scotlib

Backstory

I was supposed to visit Edinburgh in April during school vacation week. The volcano sure put paid to that trip! After school resumed I checked the airline web sites a few times, wistfully wishing for a trip after the school year ended. One day I saw what I thought was a great fare for flying to Edinburgh, but it was gone when I checked later that evening.

A few days later the fare was still higher than I wanted to pay, but a thought came to me, that if it was high for BOS-EDI what about open jaw? I put in BOS-EDI/GLA-BOS and came up with $782 for Aer Lingus, from Wednesday, June 16 to Monday, June 28. Bang went the "buy" button.

Only flying once a year, I probably still have much to learn for purchasing airfare, but it is the cheapest I have paid for a trip to Scotland.

scotlib

Itinerary

I have made two trips involving Edinburgh:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...st-andrews.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...jaw-edilhr.cfm


This trip I wanted more of the country, so this is how the final itinerary looked:

Wednesday, June 16: fly
Thursday-Friday, June 17-18: Edinburgh
Saturday-Wednesday, June 19-23: Rabbie's Trail Burners (minibus tour company) Highland Explorer 5 Day Tour of the Scottish Highlands
Thursday-Friday morn, June 24-25: Edinburgh
Friday afternoon-Sunday morn, June 25-27: Stonehaven
Sunday afternoon train to Glasgow and fly early on Monday, June 28, for the long day's journey home

The couple of days in Edinburgh before the 19th were fudging the trip to allow for delays in travel. Everything went according to plan, fortunately.

The April trip plan had included visiting sites of the Great British Heritage Pass. This trip ended up not visiting any, so I still have that fool card. Oh well, the year is only half over, though sweet DH would probably say something if I attempt another trip this year ;-)

hopingtotravel

Will be looking forward to hearing where you went on the five days in the highlands.

scotlib

Packing

Okay, the great question .. what did I bring?

Bag: Tom Bihn Aeronaut, http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/TBP/TB0906

Day bag: a mini messenger purchased a few years ago from LL Bean (no longer available), about 10x8x2 and a very comfortable strap

For carrying change, I use a mini clear organizer pouch from Tom Bihn, http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/ACC/TB0319 Attached at the end of a Bihn key strap I could slip the pouch into the messenger bag's back pocket and just pull on the key strap to pull it out or slip it back in. The clear panel meant I could waggle the pouch a bit and spot the desired coins.

Shoes: New Balance 811 Country Walkers .. brought just the pair I wore, though did bring 2 pairs of Dr. Scholl's air pillow insoles and swapped them daily

Rain jacket: from LL Bean, the Waterproof Storm Jacket (mid-range price between Goretex and lowest priced jackets)

Basically, 3 sets of clothes, a couple extra pairs each socks and undies, toiletries, and various stuff that manages to find its way into the bag. Tip learned online about socks .. wear ankle socks and carry two pairs for the room of one pair of regular socks (excellent for a summer trip as this was).

Travel gadgets tried and not necessary next trip: clothing shields from Magellans and a small Gorilla tripod from ThinkGeek. I thought the shields interesting, but not really completely effective; I still spot washed clothing. I used my camera daily but never brought out the little tripod.

Electronics:
* cell phone & charger
* camera and charger, Canon 780 .. great for slipping in one's pocket, though the pics a fellow traveler was getting with his Canon G9 was giving me a bit of camera-envy, but the G9 is a compact and I was carrying a subcompact for the very reason of size
* iTouch and charger .. loaded with AOL Instant Messenger, Skype, video podcasts, music, games, and an audiobook

I had a lot of fun with the iTouch. Loaded Skype with a $10 credit and used that at the hotels with wifi at 5 cents/minute instead of the cell phone with international roaming at 99 cents/minute.

I was thinking I'd probably go the iPhone route next time I get a phone but I'm attending a computer conference next week and the description for a session about the Android phones has me intrigued; I plan to attend and learn more.

Most valuable item: athletic tape
I had read about the uses of duct tape and someone mentioned using duct tape to relieve plantar fasciitis using the strip method described here: http://heelspurs.com/tape.html I used athletic tape and a couple of strips each morning, never a twinge in the foot the whole trip!

