While staying in Edinburgh, Iona, Chloe and I went on a full day trip to the Scottish Highlands. We booked it with Get Your Guide and we had the most fantastic day!
The day trip, run by the fantastic team at Timberbush Tours, cost us £62 for the tour only – however, there are different options when you book. As we were going in December, we were unsure when we first booked if we would want to do the caste and loch ness cruise option. My advice is BOOK THE WHOLE TRIP! We paid £30 on the day to add the castle and cruise onto our trip, it would have been £87 if we had booked in advance. It is so worth doing whatever time of year you go!
So let’s go! Come with me and my friends on a trip to the Scottish Highlands…
We were up very early to meet the coach for a prompt departure from Edinburgh at 7:30am. We drove through the city and on passed Linlithgow (birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots), Falkirk and The Kelpies statue, Stirling Castle and Doune Castle (famously seen in Monty Python and the Holy Grail or more recently featuring as Stark Castle in Games of Thrones).
We then came to our first pitstop, Kilmahog. This was a very brief toilet and breakfast stop. There was a little shop here that we had a look around (great if you want souvenirs) before getting back on the coach. When back on the coach, we set off to our first photo stop. We stopped off at the Loch Tulla viewpoint where the loch looks black against the mountains.
We then drove on to our next photo stop (my favourite one I think) – Glencoe. The Glencoe viewpoint is one of the most beautiful and peaceful spots and the views are just incredible. We were stopped here for around 20 minutes but I wish we’d had a little more time the look around as there are a couple of waterfalls and points of interest around the viewpoint which would have been good to check out. After our photo stop at Glencoe, we continued passed Loch Levan, Fort William and Ben Nevis, through to Spean Bridge where we stopped for lunch.
Note: If you choose to go to Scottish Highlands without doing a tour, after Glencoe, you could take a little detour to Glenfinnan Viaduct which is famous for being the bridge the Hogwarts Express passes over in the Harry Potter film series.
After our lunch break, we got back on the coach for a quick drive to our next photo stop – Loch Lochy. Although it was only mid-afternoon, the winter sun was already lowering so there was a haziness about the loch and the sun illuminated the surrounding mountains. The loch was so calm and peaceful. A perfect photo stop.
After another short drive, we arrived at the ruins of Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness. Here we had around an hour to look around (enough time to see the whole complex of ruins but probably not enough time if you want to watch the talk or information video in the museum shop). The setting sun made the ruins glow and we had a great time looking around.
After looking around the castle ruins, it was time to go searching for Nessie on our Loch Ness Cruise. Loch Ness is the deepest loch in Scotland and while on the cruise, the guide gave us lot of information about the most famous loch, sightings of her monster and the surrounding areas. Sadly we didn’t find Nessie, however, the cruise was a great end to the day trip and we topped it off with a highland hot chocolate (has a shot of whiskey in it).
After our cruise on Loch Ness, we got back on the coach for the long (approximately 3 hour) journey back to Edinburgh. We had a quick (20 minutes) stop in Pitlochry to get some food or go to the toilet. It had been a super long day and everyone was pretty tired on the journey back. We got back to Edinburgh around 8:30pm and went for a quick dinner before going back to our hotel and bed.
Trivia from the Scottish Highlands
To be legally called whiskey, it must be aged exactly 3 years and 1 day. Anything produced outside of Ireland or Scotland is considered bourbon, however, Japan has an upcoming whiskey industry. The angel’s share of whiskey is the alcohol lost to evaporation and is willingly given. The devil’s share is the alcohol lost when the barrel is cracked open and is unwillingly taken.
Kilts were traditionally only worn by highlanders and islanders. The material was used as a skirt, then crossed over shoulder and down front of body. It could be used as rain cover, sleeping bag, blanket etc. The sporran (literal translation is purse) traditionally kept oats in them for snacking – this made an early form of porridge in which you’d take a handful of oats from the sporran and dip them in water before eating them.
The Unicorn is the national animal of Scotland. Celtics believed that unicorns were the only animal able to kill a lion (the English).
There are more pubs in Scotland than holy buildings.
A legend from Loch Levan – Agnus White tried to warn the McDonald clan of attack by the Campbell clan, but they didn’t listen and instead accused her of witchcraft and banished her. She watched from afar as the clan were slaughtered. She later threw a sword into the loch, blessing it and saying that no man from Glencoe would perish in battle if the sword was left undisturbed. This stood until 1917, when a treasure hunter removed the sword from the loch and shortly after, 7 men from Glencoe were killed fighting in WW2.
The Stone of Scone, aka The Stone of Destiny, is a religious artefact thought to have once belonged to Jacob (from the bible, also known as Israel). Stolen from the Scots by King Edward I of England. It was then stolen back in the 1950s by Ian Hamilton, who robbed it from the Tower of London under the influence of alcohol, this caused the borders between England and Scotland to be closed for 7 months. In 1996, Queen Elizabeth II returned the stone to the Scottish people, Ian Hamilton (now a prominent defence lawyer) admitted his guilt in stealing it back to Scotland but could not be prosecuted as according to British law, you can’t be prosecuted for stealing already stolen property. The Stone of Scone is now housed in Scotland and only transported to England for coronations.
We had such a fantastic day and saw so much of the beautiful Scottish countryside. Throughout the trip, the guide gives you so much information and history about Scotland and its people. It was really fascinating, tiring and fun day out! I need to see more of Scotland and the highlands.
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