Scotland
// photo gallery
From the highlands to the isles
Scotland is renowned for its historic castles, the rolling hills and seaside towns. This trip gave us all of this from Edinburgh to the highlands and the Isle of Skye.
Scotland was the first leg on our big adventure to Scotland, Norway and Amsterdam in 2024.
After a quick jaunt from Heathrow to Edinburgh, we arrived in town in the afternoon (after a long, long flight from Australia) and started to take in the sights of this historic town – from the imposing castle that looks over the town to the winding streets straight out of Harry Potter.
We stayed at the Virgin hotel in Edingburgh which was very cool and nicely located to the city centre and the Royal Mile.
Our first full morning took us to the top of Calton Hill for sunrise, looking out over the city. By day we enjoyed the Edinburgh Castle and trekking through the streets and cemeteries looking for some link to Harry Potter books apparently.
Edinburgh is a beautiful city, filled with a historic postcard scene at nearly every turn.
For the next few days we hired a car and took to the road, heading north and taking in historic towns, lochs, rivers and castles, staying in Spean Bridge which gave us beautiful views across Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland.
The drive further north took us towards the Isle of Skye and as the weather closed in we got a true taste of the wild Scottish winter with heavy rain and snow. The Isle offered beautiful drives through the rolling countryside and stopping in little seaside towns, and of course the whisky that is so famous in these parts.
Our final stay was in Kingussie, close to the adventure playground of Scotland with its skiing and lakes. I even did a Parkrun on the Saturday morning, high in the highlands.
