Where we stayed on our Scotland road trip
Are you planning a road trip to Scotland and looking for stays in the country? We covered Edinburgh, Loch Lomond, Fort William, Isle of Skye, Applecross, Ullapool, Loch Ness, and Cairngorm National Park in 11 days. In this blog, I share details of our stays and our opinions about them.
Stay in Edinburgh
As I mentioned in my earlier post about planning a visit to Scotland, it’s important to book your stays as early as possible. We planned our trip 6 weeks ahead and didn’t have a lot of choices to pick from. The Ship Inn situated in Musselburgh is approximately a 23 minute drive from the airport and 17 minutes from Edinburgh city.
We paid €284 for 2 nights without breakfast.
The Ship Inn, Musselburgh
It’s an apartment over a pub so there is no reception. You just walk into the pub and ask for the keys. The owners converted their apartment into individual rooms for the guests. You walk past the shared kitchen and dining space to your rooms. The rooms come with an ensuite bathroom. Coffee, tea, and cereal were refreshed daily. The fridge in the main kitchen had different varieties of milk (full, half-full, skimmed, etc).
Review: The Ship Inn, Musselburgh
The rooms at Ship Inn are clean and quiet with a comfortable bed. After a long day of travel, we slept really well. The staff was very kind and helpful. The only drawback was the smell in the bathroom. Our guess is that it came from either the plumbing or from lack of ventilation. It was extremely overwhelming to the point that we dashed in and out of the bathroom and kept the door firmly shut all the time.
Stay near Loch Lomond
The Village Inn, Arrochar
We were heading up to Fort William and didn’t want to stay over in Glasgow so we opted to stay near Loch Lomond for one night.
We paid € for 1 night including breakfast.
The Village Inn in Arrochar is a beautiful property with a large outdoor space overlooking Loch Long.
They were already advertising for their Christmas Dinner party, so it’s safe to assume that they are indeed popular. Our room came with a bathtub. Unfortunately the windows didn’t open. A bit of searching on Google convinced us to give up our efforts as Scottish windows are not meant to be trifled with. Breakfast (included in our stay) was served in the main dining hall. Prices are printed on the menu, but you can order anything without cost if it’s included in your stay (this was confusing for us!). They also had a breakfast table laid out with cereal, milk, coffee, bread, and croissants. They didn’t have a vegetarian breakfast for me so I ate avocados on toast instead.
Review: The Village Inn, Arrochar
My husband liked this one the best. However I found the room a bit too small for the amount of furniture in it. The toilet had an old fashioned flush where you pull an overhead rope. It took a while to refill the tank. The separate hot & cold water taps continue to be a mystery to me. In the end, it was just a single night and we did sleep and eat well.
Restaurant near The Village Inn
If you do end up staying in this area, there’s a lovely restaurant overlooking Loch Long and a 2 min drive from The Village Inn. It’s called Cù Mara Bistro & Takeaway. I can imagine that it’s quite busy outdoors on a sunny day. There is limited seating indoors. We didn’t call ahead but did find a table as we tend to be early diners.
I am a vegetarian and a sometimes pescatarian who categorically does not like the taste of meat. Every time I find a burger with a vegetable (not vegetarian) patty, I rejoice. I hate the taste of soy patties and love a good chickpea, beetroot, falafel, or really any other veggie burger. The food and service was great, so if you are in this neighbourhood, definitely go by.
Stay in Fort William
We wanted to hike Ben Navis and picked this bed and breakfast for a 2 night stay. We were headed to Isle of Skye next but actually staying in Applecross, so this was a perfect place to break our travel.
Tower Ridge Courtyard
Tower Ridge Courtyard (not to be confused with Tower Ridge House) is a lovely house in Fort William, approximately 15 minute drive from Ben Navis. So, if you’re planning to hike the tallest peak in Scotland, this stay is perfect. We stayed in Room 6 which came with a beautiful tub and an enclosed shower. The room came with a mini-fridge, coffee, tea, ready-to-eat oatmeal, and shortbread cookies.
We paid €391 for 2 nights without breakfast.
Review: The Tower Ridge Courtyard, Fort William
Lovely property, friendly owner. We came soaked from the Glenfinnan Viaduct (The Harry Potter Train was over an hour late) and desperately needed an early check-in so we could shower and get warm. They were very kind to let us in and even popped a bottle of champagne into the mini fridge once they realised we were on our honeymoon.
Restaurant near Tower Ridge Courtyard
Sònas in Fort William was an absolute delight. We ate here both days and the owners were surprised to see us again. But hey - the food was great so what can we say?! I tried their bruschetta, goat cheese burger, and sticky toffee pudding. Best sticky toffee pudding in our entire stay in Scotland! It’s a busy restaurant so absolutely call ahead. The service is quick and efficient. Another bonus - if you want to make pictures with the Jacobite (Harry Potter) train, it’s only a 10 minute walk / 2 min drive away from Sònas.
