Day 5 - 2 Sep 2018 (Sun)
Continuing off where I stopped in my last post - the train ride. The train was delayed half an hour for some signalling fault (lol SMRT flashbacks) so we reached Edinburgh at 5pm. And then there was a little nightmare lugging our luggage up to our hotel, Fraser Suites Edinburgh. At first my GPS showed us the route which requires us to take this extremely long flight of stairs up. Which was..not gonna happen. So my dad went up to ask the hotel for help and they redirected us to the other longer route, which was still uphill but via a slope. It was still tiring but luckily the weather was decent. And then we checked in, except our very nice and large 1 bedroom apartment is on the 7th floor in an old building which only has lifts to the 6th floor!!! Luckily the hotel staff helped us to bring up our luggage. My luggage was about 20kg cos I packed for a month's worth, so it was really a chore lugging it everywhere, much less up stairs. And there was no aircon so they told us they would install a portable one the next day. AND the safe wasn't working lol. I was fairly annoyed at these oversights, but luckily they did take steps to rectify all our problems. And the room was indeed very nice. Even though the sofa bed that I slept on was a bit...sinky.
We lived right in the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town so that's where we walked around.
Then had an amazing dinner along Victoria St at Maison Bleue. One of the best dinners of the trip, because the food was so innovative yet so delicious!
Day 6 - 3 Sep 2018 (Mon)
Day trip to Glasgow! I bought tickets there and then, and it was about 25gbp (45sgd) per person for a return trip for off peak timings.
We got off at Queen Street, and first stop was to the Glasgow Cathedral. Honestly after seeing so many cathedrals in Europe, they all kind of look the same to me haha. The Necropolis cemetery is right next to it and we caught a glimpse but my parents didn't wanna go in cos it's 7th month lmao.
Then walked about 20min to People's Palace at Glasgow Green for brunch at the glasshouse and to visit the museum. Food was cheap and good!
Then walked an hour from the east to west of Glasgow to visit Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Too bad we only reached around 315 and it closes at 5. After we were semi chased out, went to U of Glasgow which is very pretty.
Took the train (whose stations are extremely sparse) back to Buchanan St to have dinner. Spanish food - tapas and amazingg dessert.
George Square, then finally train back to Edinburgh.
Day 7 - 4 Sep 2018 (Tues)
Whole day in Edinburgh. It worked out well because it was really rainy in Edinburgh on Monday so we escaped, and it was pleasant weather on Tuesday!
Had breakfast at this place called The Larder, which was very popular and kept asking people to wait.
Then headed to Edinburgh Castle. We pre-booked tickets online so I just had to collect them and skip the queue to buy tickets. Also got my dad to get an audio guide cos he's a senior so it's cheaper haha!
We spent about 3 hours, including queuing to see the Scottish Crown Jewels! And waited to watch the 1pm gunner.
Next, headed to the Scottish National Gallery to appreciate some art.
And then take pics with the Scott Monument.
Then went to catch the 230pm 'free' Harry Potter tour that is not actually free cos everyone gives the guide tips. She talked about elephant house cafe, Victoria St being the inspiration for Diagon Alley and some other random HP related stuff. And we visited the Greyfriars Kirkyard where some names apparently inspired JK Rowling, like Thomas Riddell and William McGonagall. I thought it was a good idea to follow a tour for this because I don't know how I would have found those graves on my own lol.
That lasted till about 415pm, then our next stop was a short climb up to Calton Hill to take many many pretty pics. I have no idea why there's a bunch of monuments on top of it. There's even a greece acropolis lookalike on it lol. From there, I could see Holyrood palace and Arthur's seat and the city views, so we decided to skip the hike up Arthur's seat (and cos we were all extremely tired).
Went for a very fancy dinner at this place called Wedgwood instead heh. Delicious.
Day 8 - 5 Sep 2018 (Wed)
Had breakfast at a random place but the food was great and the staff super friendly.
Then went to pick up the car we rented from Arnold Clark via Celtic Legend, which was not what I was expecting. I thought they would drop the car off at our hotel, but they were actually picking us up from the hotel to their office! It's a huge business so pretty well run and professional. Finally got the car around 1030 after a little waiting. It was surprisingly huge. I think I booked a medium sized car (just so that it would fit 3 pieces of luggage), and I was expecting a salon car but it was a fairly large Peugeot car.
First stop was Pitlochry, about 1.5h away. It's a very very pretty town. Had an awesome lunch with decent prices and generous portions at The Old Mill Inn.
Then walked around for a bit, and went to visit the Atholl Palace Hotel which is not a palace at all.
Then a long 2h journey to our airbnb at Glencoe. We had the whole upper floor to ourselves which was 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and a small sitting area.
The host recommended some places for dinner, so we went to have dinner at Clachaig Inn, passing by the Glencoe pass.
Then went to attempt to walk the Glencoe Lochan walk. Uh, we walked like 5min to reach the lake for the views then headed back to the car cos it was like 8+ and dark haha. And otw back to the airbnb, we saw an AMAZING sunset view. Gosh scotland is beautiful.
