Had a wonderful time. Flew into London two days before the coronation, but luckily my London time was at the end of this trip. Got on the Edinburgh Express. 400 miles from London to Edinburgh and the train takes less than five hours. I love travelling by train!
Spent five days in Edinburgh
walking around things like this:
And no, there was no escalator up to the top. I looked.
And there was whisky, of course. I am now an official member of the Scotch Whisky Appreciation Society, which I believe entitles me to 10% off a bottle I couldn’t afford anyway. But it was fun.
Drank a beer or two. I was amazed at the amount of cask ale in Scotland. My first visit, nearly 30 years ago, you couldn’t find any.
But even after 30 years, some things never change.
From there I rented a car at the airport and drove up to Inverness, at the top of Loch Ness. I’ve driven in the UK before. It isn’t relaxing – I keep trying to scrunch to the left, and on Scotland back roads there’s either a mountain or a loch on your left. I got through it OK. Hertz cooperated by giving me a Volvo, so I didn’t have to learn any new controls. The most common road sign was this, which made me nervous. Tell them not to do that!
But it was breathtakingly gorgeous. Pictures don’t do it justice, because you can’t stop and take them where it’s really stunning.
I took the long way up so I could stop at Bannockburn and Glencoe. Stopped at the Claddach Inn in Glencoe, per Doug’s suggestion. I’m a MacDonald (my paternal grandmother), so I appreciated this:
Did a Loch Ness tour, and got to go to Urquhart Castle.
Drove the ‘easy’ way back to Edinburgh, dropped off the car, and hopped the train back to London.
I hear what you’re saying about driving in the UK. When I visited a few years back and drove through Dartmoor National Park, that was some of the most beautiful and terrifying driving – hedgerows that were 10 foot high perfectly vertical walls right on the edge of the roads that were barely wide enough in the first place, and then add in very sharp turns, and the occasional random sheep in the road. But I’d go back for sure!
Looks like you had some fun adventures! I wish I had been able to see more old castles while I was over there – maybe I needed to headed further north!