough; check out our Scotland itinerary here. The kids became Scottish train experts and all-in-all, transportation was easy… once the at-home planning was done.
Get a pass. Pick towns on the train map. Add on some days before and after. 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.
Omio – My Favorite Way to get Purchased Tickets Easily on the Omio App
What’s the Easiest Way to Book Scotland Train Tickets?
Family train travel in Scotland is simple once you figure out the basics. While you can get same-day tickets at the stations on the train app, work out the different price options while still at home. There are several different discounts available if you’re traveling with kids.
For price estimates on individual trips, Omio is my favorite train travel app and website. 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.
Spirit of Scotland Travel Pass
ScotRail has a number of train passes and longer Scotland train tickets for a certain number of days. We bought the Spirit of Scotland passes: four days of travel across eight consecutive days. Within eight days of our first train day, we could use the rail pass four times with unlimited travel during those four days.
These modern trains go all over the country, are comfortable and easy, and save car rental costs! Not to mention, you get to see more of the beautiful Scottish countryside. 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 for day trips; save the pass 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. For example, we stopped in Stirling on our way to Edinburgh and stored our bags for the day.
- Leave early to arrive to have enough time at your mid-journey stop.
- Store luggage at the train station or at a pre-planned stop.
- Explore the town for a couple of hours before heading to your overnight stay.
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, ride the Jacobite steam train west to Mallaig. Ride it back for a day trip or cross over on the ferry to spend some days exploring Skye.
Harry Potter train tickets need to be your priority if this experience is your number one reason for visiting Scotland. Book this first and plan around it. It will sell out. Can’t get tickets? A regular train ride follows the aqueduct on the exact same track. It’s soooo much cheaper just not with the steam engine.
Mom tips: Don’t mention this “Hogwarts train” to the kids until you know for sure! 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 Skye
Top easiest recommendation for exploring Scotland? Unless you plan on heading to some smaller towns or to Skye, don’t rent a car.
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 needed a car for six. Additionally, we paid extra for the rental agency to deliver the car to us at the Armadale ferry.
Before the trip, consider learning to drive manual transmission car – aka “stick shift”. You do not want to wait for mountainous, narrow roads of Skye to figure out how to shift gears. Remember, they also drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. As far as paperwork, all you have to have is a driver’s license.
Can I Visit Skye Without Renting a Car?
If you plan to stay in one of the bigger towns on the Isle of Skye, there are some local busses or even local bus tours from Portree, but they won’t take you around the whole island to see the beautiful areas. Additionally, you could also join a day bus tour from 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 rental car without limitations.
How Do I Get to Skye with My Rental Car?
You need to rent a car before getting to the Isle of Skye. Then you will take it across on a ferry or driving across the highway. If driving to Skye from Inverness in the north, the free Skye Bridge connects the mainland. If you’re coming in from the south (as we did), take the ferry at Armadale to Mallaig.
In order to still ride the “Harry Potter train” aqueduct, we picked up our rental car in Fort William and took the 45-minute ferry to Armadale on Skye. Although we did have to pay extra for the car to be brought to us at the ferry, it was worth the convenience. We just returned it in Inverness after Skye before getting back on the train.
~~~> 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!
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.
~~~> Want to add a quick day trip before returning your car in Inverness, head over to “Scotland’s Great Outdoors: Top Five Awesome Family Adventures” to read more about our reindeer trip. Totally worth the day’s drive.
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 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 Flights!
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 Scotland Flights
- 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.
- 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 purchase the 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.
- Buying tickets “incognito”. It’s sounds so sneaky, but the websites cookies may increase the price from your search history. Use the work computer or even the library. People say it works!
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. However, the cost of train travel back to the airport may be expensive that a different ticket.
- Consider an intentional layover. If you’re flying into Glasgow but have a flight up from London, make it a 23 hour stop to explore an extra city. I’ve heard this will still be considered one flight, but I’ve never done it personally.
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 exact places we called home on our trip to Scotland with kids.
- 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!
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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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