Main Page     All Journeys    Travel Tips

 

 

SCOTLAND     DIARY  2

 Photos

 

Map                                    Plan

 

 Diary 1 2    Translate

 From Diary 1
26. We start the day by heading out to Corrieshelloch Gorge, which is a very deep crevice, with a river at the bottom. Very deep, very wild nature. Continue along the coast to Gairloch, which has a farmer's museum. Not anything new, so we drive on to Eilean Donan Castle, which is a really nice castle. It lies in a fjord and is completely complete inside as it was hundreds of years ago. The owners live in a side wing, and in addition to tourists, they rent it out for filming (eg Eagle's Eye, Highlander, etc.).

It goes through high mountains to Skye, where we should have visited Skye Serpentium, a terrarium which unfortunately only opens on Friday. We continue as darkness falls and end in Portree.

The town offers Skye Wollen Mill, among other things, but it turns out to be one big business, there is no production. We leave the island of Skye and return to Loch Ness, to see Uruquhart Castle. There is not much left of the buildings, but considering what has happened to them over time, as well as the location on the banks of Loch Ness, it is an exciting visit.
We don't see Nessie, so we have to go down to The Original Monster Museum. Steep entrance, but accessible it is an uncommonly flat exhibit you are chased through (the light goes out!). We end up (surprice, surprice) in gift shop. There is not one clear photo of the animal, but it may be due to the coffee-coloured water? (Ness Café!). We drive all the way down to the south end of the lake: Fort Augusts.

Going further south, we pass Ben Nevis, which at 1,344 meters is England's highest mountain. In a small spot we are delayed by road work and Scottish Highland cattle on the road There are quite a few of these charming long haired steaks. Many of the ones we see are Scottish Blach Faceed, incredibly handsome with their black short-haired faces and legs, surrounded by long, all-white hair.

We arrive at Fort William, which offers, among other things, a large mineral museum, which is really beautiful. Unfortunately, there is nothing Scottish, but still exciting. A little detour west to the Glen Fillan Viaduct, then inland to Ardchyle, Killin, where we spend the night in an unusually charming house, far out in the countryside.

27. Reluctantly, we leave the BB and drive south-east to Doume Castle, which has been used in many films. We remember the most from Monty Phyton's "Secrts For The Holy Grall". Parts of the castle have been recently restored, but other parts have been blocked for security reasons.

The car has started to smell, and not just inside the cabin. A radiator hose has been worn, and we have to water it regularly.
Then it goes towards Sterling Castle, which is a really big castle, many of which are still in use. Their new "kitchen show" is really worth a visit. It is very windy on the mountain top, so we continue to Alva Glen. There were supposed to be some smuggling holes here, but the 2 hour walk only provides exercise and nature experiences. Incredibly beautiful V-shaped gorge with river at the bottom, interrupted by heavy waterfalls. Here we get nature for a while.

Nevertheless, we continue to Rumbling Bridge, where 5 rivers / creeks meet in waterfalls. We walk around a bit, but are hard to impress.
We drive to Edinburgh, where we exchange our gradually used car at the airport with a brand new Vaxhall Astra, which is new, refuelled, clean and well suited for tomorrow's city tour. The BB prices in Edinburgh are horrible, so we drive out to the suburb of Lasswade.

28. Early morning (everything is relative) and we drive into the centre of Edinburgh, where we quickly find the "Royal Mile", the road through the old town up to the castle. We start in Camera Obscurs, where a very entertaining guy talks about the city's buildings while appearing "live" on a round, white painted plate in front of us. We go up to the castle but not alone, the queue is gigantic and then it does not move. "Have you seen one castle, have you seen them all!", And then we go down to St. Giles Cathedral, which is a pretty big building.
Morten finds a cafeteria on the 5th floor, overlooking the old town, and a bagpipe player at a suitable distance down the sidewalk.

Strengthened by "Giga-calorie cakes", we walk around the old shops a bit more before heading out to the village of Carmond. There should be a lot to see here, but the most exciting thing is a Roman fortress which unfortunately does not protrude above the earth!
Back in Edinburgh where we see the Nilson Monument, the Scott Monument (Hot Rocket), the Edinburgh Experiment (3D show), the city observatory and some other things ... We use the darkness to drive up to Drye, Aberdeen. Here we sleep 15 meters from the helicopter port.

30. Out and return the car. We have driven 2,000 kilometres. Good holiday, could (but did not) last a week more. Price: DKK 6,500

                     Diary 1 2     Map + Plan  Photos