For those like me who enjoy ancestry research as a hobby and who can trace some of their ancestors to Scotland, a trip there is a frequent bucket list item.
My wife and I just returned from two weeks in Scotland, so I thought I would share our itinerary and a few things we experienced in case it is helpful for anyone else planning a trip. She teaches art history, so our primary interests were history and museums, but we also included hiking and, since we also both enjoy gardening, gardens were also on our list.
We were there for 12 days and wanted to experience different types of accommodations. We walked or used Uber while in Edinburgh and Glasgow but rented a car and drove the rest of the time. They drive on the opposite side of the road, the steering wheel is on the opposite side and the roads are narrow. However, if you take it easy and have a good co-pilot like I did, it’s not so difficult. Be sure to book an automatic so you have one less thing to think about while navigating roundabouts and trying not to run over sheep. We flew United and booked the car through Hertz, and both experiences were without any problems. Both connecting flights—Dulles on the way there and Newark on the way back—were tight, so we had to hustle to make it. Thankfully, we did both times.
We traveled in late May and early June, and our basic route was a circle: Edinburgh to Perth to Isle of Skye to Glasgow to the Borders to Edinburgh and back home. We had some restaurants and attractions booked in advance but left enough time for spur-of-the-moment experiences and unplanned stops.
As with any travel experience, the real difference comes from the people you encounter working in the hospitality business. We found incredible service and helpful people at each and every attraction, restaurant and hotel. We booked affordable and comfortable places to stay rather than luxury hotels. We travel with our own small white noise machine, so we had no issues with outside noise at any of the places we stayed—a frequent complaint I read on the travel forums. Other essentials for this trip were a raincoat, good waterproof walking shoes that were already broken in, a small backpack and a travel umbrella. We experienced all four seasons in one day several times. It rained, got warm, cooled off, the sun shined, and then it rained again.
Arrival in Edinburgh
Helpful hint: It’s pronounced Edin-bra and Glass-go. We took the train from the Edinburgh Airport right into City Centre and stayed for three nights in one of the rooms above the Rabble Rooms Tap House. They promote it as “an effortlessly hip bar and restaurant with ten stylish boutique hotel rooms located in the heart of the city.” That sums it up well. It was a short five-minute walk from the Princess Street stop to the hotel. Although we were there before check-in, they stored our luggage and took it to the room when it was ready. We ate several meals in their restaurant and all were great.
I ordered the “typical Scottish breakfast” at least once at all our hotels, and I found the one at Rabble to be my favorite. For the uninitiated, a Scottish breakfast for tourists in Scotland is considered an iconic experience that can include bacon, link sausages, black pudding, haggis, baked beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast, tattie scones, and fried eggs. The staff at Rabble was very friendly and helpful, and it was fun to walk through the restaurant and back-of-house to get to the stairs to your room. There is no elevator and we were up two flights, so take that into consideration if you have any mobility issues.
We spent arrival day walking around trying to stay awake and getting acclimated to the area and the six-hour time difference. When our room was ready, we went back and rested a bit before heading to St Giles’ Cathedral (pronounced St. Jiles) for a performance by a choir. It was a great way to kick off our experience in Scotland. The church was founded in 1124 by King David I and has been a working church for almost 900 years. During our two additional days in Edinburgh, we toured Edinburgh Castle, The National Museum of Scotland, Palace of Holyroodhouse (The King’s official residence in Edinburgh), and The Royal Yacht Britannia. I have a potential ancestor buried in the remains of 12th-century Holyrood Abbey included in the tour of Holyroodhouse. My possible 8th great-grandfather, John Paterson, who was Archbishop of Glasgow, died in 1708 and was buried “at the east end on the north side at the foot of Bishop Wishart’s monument.”
All were great experiences to include on your Edinburgh list, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed The Royal Yacht Britannia. We even had tea, scones, and little sandwiches in The Royal Deck Tearoom. I found myself buying smoked salmon and cucumbers to make sandwiches the first day I was back home.
The timing worked out for us to see the opening night performance of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” at the Edinburgh Playhouse. Opened in 1929 as a movie theater, it is the largest theater in Scotland and second largest theater in the United Kingdom. It was fun seeing live theater with what seemed to be mostly locals in the audience. There was certainly a lot more we could have done in Edinburgh, but we had a whole country to explore, so we headed north.
