insouciance

I want to thank those who helped me in planning my Scottish trip a few weeks ago. I hope the report below will aid any of those hoping to make a first-time trip to Scotland trip like I did! This is my first time doing a trip report, so forgive any mistakes I might make =X

3 Feb 2010
I arrived at Glasgow Prestwick airport, and took the train to Glasgow Central. Ticket prices seem to have increased, because I paid £11.65 for a return to Edinburgh (which I later realized I shouldn’t have bought since I wouldn’t be heading towards the airport from Edinburgh). The ticket was already 50% though. From the train station at Glasgow Central, it wasn’t as difficult as I had expected to make my way to Queen Street, because it was wonderfully signposted with the tourist boards all the way. In fact, I took less than 10 minutes to get to Queen Street Station, and managed to take the earlier train to Edinburgh Waverley.

I finally arrived Edinburgh at about 2pm, and deposited my luggage at the left luggage because I would be meeting my friend (I stayed at her place in South Edinburgh for 2 nights) only at 5pm. Armed with a mini-map which I had grabbed from the left luggage counter (there are many such maps available everywhere! And the tourist information centre is just outside Waverley Train Station – but it closes at 5pm!) I headed to Edinburgh Castle, having already made an online booking for the ticket. There wasn’t any queue for the tickets, but since the online booking did not require additional fees, I figured it would save me time. I showed the counter staff my booking number, and was issued the ticket almost immediately. I didn’t rent the audio guide, but instead waited for the guided tour (which is FOC) which happens every hour at half-past. My guide (whose name I can’t remember) was extremely informative (and of course, proud to be Scottish) and he brought us around the key places in the castle. And I forgot to mention, you are issued a map of sorts detailing the sites in the castle. The tour was about half an hour, after which we were left to explore the castle ourselves. I spent a total of 2 hours in the castle, taking in the view (but not managing to catch the sunset though since it would be too late) and taking lots of pictures of Edinburgh from above!
I walked towards Princes Street, which is the main shopping street in Edinburgh to meet my friend at the agreed upon place. Basically, Edinburgh is quite easy to navigate, even for someone like me who’s extremely bad with directions. Standing on Princes Street and facing the Edinburgh Castle, it would be on your extreme right, and you would see that there is a elevated road running parallel to Princes Street – that street is the Royal Mile, named as such because there is the Edinburgh Castle on one end, and the Holyrood Palace on the other. More about Holyrood later!
After meeting my friend, we went to her place and grabbed a bite. We had tickets to watch Traces (which in my opinion, an extremely good watch! It combines gymnastics together with so many other aspects!) at 7.30pm, so we headed there after having a light dinner. I was pretty much tired from the travelling in the morning, so after the show, we went back and I got some much-needed sleep!

4 Feb 2010
I used to be an avid reader of historic romance novels, and the Scottish Highlands feature in a large number of those novels. Therefore, I told myself, since this would probably be my one and only trip to Scotland in a long long while, I had to go up to the Highlands and see what it was like. I booked a day tour with Rabbies to Loch Ness. The day started at 8am and our guide (whose name, I can’t remember sadly) basically drove us towards Loch Ness, with stops in between. I guess I was expecting way more from the itinerary description, and got pretty disappointed to realize that I could only see Stirling Castle and Wallace Monument and Glencoe only in passing (as in, on the motorway). I guess I didn’t really think about the time required to visit these places. There was only 8 of us in the tour, which made it really great since there was ample space on the van and there wasn’t much waiting around. The guide made 2 photostops (along with 2-3 other tour companies) before stopping for a break at Callander. Nothing much to see there since it was mainly for a coffee break. We then headed towards the Highlands and BOY OH BOY. The Highlands are so much more than I expected it to be. The weather was extremely nice too – I couldn’t see the Wallace Monument because it was foggy in the morning, but luckily the weather turned for the better and there were clear blue skies when we took a photostop at Glencoe. The good weather continued all the way until we reached back in Edinburgh at about 7pm when it started drizzling.
Sadly, I didn’t manage to see Ben Nevis since it was covered in fog/mist and by 1pm, we arrived at our destination – Fort Augustus. Most of the pubs were closed, so all of us had to settle for the same one. I had haddock and chips (which was huge and fresh) BUT it cost £11.40, which I felt was on the expensive side. We only had 2 hours to spare in Fort Augustus/Loch Ness, so after gobbling up my haddock and chips, I walked around the canals(?) and the town before going for the boat tour at 2pm. The tour lasts for an hour and costs £10.50. I felt that it was slightly expensive, because the owner merely talked about some myths of Nessie, showed us the sonograms and helped us understand how to read the readings. The only highlight of the boat tour was that the view out on the Loch is really fantastic! I guess because our van-guide had already given us an introduction to Loch Ness and Nessie, hence the talk given during the boat tour just seemed repetitive and a waste of money. The sun was semi-setting, so I managed to get extremely gorgeous photographs of the Loch and the surrounding hills. On hindsight, I would have walked around Loch Ness since it would have amounted to the same scenery, in my opinion. The weather was surprisingly nice, as I had expected it to be much colder, but I was able to stay outside for a considerable amount of time before heading below deck to listen to the owner’s spiel about Nessie and the Loch in general. We got back at 3pm, and had to board the van thereafter to head back to Edinburgh. I can’t remember if there was any other photostop on the way back but we did stop over at Pitlochry for another coffee break before arriving in Edinburgh at around 6-7pm.
My general feelings on the day trip are as follows: (do bear in mind that I’m a poor student and am on a tight budget) the tour cost £36, which I felt was costly on hindsight because I had expected to visit so many other places other than Loch Ness. I guess I was too drawn in by the description of the itinerary on the webpage. However that being said, this day trip really is a good introduction of the Highlands, and I’ve to admit that I’m addicted! I’ve been to Switzerland and spent at least 2 months there, but somehow the Highlands has a different appeal – it seems wilder and so much more inspirational. I guess it’s greener/browner than Switzerland. For those who are thinking of going to the Highlands, I would recommend the day trip if you just want to experience the Highlands for a day; but if budget permits, I would think that a 3 day tour would better suffice. Better yet, I think renting a car and driving up to the Highlands would be a better experience, since I would be able to stop over randomly at any place which caught my attention. I’ll definitely go back to the Highlands (most likely Skye, Orkney, etc) if time and budget permits.