The packed bag and coat (excluding the day bag) weighed a combined 16# at the beginning of the trip. I did not get a weight at the end of the trip, but easily 6-7 lbs more coming home. The day bag was also a bit heavier coming home.

scotlib

Lodgings on the trip

The Glenora
www.glenorahotel.co.uk
14 Rosebery Crescent
Edinburgh, Midlothian EH12 5JY, United Kingdom
0131 337 1186
Great location for catching the trains at Haymarket Station, right around the corner from a bus stop for local buses and the AirLink as it arrives from the airport. Breakfast was good. I paid £55/night for a single, en-suite. Certainly not a big room, but it was en-suite and a comfy bed.


Charden Villa (booked for me by Rabbie's)
Liz & Denis Munro
11 Fairfield Road
Inverness
IV3 5QA
tel: 01463 718058
A standard room, almost a square with the length equal the bed I shared the bath only with one other room. Breakfast was terrific, Liz was very friendly, and the £25/night was easy on the budget.


Seaforth Cottage (booked for me by Rabbie's)
Ian MacKinnon
Viewfield Road
Portree
Isle of Skye
IV51 9ES
tel: 01478 612040
My room (two twin beds) looked out on the harbor. The two other rooms were en-suite, this one had a private bath (harbor views while enjoying the deep tub). Breakfast again was terrific. Being actually a room for two, the price was £50/night.


Dene Guest House
www.deneguesthouse.com
New Town
7 Eyre Place, Edinburgh, Lothian EH3 5ES, United Kingdom
0131 556 2700
I stayed at the Dene in '08. It still is a good value for the solo traveler, IMO, though I know some would be turned off by the furniture that can be reminiscent of a college dorm. The (small) standard room was £27.50/night. Breakfast is very nice, the access to the #36, #23, #27 buses is great, and the common/breakfast room now has wifi.


Glennifer Guest House
http://www.gleniffer-stonehaven.co.uk/
Anne & Frank Budd
15 Arduthie Road Stonehaven AB39 2EH Scotland
A quick walk from the railway station, easy walks into and around town, excellent breakfasts, great hosts. This was again a room with a private bath, however, Anne provides a robe for this room, so you don't feel so "idiot" walking out your door in pj's. Highly recommend. £50/night.


Holiday Inn Express, Glasgow Airport
http://www.expressglasgowairport.co.uk
Your typical hotel room, but after so many standard and private bath nights, hallelujah, my own toilet and shower The GlasgowFlyer bus lets you off at the terminal. Follow a covered pathway marked Staff Car Park and you will end up at the HIE. The advance rate I paid for a Sunday night was £64.


I thought all my lodgings were fine, a to each. I would not have minded more like the HIE, lol, a smallish room for a single traveler with a bathroom, but then I would not have experienced the variety and diversity that makes for memories, eh?

scotlib

Memorable meals

Lochinver Larder
http://www.lochinverlarder.co.uk/
The Rabbie's driver first suggested a restaurant just next door, but it was so crazy full with other tour riders that I ended up next door and would recommend just coming here. I had fish/chips and it came with a nice salad, too.


Potting Shed Cafe
Applecross
http://www.eatinthewalledgarden.co.uk/
The other Rabbie's bus was at the other usual location, but this was so good I bet it gets used much more by our driver. Again I had fish & chips and the salad was from the cafe's gardens.


The Bay Fish & Chips
Yes, I like fish & chips. The Bay also offered mushy peas, very good tasting mushy peas, IMO.


Robertson Bakers, Stonehaven
Recommended by my hosts, this was a great homemade bread sandwich with egg salad filling and a strawberry tart. The kind that I am more used to looking so beautiful on the shelf but rather lacking in taste, but you get the real deal from Robertson Bakers!


Okay, so my recommendations are too much fish & chips, but I think they stand as recommendations because I could see what my fellow travelers were choosing in Lochinver and Applecross and everyone was oohing & ahhing. Enjoy!

scotlib

hopingtotravel, I am working on descriptions of what I saw/did next, now that the nitty-gritty that could help someone planning a trip are done. Cheers.


Addendum to the meals .. of all my fish & chips, I did like The Bay the best, not just because I could get the mushy peas, but it had the greatest tasting fish and excellent chips (the most, too, I could not eat them all).

hopingtotravel

If you ate at Applecross, does that mean you went through Torridon? I believe I spelled that right.

scotlib

Looking at a map of Scotland, we drove through the Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve on the A896. We had a photo stop overlooking the Upper Loch Torridon and a stop in Shieldaig.

I see there's a village Torridon near a point where the A896 turns left, but we did not stop there.

scotlib

Wednesday, 16 June

This is a second flight using Aer Lingus (flew to London last July).

I dislike the inconsistencies in what is allowed for carryon, but perhaps that is just something to learn and go with the flow.

