ApK

I am a semi-occasional lurker here and will soon be requesting assistance with honeymoon planning. I was in Scotland for 14 days last May, and we are heading there for our honeymoon this coming May. I thought that before I asked for assistance, I'd post a report about what I did on my solo trip.

A bit about myself before I begin. I earned a diploma in a health care field in 1999 and worked for 10 years before deciding to go back to school for information technology. Entering my final year last September (2013), I decided to treat myself to a vacation before re-entering the working world. I had lofty aspirations of this big trip through France, Belgium, Holland, and Scotland, but decided that doing something that big in the three weeks or so that I had would be too much. Since my ancestry is Scottish (Kerr), I decided to focus on Scotland.

I read lots of forums and was going to post asking for suggestions, but instead I just decided to choose 4 places to visit and had a travel agent help with the details. The agent booked the flights, hotels (with one exception), and a Rabbies day-tour.

Pictures from my trip are up on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/129583653@N06/

Armed with my notebook and photos, I shall try to give a detailed - but not too detailed - report.

ApK

<b>Preparation and Departure</b>

As mentioned above, I chose to have a travel agent help with my planning. I'm sure I could have booked everything myself, but I was in school and needed to focus my energy on my studies. So I went to an agent that my parents had used for trips before. I told her that I wanted to visit Inverness, Jedburgh, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, and roughly how much I could spend and how long I could stay. She basically did the rest.

I explained that I didn't really want to rent a car, so she arranged for train tickets between the larger cities. The train doesn't go through Jedburgh, so I was on my own to find my way there. Why Jedburgh? My clan seat is at Ferniehirst Castle, which is on one of the walking paths available near that town. My agent could not book a hotel in town, so I booked a B&B myself through Booking.com.

I wanted B&B's or reasonably priced hotels, and the one's I had were pretty good for the most part. One thing that became rather important to me was free WiFi access. I had just started dating the young woman with whom I will be honeymooning this coming May, and it was very important to me to be able to Skype. This would be an issue in a couple of the places I stayed.

There are direct flights out of Toronto to Glasgow, so my itinerary turned out like this:

Fly Toronto -> Glasgow
Train Glasgow -> Inverness
Inverness for 3 nights
Train Inverness -> Edinburgh
Bus Edinburgh -> Jedburgh
Jedburgh for 3 nights
Bus Jedburgh -> Edinburgh
Edinburgh for 4 nights
Train Edinburgh -> Glasgow
Glasgow for 4 nights
Fly Glasgow -> Toronto

The only pre-arranged tour I booked through the agent was the "Glasgow Delight" by Royal Scottish Tours. This was a bundle with the hotel, a city bus tour, and a one-day Rabbies tour to Stirling Castle, Loch Lomond, and a whisky distillery. In the other cities I just figured out what I wanted to do day by day. I love to walk, so that was my main activity.

I tried to pack light, and wound up with a medium-sized suitcase, carry-on backpack, and my camera bag. There was a little room left in my suitcase for souvenirs.

It was May 10th before I knew it, and I was off to Toronto to start my journey.

cynthia_booker

More, please.

sheila

Looking forward to the rest of this...

ApK

<b>Day 1</b>

I took the "get to the airport 3 hours early" advice literally (rookie traveller). My brother dropped me off at about 5:30pm for my 8:40pm flight. I had my boarding pass and was through security in about 20 minutes, leaving me almost three hours to sit, wander, read, and think.

I had never travelled solo before, but I had lived alone for a long time and I don't mind listening to myself think. At least, that's what I assumed. You see, I had been in a relationship for 6 months and we both knew that it was rapidly leading to a trip down the aisle. Unfortunately, she could not join me on this journey. I had chosen to leave my laptop at home and was travelling with only my cell phone to maintain communication. Not wanting to pay exorbitant roaming charges, I knew I would be limited Facebook messaging and Skype over WiFi.

I read on my Kindle, drank terrible decaf coffee (why is decaf always terrible?), and waited for the hours to go by.

Finally it was boarding time and I settled in to my Air Transat coach seat for the 6.5 hour flight. Since I had arrived so early, I was able to get a seat in the exit row so I had plenty of leg room. I downed a gravol and tried to sleep.

We landed in Glasgow after an uneventful flight and I went through customs quickly and out into the terminal at about 8:30am local time. The nice young lady at the information booth pointed me in the direction of a bus that would take me to the train station. When I arrived at Queen St station I used the automatic ticket machine to print all three tickets I needed for my rides over the next two weeks. Then I grabbed another coffee (caffeinated this time) and a muffin and waited for my 11:10am train to Inverness.