Stay in Applecross, 90 min from Skye
We were too late find a place in Skye. Not sure why we thought a 90 minute drive from Skye was the best option, but oh well. We ended up in Applecross. The drive from Skye and then further to Ullapool on the NC-500 is spectacular but not for the weakhearted and unskilled driver.
Applecross B&B
A lovely bed and breakfast run by a Scottish couple named Marion & Moray. They grew up in the city but travelled often to the Highlands and 7 years ago made the decision to run a B&B in Applecross. They have recently added some self-catering cabins on the same property. All their rooms and cabins were fully booked.
We paid €427 for 2 nights including breakfast.
They have a fridge in the garage for the guests to use. You’ll also find some small snacks (chocolate, crisps, soft drinks, etc.) that you can grab from their display in the kitchen. You’ll however need to pay cash or buy something worth over £10 to pay with a card. Applecross is so far out of the way that this small stock of supplies was a comfort factor for us.
Breakfast is cooked by Moray who takes great pride in his cooking. He made me a rather splendid vegetarian spread which ended up being my personal highlight of our holiday.
If you end up in Applecross, know that there is 1 good restaurant and 2 food trucks in the vicinity. Be sure to reserve a table as we were unable to find a spot. We ended up eating in Skye at a restaurant that took the last order at 15:30!
Stay in Loch Ness
I admit that we were tempted by Nessie to add Loch Ness to our itinerary. If you were to ask me now, I’d totally skip it. Besides its proximity to Urquhart, it didn’t have much else to offer.
The Loch Ness Inn, Loch Ness
We stayed at the Loch Ness Inn for 1 night. The inn is a 3 min drive from Urquhart Castle. The rooms are clean and space is quiet. There’s also plenty of parking on the property. The room came with coffee, tea, and shortbread cookies.
We paid € for 1 night including breakfast.
Review: The Loch Ness Inn, Loch Ness
The room was We dined at the inn’s restaurant. They do advertise heavily, asking guests to reserve a table in advance. If you have the option to eat elsewhere, I’d recommend it. Both the food and the whisky recommendations were not good and the service was okay-ish. The breakfast was rather good, I must admit. However they had only 1 staff member managing over 20 guests in the morning rush, despite staggering breakfast times for each room. We felt bad for her as she was constantly having to rush from one table to the next while still continuing to restock coffee, cereal, and juices at the communal table.
Stay near Cairngorm National Park
This was our final destination for the Scotland road trip. We had planned a whisky tour at Glenlivet and wanted the flexibility to do a short hike were we to feel up for it.
Sweeney Rooms, Aviemore
We booked a room at Sweeney Rooms, Aviemore. They are a self-catering space with a contactless check-in and check-out process. The rooms are rather small but come with a well equipped kitchen and a small balcony.
We paid € for 2 nights without breakfast.
Review: Sweeney Rooms, Aviemore
We were a bit disappointed when we arrived at the property to see how close it was to a main road. The photos on the website were clearly taken very strategically because the property looks like it’s in a secluded space. The balcony you see in the picture was for our room and the picture was made from our parked car. Behind us was a busy road.
The room was lovely and the bathroom even better. The lighting in the bathroom reminded me of the Moxy in Dresden and the dark tiles gave me sort-of Hoxton vibes. They had Molton Brown soap in the bathroom and all-in-all it did feel a tad luxurious.
However, the proximity to the main road and the lower September temperatures meant we never stepped out on the balcony. We had to keep the thick curtains shut all the time as the room was quite visible from the road.
Restaurant near Aviemore
We ate at a delightful little restaurant called The Penny Bun. Don’t be fooled by the food court styled seating. The food was absolutely fantastic and the portions large. If I had known the portion size beforehand, I’d have definitely skipped the starter.
The sunset drive to The Penny Bun is beautiful if you manage to make it out there for dinner. The trees look like they were placed on top of garden lights or small fires.
They are a relatively new restaurant (a few months old) so there aren’t a lot of signs or maybe reviews. You’ll find plenty of parking as it’s next to a parking lot for campers. There are also plenty of trails around this area if you are looking for a day activity.
If you enjoyed this blog, please consider dropping me an encouraging comment or share it with someone else. If you’re heading to Scotland, I wish you the best of travels and hope that you will enjoy it at least as much as we did!
About me
👋 I am Isana, a Product leader moonlighting as a blogger. After 7 years in Düsseldorf, Germany, I moved to join my husband in Utrecht, Netherlands. I write about my experiments for growing vegetables, learning languages, and creating art. Come say hi on Instagram!
