Our trip to Scotland from the 16th to the 25th of July of 2006:

Alberto, Susana, Carlos and Gemma discovered the charmer of the Scottish people of the Highlands.

DAY 1-2: EDINBURGH (2 nights) 16-17 JULY

The whole day in Edinburgh including an afternoon nap in Princess Street gardens!

- Edinburgh Castle: 10.3 GBP

- Walk by the Royal Mile

- Zone of Grassmarket

- Victoria Street

- Panoramic from Scott Monument 2GBP

(Princess Gardens, Old Town and Castle)

- Panoramic from Calton Hil

- Palace of Holyroodhouse 6 GBP.

Rodney Aparment ****: http://www.rodneyapartment.com/index.htm

The apartment is clean, new and nice, equipped with whatever you can need from kitchen clothes or scourers to dishwasher. The sofa-bed is very uncomfortable for 2 adults, but ideal for children… You must leave a credit card in case you do not leave it “clean & tidy” in which case they would charge you 25 GBP. We had to tidy up before leaving and fold the sofa-bed. Anyway, we were very comfortable.

Tesco is very near, just in 10 minutes walking along Princess Street.

DAY 3: EDINBURGH-STONEHAVEN (1 night) 18 JULY

We went out Edinburgh by FORTH BRIGDE with panoramic views over the Fith of Forth, passing by the historical town of SOUTH QUEENSFERRY (1 GBP) located between this bridge and the spectacular bridge of ferrocarril constructed at the end of the 19th century, one of more spectacular Victorian engineering installations of the world.

By the A913 we arrived at the historical ST.ANDREWS city with a castle, a cathedral and university. We parked in the main street, just in front of the tourism office. We enquired abour what to visit in the city and we bought tickets for the car park. A warning: fines are more expensive. In Spain we pay 3 Eur to cancel a fine in Edinburgh you must pay 40 GBP!

We crossed the bridge by Dundee that leads you by the A90 to GLAMIS CASTLE (7.3 GBP), we arrived at lunch time and very hungry .Suddenly we saw a picnic site. By chance we had some food in the boot of the car. As other 4 or 5 families we had lunch there, enjoying a sunny day while we saw some Scottish cows also eating their lunch.

Arduthie GH ****:

http://www.arduthieguesthouse.com

The prettiest house of our trip. We stayed at Braemar Room, at the end of the stairs, with views to the sea. It was lovely, very clean and tidy, with lot of details whiskey in the room. In the bath were quality amenities and a dressing gown of cotton for ladies. We had a very good breakfast while we listened and enjoyed classic music.

DAY 4-5: STONEHAVEN - INVERNESS (2 nights) 19-20 JULY

 We left Stonehaven and by the A93 we arrived at ROYAL DEESIDE TOUR. Following the course of the Dee river we visited:

- Drum Castle, medieval castle in which we made a fleeting visit, we arrived so early that it was still closed.

- Crathes Castle, when we arrived at the entrance we misinterpreted an indication poster, reason why we parked near the general highway and had to walk for about 15 minutes until the castle, where there is a car park! The castle is quite pretty and we made pictures of its gardens.

- Balmoral Castle is a lovely castle where for many years the Royal Family lived. You shouldn’t pass by without entering and seeing the luxury of the Royal Family.

We droved by A90 until we arrived at INVERNESS.

1st day in Inverness:

- FORD GEORGE 6,5GBP impressive military fortress very well conserved and located on a cliff.

- CASTLE OF CAWDOR is considered the most romantic and lovely castle of the Highlands. With drawbridge! Gardens are very well conserved and also beautiful. 3,7GBP

- By the A852 we surrounded Loch Ness from the east and found other littler lakes more “wild” .We also visited FALLS OF FOYERS, a cascade nailed in the middle of the mountain.

2on day in Inverness:

- At NESS lake we could see the greatest ruins of Scotland: URQUHART CASTLE 6,5GBP. As there were only ruins we just made panoramic photographs.

- FORT AUGUSTUS is a city where we found the Caledonian Canal. Here you can see, if you are lucky, the boats passing through the sluices. We made very nice photos with a piper who dressed the typical suit. Great!

Glenuig House****: http://www.glenuighouse.co.uk

The house is in a street full of B&B, close to the centre of Inverness. The room where we stayed was big, nice and very well decorated with bed of forge, sofa, modern carpets…

Susan was very kind and talkative. Alison was very funny and joking. They always asked about how the day had been …

The breakfast was littler, but also delicious. We had to write in a paper all we wanted for breakfast and leave it in the hall the day before.

DAY 6-7: INVERNESS - SKYE ISLAND (2 nights) 21-22 JULy

We left Skye towards the A87.

INVERINATE is a small town with views to the Loch Duich just before arriving to Eilian Donan castle.

