How Much to Budget for a 10-Day Trip to Scotland from the United States
How much does a 10-day trip to Scotland actually cost??? I asked this question and searched the internet for any idea of what a trip could actually cost before planning my trip to Scotland. Unfortunately, it was hard to find an answer to this question! It is for good reason though, there are so many variables to travel that giving an actual cost can be hard.
Planning a big trip can be a little scary at first and overwhelming! For me, having an estimate for how much a trip could cost helps me decide whether that trip is feasible and how long and how much I need to save before I can go. I would have liked a resource that helped breakdown the cost of a 10 day trip to Scotland, so that is exactly why we’re breaking down exactly how much a 10 day trip to Scotland cost us (find our Itinerary here)!
This budget and post is based on my 10 Day Trip to Scotland. It’s also based on two people, since that is what we did. This guide is just for planning and budgeting purposes. Prices may have changed from the time that I booked my trip and when you’re booking yours!
Flight Costs
The cost of flights is often one of the biggest expenses of a trip. I stressed for weeks trying to find the perfect flight with the right price! For me, it’s about balancing my comfort while traveling with trying to ensure I spend as little as possible. I found that some flights were cheap but had layovers that were upwards of 12 hours, which isn’t ideal! On the other hand, some flights seemed like the perfect route, but were insanely expensive!
In my travels, I have found that a 3 or so hour layover is a good amount of time for me for international travel. Some people feel comfortable with less! I just know, that for me, I would rather have a little extra time than feel stressed due to unforeseen circumstances. Just know what kind of traveler you are and what you’re comfortable with. While I did care about layover time, I was less concerned about layover location. I also did not have a major preference for airline, either. So, that made searching for flights easier! I just used google flights, kayak, and Capital One’s travel portal to look at available flight itineraries. I found one that left Columbus, Ohio at 7pm and arrived at Newark airport at 9pm. We then left the Newark airport at midnight and arrived at Edinburgh airport at around noon the next day! For the flight home, we left Edinburgh at 2pm, landed in Newark at 4:30pm, left for Columbus at 8:00pm, and arrived in Columbus at 10:15pm.
I found that overnight flights were common flight paths for the flight to Scotland. I think overnight flights are useful and a great option! We were able to get some (though not too much) sleep on the flight and have just about a whole day of travel ahead of us!
Estimated flight costs per Person (Roundtrip):
Lowest prices (potentially off season pricing): $700 - $900
Mid-range/standard pricing: $900 - $1,300
Highest pricing: $1,300+
We went to Scotland in September, and paid about $1,600 for two round trip tickets with United. So, about $800 per person. Now, that was just the price we paid for the ticket. We also ended up paying to pick our seats so that we could sit next to each other. So annoying that airlines make you do this!! It would be nice to be able to pick your seat or at least pick to sit together with the purchase of your ticket and not have to pay extra. We paid $263 total to pick our seats for all flights both to Scotland and home. Again, for one person that would be about $131. If you don’t have a preference for where you sit, you can skip this cost though! In addition, we also checked a bag on the way there and the way back. Each way cost us $75, for a total of $150.
Total Estimated Cost for a Round Trip Flight for Two:
Two Round Trip Flight Tickets: $1600
Seat Picking Fee (optional): $263
Checked Bag: $150
Total to Budget: $1750 (or $2013 with seat picking fee)
Per person Budget: $875 (or $1006.50 with seat picking fee)
II. Accommodation Costs
Just like flight costs, accommodation costs are one of the biggest expenses you’ll encounter on your trip to Scotland, and the prices can vary greatly! You can choose to stay in cheaper accommodation and stay in hostels, if you have a smaller budget. For us, we were willing to pay a little extra money to be a little more comfortable in our accommodations. We stayed in a combination of hotels and Airbnbs (mostly Airbnbs, though). While searching, there were plenty of cute B&Bs as well! We booked accommodations a little late, especially for the Isle of Skye, so most of the B&Bs were booked up.
Just like we experienced, accommodations can book up quickly in Scotland, especially in the more popular areas (like the Isle of Skye), so you’ll want to make sure you’re booking well in advance and making decisions rather quickly (although make sure you are still doing your research!). We came across a few places that were booked up by the time that we were ready to make our reservations.