My ticket said the "standard" size (22x14x9) and up to 10 kg. When you wait in line for the checkin, the sizer says 18x14x9 and 10 kg. My bag's size was not challenged and I met the weight fine.

The BOS-DUB legs were on Airbus 330s, a very nice plane. I like the 2-4-2 arrangement. The DUB-Scotland legs were ATR 72s prop jets. I carried my bag on in DUB no problem. Standing in line in GLA, I was caught by the sign that carryon could not weigh more than 7 kg! I had used a scale at the HIE and knew I was at 8 kg (the electronics were already in my coat pockets). I hurriedly shoved more stuff in coat pockets and purse, so the bag was at 7.2 kg and the agent allowed me to take everything with me.

Why the insistence to carryon? True, to lug the bag around DUB is wearisome, but to get off the plane in BOS and hurry through customs to get to the bus stop, allowing me to catch a bus within a few minutes rather than miss that bus and wait an hour is worth the effort (IMO, of course).


The BOS security included the bio-scan equipment. All I had in my pockets was money (just paper and plastic coinage in purse), but I was directed to take it all out and hold it in my hand while doing the scan.

scotlib

Forgotten electronics .. travel clock and all-important adapter .. nothing getting charged without one of those!

The 3 chargers (cell phone, iTouch, and camera) all fit in a 1-quart baggie with the clock and adapter. I listed the 5 items on the bag and never left one behind.

palmettoprincess

I never would have thought that an open jaw ticket would have been less expensive. I'll have to try that next time. I go to Scotland every four to five years. Just three more to go!

scotlib

palmettoprincess, the first time I saw the $782 was for round trip BOS-EDI, but I did not immediately buy it and then did not see it again. Some people say cookies in the browsers cause airfares to rise, the airline's web site placing cookies to remember your interest, I've read others' opinions that that does not happen. All I know is when I could not see the rate again for BOS-EDI and did see it for the open jaw, I grabbed it.

hopingtotravel

Thanks scotlib. It's been sort of hard to get input on that road. I'm thinking of overnighting in Torridon.

scotlib

Thursday-Friday, 17-18 June

Arriving at DUB involves immigration/passport control, also a security check to go into the terminal area. My bag was pulled aside for something "sharp." Turns out that travel umbrellas must be outside your bag before going through the x-ray.

Going through the security again after arriving from GLA, I read the sign and discovered that the umbrellas indeed must be out. Promptly forgot to do it, so again my umbrella was checked by hand.

Lesson .. read each airport's security sign for differences from your home airport!


Arrival at EDI from DUB put me past the immigration desks, but my hardest part turned out trying to find an ATM. I could not find one. I did see a desk/machines for American Express, but I was trying to find a regular bank ATM. I still had 30 pounds from a previous trip and that got me to my hotel until finding an ATM later.

I used the AirLink bus to get to Haymarket Station and the Glenora was just around the corner from the stop. The AirLink bus ticket had a coupon on the back for the Edinburgh Dungeon. The expiration date was for last February. At some point a company should update its ticket slips, eh?

Thursday was very hot and sunny. I arrived at the Glenora by 9 am, too early to actually checkin, but I was able to drop off my bag. A flyer in the lounge from St. Giles' Cathedral let me know about some special music that day. I went up to the Royal Mile and wandered around until time for the concert.

After the concert I walked around the Mile--noting how many more people and hawkers were on the street than during my April visits--visited the TI at Waverley, made my way back to the Glenora, first stopping to buy a ticket for Friday at Haymarket Station.

I had haggis nachos in the cafe at the Tartan Weaving Mill, lol. The chips were not corn chips, instead sliced fresh fried potato chips. An unusual taste sensation, and fun to try.

Thursday evening's news had many mentions of Sir Sean ("Bond. James Bond.") being in town. He uncovered a new plaque to show where he had been born and raised in Edinburgh.


For Friday, I purchased an off peak return ticket to the aquarium in North Queensferry, Deep Sea World. It was a disused quarry and the aquarium was built at the bottom in the '90s. From the North Queensferry station it's all downhill to the aquarium. I was making my way down the hill when a gentleman passed me, warning me the steep part was still to come! It was indeed steep at the bottom.

I enjoyed the aquarium. It had good educational signs by the exhibits. You go down a tunnel to where you are underneath the tank to view all the fish, rays, and sharks. I liked an exhibit about the Firth of Forth Rail Bridge and purchased a CD that does work on my DVD player with the bridge's history. I think it works because the disc was burned as a CD, not DVD.

