Blogs from United Kingdom, Europe - page 16

Today Renata and I set out on a Best of the Highlands tour with Expedia Cruises. Beauly Priory The First stop was Beauly Priory. Beauly Priory was an interesting historical ruin and was used as a filming location for the hit TV show Outlander in which Renata and I are fans. The main character, Claire, meets the seer Maisri here. Urquhart Castle The next stop after the Priory was Urquhart Castle. Urquhart Castle is a ruined castle that sits beside Loch Ness. It was an interesting place with various hidden areas to explore. I would have liked more time exploring the castle but alas we needed to go searching for the Loch Ness monster on our cruise around Loch Ness. We were unfortunately unable to find the Loch Ness Monster. I think he was shy from ... read more

Today we decided that we would spend some time having a look around Cirencester. It was probably good that we had already made this decision as the weather was a bit gloomy when we woke this morning. We had to break out our umbrellas to walk into the centre of town to arrive at the Parish Church of St John the Baptist in time for the 10.30am tour. St John’s is often mistaken for a cathedral because it is a particularly large and beautiful parish church. In fact, it is one of the largest parish churches in the country, built, repaired, renovated and extended with wool money as Cirencester was renowned for its successful and lucrative wool trade. There has been a church on this site since the earliest years of the Christian era, with the ... read more

The BeginningStarted in Glasgow- caught up with my sister, brother in law and nephew then a sunny day of exploring and food shopping for the hike.Day 0What’s in store?According to the blurb…“The Hebridean Way walking offers keen hikers a unique opportunity to walk the length of this spectacular archipelago. Over the course of 156 miles (252km) the route goes through 10 islands, crosses 6 causeways and includes two stunning ferry journeys. It is a route of astonishing variety – one day you may be walking on an exquisite deserted beach, with silver shell sand stretching far into the distance.The next you may find yourself amongst wild mountains, wandering past remote freshwater lochs as eagles soar overhead”.To begin the Hebridean Way you first need to get to the island of Barra, which is actually the second island ... read more

Today, Renata and I got to explore the Scottish Highlands with Princess Cruises “Best of the Scottish Highlands” tour. Luss Our first stop was Luss, a picturesque village on the western shore of Loch Lomond. Luss was filled with cute cottages, gardens, and shops and had an incredible view of Loch Lomond from the pier. After our stroll in Luss, we headed to Inverary stopping to get pictures of the incredible Scottish Highlands on the way. Inveraray In Inveraray, we explored the town, bought some Scottish wool souvenirs and had a tour of Inverary Castle. The Neo-Gothic Inveraray Castle is the family home of the Duke of Argyll. It was also a filming location of the 2012 Christmas episode of Downton Abbey portraying the fictional Duneagle Castle. The Castle was an interesting place to see especially ... read more

We had some light rain overnight and woke to a cooler, fresher morning which was a relief after how muggy it has been. After breakfast we set the SatNav for Sudeley Castle. We headed off in the same direction as Saturday before going across country on a very small road from the A429 to the A40. After a couple of miles on the A40 we plunged into the hedgerows again venturing between Hazleton and Hampden before doglegging over the A436 and on past Hawling before reaching Sudeley Castle near Winchcombe. We had already purchased our tickets online this morning. It’s worth it for a 10% discount on the ticket price. When we checked in though, we discovered for £2.50 each we could join a guided introductory tour at 10.30am. So we saved ourselves some money and ... read more