Scotland Road Trip (part one) - Up the East

Cathy and myself decided to do a road trip tour of Scotland following many scenic highways and 12 hotels in 13 nights. We did all the planning ourselves and it proved to be a fantastic experience and something well worth doing.

Day One :- The Journey - Set off on a Sunday morning for the long drive to Edinburgh with first stop off (other than coffee & comfort break) at Lindesfarne (Holy Island). Prior to leaving we had checked the tide times and knew we needed to be back over the causeway by 2-10pm. Weather was kind on the way up and only hold up was a bit of traffic around Newcastle.
Enjoyed our picnic prepared the day before.

Eventually got to the border and visited a couple of nice little fishing villages as we left the A1 to take the more scenic B roads.

We stopped in North Berwick for our afternoon coffee and the good weather had brought people to the beach so a parking space took some finding. Its a lovely place and we got a lovely balcony viewpoint of of the beach and town while enjoying our break.

Continued on our journey reaching our Edinburgh hotel around 5pm, we were staying for two nights at the Holiday Inn Express at Port of Leith which was a great location with regular buses into the city and its worth noting a day ticket only costs £4.
On first night we decided to eat at an Italian restaurant about a 10 min walk from the hotel which the hotel manager had given us a 20% off voucher. Food was excellent and staff friendly but one other group could only be described as "family from hell" totally unable to control their kids. Still enjoyed as fortunately they left and afterwards sampled a pub over the river which to my delight served Theakstons Old Peculier on draft.

Day Two : - Edinburgh - Jumped on the bus to visit the City and its one well worth the trip its a smashing place. First stop was the tourist information office to buy historic Scotland passes which are great value at £40 each which allows free entry into lots of places for 7 days out of 14 (ideal for touring and saved us around £60). First use was at the Castle (the pass also allowed us to fast track and beat the queues) which is must see in Edinburgh.

Spent a good couple of hours before walking around the city centre, its certainly a place we are likely to return as feel only scratched the surface in one day.

Eventually returned to Leith and wandered over to look at the Royal Yacht Britannia which was right over the road from our hotel, sadly we didn't have time to go onboard as we had a meal booked for the evening at Browns in the City centre.

So was a quick shower and change then back on the bus to the City for a lovely Steak dinner and bottle of Malbec.

Day 3 :- Stirling Castle and more - We hit the road early but it wasn't long before our first pit stop in Queensferry for a quick photo shoot of the famous rail bridge.

Then it was a day of castles (making full use of our pass) first one was Aberdour Castle (across water from Edinburgh) which was nice mainly ruins but with a lovely garden which would make a cracking picnic place.



2nd stop was Castle Campbell which was set in woodlands high up a steep hill with fantastic views and of course car park was at the bottom so we got some much needed exercise. On the way down we followed a interesting forest trail rather than the road, was a nice stop off.

Although not on our original plan we had been advised to overshoot Stirling and go to the popular Doune Castle famous for the filming on "Monty Python and the holy grail" among other things.
Not the best ruins we visited but on the way there we stopped off a a statue of David Stirling where there are fantastic views of the beautiful countryside.
David Stirling is the man who founded the SAS.



Finally we finished the day at the impressive Stirling Castle which like Edinburgh is a must visit attraction.

Accommodation that night was at a Premier Inn close to the motorway, we dined at the Brewers Fayre pub next door that evening.

Day 4 :- Aberdeen to meet a friend - Hit the road after breakfast as we had a planned meet with Annette at 12-30pm for lunch in Stonehaven. Annette is a friend from two Just You holidays i'd been on in previous years.

One City we traveled through on the route was Perth a place that looks worthy of a visit on future trips, no time with our tight schedule this time.

Our first stop off was the Meigle Stone Museum where we were kindly given a brief history of the Pictish areas of Scotland by the lady running the place.

Another stop was Edzell Castle famous for its gardens and wall, apparently unique with its carved heads.








Met Annette as arranged in Stonehaven a pretty harbour town south of Aberdeen and it only seemed right to have fish & chips for lunch, nice they were too.


Annette took us to see Dunnottar Castle nearby whish stands impressively on some cliffs with great viewsof the North Sea.

Afterwards we went to our hotel (Premier Inn North) to get changed before been collected and kindly given a guided tour of Abredeen by our friend. First it was to the beach area for a coffee at a local cafe then to some cliffs where we spotted a few dolphins before returning for a night cap.

Day 5 :- Onward north to Inverness - Must admit following the coast was a long way around and we didn't make everywhere we planned to visit in particular Fort George and the Culloden Battlefield. Still it was a good day but if doing it again needs an overnight in between as so much to see and do bit of an error in judgement.

However it started badly our first port of call was Tolquhon Castle but due to staff shortages was closed for the day.

Still onwards north and we stopped at the Bullers of Buchan cliffs a beautiful viewpoint for a couple of photos.

Next port of call was Fraserborough and the National Lighthouse Museum, had a light lunch in the cafe there before moving on.

Duff House was next stop off then a few more scenic photo opportunties before driving to our hotel. So much to see and do along that coast and as i said earlier needs more time.

That evening got the bus into Aberdeen to eat at the restaurant at the Mercure Hotel before knocking the froth off a couple in a bar in the city centre. Didn't get much time in the City but liked what i saw and people were really friendly.

Next up part two "North Coast 500"