The train ride from Glasgow to Inverness takes a little over 3 hours and is a nice way to get introduced to the Scottish scenery. I can't remember what I had for lunch, but I assume I grabbed something on the train. We pulled in to Inverness at about 2:30pm and then it was time to find my hotel. Before I left I went on to google maps and figured out how to get to my hotels from wherever I would arrive in each city, so after a bit of time getting my bearings, I started walking.

In Inverness I stayed at the Columba Hotel, which is right on the bank of the river Ness across from Inverness Castle. This was easily my favorite hotel of the trip. Nice large room, working TV, strong WiFi, a 10 minute walk from the train station. I unloaded my stuff, took my camera, and went out for a walk to explore a bit.

Dinner was at McNab's, which is at the hotel. I had fish & chips, which was good but not really special. By this point I was pretty exhausted and the giant bathtub in my room was too tempting to resist. A hot bath, some TV, an updated Facebook status, and I was out like a light.

jon_rwr

Great photgraphs Andrew, especially those of Jedburgh, a beautiful part of this country, and Glasgow (great shot down Buchanan Street - I've never seen it that quiet!). Looking forward to more of your trip report.

ApK

Thanks jon_rwr. That shot of Buchanan Street was pretty early in the morning, if I recall correctly. I'm quite enjoying the memories this process is bringing back.

ApK

<b>Day 2</b>

My first full day in Scotland began with me opening the curtains for the first time. Not much of a view, as I was facing away from the river. That's really the only fault I could find with this hotel. The shower had one of those big rain-shower type heads on it and was hot quickly. I went downstairs and had breakfast at the hotel buffet. A good selection of hot and cold breakfast foods and decent coffee. I had my first ever blood pudding, and saw no reason to have any more. I didn't <i>dislike</i> it, just wasn't that taken with it.

Having no set plans, I simply grabbed my camera, put on some sunscreen (the day started cloudy, but ended up nice and sunny), filled up my water bottle, and headed out. I love to walk so I basically just chose East and started walking. I wandered up the hill past the castle, through a residential neighbourhood, past a golf course and into something that seemed to be a military housing area. I was out for about three hours that morning, and didn't exactly go through the most scenic of areas. At one point I figured I better start heading back, though I wasn't really sure in which direction "back" was. I knew that if I went either north or west I would eventually run into water, and at one point I saw an airport sign and knew I didn't want to go that way. Eventually I saw a sign leading me toward the city center, and I found my way back into town hungry for some lunch.

I bought a sandwich at the grocery store and went back to my room for lunch and a rest. I hadn't really realized how much more expensive food was going to be. The prices seem to be just about what I'd pay in Ottawa where I live, except they were in pounds instead of Canadian dollars - so almost twice as expensive. I basically tried to eat a big breakfast (included in all the places I stayed) and one other substantial meal each day, filling in the other meal from the grocery store.

After lunch I went over to the tourist office and booked a bus and boat tour to Loch Ness for the following day. I picked up a postcard for my girlfriend at one of the tourist stores. I noticed a museum but it was closed, so I decided to go for another walk. This time I took the scenic route down the river for a ways and back - another 3 hour walk in the sun.

For supper I went to McGonagall's Steakhouse. After all that walking in the sun I didn't really want a steak, so I had chicken instead. Now, it was stuffed with cheese and wrapped in ham, so not exactly light, but it was delicious. The service was a little slow considering there was hardly anyone in there, but the food was really good. I had banoffee pie for dessert (hey, I had walked 6 hours!). I then sat there for about 20 minutes waiting for the bill. That's quite different than the restaurants I'm used to where they're usually trying to rush you out and get the next party in. There were people waiting too, and I was sitting there looking at them as they were looking at me. Eventually I had to ask for the bill. This happened in a couple other restaurants during my trip, so maybe it's some kind of cultural thing.

By the time I got back to my room I was pretty tired and stuffed. All in all a good first day.

MissPrism

Asking for the bill is pretty much the norm in Europe generally. With service speed, I like a happy medium. Too fast and I suspect that the "chef" is Mr. Microwave.

bilboburgler

Yes, you have to ask for the bill, it is assumed that you want time for your meal to settle before get turfed out. Even in the AngloSaxon world of Scotland taking it slow is good.

Also, of course it makes the place look busy for other guests and the boss ;-)

SharonG

Looking forward to the next installment. Thanks.