Returning to Edinburgh, I stopped by the hotel to drop off stuff and then went back up to the Royal Mile to visit my favorite museum, the People's Story, experiencing some bus jams along the Princes Street to get there.

scotlib

Saturday-Wednesday, 19-23 June

This was my minibus tour with Rabbie's Trail Burners. I did the Highland Explorer 5 Day Tour. We stayed 2 nights each in Inverness and Portree.

Yes, by taking a minibus tour I was restricted to the itinerary planned by Rabbie's, but I heard at least a third of the passengers mention the reason for taking the tour was to let someone else do the driving, so I am not the only one who avoids the thought!

My taxi driver from the Glenora to Rabbie's was not sure where the office would be exactly on the Royal Mile, but it was very easy to spot once arriving because of the swarm of people. Two minibuses were going on the Highland Explorer tour and others were setting off on day tours.

Of the 16 passengers in my group, about half were from Australia or New Zealand. I particularly loved one fellow's voice; it reminded me of Michael Caine. A few others were from the states, two from Japan, and one from Quebec. One gentleman was from Edinburgh. We learned later he was another Rabbie's driver and learning the route.

The itinerary is pretty much as stated on the company web site, http://www.rabbies.com/scottish_tour...our.asp?lng=en, though I can see some slight differences and will note anything different or highlight, etc.

So, two minibuses left from Rabbie's, and by the time we reached the first stop in Dunkeld, we were also being shadowed by a Haggis Adventures minibus and Highland Explorer Tours bus. For a lot of Saturday we saw each other's buses at the various stops. Our driver, Liam, and the others did do consultations to be sure hard to reach places were not approached by everyone at the same time

Saturday's itinerary followed the web site except that we ate lunch in Pitlochry. As we drove into each town Liam would point out possible places to eat. The Nessie spotting was a stop at the boat launch in Dores before continuing into Inverness. I remember it as a very warm late afternoon with haze over the loch. My pictures show a lovely blue--not picking up the haze, I guess. On one road leading to the loch, Liam suddenly pulled to the side of the road. A small herd of Highland cattle were grazing and we all had a fun time snapping pictures.

Sunday, Fathers Day, was a full day with the Falls of Shin, the Corrieshalloch Gorge, Ardvreck Castle, a lovely Caribbean-like beach near Lochinver, Ullapool, and rhododendrons .. lots and lots of rhododendrons! Turns out that the rhody is an invasive plant for Scotland. It evidently finds the western side very hospitable and we sure saw a lot of it for several days!

Hmmm, my notes say I had the haddock fish cakes at the Lochinver Larder. Oops. It was still a very good meal and memorable for the quality (my real intent for the list, after all), even if I forgot since last week that I didn't have fish & chips that one time

Monday (I admit, for a few minutes I could not remember for a minute if it was Monday or Tuesday) had us going from sea level to above back to sea level to high above and back to sea level. Lots of great scenery with leaving Inverness to go over to the other side of Scotland. Taking the route around the Applecross peninsula from Shieldaig to Applecross for lunch provided the experience that may threaten some worriers' minds. We went around a corner in the road and found ourselves grill-to-grill with a lorry! It was right next to a passing space and Liam backed a bit to pull into the passing space and it was the "passing dance" with the lorry to get each vehicle on its way. Yes, I was glad we had an excellent driver!

The Potting Shed Cafe was really where we ate in Applecross. The flowers in the garden were gorgeous and the meal very good. We continued past more great scenery with a stop in Plockton to make our way to Portree on the Isle of Skye. I noticed my throat was getting sorer as the day progressed and it wasn't feeling so great in the evening.

Tuesday (the real Tuesday) I woke with a nasty cold. Actually I didn't sleep much either night in Portree because of coughing. I passed on the day's touring, choosing instead to putter around Portree and resting at the B&B. Sure, I missed the day's events, but I know it involved beautiful scenery and a castle .. I didn't feel like I was completely missing out because we had already viewed much of that and there was still one more day to the tour. I had a quiet, restful day and now a reason to return to Skye.

Wednesday's highlight for me was Eilean Donan Castle, not just because it is a lovely place to visit. An RAF fighter of some type did a fly-by over the Castle's loch. A screaming approach and roaring departure, lovely!

