Started with the train journey from London to Edinburgh.
Note - remember to book first class on the train next time.
Edinburgh - stayed at the Holiday Inn Express next to the Ocean Terminal. Nice place, but a bit far from the main city. Well connected by bus, so that was not a problem. Ocean Terminal has a nice mall, and the Britannica is anchored in the harbour, so easy to do the yacht tour ... which we didn't do! Beautiful sunset over the water. A friendly attendant in one of the stores gave us the names of Mallaig and Glenfinnan to visit from Fort William, for the Harry Potter connection ... noted and filed away carefully.
From Edinburgh drove to Stonehaven, stopping at St. Andrews on the way to check out the university and the ruins of the castle. The university is well known in the UK, and many famous alumni, including members of the royal family, graduated from here. Claim to fame of a small coffee shop on the main road - Kate Middleton and Prince William met here.
Reached Stonehaven by late evening.
Stonehaven - stayed at Highland Hotel in the centre of the square, very convenient. Stonehaven is a tiny place, so staying in the centre of town was very convenient. Had dinner at an adjacent Indian restaurant run by Bangladeshis.
Visited Dunottar castle the next day, well worth a visit. The ruins of a castle perched high on a cliff, on a small peninsula which juts out from the mainland, and is completely cut off during high tide. Made an excellent strategic location during conflict times.
Stonehaven to Inverness, a comfortable 2-3 hour drive. Stayed at the Royal Highland Hotel in the centre of town, again a very comfortable and convenient place to stay, right next to Eastgate Mall. The main staircase of the hotel apparently inspired the design for the grand staircase in the Titanic.
From Inverness drove down to Clandon Harbour to do the Loch Ness cruise. Loch Ness is a long narrow lake, and on the bright sunny day we were fortunate to get for our tour, it seemed very unlikely as the haunt of any monster, friendly or otherwise. Saw the remains of another ruined castle, Uruquart, from the boat ... decided not to get off for the tour, as it seemed even more ruined than Dunnottar.
Then on to Fort William.
Fort William - stayed at Best Western on Loch Linne. Very convenient location, right next to town Center and some good eating places. The small cobbled main street is a short walk away from the hotel, and is filled with eating places, tourist shops and stores selling the famous Scottish woollens, including cashmere. Dinner at a small tavern in the town, good food, and a very friendly waitress.
From Fort William, drove to Mallaig vis the Glenfinnan Viaduct, where the Hogwarts Express was
filmed and got a good view of the 27 arches of the viaduct, from the Visitor Center.
Drove to Mallaig, a small village on the coast, a beautiful drive through the Scottish highlands and then along the coast. Drove back to Fort William, stopping again on the way at the Glenfinnan viaduct, and we found, by a stroke of great good luck, that we were just in time to get some shots of the Hogwarts Express on its return journey. Took pictures from a vantage point up on a small hill at the Visitor Center - along with a couple of busloads of Chinese tourists, who had timed their visit to watch the steaming Hogwarts Express chugging merrily through the hills where it was originally filmed. I think the Center was opened there just for the purpose of catering to tourists like us!
Back on the road, drove back to Fort William, where we found we'd missed the distillery tour by a few minutes. Started the drive to Glasgow. Started the drive late, so didn't have time to stop on the way at Loch Lomond - that was a mistake. Next time, need to make sure have enough time for a leisurely drive through some beautiful scenery and an awesome drive along the lake.
Reached Glasgow by late evening, stayed at Jury's Inn. Big hotel in the Center of town again, convenient for shopping and for the hop on hop off bus, which we took the next day.
Glasgow to Windermere- started the drive late, reached Windermere early evening. Hotel is beautiful Laura Ashley hotels - the Belsfield. Right on the lake, love property, beautiful gracious old manor hotel. Well worth a second visit. It was rainy and cold, the first day we experienced bad weather ... we had been incredibly lucky throughout the holiday with glorious sunshine. Walked down to the lake shore and around the small shops and cafes alongside. Dinner at the gracious dining room of the hotel, served by a very friendly waiter who had spent time in Japan, and was happy to show off his limited Hindi (namaste), Chinese and Indonesian.
The next day, after a hefty breakfast, took lake tours of Lake Windermere. Again rainy and cold in the morning, but it opened up by afternoon into glorious sunshine again, in time for the longest cruise which took us up and down the lake from the northern end to the southern. Got back in time for an early dinner in a small restaurant in the market place, which served amazing tapas. We hadn't explored the neighbouring area the previous evening, the streets were lined with small curiosity shops jostling for space alongside the usual butchers, bakers and household goods stores, the ubiquitous Scottish Woollen Mills outlets, and small restaurants serving all types and varieties of cuisine, including Chinese, and of course, Indian ... I don't remember a single town in our travels, where we did NOT find an Indian restaurant.
The next morning, we checked out reluctantly ... this last leg had been beautiful ... and drove back to Edinburgh, just in time to catch the train back to London. Picked up the luggage from our friends' house, where we had left it, and after a delicious home cooked meal with them, we left for the conference hotel.