ApK

If I had someone with me it would have been okay. Sitting there alone was kind of...awkward. Once I figured out that I had to ask for it, it was fine

ApK

<b>Day 3</b>

This was my touristy day in Inverness. After breakfast I walked up to the Inverness Museum and Art Gallery and spent most of the morning there. I love museums and had no trouble spending a couple of hours here, even though it isn't that big. After seeing all there was to see, I wandered around town until I found a post office and mailed my postcard.

Lunch was from the grocery store, and I just relaxed in my hotel room until it was time for my tour. My ticket was for the "Temptation" tour by Jacobite, which left from the bus station at 2:15pm. This is a "coach and cruise" tour; the coach goes from the bus station to Clansman Harbour, followed by a 30 minute cruise in Loch Ness to Urquhart Castle, time at the castle, and a coach ride back to the bus station. The total time on this tour is 2.5 hours.

The weather was really nice that day - alternating cloudy and sunny. A tour like this is a great way to spend an afternoon if you don't want to rent a car and drive to places yourself. The only downside is the time pressure. I could have easily spent another hour at the castle and visitor centre. I didn't see Nessie, but I'm very glad I went on the tour.

I got back to my hotel at around 5:30 and had a bowl of potato-leek soup and salad for supper at the hotel. My tour guide Sue had mentioned that people were seeing seals at the harbour, so after supper I decided to walk that direction. Unfortunately I didn't look at a map first so I didn't know which side of the river I had to be on (looking back, it seems odd that I didn't look at a map, oh well). I chose poorly and wound up in an industrial area. Since the sun was sinking, I turned around and made my way back to the hotel for the night.

ApK

<b>Day 4 - Travel Day</b>

I awoke to my last morning in Inverness and filled up as much as I could at the buffet. I gathered my stuff together, checked out of the hotel, and walked to the train station to say goodbye to my first Scottish town (sorry - 'city', my tour guide was insistent on that difference ). The only thing I didn't get to do here was go out to the Culloden Battlefield, but that's okay.

The train to Edinburgh left at 9:40am and arrived around 1:20pm. It wasn't very full so I stretched out and watched the lovely scenery roll by. Lunch was an expensive sandwich from the cart. Arriving in Edinburgh I found my way from the train station to the bus station to catch the bus to Jedburgh.

The trips to and from Jedburgh were the only trips for which I didn't already have tickets. There was a bit of uncertainty as well, since the bus line that popped up when I googled the trip, Munro's of Jedburgh, no longer seemed to exist. The tourism office in Jedburgh assured me that there were still buses that would get me there, and sure enough, there were. I bought a ticket and climbed aboard for the roughly two-hour journey into the Borders.

I arrived in Jedburgh just after 4pm and went up to the tourism office to get pointed in the direction of my B&B. I stayed at Airenlea B&B in Jedburgh, and although the Columba Hotel in Inverness was my favorite hotel, Airenlea was my favorite place to stay overall. I had a nice room with good WiFi and TV reception. I didn't have an ensuite bathroom - instead I had private access to a big bathroom across the hall with a big tub and separate walk-in shower. The B&B is in a residential neighbourhood on the east side of the Jed Water, about a ten minute walk to the town proper where the restaurants and whatnot are located.

I knew I'd be doing a lot of walking the next day, and I'm not usually really hungry after a whole day of exercise, so I decided to have my big meal that night. I went to The Carter's Rest and had a steak with haggis. It was my first haggis, and the only time I had it. As with the blood pudding, I didn't <i>dislike</i> it, but didn't feel the need to have more. I also had a Bitter and Twisted ale which was, well, bitter, and a slice of Bailey's cheesecake. Excellent meal.

I went back to the B&B, put in my order for breakfast, and relaxed in my room.

LCBoniti

I do hope you will continue - I'm very interested in hearing about the rest of your trip.

Ian

Great pictures & report. More please.

Ian

ApK

<b>Day 5 - Jedburgh</b>

I woke up to an excellent meal, grabbed my camera, and headed over to Jedburgh Abbey. The abbey is from the 12th century, and is in ruin. There has been a lot of archaeological work done here and they have excavated the foundations of a lot of the abbey buildings. It was a dull gray morning and I was alone for much of the time that I spent here. I grabbed one of the audio tour devices and just wandered around. There are several Kerr/Ker tombstones in the abbey dating from the 16th century, so it was interesting to tie my family name to this physical place. The architecture makes for great pictures, and the historical information is interesting.