The rest of Wednesday was to wend our way back to Edinburgh. We had lunch later in the afternoon at a restaurant in Glencoe. The whole trip had no bus segments over a couple of hours. It was usually an hour ten minutes or hour and a half between stops. The tour was a satisfactory first trip to the highlands. I hope for more visiting in the future.

scotlib

hopingtotravel, have you seen these sites?
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...tre/index.html
http://search.visitbritain.com/en-EN...ntentID=216840

Hope they help. Cheers.

scotlib

Thursday-Friday morn, 24-25 June

The Rabbie's tour arrived at Waverley Bridge about 7 pm on Wednesday. I took a taxi to the Dene Guest House and just settled in for the night.

Thursday was a more relaxing day with a start at the railway station to pickup tickets for the weekend. I had purchased them online in May. The Edinburgh to Stonehaven was £7.00 and Stonehaven to Glasgow was £10.30. I chose to pick up both sets at Waverley, figuring that it would be better to have an opportunity to see real people if I had any trouble with the ticket machines.

I again visited the People's Story, also the Museum of Edinburgh across the street. I picked up two t-shirts at a tourist shop, mailed a post card to my sister, and visited a few stores before going back to the Dene and watching the end of the Isner/Mahut marathon match at Wimbledon.

Later, I actually did some work for an hour. I spoke with a coworker on Skype using the iTouch and she texted my answers and read responses from other coworkers on AIM. I could use AIM also, but it takes a long time to type on the iTouch!


After Friday morning breakfast I made my way to the railway station and took the train again over the Firth of Forth bridge to Stonehaven.

While waiting for my train I read the messages on the announcement board in the station. As of 9:26 that morning, 3832 trains had been on-time, 95% overall. Well, my train was in the remaining 5%. It arrived late and we left 40 min late from the scheduled time. The East Coast train had wifi with registration so I could use my iTouch on the trip.

It's been written before, but I'll note it .. to know which platform to go to you need to know the final stop of your train. I was going to Stonehaven, one stop before the final one at Aberdeen, so I was watching the boards for the 10:27 to Aberdeen to learn which platform.

hopingtotravel

Scotlib, thank you for the websites. I'm looking.

scotlib

Friday afternoon-Sunday, 25-27 June

After a touch of geographic confusion at the Stonehaven railway station I arrived at the Gleniffer Guest House. I had a map to follow. What I forgot was arriving from the south meant I was on the backside of the station. I was trying to follow the map as if I were on the front side. Once that confusion was sorted I quickly arrived.

The afternoon/evening was spent learning my way around the town center and enjoying supper from The Bay Fish & Chip on the promenade.

Saturday was a cool overcast day, but that was fine with me. The damp salt air was making my breathing much easier (that darn cold). Many people took their dogs for walks around the harbor and beach areas. That made me miss my doggy for sure.

Walking by St. Bridget's Hall Church I was in time for a morning coffee with muffins and bell ringing performance by the Kilwhang Handbell Ringers. Very nice.

A footpath goes from Stonehaven to Dunnotar Castle. Along the way is the War Memorial with names of people lost in WW1 and WW2. I went up to the memorial and you could see the castle, and hear piping from someone on the bag pipes, but I returned to Stonehaven on this trip. I'd really like to return. I found Stonehaven a restful stop and would like a chance to try the outdoor heated pool and do more walking around the area.

I visited the Tolbooth museum with history of the town in the afternoon. By then a number of families with small children were playing on the sand in the harbor. I expect the water there might have been a bit warmer and it was calmer than on the beach area. One youngster had a shirt and pants that covered him from neck to knees. It made me think of the early swimming costumes, though I think those were plain black, eh, and not a likely set of spider man pj's

A late lunch was the delicious sandwich and scrumptious strawberry tart from Robertson Bakers.

The evening was spent enjoying a chance to see the current season finale of Doctor Who! I always think first of Tom Baker as the Doctor. The odd thing of watching the new Doctors since the show was re-started is while Christopher Eccleston was my age, David Tennant is 7 years younger and -- oh, my -- Matt Smith was not yet born when I walked across the stage for my high school graduation!

After Sunday breakfast I went to an early church service, returned to the guest house for my bag, and then waited for my train. Upon arrival in Glasgow I walked out the door with the sign mentioning Bus and a picture of an airplane, and walked across the street for the GlasgowFlyer. The driver was a bit impatient. He had to wait for a parade to pass by before continuing to the airport, and it was a 10-15 minute wait.

Once I found the correct path to the hotel, it was unpack and have some dinner at the hotel, and then repack to be completely ready for an early morning. Unfortunately, this was the evening that England lost the match against Germany, so that was all the news on the TV.