We arrived at the Glasgow airport in the afternoon. We took taxis to our hotel, the Glasgow Marriott, located downtown. The property has been refurbished. We went to the executive lounge for Happy Hour and hors d'oeuvres. Afterwards we walked a few minutes and tried two beautiful pubs nearby. We started our "crawl" at Drum & Monkey, a 150 year old venue and ended at the Pot Still, who offers over 800 whiskies from all over the world. We had a lot of fun on our first night in Scotland.
After having the breakfast buffet at our hotel, we took a taxi to the bus station where our tour departed. We had prebooked on Viator a day trip to the West Highlands in a Mercedes minivan (with a maximum of 16 people). That was a smart choice considering the narrow and curvy roads. We first stopped at the quaint village of Inveraray, located on the western shore of Loch Fyne. We walked through the city and to the Inveraray Castle to take photos. It is still owned by the Duke & Duchess of Argyll. Our next photo op was the Kilchurn Castle, a ruined structure on a rocky peninsula at the northeastern end of Loch Awe. After a 30 minutes’ drive, we arrived in Oban, an adorable resort town known as the seafood capital of Scotland. We had fish and chips for lunch and we shopped until it was time to go back to our van. We went by Castle Stalker, a picturesque castle surrounded by water. We were ahead of schedule and we had time to stop at the Glencoe Visitor Center, which closes very early at 5:00pm for the Center and 4:00pm for the Cafe! during summertime. Glencoe is in the heart of the Highlands and is known for the “Massacre of Glencoe”, where the Scottish army massacred 38 people from the McDonald clan. A few miles after the city, on our way back to Glasgow, we took photos of the Pass of Glencoe. That was a spectacular way to finish our day.
The next afternoon we took the train to Edinburgh. It took less than an hour, but it was very busy. They were having strikes and they did not have as many trains as usual. We stayed at the Courtyard Edinburgh, located near the Playhouse Theatre and Calton Hill. That was a perfect location for discovering the city. Our room was on the back of the hotel and was very quiet. They also had a good breakfast buffet. We were lucky to get a reservation for a very good Italian restaurant, Mamma Roma, located just across the hotel. It was very busy, but the service and food were excellent.
We had purchased 48 hours Hop-on, Hop-off bus tickets. They have a line that takes you to the Royal Yacht Britannia, north of Edinburgh, at the Ocean Terminal shopping center. It’s about 20 minutes from the center of the city. You visit the ship at your pace as it is a self-guided audio tour. There are five decks to explore including the State Apartments, the Royal Bedrooms, the Crew’s Quarters, the Sun Lounge and the Engine Room. That was a great experience.
We took the bus back to town through various neighborhoods and next visited the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the King's official residence in Edinburgh. We had access to State Apartments, the Throne Room & Great Gallery and Mary, Queen of Scots’ Chambers, which was our favorite part of the visit. On our way out we stopped by the Abbey. We had a very good lunch at Mackays. The restaurant is located on the Royal Mile, a succession of streets in the Old Town of the city. They have great shops and a multitude of pubs between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace.
We had wonderful weather for our last day in Edinburgh. We hopped on the bus near our hotel and went first to visit Edinburgh Castle, one of Scotland’s most iconic landmarks. We prebooked our tickets online and arrived at the castle a few minutes before our time slot. It was very busy and the tickets were sold out for most of the day. That was a good thing that we purchased our tickets in advance. It took us a little bit more than two hours to tour the castle. We visited the National War Museum, the Prisons of War and the Mons Meg, a massive medieval cannon that dates back to 1449. It was a gift to King James II and could fire cannonballs over two miles. It’s one of the largest cannons in the world. One of the highlights of our visit was the Crown Jewels of Scotland, including the crown, sword, and scepter used in coronations. The next room we explored was the Great Hall. We ended with a tour of the Royal Apartments, a part of the castle that served as royal residences, where Mary, Queen of Scots gave birth to her son James VI, who would later become King of both Scotland and England. We had lunch on the Royal Mile at Deacon Brodies, a tavern built in 1806. They have a very nice dining room on the second floor.
Before walking back to our hotel, we visited St. Giles Cathedral, founded in 1124 by King David I. It used to be a catholic church before the protestant reformation. St. Giles' transitioned into a Protestant place of worship. The interior was changed significantly to align with Reformed worship practices, which emphasize simplicity and the absence of religious imagery that was common in Catholic churches.
We spent our last evening in Edinburgh at the Theater Royal Bar, a very classy pub located a few steps from our hotel. It had recently been refurbished. The service was very friendly and the gastro pub type of food was excellent.
We enjoyed our few days in Scotland and would like to come back for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo music festival and to visit St. Andrews, Balmoral and the Isle of Skye, a six-hour drive from Edinburgh.
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