I echo what Freelander said, Scotland's about the same size as South Carolina (to give you a comparison to something in your back yard), so distance is not that great between any two points.

I'll also agree with all who said rent a car. When my wife and I went over, the rail just didn't get to a lot of the places we wanted to see. Getting to them would have meant taking a bus, and I could just envision us hauling all our luggage from train staion to bus station and waiting in lines everywhere we went.

Nope, a car rental was required. Worked out great. Just threw our belongings in the trunk and went wherever the winding road led. We got a great deal using http://www.bluewheels.com/ which I highly reccomend to anyone.

I told them what kind of car we wanted (an automatic, so I didn't have to worry about driving on the other side of the road, and shifting gears with my opposite hand!), and a small car (best fuel economy). I told them when I needed to pick it up, and where, and when and where I planned to drop it off.

Within a few hours I had an email back that they had something for me. They handled all the arrangements. I didn't have to pick up a phone or pay them a dime (the car hire companies pay them for their service). It was so much easier than I anticipated.

I've reccomended them to anyone travelling to the UK ever since.

Aye,
Matt