Driving in Scotland: 7 Things To Do To Set Yourself Up For Success
Here are 7 things that will set you up for success for first time driving on the left and on single track roads. At least, doing these 7 things worked for me! I’ve included tips for once you are on the road as well as some pet peeves. Surprisingly, even though I had been told that it is nerve-racking, I wasn’t nervous about driving in Scotland. In fact, I loved driving in Scotland!
First, I should probably explain that I am a horse girl. As a teen, I began driving a 1978 Chevy Cheyenne 1/2 ton pickup pulling a 2 horse trailer. Quite often it was on logging roads where horse trailer vs logging truck meant backing up until the logging truck could get past. The idea of driving a small SUV on single track lanes didn’t worry me. After all, backing a smaller vehicle without a horse trailer on a winding road sounded like a piece of cake!
Set Yourself Up For Success
Here are a the 7 things that I did that helped to set me up for success:
1. Go over the UK driving guide until you are comfortable that you know the information really well.
- I read the driving manual 3 times. I also reread any section that I didn’t feel confident about until I felt that I really understood.
- Road Safety Scotland is also helpful and there are lots of YouTube videos on driving in the UK. Knowledge builds confidence!
- If you are still nervous about driving, ask the rental agency where you can get a driving lesson in Scotland.
2. Find UK style roads and drive them.
- There are several places, like Liberty Lake, Washington, that have narrow, winding roads that are very similar to driving in Scotland. Driving on those roads did help to prepare me for Scotland’s narrow roads.
3. Mentally prepare for ‘LEFT’.
- This might work best for horse people since we meet oncoming horses left shoulder to left shoulder. A couple of weeks before having to drive on ‘the other side’ I did a simple mental exercise. As I got into the car, I patted my left shoulder and told myself, “shoulder to shoulder”. I repeated that every time a car came towards me, “shoulder to shoulder”. Then in Scotland, I did the same thing with my right shoulder. Every time I got in to drive, and as I drove I reminded myself that I would be meeting them shoulder to shoulder. I had to repeat this again when I got home to make sure I was driving on the right side again!
4. Get a rental that will be easy for you to drive.
- Our rental car was an automatic small SUV. Both my aunt and I are capable of driving a manual. However, driving stick shift with your left hand is one more thing to have to think about. I am always going to choose safety first, and for me, I needed an automatic transmission. The small SUV set us up a little higher so we could see the road better. We felt this was an important safety issue.
5. Peace of mind is important!
- To me, it was worth the money spent to be able to use my phone in Scotland. My phone’s GPS worked everywhere, even on the Isle of Skye where I was told it probably wouldn’t work. I have an iPhone 16 Pro and I was using AT&T International Day Pass.
- Just so you know, rental cars don’t come with a spare tire. In fact, we learned that in Scotland, only a licensed tire technician can change your tire. So it is very important to be able to call for help and be able to ping where you are.
- We spent the extra money for bumper to bumper insurance. Just knowing that we were covered boosted my confidence.
6. Be comfortable parallel parking.
- Actually, you need to be comfortable getting into and out of anywhere that you can find to park. When we were in Perth, I had to parallel park in a ‘barely fit’ spot, or give up on the Perth Museum. There was no way that I was going to miss our booking to see the Stone of Destiny! It was just as much of an adventure leaving as it was parking. I was doubly grateful to have a navigator guiding me since I had to back out of the parking lot into a very narrow alley.
- Don’t forget to pay for parking! Not paying, or parking where it says not to park can be extremely costly.
7. Have an Experienced Expert
- This should probably be Set-Yourself-Up-For-Success item #1. I had my own experienced driver with me and observed her driving for the first two days, which really helped. It definitely contributed to how comfortable I was driving in Scotland. If I hadn’t had an experienced driver with me, I would have wanted a driving lesson, or an opportunity to practice before driving on the road.
Tips For Once You Are On The Road
Here are a few tips for once you are on the road.
■ Take a picture of your rental car with the license plate. For those of us who don’t have anything remotely close to a photographic memory, this will come in very handy.
■ This next tip is for those of us who are directionally challenged. Have apple tags, or something similar, in all of your bags. You can also specifically leave a tag in the vehicle and wherever you are staying. I had to use the Find My app multiple times to find our rental SUV!
■ Speaking of parking, have change handy for parking (and toilets!). Most places do take a credit card or Apple Pay, but the machines don’t always work. Also give yourself time in case you have to hike around to find a car park machine that works. I got to where I would take a picture of the car with the parking number and license plate so I had the correct info for the parking payment.
