Britrail pass?

[Colin]

Take the coach. It's cheaper and still very efficient.

Unless you are used to driving on the left of the car I would advise against it, especially in the bigger cities. Sit back relax and let someone drive while you enjoy the view.

[JS Sanders]

To save a considerable amount of auto insurance, charge it to your American Express card. Doing so provides trip coverage & saves a beau coup of cash.

There are a few caveats, but easily met if you know before you go.

[Jock Scot]

Once you get to Inverness(by train) There is NO RAIL TRACK alongside Loch Ness and on down the Great Glen to Fort William. From there you can have a world renowned rail trip back to Glasgow and the South. However, there are regular bus schedules between Inverness and Fort William.Another scenic route.

[pdcorlis]

Seems your plans are pretty well firmed up - I think that's great. I will simply add a big thumbs up for Britrail passes. They represent great value and easy transportation around the UK. I can't begin to tell you how much my wife and I appreciate being able to hop on a train and have our passes checked while in transit. In addition, many times our passes have given us a bit of extra TLC along the way.

Carry on...

[Jack Daw]

If your driving in the Highlands on single-track roads, remember to pull into the layby ON THE LEFT! Roundabouts go clockwise, giving way (yielding) to traffic on the RIGHT. Also, upon entering the roundabout, remember to quickly find the lane that will spit you out on the road that you want. Print off the British road signs from the Internet and memorize them - they're not difficult.

[Pleater]

We just bought a sat nav thingy and downloaded the 'Yoda' voice - I find the syntax of it easier to follow - something to do with my slight dyslexia I think.

On the screen it shows the way around roundabouts, reminding which way to go, and on motorways it advises verbally on which side of it to be on to be able to take the correct lane where there are divisions rather than simple turnoffs.

Having only used it once, on a familiar route, my experience is not great, but I think that in unfamiliar terretory it will be most useful. Particularly now my eyesight makes map reading tiresome.

With trains, if you can chose your time to travel and buy in advance there are great savings to be made over the 'buy on the day' fares and travel anytime passes. It might take a bit of detective work and forward planning but there are sometimes rediculously low fares to be found with some careful sifting of information.

Anne the Pleater