So many pictures can’t describe the beauty of the Scottish Highlands, but hopefully they make an impression.

After getting a glimpse of the eastern side of the country last summer, Mom couldn’t wait to go back and see more, and I was more than happy to oblige. Truth be told, we could have spent our whole twelve days there: we left many a castle unseen, many a town unvisited, many a moor unexplored. Another trip for another time, I suppose.

Three days is all we had, but we covered a lot of ground. Leaving Edinburgh bright and early, avoiding massive traffic and easing into my driving wheels, we set off.

I planned this road trip to have us drive a few hours at a time, stopping for tea, views or walks, whatever the route offered us.

Our end goal was the Isle of Skye and per the suggestions of this most fabulous and thorough blog, we took the northern route there and the southern route back. Since our final destination was Glasgow on the west, it worked.

It took us almost the full day to get from Edinburgh to our destination, Kyle of Lochalsh, our home base for our time exploring Skye. You could do it straight through in a few hours, but we stopped for some tea, scones, castles and a little bit of tomfoolery.

Urquhart Castle, perfectly situated on Loch Ness (yup, that one) and the most glorious weather helped get fully into the spirit of the Highlands.

Of course just miles down the road was another one, more spectacularly situated. Unfortunately the weather took a turn and we hit it just at closing. However, if you make it there, Eileen Donan is surely worth a stop!

Beyond the castles, which seem to be everywhere, the area is dotted with the most charming one-street towns, each boasting a pub and more than a few B&Bs to call home.