5 Feb 2010
I woke up at 6am today, because I had wanted to climb Arthur’s Seat to catch the sunrise at 8am. Sad to say, I didn’t manage to do so, because I was extremely underdressed – I had on leather boots since I didn’t bring along any other footwear for the trip. I only made it as far as the ruins of the chapel, and had to give up since I had already spent close to 3 hours getting ‘lost’. Word to the wise, bring proper shoes the next time! The only gripe is that nothing is signposted, so I had to guess my way up to the top, only to fail 3 times because the way up seemed too steep. This is something I’ll do the next time I head to Edinburgh. Arthur’s Seat really is harder than it seems – I had initially harbored thoughts of climbing up within an hour and down in the same time – NOT!
After getting down, I headed to the Palace since it had already opened at 10am, and spent about 2 hours there. I skipped the Queen’s Gallery since I wasn’t too interested in the Antarctic exhibition there or the portraits. I also walked past the Scottish Parliament which was undergoing some renovation. I then got myself a full Scottish Breakfast along the Royal Mile to sample my first haggis and blood pudding. Haggis was fine for me, but I didn’t like the taste of the blood pudding =/
I then headed towards Greyfriars Kirk, only to be disappointed by the tiny statue of the loyal terrier. It was so much smaller in real life!! After that, I went to Camera Obscura and was hugely disappointed. The admission fee has increased to £7.15 (for concession) and a lot of the outside and inside was under construction. The exhibits inside are way too overhyped in my opinion, since most of the optical illusions can be found on the internet, and there’s nothing on top of what can be found on the net. The only interesting things was the Camera Obscura which provided a real life panorama of the view outside (mainly the Castle and basically the whole Edinburgh) – the session itself was informative although we couldn’t have a go at rotating the mirror-pole-thing since it was done by the staff, which is understandable. Because I went alone, I also could not participate in a number of exhibits, such as those with 2-way mirrors which do funny things etc. I would have rather climbed Calton Hill (for free) than gone to Camera Obscura, honestly.
After the Camera Obscura, I headed towards the National Museum of Scotland (which is nearer the Greyfriars Kirk actually, but since I had bought a day bus-pass, I took the bus whenever I could). The museum wasn’t that interesting for me (http://www.nms.ac.uk) and I basically just walked through the exhibit for the beginnings of Scotland since that was the only thing I was interested in. I spent just under an hour there. I also managed to pop into St Giles Cathedral, where I saw many staff answering questions, but I was happy to just wander about myself and visit the Thistle Chapel. Entrance to the Cathedral is free, although there is a suggested donation. The Thistle Chapel requires a fee which I can’t remember offhand. I then went on to the National Gallery of Scotland, which is located right in the centre of Edinburgh, along Princes Street. This held more interest for me, and I spent the remaining 2 hours or so wandering around the Museum (http://www.nationalgalleries.org) before heading back to my friend’s place to collect my bag and heading onto Glasgow to meet another friend. If I had more time, I definitely would have gone to the Gallery of Modern Art (which is located in another place).
So, that marks the end of my Edinburgh stay. If I had to do this trip again, I would have added another day to Edinburgh, because I think then I would be able to properly take in the sights. But, the time I spent there was sufficient for me to get a taste of what I had wanted to, and I did manage to visit all the attractions/sights I had noted down, with the exception of Calton Hill. I would also recommend catching a musical or concert in Edinburgh or Glasgow if time permits and if there’s a good show to catch, because the King’s Theatre really is quite poshly decorated and the prices are extremely reasonable.