Day 9 - 6 Sep 2018 (Thurs)
Had breakfast provided by the host at the airbnb which consisted of toast and a good range of spreads, cereal, yoghurt and fruits!
Then headed to Glencoe Lochan AGAIN cos my dad liked the view.
From there, headed to the old Inverlochy castle on recommendation of our host, which is just ruins. But we did get some really pretty sights.
Then headed to Fort William to pump petrol (cheaper than pumping on Skye) then Glenfinnan. There's a short trek up to get views of the Harry Potter train track and the monument, and there's also a walk to see the viaduct from another view. We did both cos I'm a HP fan hehe.
Then rushed to Mallaig which was where we had to catch our car ferry that leaves at 2pm but check in closes at 140pm. The restaurants were mostly full so we got takeaway fish and chips and baked potato. Luckily I booked tickets cos some people were turned away. And its incredible how like 30 cars were on the ferry. Of course, we could get out of the car too to enjoy the view. But it was quite funny cos every 5min someone's car alarm will ring.
Reached Armadale of Isle of Skye, and our first stop was to Sligachan Bridge. We did stop along the way for pretty views.
From that road you turn into to get to Sligachan Bridge, drive further in and you can reach Fairy Pools. It's a 1.5h walk there and back. Some parts were like stones across a river so my mum walked about 5min and headed back but my dad and I continued on, all while battling the midges. Urgh!! The little streams and waterfalls were interesting but I was more fascinated by the surrounding mountains!
By then, it was about 630 so we headed to Portree for dinner but it is an extremely overcrowded town and sooo many people were walking around but couldn't find any restaurants with tables. We ended up at this pizza place. The pizza was decent but the service was hilariously terrible, or terribly hilarious.
They took forever, so by the time we finished dinner (had to pack our pizza to go too cos too much), it was 9pm and freaking dark while driving to our airbnb at Staffin , which is half hour away from Portree. Luckily, there was a car in front of us most of the way to light up and lead the way haha. Finally reached Seasound cottage around 930pm (with a little help from helpful signs), and it is GORGEOUS.
Day 10 - 7 Sep 2018 (Fri)
Full day in Skye! Unfortunately it was mostly extremely cloudy, then when we came back to our cottage the weather became so nice!! Oh well.
The itinerary was the Trotternish loop, so since we're at Staffin, we headed to the Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls viewpoint first. Extremely cold and windy!!
Next was the Old Man of Storr hike for 1.5h. Soo cloudy and it rained at some points too. We didn't go all the way up but high enough I supposed.
Then lunch at Portree at a place called The Granary. Biggest bowl of soup ever lol.
Continued to Fairy Glen, which I did on my own cos it was extremely cold and it's pretty hard to walk. There's no paths or anything so you just gotta find some way to walk and climb up. I thought it was a pretty fascinating place!
Last stop was the Quiraing. We tried to go further than the average tourist but the midges attack was too much so we ran back lol. It was quite cloudy but started to clear up when we were leaving T_T
And then dinner at the Kilmartin. We bought bread from the supermarket as well for breakfast the next day.
Day 11 - 8 Sep 2018 (Sat)
Enjoyed breakfast with an amazing view from the cottage. I cannot recommend this little cottage enough. The decor inside is really so cozy and gorgeous, the host is amazing and the views are just breathtaking.
The weather was good so I stopped by Old Man of Storr again and ran up and down for a better view and pic. Honestly I feel like the best parts of Skye aren't the attractions but just driving around with the incredible scenery surrounding us. And I have no idea how people do Skye without a car haha.
We were now on our way out of Skye, via Portree then the Skye bridge, heading to Eilean Donan castle which is SUPER picturesque. We got tickets to go in, but no pictures allowed inside. Had lunch there too at the cafe.
Then continued to Loch Ness, which was not what I was expecting. It is HUMONGOUS. We stopped at Urquhart Castle, which is truly ruins. Since we already visited Eilean Donan, we just took pics of the castle but didn't head in.
And then headed to Inverness to walk around then for dinner. Many places were fully booked but luckily there was one decent one (Fig & Thistle) with a table. The food was so interesting and innovative!
Headed to Invergordon which is half hour away to check into Kincraig Castle Hotel. Which is more of a manor than a castle. There's a very nice common lounge to chill. Our room was on the highest floor cos we booked the largest one, which is great except all stairs lol.
Day 12 - 9 Sep 2018 (Sun)
Last day of the holiday. We had breakfast at the castle hotel, which was very interesting cos instead of a buffet, there's a mini buffet of some pastries and juices. There's a menu and you order the food directly. The service was really really slow though as there's only one person manning the whole place. I got pancakes, salmon and eggs. Yumm. My dad got the traditional Scottish breakfast and was enjoying the haggis until I told him that's haggis lol.
Checked out then headed to Inverness again to do some shopping. Unfortunately it was a Sunday so some places I wanted to go to like the second hand bookstore were closed. Then went to pump petrol and return the car at Arnold Clark, which provides a free shuttle to the airport! I was taking LoganAir to Orkney while the parents were on easyjet to London Gatwick.