Blogs from Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 3

Geo: 57.4767, -4.23145The pigeons did go to sleep last night, but they were up really early!I haven't mentioned the various hotels' breakfast buffets. It's mostly standard stuff like bacon, sausage, eggs (mostly scrambled), cereal, fruit, yogurt and small pastries. However, there's also baked beans, broiled tomatoes, mushrooms, and haggis. This hotel also has fried eggs and potato scones. The potato scones don't look very scone-like: they are made of potatoes (obviously) and look more like naan bread. Tasty though.It was very, very cold this morning and trying to rain. We got on the coach and drove to Culloden battlefield, the site of the last major land battle fought on British soil. In 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie began a campaign to take the throne (the yearlong series of battles is known as "the '45"). He had a ... read more

Today we were awake, packed, and ready to go on our Highland Fling bus tour at least an hour early. The tour is offered by MacBackpackers and runs from Monday morning through Friday evening. In 2015, we paid about 200 Pounds each, and I would have said ahead of time that I think it will be worth it, but by the end of day one I can say it will be. Our granddaughter Alexis took the tour last year and after reading about it and seeing her photos, we decided we'd give it a try, even though we figured we'd be the oldest folks on the tour. The mid-sized bus pulled up in front of our hostel right on time. We'd read in the tour notes that we should only bring smaller luggage such as backpacks ... read more

Our daughter was away on a school trip over the Easter holiday and our son was busy studying (miracles will never cease) so my wife and I thought we would get away to Scotland for a short trip of our own. It's on a door step and we had hardly ever visited, and it always features heavily in the photography books and magazines that I read, so I was also particularly keen to go there. After the chaos of London Luton, Inverness airport is the cutest, quietest and most civilised airport I think we have ever had the pleasure of arriving at. There was the inevitable queue at the hire car desk whilst the one person on duty was typing merrily into a computer. Apparently he had started work early and officially the desk should not ... read more

Geo: 57.4767, -4.23145We started the day slowly with breakfast at So CoCo café just down the street from the apartment. It was okay, but priced a bit high and really nothing special so we'll look for another place tomorrow. After breakfast, we stopped in at the tourist information centre to get advice on the best way to get to the starting point for our tour of Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle which was to begin at 2:00. The clerk there said it would be a nice walk along the banks of the river and take about 45 minutes.Before the cruise, we had time to see Inverness Castle. It is not open for tours since it is used for city offices, but we walked around the outside for a look. It is a large castle, and it ... read more

So this weekend decided to treat myself for my birthday. So spent two days in Edinburgh and from there went to Fort William to take the train that goes up to Mallaig. Edinburgh is a very nice city with an interesting history. I got to stay at the Abbortsford guest house, that I do recommend, lovely rooms and excellent full scottish breakfast ! I got to walk around the old town, nice views from the castle. Visited the National Art Museum and the Edinburgh Museum that explains most of the town history. Then walked up the hill of the Holyrood park, up there you get a view of all the town and the surroundings. and finally, also went to the Botanic Garden Center, very nice and must be magnificent in spring and summer when all the ... read more