tripplanner001

Wow! This is absolutely stunning. I never knew.

Gardyloo

Loch Etive is where Harry, Hermione and Ron jump from the dragon in Deathly Hallows Part II.

KarenWoo

Isn't Glen Coe and Glen Etive Road just spectacular???? I never knew, either. Edinburgh, Loch Ness (of course), and the Isle of Skye are the places I always heard about but I didn't know anything about Glen Coe and Glen Etive until I started planning and received such wonderful advice from people on this forum.

KarenWoo

I didn't know that. I only watched the first movie. I will have to watch Deathly Hallows Part II when I have time.

Nelson

Indeed, that is an amazingly beautiful road and once again you have done a stellar job bringing us there!

> is this the Three Sisters? Not sure
I am unfamiliar with the Three Sisters, but I like to dig into questions like this and looks like the answer is yes. I used the PeakFinder app and put the viewpoint on the A82 at a location called "Three Sisters Viewpoint" on Google maps. Looks like a match to me when compared to your photo. I circled the peaks that are the Three Sisters.




(I did a hike up the "Five Sisters" which can be seen in the distance from Eilean Donan castle, but in the opposite direction from your photo in post 128.)

Gardyloo

Here's a picture of the "three sisters" (Bidean nam Bian) from the roadside viewing area.



The whole of the A82 from the beginning of the Rannoch Moor, west past the Glen Etive turnoff, and down Glen Coe to Ballachulish, is (IMO) one of the world's most scenic stretches of highway.

KarenWoo

JUNE 14, 2023: OUR LAST SCENIC DRIVE, STIRLING CASTLE, AND ONWARDS TO THE EDINBURGH DAKOTA

My last breakfast at The Glencoe Inn was their delicious Eggs Benedict. We are sad to say good-bye to beautiful Glen Coe, but all good things must come to an end. So we headed out down the A82, A85 and A84 to Stirling Castle, oohing and aahing one more time at all the stunning scenery we saw along the way, stopping at the various viewpoints. We passed the Rannoch Moor, and stopped at the Bridge of Orchy viewpoint overlooking Loch Tulla, and then Loch Lubnaig in Callander, and finally arrived at Stirling Castle. The drive from Glencoe Village to Stirling Castle takes about 2.5 hours but it took us a bit longer with all the photo stops we made.

Stirling Castle is located high on a hill, and was once one of Scotland’s strongest and most impregnable fortresses. I read in my guidebook that if you hold Stirling, “you control Scotland”. That’s how important this fortress is.

We had pre-purchased tickets so we were able to skip the line. After a light lunch at the cafeteria, we took the guided tour that is included in the price of the ticket. They are held every half hour, and I highly recommend doing the tour. Our guide was very helpful in explaining the history and the importance of Stirling Castle. We visited the Great Hall, the Royal Chapel, and the Queen Anne Garden with the guide. On our own, we visited the Palace which was once occupied by Mary Queen of Scots. We saw the modern reproductions of the Stirling Tapestries. The originals were owned by James V, Mary’s father. There are guides stationed throughout the palace to answer any questions you may have. One guide told us the story of the tapestries. John D. Rockefeller bought the originals and they were once in his home, but I believe they are now at the NY Metropolitan Museum of Art.

After our tour, we drove to our home for our last night, Edinburgh Dakota, which is about 10 minutes from the airport. Because the Dakota provides complimentary shuttle van service to the airport for its guests, our plan was to drop off our luggage (along with me and Joanne) at the hotel first, and the men would then return the car to the airport. This took longer than expected because they got stuck in commuter traffic going to the airport. And the rental car return place is different than where we picked up the car. Because of the logistics, taxis aren’t allowed to pick up people at the car rental return place. Ed and Roger had to then walk to the Doubletree Hotel to call a taxi. So good thing they dropped us off first; otherwise, we all would have been schlepping there with all of our luggage.

The Edinburgh Dakota has a very, very nice bar and restaurant. We had drinks first, and then a most delicious dinner. One of the best hotel meals I have ever had. For starters, I had pea & mint soup; Ed had haggis; and R & J shared tempura. For our mains, Ed and I had the lemon sole, which was perfectly cooked and so tasty. Roger had the monkfish which he loved but I forgot what Joanne had. We were too stuffed for dessert.

I can’t believe this is our last night of our spectacular journey around Scotland!

KarenWoo

Rannoch Moor

Rannoch Moor

Loch Tulla from Bridge of Orchy viewpoint

Loch Tulla from Bridge of Orchy viewpoint - school group field trip

Loch Lubnaig in Callander

Loch Lubnaig in Callander

KarenWoo

My delicious Eggs Benedict at The Glencoe Inn

Robert the Bruce statue on the esplanade at Stirling Castle

View from Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle as seen from Queen Anne Garden

Queen Anne Garden

Stirling Castle cannons

The Royal Palace at Stirling Castle - home to Mary Queen of Scots

The Royal Chapel

Modern reproduction of the famous Stirling Tapestries. John D. Rockefeller purchased the originals.

KarenWoo

Restaurant and bar at Edinburgh Dakota - Of course we have to end with food and drinks!

