With 10 days free before our flight to India we had just enough time to head up to Scotland so I planned a route to show Scott some of the best bits.

Edinburgh

Leaving London on a cloudy miserable day, the skies cleared as we crossed the border, and we entered Edinburgh to a beautiful day – unusual!

We had a hotel on Castle St in the centre of the city so after dumping our bags we were out the door to explore. Down to Princes St, the main shopping drag, for a glimpse of the Castle, before heading along to Waverley bridge to listen to a bagpiper.

A wander along the Royal Mile couldn’t be missed and neither could a stroll and down Cockburn St for a pint or two in one of the many pubs.  Then back to Rose St for a tasty meal.  Although we were too early to see the official Christmas lights, it was still beautiful at night.

The next day we joined a walking tour for the morning and again got some great weather.

Then it was off to catch up with friends from when I lived here (back in 2004!) for a night of plenty of wine, good food and hilarity!

Dufftown

After picking up the rental car we were off out of Edinburgh and on our way to St Andrews.  An hour and a half later we were there and wandering around the cute little town.  We even stopped at the golf course to watch a few people play in the drizzling rain.

Then onwards to the Highlands!  Our drive to Dufftown took almost 4 hours as our GPS led us down every country lane in the area… Made for great scenery but a slow journey.  Fog rolled in combining with a early dusk bringing visibility to about 5 metres at some points. And of course that’s when a bunch of sheep decide to cross in front of your car!  Luckily none hit, but we were pretty glad to get to Dufftown.

Dufftown is a little town on the Whiskey Trail, a section of Scotland with a high number of distilleries, which would be our home for the next few days as we explored the area.

Whiskey Trail

Our first stop was Glenlivet a few km out of Dufftown where we joined a free tour.  Now owned by Chivas Regal, Glenlivet is one of the largest whiskey brands in the world.  Their storage area was huge and apparently only contained a small amount of their total stock.

Sadly no photos allowed on the tour which was a shame as the copper stills and building were very cool.

At the end we were offered a choice of here whiskeys to taste- despite the delicious aroma, I still can’t cope with the taste of it!  Scott was happy though.

We booked in for the Glenfiddich tour in the afternoon which is just down the road from Dufftown in a gorgeous setting.  Luckily photos allowed here!

The tour cost £10 each, and was well worth it, taking about an hour to show you how the whiskey is made and stored and giving you a taste of 5 whiskeys.

Culloden

The Culloden Battlefield is where one of the more famous battles between the English and the Scots occurred and there is a brilliant museum there,  as well an audio guide to listen to as you wander the land where the battle took place.

Loch Ness

The drive to Alexandria at the bottom of Loch Ness took a few hours, stopping mid-way down to see some castle ruins (castle ruins are everywhere in Scotland!)

Alexandria is no more than a few shops, pubs and hotel, and a boat service to go out Loch Ness Monster hunting! The boat tour takes you about half the way up the Loch which has incredible scenery on all sides.  There are also sonar screens to keep an eye out for Nessie in case she is hiding underwater.

Lochs

We had planned to do some hiking in Scotland but unfortunately just as we reached Loch Leven, the rain set in and didn’t stop! Then it was onto Loch Lommond, our final stop. The drive between these two is incredibly stunning and even in the rain and cold we needed to stop frequently for photo stops.