Headed to Perth
We Ubered to the airport, picked up our rental car, and headed to the small burgh of Culross in Fife. While we purchased our tickets for Edinburgh in a package that included access to three double-decker “Hop-On Hop-Off” city bus tours, we bought all other tickets like Culross Palace at the various attractions. Helpful hint: If you are going to do a self-guided Scotland road trip like we did, go ahead and join the National Trust for Scotland. It includes free admission to hundreds of attractions and free parking all over the country. We would have more than paid for our membership two times over if we had joined at the beginning and taken advantage of the benefits they offer.
The experience in Culross is notably more mellow than the one in Edinburgh, so it made for a nice gateway to the next part of our visit to Scotland. An easy drive from Edinburgh, it is surrounded by beautiful countryside and was not crowded at all while we were there. Described as “Scotland’s most complete example of a burgh of the 17th and 18th centuries,” the little town has been used for numerous scenes in the TV series “Outlander.” Although we both wanted to stay a little longer, we needed to get to Stirling Castle in Castle Wynd, Stirling. One of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland, it was the residence of most of Scotland’s later medieval monarchs. Stirling is what you imagine when you think of a Scottish castle; so much so it has been the location of filming “Game of Thrones,” “Outlander,” “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” “Outlaw King,” and many other films and television shows. They welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors annually and have tourist-friendly parking and infrastructure to support them. I also had the best piece of carrot cake in their restaurant that I have ever eaten in my life (or perhaps I was just very, very hungry which is also true).
We spent the next three nights at the Leonardo Huntingtower Hotel in Perth. Although the whole trip was incredible, our days in Perth were among my favorite. The hotel is older and could certainly use a little TLC here and there, but that was also part of the charm. Located on six acres in the quiet Perthshire countryside near the River Tay, it’s surrounded by gigantic trees and at the time we visited, fields being readied for planting. Helpful hint: If you book, ask for a room with a nice view. We also ate several meals in their restaurant which were good and their breakfast was the same as at the other hotels.
While in Perth, we explored Huntingtower Castle and toured the impressive, recently reopened Perth Museum, which features its signature artifact, the Stone of Destiny. If you have time, it’s worth a stop at the Perth Riverside Park. Although the heather was not blooming, many other plants were, so we quickly ran through there. At the park, we also visited the Kinnoull Burial Ground and hiked up Kinnoull Hill to check out the view of Perth, the Lomond Hills, and Fife. The hike took about 45 minutes and is something I would definitely encourage you to include on your list. Helpful hint: It’s less of a hike and more of a stroll and is clearly marked. Just drive your rental car to the Jubilee car park and depart from there. Even with kiddos tagging along, it’s an easy hike.
Scone Palace Garden Fair
My favorite day of the trip was also in Perth. Fortunately, our time there coincided with the annual Scone Palace Garden Fair (Scone rhymes with spoon). The fair, held on the palace lawn, showcased “the finest Scottish gardening talents.” It was also a great way to tour the palace, and we even got to hear a presentation by William Murray, Viscount Stormont. Scone Palace and the surrounding land have been owned by his family for over 400 years, and his goal is to make it “a family-run diversified rural heritage business” attracting tourists from around the world. Scone is known as “the crowning-place of the Kings of Scots” and the original home to the Stone of Scone, more commonly referred to as the Stone of Destiny. While they have a replica you can actually sit on, the original is on display at the Perth Museum. Kenneth MacAlpin, traditionally known as the first King of Scots, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Robert the Bruce, and Charles II are among the 42 kings of Scots inaugurated and crowned at Scone.
Headed to the Highlands
The next day, we woke ready to head further into the Highlands. On the way, we stopped for a tour of Errichel Farms by owner Becky. She and her husband Paul run a gift shop, restaurant, farm and cottages near Aberfeldy in the heart of Highland Perthshire. Her passion for the agritourism business was infectious, and Michelle and I both consider our time with Becky one of the highlights of our trip.
>Go to Scotland Trip Report Part Two
>More photos from our trip to Scotland
>Videos from our trip to Scotland