I’m thinking of taking a holiday in Scotland, but frankly, I have no idea what I’d be doing there (nor have I ever been on holiday somewhere else tbh, so I’d love to do some planning beforehand). I really want to enjoy the nature and landscapes there and I’m sure there must be a few not so tourist-y gems I could plan on visiting.
Edinburgh is the obvious answer. If you’ve never been there you absolutely should stop in. Old town was amazing as a tourist, although it does get very touristy, but that was definitely a Scottish moment for me I had there. New town also had a ton of fun places to stop in, good food, and exploring.
We went to Stirling Castle, easy to get to by rail from there, and had a great tour.
We loved Scotland so much we’re going back in a few months, but this time farther north into the highlands, Inverness will be our main base. If anyone has suggestions around there I’d love to hear them! (And it’s already starting to sound like I need to go to the western side on another trip there someday…
Inverness is a great base, though not an especially wonderful city in itself. Go west to visit Ullapool, a completely charming town and beautiful scenery en route. Or head for Speyside malt country if you’re a whisky fan. Or check out Loch Ness, or Cawdor Castle, or go dolphin watching. Enjoy!
Thanks for confirming that, Inverness I’m sure is nice, but yeah it seems more like a jumping off point for us. We’re thinking about first day exploring the city and going on the boat tour of Ness & Ulquart castle, but then second day renting a car (terrified of driving on the left tho), and driving out. I’ve seen Cawdor come up a few times, maybe that, and then we’re thinking maybe Glennmorangie (because we actually have their sister distillery here in Seattle so we figured why not go see it). However we’ve been looking for other places, I’ll look into Ullapool!
Thank you so much! I think now Edinburgh would be a great starting point for my first visit there. But I totally get you when you say you’ll need another trip just for the western side, I honestly underestimated how spread out all the cool places are hahah
It’s an amazing city that I fell in love with, and it’s so easy to branch out and go from there. Like I said a trip to Stirling Castle is a great trip, just an hour away by train, Linlithgow is half hourish away by train, and if you do want to see Glasgow you can easily take the express train which is only 45 mins. Have an amazing trip!