Glamis Castle

Glamis Castle

Glamis Castle is famous for being the ancestral home of the former Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. It has been in the Lyon family since 1372. Princess Margaret was also born in the castle. Perhaps an even bigger claim to fame is as the setting for Shakespeare's Macbeth and also as a film location for some… Continue reading Glamis Castle

Gynack Burn, Kingussie

We made it to the highlands! I've got holiday cancellation PTSD and before each holiday now I get paranoid that it'll be canceled too. The night before we left I woke up at 2am thinking I'd lost my sense of taste and smell. I went downstairs and tasted some salt, felt reassured that it tasted… Continue reading Gynack Burn, Kingussie

A night to remember at the Fife Arms Hotel, Braemar

This is going to be a long post with lots of photos so apologies in advance. We've just had a magnificent weekend in Braemar staying at the luxurious Fife Arms hotel. It's quite a contrast to our recent glamping adventures and definitely opulent but worth every penny. I've been longing to spend a night at… Continue reading A night to remember at the Fife Arms Hotel, Braemar

Lunch at the Queen’s house

Last time we visited Loch Muick it was so windy we had to shout at one another to talk. We haven't been back until today. We checked the weather forecast first to be sure we wouldn't face another gale but I'm beginning to suspect Loch Muick and wind are two words that always go together… Continue reading Lunch at the Queen’s house

Pillars of Hercules Bothy

We've had the most relaxing weekend at the Pillars of Hercules Bothy just outside Falkland. The bothy is on the Pillars of Hercules organic farm, the name for which was inspired by a local 19th-century landowner with an interest in classical history, Onesiphorus Tyndall Bruce. There is a statue of him in Falkland: The history… Continue reading Pillars of Hercules Bothy

Scottish reindeer, Cairngorms

We visited the Cairngorm reindeer herd near Aviemore today.  Reindeer are native to Scotland but were hunted to extinction by humans a long time ago. They were reintroduced in the 1950s to the Cairngorms and there's now a managed herd of 150 of them. They cap the population at 150 because that is all the… Continue reading Scottish reindeer, Cairngorms

The Highland Club, Fort Augustus

We have spent a wonderful few days staying at The Highland Club in Fort Augustus. The Highland Club is a complex of holiday apartments in what was once a Benedictine monastery on the shores of Loch Ness. It was constructed in 1880 and home to monks and a private school for boys right up until… Continue reading The Highland Club, Fort Augustus

Caledonian Canal, Fort Augustus

Started in 1803 and completed 12 years late in 1822, the Caledonian Canal connects the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of 29 locks (not to be confused with lochs), 35km of man-made channel, and four natural lochs. It's a feat of Scottish engineering, designed and built by Thomas Telford from Dumfries. Over… Continue reading Caledonian Canal, Fort Augustus

Malt whisky country

We finished our weekend in malt whisky country with a trip to the Glenfiddich distillery in Dufftown. Before leaving Glenlivet this morning - which is where we spent our weekend - I got this nice photo of the Glenlivet distillery from afar. The drive from Glenlivet to Glenfiddich is not very far: about 10 miles… Continue reading Malt whisky country

The Glenlivet

The Glenlivet Whisky Distillery is about 1.5 hours north-west of Aberdeen in a beautiful, rural pocket of the Cairngorms. It's surrounded by forests, rivers, hills, and farmland. The buildings are black in this next photo because the whisky production process attracts microorganisms causing it to go black. A fungus - Baudoinia compniacensis - feeds on… Continue reading The Glenlivet

The Bridge House Stables

We're just back from a fantastic weekend away staying at the Bridge House Stables in Perthshire. It's an old bridge built in 1881 over the River Ardle and now let as two holiday homes. The interior has been tastefully renovated and in keeping with the age of the bridge. Straddling the river means you can… Continue reading The Bridge House Stables

The Applecross Pensinsula

Yesterday we drove over The Bealach na Bà which was terrifying. It's like driving into the jaws of a giant mythical creature. The towering cliffs that rise on either side and seem to engulf you as you get higher are the beast's teeth. I've taken a screenshot of the route on Google Maps. It's only 11… Continue reading The Applecross Pensinsula

The Bealach na Bà

I summoned the courage to drive the Bealach na Bà today and it was a hair-raising and buttock-clenching experience. The road rises to 626m in just 5 miles with an almost 20% gradient in parts and is the steepest ascent of any road in the UK. It's a two-way, single-track road with several hair-pin bends. If… Continue reading The Bealach na Bà

Torridon, Scotland

I didn't think we could top our day yesterday, in terms of scenery and entertainment but we did. This time we went north to Torridon, a remote village in the Western Highlands. Much of the road there was single track and we saw very few other vehicles. It's hard to believe we are on the… Continue reading Torridon, Scotland