6 Feb 2010
I arrived in Glasgow the night before, and met my friend at the Buchanan bus station. The bus took just 1.5 hours from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and I think there’s at least one every hour, and it’s just 4pounds! The bus even has wifi to boot!
Basically, the Glasgow leg of my trip was to catch up with my friend, since I hadn’t seen her in a long long while, so we didn’t do too much sightseeing. We headed to the Kelvingrove Museum where we spent about 3 hours walking around and admiring the art there. The Museum does boast a reasonable collection of art, as well as Mackintosh furniture among other things. Plus, it’s free, so there’s no reason to miss it! We also popped by the Museum of Transport since it was just opposite Kelvingrove, but spent less than an hour there since neither of us were too interested in antique cars and ancient transport (sorry those who like such things!). We then headed to the famous Willow Tea Rooms to have tea/lunch. I highly recommend the scones and any of the fish on the menu. I had smoked salmon, prawns and something else which I can’t recall the name of now, and it was just nice. Everything was fresh, and went well with the signature tea. I also spent quite a bit of time just admiring the décor of the Rooms. There is another ‘outlet’ on another Buchanan Street, if I didn’t get bearings/addresses wrong.
After like 3 hours of eating and chatting, we finally headed to the Cathedral. Then, we headed back to St Enoch where I visited the new shopping centre which had Hamley’s (it’s my first visit to Hamley’s!). We then spent the rest of the day walking around the shopping streets and doing some shopping! An interesting thing I found is that Glasgow has practically zero touristy shop – I didn’t find any shop selling postcards or souvenirs, except in the Museum. Edinburgh is the complete opposite. Almost 90% of the shops on the Royal Mile are tourist shops selling the same things: Scottish shortbread, cookies, kilts, whisky, postcards, etc.

7 Feb 2010
I spent the morning lazing around and catching up with my friend before heading back home in the late morning. There were trains every hour on Sunday going to the airport, and it only takes 45 minutes from Glasgow Central to Prestwick, so it’s really very convenient!
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All in all, I really did enjoy my trip to Scotland, especially since it was an impulse decision because of the cheap air tickets. My only regret is not spending a longer time there. Edinburgh was way above my expectations – I managed to see nature/rural landscapes, castles/historic monuments, architecture as well as museums all within 10 minutes or so of one another. My ideal destination, I would say. And the Highlands, as I’ve said before, are just amazing. I would definitely spend at least 2 weeks wandering around the Highlands the next time I head to Scotland. I’ll be back!

janisj

Nice report insouciance!

I remember your planning posts. You aren't the only one to miss out on Arthur's Seat -- there is another recent thread about the same thing. Well - not exactly the same, you at least <i>found</i> Arthur's Seat - the other poster misplaced the whole mountain

You were able to cram in a lot w/o seeming too rushed.

Yep - you have the bug, you'll be back

Otzi

Next time you go, hang-out at the Starbucks on the Royal Mile around 10:30 am. "Free" tours of the Old Town leave from there. We got a lengthy (and a little too talky) tour of most of the primo sights which cost us just a few quid as a tip at the conclusion. The tours are led by college age guides and are geared to the younger crowd.

insouciance

thanks janisj i initially thought i might be rushing a little, but all the attractions were literally minutes away, saving me lots of time! well, i have the bug, but i can't seem to find time to fit scotland in before i go back to my country for good, so looks like it'll have to wait!

otzi, i had wanted to join one of those tours initially, but the timings didnt fit into my schedule and i decided with edinburgh being so compact (and i was armed with a map with the attractions clearly marked out), i could navigate by myself. and indeed i managed

scotlib

Thanks for the trip report, insouciance.

Something to note for your next trip (I agree, one is not enough!):

The Museum of Edinburgh (on the Royal Mile, toward the Palace) has a display about Greyfriar's Bobby--pictures and his collar, feed bowl, etc. I don't know how I first heard the Bobby story. I've known it so long, I am surprised when it seems I rarely meet other people who also know it; it's great you know the story!

The Museum of Edinburgh is near the People's Story, another museum that I have enjoyed for its exhibits of people's ordinary lives in Edinburgh.

Cheers.

ileen

Interesting report.
You are brave to have tasted haggis. Wondering what other Scottish food you really liked?
Also just curious-did you buy any special souvenirs. Were things expensive than they are in US. I guess, the dollar does not buy much these days.
I hope someday I can also visit Scotland.
Have a good evening.