Weekends in Europe, Part 1: Scotland - Edinburgh, Glasgow and Loch Lomond 3 days and 2 nights
 

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A bit about me: I am 22, female and moved to London about 1.5 years ago. I love 2 things very dearly: travelling and food. London is perfect for both :)

I try to escape my hectic work life (12-15 hours per weekday) once a month for a short weekend trip, typically Saturday morning to Sunday night. Easyjet is my dream come true in a sense. This series of trip reports will be talking about these weekends, before they become a blur inside my head. Keep in mind that they will sound very rushed, but well. Thats how weekend trips need to be!

There's plenty of time to sleep when you are dead - Benjamin Franklin

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This trip was with my mother (late forties) and sister (17) who came to visit for a few weeks. DM and I are very very active, no nonsense, always on time sorts. DS tries to be a typical teenager but doesn't get a chance to be :)

Day 1 : Edinburgh

Early morning flight from London to Edinburgh. (Scenic) bus transfer from airport to near-the-castle-somewhere.

We decided to start the trip at the very top of the Royal Mile - at the Edinburgh Castle. The walk up the hill was really pleasant, sun shining through and quite desserted as well. We walked through the parks etc before reaching the (LONG) queues. After about half an hour, we were inside. We wandered alongside a guided tour for 80% of the time, and spent the rest exploring what interested us. Highlights - crown jewels, war memorial and the cannon which is fired at 1 o clock. There were some street performers right at the top, which i found rather amusing :)

We then started our descent downwards. Neither of us was particularly interested in whiskey (DF is but he was not around!) or Camera Obscura , so we skipped those. We headed straight down to the Hub and St. Giles Cathedral.

Lunch was a quick pizza around north/south bridge (the name changes when it intersects the royal mile/high street)

We then walked down south bridge. I recall there being a wild goose chase for the vaults. The place looked rather underwhelming and we skipped it. We headed to edinburgh museum, which was very interesting. The mummies were a highlight there, as were the tereasures from around the world.

<more to follow! tombs, harry potter and elephant house :) >

Thanks for this report, Rushil. Spouse and I are going to be in Edinburgh in May and will probably buy tix in advance to permit us to skip the queues. Looking forward to the next installment.

Day 1 Continued (Long day!)

From the museum we walked to the Elephant House (both DS and I are die hard Harry Potter fans - I happen to be his age, and have grown up with him :) )While it was quite crowded, we got some of the best seats in the house, overlooking the graveyard houseing Greyfriar's Bobby as well the graves which inspired the names in JK Rowlings books! After some (yummy) hot chocolates and cake, we went to the graveyard itself.

The next one hour was spent hunting down the tombs of McGonnagal, M(Mad-Eye) Moody and (the highlight) Tom Riddle. (DM was quite supportive actually, helped us a lot!) It was great fun, and we even found that someone had left flowers and a CD for "Chamber of Secrets" on Tom Riddle's grave! :)

We then headed to Edinburgh University, since my great grandfather had studied Botany there, and DM wanted to visit. We spent some time walking around, before heading to a grocery store to buy supplies (you'll know why very soon)

After that was dinner (I dont remember it unfortunately) before heading to our hotel. We stayed at the Links House hotel at Leith - a triple room for £55 booked quite last minute. While it was a bit far away from everywhere, the area around it was really pretty with a large park. The room was also quite decent, large though it was semi basement.

After a LONG day, we were happy to crash early :)

Day 2 - Arthurs Seat, Holyrood Palace, Rosslyn Chapel, Glasgow

As a family of early risers (DS has to be forced), we had decided to go check out Arthur's seat in the morning. DM made some sandwiches (hence the grocery shopping), and we were off on a picnic! It was really beautiful, though we did get lost and didnt reach the top. the 2 hour walk was great, and the feeling of eating ham sandwiches on top a hill (even if it was an unintended destination) was quite fantastic :)

We then headed to Holyrood Palace, which i must say was very underwhelming. The jewels were nice... but hey, most were Indian (hmph) or a "gift" (aka stolen, no offence) from some other country. the Palace itself was quite run-down, and nothing fantastic IMO.

Next up was picking up our car from Hertz, because we would be driving to Glasgow!

We stopped by at Rosslyn Chapel. It was really beauitful, and the audio guides were great in helping us appreciate the architecture. Definitely worth a visit, and a few hours very well spent.Lunch was here as well (nothing special)

The drive to Glasgow was smooth, nice countryside and no getting lost! (I happen to be an excelllent map reader :P, and DM is great at cross country drives, so this was easy)

Before reaching the hotel, we decided to stop at Klevingrove museum as it was getting close to its closing time. The building is beautiful, and the inside was quite nice as well. We also stopped at the nearby Necropolis - what is with this country and beautiful graveyards :)

After this, we drove to our hotel - Etap (now Ibis) at springfield quay. The area was a bit far, but it was surrounded by small shops and was quite full of people. The quay was quite pretty as well. The room itself was quite decent sized, but the stairway was awful -smelly and full of cigarettes (DM is claustophobic, no lifts for us)

After dropping off our things, we headed out (walking) to explore the city before dinner. We stopped at the the city chambers for some pictures, and then the shopping street. We then walked to the Horseshow Bar for dinner, best know for being the longest bar in Glasgow. The beer battered fish was awesome, and the place was full of locals, very happy :)

Back to our rooms for some well deserved rest!

More to follow - Glasgow cathedral, Lakes and Back to Edinburgh

*horseshoe bar

Day 3: Glasgow Cathedral, Loch Lomond (+ Haggis) and Edinburgh

We started the morning early (you should not be surprised anymore) with a trip to Glasgow Cathedral. It was really really beautiful, and a great way to start the morning. We then drove to Loch Lomond, a nice drive and a beautiful location!

Spent the next few hours walking around the lake, and had lunch at a great restaurant in the village close (I will hunt down the name for this one and post it later). I would really recommend this plcae, the decor was very traditionally scottish, the food was great - I tried haggis for the first time, and it was pretty decent! We then walked along the countryside for 2-3 hours as the weather was good.

We then drove back to Edinburgh. Met some family for a while (they happened to be visiting as well), and then dropped our car off. We then did some souvenir shopping (including the scarf im wearing today :) ) and went to Scott's monument. I absolutely loved the climb (DM and DS skipped it) and the views, its a must see.

Then it was off to the bus stop (we had not been able to get flights back due to the last minute planning) and an overnight bus to london - i would not recommend it unless you are desperate. I have travelled a LOT on buses, and this was definitely not the best experience.

We arrived late night/early morning. Crashed and then one day later were off to Turkey! (Thats another trip report :) )

It's a pity you missed the Camera Obscura. I found it fascinating

It's a pity you missed the Camera Obscura. I found it fascinating

We did go and check out the entrance, but were not in the mood that day. Maybe another time :)

Thanks Rushil for your nice report on your little trip. You do pack in a lot!

Yes, Rushil did pack in a lot, DH & I do pretty much the same, try to see and do as much as we can. We were in Edinburgh last July and loved the Castle, I too made a stop at the Elephant House. Didn't get to visit Holyroodhouse Palace as the Queen was in residence, but from what Rushil says we didn't miss much. Waiting for further installments of your weekend wanderings Rushil...:)

Thanks Geetika. Writing one up on Prague now!