Pea and mint soup

Haggis appetizer

Tempura appetizer

Lemon sole - perfectly cooked

Monkfish - has a meaty texture

KarenWoo

JUNE 15, 2023: FAREWELL TO BEAUTIFUL SCOTLAND AND I HOPE I NEVER HAVE TO TRANSFER AT O’HARE AGAIN!

Breakfast was included in our hotel rate at the Edinburgh Dakota, and what a breakfast it was! I just wish we had more time to enjoy the wonderful buffet and hot-cooked meals. We should have woken up sooner. 😊 We had to rush through our breakfast. The buffet consists of the usual suspects but with a top-notch presentation and better quality than some other places. The cold meat selections (such as salami, ham, etc.) were so tasty! And wonderful hot dishes to choose from. Because we didn’t have a lot of time, I chose simple poached eggs on toast.

We said our farewells to Scotland when the hotel’s shuttle van picked us up and brought us to the airport. No problems with traffic this morning.

Luckily for our friends, they were on Delta’s non-stop from EDI to Boston. We, on the other hand, had to transfer in Chicago because we used our Star Alliance miles. When I was choosing from the available flights, DC was a choice but the layover time was very short. Too short for comfort! So I chose Chicago’s O’Hare Airport because the layover was longer, about 4.5 hours. Because Chicago was our first point of entry into the US from a foreign country, I knew we had to collect our luggage and go through security again. We have only done this once before because we usually fly directly into Logan. I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to do this. So we also reserved one-time passes for United’s lounge.

Well, when we landed at 0RD, we walked and walked and walked forever until we finally made it to baggage claim and waited for our luggage. Then we had to bring our luggage to the Re-Check Conveyor Belt. The signs were a bit confusing so we asked for directions and eventually made it. After putting our suitcases on the re-check conveyor belt, we took an escalator to the next level, and then a tram to Terminal 1, where we had to go through security again. All this took a little over an hour. Luckily the lounge was close to our departure gate, so we spent almost 3 hours in the lounge with food and drinks! YEAH!!! It was a long trip home but worth it to save a lot of money on airfare.

SUMMARY: Scotland more than surpassed our expectations and one reason is because of all the excellent advice I received on this forum. The stars were with us! Gorgeous weather, delicious food, great accommodations, and stunning scenery because of an awesome itinerary. Would I do anything differently? Yes! I would have added extra nights to our trip! Doesn’t everyone say that??? I would have liked an extra day in Edinburgh to just aimlessly wander around Old Town. We didn’t make it to Grassmarket or Greyfriar’s Kirkyard or Calton Hill. I would have loved an extra day in Glen Coe to walk some of the trails. And an extra 3 nights would have been nice to visit Mull. But there is never enough time. I do think, though, that starting next year we are going to try longer trips: anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks. Hopefully, we will have the physical stamina for it! 😊

And thank you to everyone for following along and for your very nice and heartwarming comments!

tripplanner001

Thank you so much for sharing, Karen. I very much enjoyed Scotland through you and am thinking about it as one of my options for next spring.

geetika

Karen, your title says it all, a spectacular trip indeed. Thanks again! Incidentally, I echo your sentiments about transiting ORD, it’s an absolute mess. Last August our United AMS-IAD flight was cancelled and we were rerouted via O’Hare. Utter chaos going through immigration, collecting your bags, then getting to the departure gate, we walked miles and miles. We were the last to board and the cabin crew immediately closed the door and the plane started to pull away within minutes, we were lucky to make it!

Tripplanner, I know you don’t like to drive, so will be following your plans. My husband is perfectly happy with a right hand drive, but I’d be a nervous wreck and don’t want to deal with it. So it’ll probably be Rabbies for us, unless I find other options.

zebec

Karen, there's the ultimate compliment for you---that TP is including it in their spring options!
I am done. the Skye

KarenWoo

Nelson, thank you for your compliments! Sounds like you did a lot of hiking when you were in Scotland! And thanks for digging into my question!

KarenWoo

Zebec, thanks for following along and for your compliments!

KarenWoo

Tripplanner001 and Geetika, thank you for following along and thank you for your compliments.
Tripplanner001, you will love Scotland and you will receive awesome advice from the Scottish experts on this forum.

And we saw lots of Rabbies tour vans all over Scotland. memejs did a Rabbies tour last year, and I remember that she was very happy with it. If you haven't already done so, you should read her TR.

Geetika, interesting that you had a similar experience transferring in Chicago!

KarenWoo

Gardyloo, I couldn't agree with you more! This was probably the most scenic drive/area (with Skye a close second) on our trip and this was a trip filled with many Wow! factors.

umretdd

thank you for your report, I really enjoyed reading it. All the photos look lovely, it seems like Scotland is a great destination to choose. I have never been to Scotland, but after reading your report, I think I should definitely visit it as soon as possible. It's also not so far away from where I live, so it wouldn't be a super long flight to get there. I'll definitely think about going there. Every one of my friends who have visited Scotland recommended going there. I've never heard a bad thing about it.

panecott

Thank you for this wonderful report, Karen, on a truly spectacular trip! Your photos are gorgeous and your meals looked truly fabulous. Adventurous eating is such an enriching part of any trip.
I have wanted to return to Scotland ever since my first trip there back in the 70's!! You have inspired me to do so very soon!
I hope you and Ed are feeling better now.