I’ll list the places we stayed along with the prices! These prices will fluctuate and change, so they probably won’t be the same for you, but it is still a good guide for how much you should be budgeting! I found all of our accommodations to be lovely and in the perfect location to get to anything that we needed (especially the Airbnb in Edinburgh - right at the bottom of Victoria Street!). I will say, while the location was very good, the Airbnb in Inverness was not as nice as the other ones (a little mold in the shower and no toilet paper holder so it would fall and roll all over the floor haha) and the entrance was a little bit of a sketchy experience. That being said, I would probably stay there again because the location was within walking distance of everything that we were visiting, and it was relatively affordable for the area. For our other accommodations, you can certainly find more affordable accommodations than where we stayed. We chose comfort, ease, and closeness over saving money because we had saved the extra money to be able to do that, especially for our Edinburgh Airbnb. The price seems astronomically high, but it was right at the bottom of Victoria Street and central to everything we wanted to do. Plus, the Airbnb was very nice! But you certainly don’t have to spend a fortune on accommodation like us! Like I said, there are plenty of hostels and lower priced places to stay. For example, we stashed our bags at Kick Ass Hostel, and it seemed to have a good vibe to it (although we didn’t stay there so can’t really recommend it one way or the other)!
Total Estimated Accommodations Budget:
The Scot (One night in Oban): $285
Home in Portree (4 nights in Portree): $985
Inverness Airbnb (2 nights in Inverness): $471
Edinburgh Airbnb (3 nights): $1470
Total to Budget: $3,211
Cost per person: $1605.50
III. Transportation Costs
Transportation costs will vary greatly as well, depending on how much you’re traveling and where you are staying! If you are staying in larger cities, you will be able to use public transportation to get around and will not need to rent a car, but, if you are traveling in the country, you will likely need a rental car to get to everything. We rented a car on our first day as we were leaving Edinburgh and used it to drive around the Highlands before returning the car back in Edinburgh and staying in the city for a few days.
If you do choose to drive, make sure you look up and are familiar with the driving rules and expectations. We found it handy to have a screenshot of common road signs so that we could reference it whenever we came across a sign we did not recognize. The road signs in Scotland were fairly common sense and easy to follow though. And remember to drive on the left!
We did opt to pay for insurance for the car just in case something happened, which was more expensive than the actual rental. But we enjoyed having the peace of mind, knowing that if something happened, we would have insurance! The car rental costs are based on our 8 day rental, car insurance, and the amount of driving that we did! This could vary depending on what your itinerary looks like.
Total Estimated Transportation Costs
Car Rental with Hertz (8 days): $214
Car Renters Insurance: $548
Gas: $115
Total to Budget: $877
Cost per person: $438.50
IV. Food and Drink
For me, food and drinks are the hardest thing to budget for before a trip. You can’t really plan what you’re going to be in the mood to eat, and it can be hard to know how expensive groceries and eating out are in another country.
For us, we tried to plan a mix of eating out and cooking at our Airbnbs. We did our best to stick to this, but, honestly, we ate out A LOT. It’s hard to resist the call of a local pub or a cute coffee shop as you stroll by! And there were so many good choices in Scotland! We did try to “compromise” and choose cheaper option for eating out most of the time, but we did find ourselves at a few nicer restaurants too.
A typical budget can range from $25 per person per day for a cheaper budget to upwards of $100 per person per day. For us, we tried to hit the cheap budget amount. We failed at keeping food costs down but managed to hit a mid range of about $50-60 per day.
We found it easier to shop at the local co-op for groceries in Portree and cook at our Airbnb there as the restaurants mostly require booking and can be hard to get into! In Portree, we ate at a small boba shop on our first night and at a fish and chips store down by the harbor (very good but cash only). We did eat out for almost every meal in both Inverness and Edinburgh, though.
