Earlier this month, The Traveling Professor took 11 travelers on a small group tour to the Scottish Highlands. Here is a trip report on that tour.
This tour actually started in Edinburgh where the group stayed for 5 days at the Apex City Hotel in the Grassmarket area of Edinburgh. In Edinburgh we did a walking tour of the city, ventured out to the Borders area of Scotland where we visited Melrose Abbey and Rosslyn Chapel, of Da Vinci Code fame. The group also ventured out to Stirling Castle and followed up that day with a hands-on falconry exhibition. Travelers also had the chance to visit the Royal Yacht Brittania and the Palace of Holyroodhouse as well as Edinburgh Castle.
We started to venture north by way of St. Andrews. Of course the city boasts the famed Old Course, the home of golf, but there is so much more to this small city. Our professional guided tour of St Andrews University and St Andrews Cathedral and the rest of the town got us into places and told the stories we could never discover on our own.
We traveled by scenic train to the true Scottish Highlands, Inverness. There is no other place to stay than the grand Royal Highland Hotel, if you as The Professor. We used Inverness as our base to explore Urquart Castle, cruise the Loch Ness in search of Nessie, and to visit the Culloden battlefieds. Inverness itself is full of history as detailed to us by our professional, licensed guide during our city walking tour.
From Inverness, we took an absolutely spectacular train ride through the Highlands to Kyle of Lochalsh. On the train we spotted sheep, deer, hawks, eagles and more. The scenery was simply too beautiful to describe. We toured the stunning Isle of Skye with stops in Portree and the Kilt Rock where we were entertained by a bagpiper. See: https://youtu.be/QmopLsv5JgE
That night we stayed at the restful seaside Balmacara Hotel and had a lovely Scottish dinner.
The next day was a ride to Fort William and a stay at the lovely waterfront Cruachan Hotel. Fort William is historic in that it is the terminus for the famous Jacobite train and its history in Scottish Highlands lore. Fort William was our jumping off point for another spectacular 3-hour West Highland train ride down to Glasgow, where we spent 2 nights.
Glasgow is a lively city with many great restaurants and bars. But it is also a cultural center, home of the fascinating Kelvingrove Art Museum and Gallery. There is also the Riverside Museum and of course, Glasgow University as well as wonderful botanical gardens. We could have easily spent another day or two in Glasgow.
Enjoy The Professor's photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/o6hUEQETSmg37nCy9
Join The Traveling Professor on his next small group tour to Scotland.