■ This is more a warning than a tip: Scotland has zero tolerance on drinking and driving. Their alcohol limit is extremely low, so if you plan to have a glass of wine with your meal, or a dram at a pub, use public transportation or walk. Otherwise you may discover a different type of Scottish hospitality!
■ There is a slight warning in this tip: beware the road edges! It rains a lot in Scotland and that makes for boggy conditions. On single track roads, use the designated Passing Places to pull off the road. If you pull over on the side of the road to give room to another car, you may be stuck there for a very long time! There are a lot of stories about people being in a hurry to get to the Fairy Pools and going off the road to get around other vehicles. That is a huge mistake that slows their day down with waiting to get pulled out of the mire!
■ My biggest tip is to have a really good navigator. Especially if this is your 1st time driving on the other side, you will need someone who is reminding you to stay left. It really helps to have a second pair of eyes when you are going through all of the roundabouts. It’s also extremely helpful on single track roads to have another person keeping track of the passing places, in case you need one that you have passed.
■ Another good tip is the Hop-On Hop-Off bus. They are available in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The tours are awesome, and you can hop off and hop back on as much as you want for the day. I enjoyed the HOHO bus in Edinburgh. You couldn’t pay me enough to drive in Edinburgh! It was pouring raining most of the day, so I was happy to stay dry and listen to fabulous stories while touring the city.
■ Last, but definitely not least, remember to share the road! On the Isle of Skye, we had to wait while the real Queen of the Road nursed her little princess, or princeling. It is a great reminder to slow down to enjoy the journey and not be in such a hurry to get to the destination.
My Pet Peeves
There are 3 things that absolutely drove me nuts, so I’m sharing my pet peeves. According to Scottish people sharing on Facebook travel groups, I’m not alone!
- Safety first-know the rules of the road and follow them to the best of your ability. Also, know your own limitations and make good decisions. The death rates have been going up with the number of tourists driving in Scotland. Don’t become a statistic.
- Be polite-use the Passing Places. If you are going slower than the speed limit and there are cars behind you, pull over and let everyone pass you. Actually, if there are cars behind you, as the tourist on vacation, do the decent thing and let everyone pass you.
- Obey the signs-don’t be an entitled tourist. When there’s a sign that says, ‘No Parking’ or ‘Stay off the grass’, it is there for a reason. Don’t be one of hundreds of people to destroy a precious, and fragile, ecosystem. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem. I was taught to always think of the future and other people coming behind me and to leave a place better than I found it.
Before You Drive Off…
Before you drive off, there are a couple of things that you should know.
1. The Rental Car is Opinionated
Our rental car had all around cameras and GPS that knew exactly how fast it thought we should be going. Most of the time it corresponded to the MPH signs. If we drove 1 mph over it’s perceived speed limit or got too close to the road lines, “DING! DING!”. If you drove slower or were avoiding pot holes, “You need to take a break”. Before we reached our first destination we had named the rental ‘Kit Kat’, as in, “Gimmie a break, Kit Kat”!
Confession: Kit Kat got some hot language when I was trying to drive through Portree. We needed the map but the cameras all came on because the cars were so close. In order to have the map for directions, I had to unplug my phone from the car.
Then there was my first attempt to parallel park. Of course, there were witnesses! I had been bragging to friends how I am AMAZING at parallel parking. Then I had the opportunity to show off my skills. It was an extremely easy spot to parallel park. At least until Kit Kat had every bell, whistle, flashing light, and warning going off. It was loud! I completely panicked. It was embarrassing and absolutely hilarious. I’m thankful that it happened in a safe place. I’m also very grateful that I knew what to expect when I had a rather tight place to park the next day. I was able to completely ignore the car and safely parallel park.
2. Map Apps Lie
Don’t blindly trust your GPS system or app. Look up where you are going online. Quite often places will tell you that Google Maps sends you to the wrong spot, and where you actually need to go.
I went back and forth with Google and Apple Maps. We still went on a few unexpected adventures! Two of them happened on day 3 of the 2025 adventure in Scotland.
One day, Google Maps told me this was the best way out of Seatown in Cullen. If our SUV had been any bigger, we wouldn’t have fit or have been able to make the turn. As it was, I had to really finagle the turn! Needless to say, we only did that once. That was quite enough for both of our nervous systems!
To Sum it all up:
★ Safefy 1st: in all things, choose life!
★ Be well prepared.
★ Be polite and respectful.
★ Make this as stress-free an experience as possible.
★ Enjoy the journey as much as the destination.