Total Estimated Food and Drink Costs:
Total Spent: $1,100
Price per person per day: $55
Estimated Budget: $500-600 per person
V. Activities and Attractions
There are SO MANY things you can do in Scotland, a lot of which are free or very low cost. I’ve listed the activities we did and their cost (for 2 people) here:
Stirling Castle: $48
Argyll Sea Tour in Oban: $60
Old Man of Storr: $10 (parking cost only)
Talisker Distillery Tour: $58
Fairy Pools: $10 (parking cost only)
Stardust Boat Trip in Portree: $92
Dunvegan Castle: $44
Fairy Glen: $3 (parking cost only)
Duntulm Castle Ruins: $0
Quirang: $5 (parking cost only)
Kilt Rock: $9 (parking cost only)
Stroll through Portree: $0
Eilean Donan Castle: $32
Culloden Battlefield: $32
Browse Leakey’s Bookshop: $0
Loch Ness Tour: $118
Islander Workshop: $168
Stroll Victoria Street: $0
Scotch Whisky Experience: $62
Edinburgh Castle: $56
St Giles Cathedral: $16 (donations)
Stroll the Royal Mile: $0
Ghost Bus Tour: $52
Palace of Holyroodhouse: $56
Greyfriars Kirkyard: $0
Greyfriars Bobby Statute: $0
Mary King’s Close: $68
Scott Monument: $0
Walk Princes Street: $0
Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus Tour: $52
Total Activities Cost: $1051
Total Per Person: $525.50
These are just the activities that we did while in Scotland. There are plenty more you can do and, of course, do what sounds fun to you! Honestly, I enjoyed every one of these activities. Some of my favorites were the hikes on the Isle of Skye and the boat tours! If you want to read more about the activities, you can always check out our itinerary.
VI. Miscellaneous
I’ve done my best to lay out exactly what we spent and how much you should budget, but there are always things that pop up unexpectedly! I also did not include travel insurance, souvenirs, and potential parking for activities you do outside of those listed (among other things, I’m sure). You’ll want to plan a little extra into your budget to account for these things.
How much is really up to you and what you’re comfortable with. For me, I think an extra $500-1000 would be good, depending on what souvenirs (if any) you plan to buy. I’m also a more nervous person and would rather take too much than not have enough money, so if you’re comfortable with less, do that!
Total Miscellaneous: $500
VII. Total Estimated Cost: 10-Day Scotland Trip for Two
Flights: $2,013
Accommodations: $3,211
Transportation: $877
Food and Drink: $1,100
Activities: $1,051
Miscellaneous: $500
Total for Two: $8,752 ($4,376 per person)
This is what we spent on our trip and what I would recommend people save for a trip to Scotland. We did our best to balance saving money with convenience or comfort, but we definitely could have done a better job at saving money. I tried to note in places where we think we could have saved money or done better. Looking back, I think what would have made the biggest impact on our budget was accommodation. There were so many options to look through, I kind of got overwhelmed with options and waited too long to book some of our accommodations. I think we could have gotten better prices if we had booked a little sooner!
IIX. Money Saving Strategies for Scotland
After going through the whole process of booking the trip, going on the trip, and then reflecting on how much money we spent, here are some tips on how to save money and stretch your dollar while on your trip:
Book flights early and use alerts to track prices. I used my Capital One Travel Portal to track prices on flights to Edinburgh. Since flight prices can fluctuate and vary so much, this helped ensure that we got the best price possible on our flights.
Mix dining styles. Just like I said we tried (and failed lol) to do! I find that mixing where and what kind of food you’re eating can help save you money and keep you within your budget. Think eating breakfast at your accommodation or eating out at lunch when you can get lunch deals. Mix nicer restaurants with cheaper options like easy pub food or grab and go foods. Make sure you know where the closest grocery store is, too!
Travel in shoulder season. We went to Scotland in September and not during the popular summer months. This can help ease the price of activities and accommodations and can help you avoid busier times of travel. While popular seasons are popular for a reason, I have found that I love traveling in shoulder season! It might not always be the most ideal weather conditions, but I have never had a bad experience and find things slightly cheaper and less crowded.
Prioritize free experiences. I’ll never be one to tell you to skip out on an experience that you want to do just to save a little money - if you have the money and want to do the activity, go for it! But, making sure to build some time into your schedule for lower cost or free activities will help with your budget. Sometimes the free activities end up being some of my favorite memories! Here in Scotland, my favorite time was spent on the Isle of Skye hiking and exploring the beautiful landscape!
IX. Final Thoughts
Now you’ve got a goal for your trip to Scotland! While it’s not the most fun part of the trip, budgeting and planning how much money you’ll need is the first step to making the trip happen. Once you’ve got your budget, you can make your plan for how you’re going to make it happen!
I’ve said it a lot, but I’ll say it again one more time: This is just what we spent. You can certainly do this trip much cheaper (think hotels, cooking, etc), and you can certainly spend more money, too! But we found this to be a good balance for us.
Hopefully you found this to be helpful! Thank you for reading!!