Visiting Scotland will open your eyes to a world long gone, of legends and lore, castles and monsters (Loch Ness to be specific), and a landscape that is nothing short of breathtaking. Whether you’re looking for your next incentive destination or once in a lifetime vacation, Scotland is sure to leave you speechless.
In May one of our associates, Debra Reid, and her husband explored Scotland for the first time and now she’s treating us with a first-hand recap of her Scottish adventure.
“My husband and I flew into Glasgow where we picked up our rental car and headed out (on the other side of the road, driving from the other side of the car!) to tour central Scotland. We had our route mapped out and our Google Maps downloaded and we took off, completely offline, to explore a new country.
Our first destination was the seaside town of Oban, which is surrounded by miles of dramatic coast and beautiful countryside. Oban was one of our favourite stops on our journey. While it wasn’t the biggest or most well known of stopping points, we experienced amazing cuisine on the waterfront, tasted local whiskey (which isn’t hard to find in Scotland), and sampled amazing chocolate.
As a Harry Potter fan, I took full advantage of an opportunity to take the “Hogwarts Express”. In Fort William we boarded the Jacobite Steam Train, famous from the Harry Potter films. The train stops en route to Malliag at the village of Glenfinnan, after crossing the Glennfinan viaduct which over looks Loch Sheil and the Jacobite Monument.
We visited many castles along our journey, including Inverary Castle and Gardens, Eilean Donan Castle (made famous from a James Bond Movie), Dunvegan Castle and Gardens, Urquhart Castle, Inverness Castle, Dunnottar Castle (one of my personal favourites), St Andrews Castle and St Andrews Cathedral, Rosslyn Chapel (famous from the DaVinci Code), and Edinburgh Castle.
We spent ten days in Scotland, and truthfully, we could have easily spent another month there exploring all this amazing country has to offer. The history of Scotland is so interesting, the landscape is ever-changing, the food and whiskey are delicious, and the people are truly some of the best you will ever meet. My tips for you if you decide to go; pack for all types of weather (and expect rain), be sure to visit the Isle of Skye and plan to spend a few days there, be on the lookout for coos (commonly known in North American as cows) and sheep, be sure to try the haggis and black pudding (they really aren’t that bad), and wear comfortable shoes because you’ll be doing a lot of exploring, and be sure to sample a wee’ nip of whiskey.”
Happy Travels!