Note - remember to book first class on the train next time.
Edinburgh - stayed at the Holiday Inn Express next to the Ocean Terminal. Nice place, but a bit far from the main city. Well connected by bus, so that was not a problem. Ocean Terminal has a nice mall, and the Britannica is anchored in the harbour, so easy to do the yacht tour ... which we didn't do! Beautiful sunset over the water. A friendly attendant in one of the stores gave us the names of Mallaig and Glenfinnan to visit from Fort William, for the Harry Potter connection ... noted and filed away carefully.
From Edinburgh drove to Stonehaven, stopping at St. Andrews on the way to check out the university and the ruins of the castle. The university is well known in the UK, and many famous alumni, including members of the royal family, graduated from here. Claim to fame of a small coffee shop on the main road - Kate Middleton and Prince William met here.
Reached Stonehaven by late evening.
Stonehaven - stayed at Highland Hotel in the centre of the square, very convenient. Stonehaven is a tiny place, so staying in the centre of town was very convenient. Had dinner at an adjacent Indian restaurant run by Bangladeshis.
Visited Dunottar castle the next day, well worth a visit. The ruins of a castle perched high on a cliff, on a small peninsula which juts out from the mainland, and is completely cut off during high tide. Made an excellent strategic location during conflict times.
Stonehaven to Inverness, a comfortable 2-3 hour drive. Stayed at the Royal Highland Hotel in the centre of town, again a very comfortable and convenient place to stay, right next to Eastgate Mall. The main staircase of the hotel apparently inspired the design for the grand staircase in the Titanic.
From Inverness drove down to Clandon Harbour to do the Loch Ness cruise. Loch Ness is a long narrow lake, and on the bright sunny day we were fortunate to get for our tour, it seemed very unlikely as the haunt of any monster, friendly or otherwise. Saw the remains of another ruined castle, Uruquart, from the boat ... decided not to get off for the tour, as it seemed even more ruined than Dunnottar.
Then on to Fort William.
Fort William - stayed at Best Western on Loch Linne. Very convenient location, right next to town Center and some good eating places. The small cobbled main street is a short walk away from the hotel, and is filled with eating places, tourist shops and stores selling the famous Scottish woollens, including cashmere. Dinner at a small tavern in the town, good food, and a very friendly waitress.
From Fort William, drove to Mallaig vis the Glenfinnan Viaduct, where the Hogwarts Express was
filmed and got a good view of the 27 arches of the viaduct, from the Visitor Center.
Drove to Mallaig, a small village on the coast, a beautiful drive through the Scottish highlands and then along the coast. Drove back to Fort William, stopping again on the way at the Glenfinnan viaduct, and we found, by a stroke of great good luck, that we were just in time to get some shots of the Hogwarts Express on its return journey. Took pictures from a vantage point up on a small hill at the Visitor Center - along with a couple of busloads of Chinese tourists, who had timed their visit to watch the steaming Hogwarts Express chugging merrily through the hills where it was originally filmed. I think the Center was opened there just for the purpose of catering to tourists like us!
Back on the road, drove back to Fort William, where we found we'd missed the distillery tour by a few minutes. Started the drive to Glasgow. Started the drive late, so didn't have time to stop on the way at Loch Lomond - that was a mistake. Next time, need to make sure have enough time for a leisurely drive through some beautiful scenery and an awesome drive along the lake.
Reached Glasgow by late evening, stayed at Jury's Inn. Big hotel in the Center of town again, convenient for shopping and for the hop on hop off bus, which we took the next day.
Glasgow to Windermere- started the drive late, reached Windermere early evening. Hotel is beautiful Laura Ashley hotels - the Belsfield. Right on the lake, love property, beautiful gracious old manor hotel. Well worth a second visit. It was rainy and cold, the first day we experienced bad weather ... we had been incredibly lucky throughout the holiday with glorious sunshine. Walked down to the lake shore and around the small shops and cafes alongside. Dinner at the gracious dining room of the hotel, served by a very friendly waiter who had spent time in Japan, and was happy to show off his limited Hindi (namaste), Chinese and Indonesian.
The next day, after a hefty breakfast, took lake tours of Lake Windermere. Again rainy and cold in the morning, but it opened up by afternoon into glorious sunshine again, in time for the longest cruise which took us up and down the lake from the northern end to the southern. Got back in time for an early dinner in a small restaurant in the market place, which served amazing tapas. We hadn't explored the neighbouring area the previous evening, the streets were lined with small curiosity shops jostling for space alongside the usual butchers, bakers and household goods stores, the ubiquitous Scottish Woollen Mills outlets, and small restaurants serving all types and varieties of cuisine, including Chinese, and of course, Indian ... I don't remember a single town in our travels, where we did NOT find an Indian restaurant.
The next morning, we checked out reluctantly ... this last leg had been beautiful ... and drove back to Edinburgh, just in time to catch the train back to London. Picked up the luggage from our friends' house, where we had left it, and after a delicious home cooked meal with them, we left for the conference hotel.