EILEAN DONAN castle (4,95GBP) is very well conserved. There are furnished rooms and in the kitchen are ceramic figures representing of the food and the servants, very cool! We could see a fiancée the day of their wedding, with a Scottish traditional dress taking a photograph report. Even photographer dressed the Scottish skirt…

After the castle, direction to Skye, there is a sports store and a wharf where it is possible to stop and take a picture of the castle: the typical of postcards.

We arrived to SKYE by Kyle of Lochalsh and we went round the coast till Portree; the capital.

From Portree we followed the A855 and we found unbelievable landscapes.

Panoramic of KILT ROCK, cliffs that fall in the sea and whose fold resemble typical Scottish skirts and MEALT FALLS.

DUNTULM CASTLE are ruins of a castle (in fact they are 4 stones) with a pretty panoramic over the north of the island.

MUSEUM OF ISLAND LIFE, is a representation of the old life in the island 2 GBP. We saw the small houses from the car park.

In the west we found the DUNVEGAN CASTLE, normal place of residence of McLeod Saga for more than 700 years.

(5 GBP, It’s not worth it), it has some careless gardens. We only liked the panoramic photograph from the sea. Opposite there are small boats that by 6GBP take you to see wild seals! We arrived late and we could not do it. We drove approximately 1 km far from the car park. We stopped the car and we sat down. Fortunately we managed to see two seals heads.

Here, the Talikser´s whiskey is very well known and it is the only distillery of the island. It is said that this whiskey has a sea taste. We could not visit it because we were late to take the ferry to return.

Dalriada Guest House ***: http://www.dalriadaguesthouse.co.uk/

The house is in the outskirts of Portree. It was also pretty. It had a hall with TV with films and music equipment with CDs.

The room was small and simple, the TV was very old, but there wasn’t stairs in that house!

For breakfast there were 2 turns, 8 or 8:45. We had first turn and be the one to have to leave the table was a little stressful.

Owners were very calm, less talkative than others but very kind.

DAY 8: SKYE- GLENCOE (1 night) 23 JULY

We took a Ferry from Skye to Mallaig. Very amusing and we took a shortcut through Ford William.

We followed the course of Jacobita train from the HARRY POTTER film through wonderful landscapes. We stopped in Glenfinnan monument to take a picture of the lake and the bridge of Harry Potter’s train.

We arrived at FORD WILLIAM, city full of stores in its main street. This city is located under the shade of BEN NEVIS, the highest mountain of Great Britain. Excursions can be done from the visitors’ centre of Ben Nevis.

We went to GLENCOE small town with views to Loch Linnhe, where we slept.

We visited KINLOCHLEVEN in the evening. It is a town at seven miles of Glencoe. If you want to visit it you have to go around a beautiful lake with astonishing views of the lake as well as of the mountains that surround it.

Dorrington Dodge Guest House ***: http://www.dorrington-lodge.com

The first impression of our landlord was horrible. Where was the Scottish kindness that we got used to? He treated us very curtly and he spoke far to quick for us. It was very difficult to understand him. He gave us our key and went to his “bunquer”. The entrance to his private zone had a security lock…

We wanted to look at another B&B but we were too tired…

Despite of the landlord, the room was very nice. Perhaps this house and the house or Stonehaven were the best and they both had lot of amenities in the room and the bathroom.

The breakfast was the most abundant and delicious from all.

There were wonderful views of the lake from the dining room.

DAY 9: GLENCOE - EDINBURGH (1 night) 24 JULY

We left Glencoe and went towards Ford William to visit BEN NEVIS distillery 4GBP.

First we stopped for a coffee break in TALISKER CASTLE VIEW. It’s a very pretty snack bar with views to the castle. We wanted to have a white coffee, after trying to communicate ourselves with the waiter without much success, he asked: - Spanish? – As we agreed, he called his collegue, a girl who spoke a perfect Spanish! She was Madrilenian, and she was working with her friends. It was the first real white coffee we had! If you like white coffee you have to order “a LATTE”, that is what it looks more like the Spanish one. 

INVERARAY CASTLE is a pseudo gothic palace full of towers. It is the residence of the clan Campbell. 6.3 GBP. Only some rooms can be visited and unfortunately the gardens are private.

Natural park of TROSSACHS where we found LOCH LOMOND and the natural park of Trossachs.

In Stirling we visited the MONUMENT to WILLIAM WALACE. There is a statue of Braveheart and raising the hill there is the monument to the true WW.

Return to Edinburgh to sleep.

Globetrotter Inns Edinburgh **** Hostel http://www.globetrotterinns.com

It's very cheap and with much youth. In their long corridors you could film terror movies, with lot of doors and when the bad is chasing you it looks like is has no end...

DAY 10: EDIMBURGH: HOME RETURN (25 JULY)