I grabbed a quick lunch from the grocery store and rested up in preparation for my afternoon walk. There are a number of marked trails in and around Jedburgh and one of them goes past Ferniehirst Castle, seat of clan Kerr. The clan has another castle at Cessford, but it's in ruin. I understand that it is still quite impressive, but unfortunately I didn't have time to get out there.

The walk through the countryside was lovely, and the sun came out for most of it. I got some great scenic pictures of wide open farm land. The path went along roads for the most part, but also crosses farm fields and a bit of woodland in a few places. I missed the sign at one point and went down a long bumpy downhill path that ended at someone's house. The lady there was quite gracious (I'm sure I wasn't the first one to miss the turn) and pointed me back up the hill and in the right direction. While walking along the edge of one farm, between a stone wall and an electric fence, a herd of cattle decided to come down and introduce themselves. It was a kind of cute when the first one or two came over, but once the rest of them chose to <i>run</i> down to meet me I decided not to stick around much longer.

Eventually I made it to Ferniehirst. The castle is privately owned (still in the clan, I believe, and available for rent) and there wasn't anyone around. I knew I was off season (it's open to the public in July during the Jethart Festival), so I just walked around it and took some nice pictures. It was starting to look like rain, so I stepped up the pace on the rest of the walk. This took me past the "King of the Wood" and the "Capon Tree," two heritage trees from the historic Jed Forest.

I made it back into town around 5 or so, hungrier than I thought I'd be. After a quick rest I went to The Pheasant and had a cheeseburger and fries for supper. Back at the B&B I took advantage of the huge bath tub and soaked for a good long while, then rested and drifted off to sleep.

ApK

<b>Day 6 - Jedburgh</b>

This day in Jedburgh started out bright and sunny. I might as well pause to talk about the weather during my trip. It was pretty much perfect the whole time I was in Scotland. There was only one time where I actually encountered rain drops, and that was in Glasgow near the end of my trip. Most days were alternating cloud and sun, and around 15 degrees Celsius. It got a little cooler once in a while, but I have no complaints whatsoever about the weather.

I went up to the Jedburgh Castle Jail & Museum and spent a couple hours there. Interesting displays about what a jail was like in the 1820's, as well as some history on Jedburgh itself. Then I went back down the hill and visited Mary Queen of Scots House & Visitor Centre. This is the house that Mary stayed at in 1566, and it has been turned in to a museum detailing her tragic life. Quite interesting. Both those museums are free of charge, which is also a plus.

I bought lunch at the grocery store and headed out to the Jedburgh Woolen Mill to do some souvenir shopping. I was hoping to find a scarf in the Kerr hunting tartan, and figured that Jedburgh was my best bet. Unfortunately, they had the same selection of clan woolens as every other woolen shop in Scotland. The Kerr standard tartan is easy enough to find, but the hunting tartan wasn't available. The hunting tartan has more blue in it, and my girlfriend likes blue, so I had this idea that I'd get one of each, and give her the blue one. Oh well, I'd find something else for her eventually. I did pick up a couple cashmere scarfs that seemed to be a decent deal, but I'd seen cheaper prices elsewhere for the "Clans of Scotland" scarfs, so I held off on those.

It's actually a fairly long walk out to that store, and by the time I got back to town I was getting hungry but it wasn't late enough for the restaurants to be serving food. I went in to the Jedburgh Chocolate House and picked up some truffles (to take home), then across the street to a coffee shop for a latte and to relax. When it came time to eat, I went up to The Forresters (aka the Belters Bar) and had a pork burger with onion rings and plum relish, and a Tennent's lager. As I was leaving, the waitress suggested that I stick around for the festivities. I asked her what she was talking about, but didn't catch what she said. So I went back to the B&B, grabbed my camera, and came back to the town square.

By around 7 there were lots of people in the square, and I made my way to the front and soon heard a brass band approaching. They marched by, followed by a group of pipers. I asked an elderly gentleman what was going on, and he told me it was the "Declaration of the Callant" - part of their summer Jethart Callant's festival. A young man had been elected "Callant" and was being presented to the town. I didn't catch everything that was going on, but doing some research after the fact I found that the festival has a large equestrian component, and that it's celebrating something or other. It was a nice way to finish my time in this lovely little town.

After that, it was back to the B&B for the night.

LCBoniti

I love it when you just happen on something special like that parade. And I am really enjoying your trip report.

bilboburgler

"Tennent's lager" when I was a lad this came in cans with pictures of naked women on them. I guess the stuff is still a dull drink