Scotland: castles and whisky

Edinburgh 1st day

The historic-tourist part of Edinburgh winds entirely along one big central street: the Royal Mile. There you find the period buildings, the typical shops and the most characteristic pubs.

Hungry, we go into a well-furnished pub and order something barely understandable on the menu (even for us, who know English well, choosing food always turns out to be a surprise!). Here I immediately realise that I will have difficulty "digesting" Scottish meals, which my fiancé absolutely does not want to give up (you simply have to adapt to the local food! even if it's disgusting... I add!) both in terms of quality and price. The unfavourable exchange rate between the Euro and the Pound and the high local cost of living make our spending budget balloon, especially for meals and for entrance tickets to the various museums.

We immediately go on to visit Holyrood house: a royal palace with important furnishings and gardens.

While we stroll along the Royal Mile, we stop to watch the street artists. In fact we happen to be right in the middle of the "Edinburgh Festival", an important event that characterises the month of August in Scotland; during which the "Fringe Festival" takes place, or rather the festival of street artists; so, every few metres, we meet the strangest people doing the strangest things, dressed in the most bizarre way possible.

Visiting the numerous Scottish souvenir shops, we realise that the most classic and tastiest "souvenir" is represented by the famous "Walkers" butter biscuits.

We buy a packet and, once we reach our Bed & Breakfast in the city, we devote ourselves to the "ritual" of tea, which will become a pleasant evening habit. You should know that all the rooms in every b&b are equipped with an electric teapot and tea bags. Our Walkers biscuits complete the ritual, complementing the meagre and unsatisfactory Scottish dinners. Oh, I forgot! In the evening, we find on our car the first of a series of fines: no parking. The Scots are very strict and inflexible when it comes to the highway code: getting a fine is very easy. We will get another one the following day too. Who knows whether we'll find them in our mail in Italy???? In any case, we advise everyone not to pay them on the spot: he who lives will see.

Edinburgh 2nd day

We start with a visit to the castle. Personally I don't like it: it is certainly not the classic Scottish residential castle that I love so much, but a complex of austere military buildings surrounded by walls.

Right after that we visit the National Gallery of Scotland, elegant and with some important paintings. Then on to the Edinburgh gardens that overlook Princes Street. Princes Street is the city's main artery: a big modern avenue, where the newest shops are located (and the ever-present street artists).

We have dinner in a characteristic neighbourhood called Grass Market and, after dinner, a stop at one of the city's most renowned pubs: Finnegan's Wake, where we stay to listen to some live music. Originally it was our intention to attend the Military Tattoo (military parade) at Edinburgh Castle. However, realising that tickets had to be bought in advance and not on the spot, we opt for a change of programme.

Inveraray, Oban

We leave Edinburgh and head to Inveraray, where we visit the castle and the characteristic village overlooking the lake.

On the way, we happen to see St. Conans Kirk, a particular old church at Lochawe (Loch = lake), and take a short stop.

In Oban the first Scottish rain welcomes us, to which we must get used. Fortunately, the rains in Scotland last very little: it is a continuous alternation of weather conditions, going in a few minutes from rain to sunshine and vice versa.

In Oban we visit the first of a long series of Whisky distilleries, all equipped with visitors centres and guided tours complete with tasting.

Dinner in a diner and then the night in a charming B&B.

Eilean Donan, Dunvegan Castle, Portree (ISLE OF SKYE)

It's my birthday! The day starts well with a hearty Scottish Breakfast in a truly lovely breakfast room. The Scottish breakfast, which we find with a few small variations in every B&B we stay at, consists essentially of: eggs, bacon, bread, sausages. We get into the habit of stuffing ourselves well in the morning so as to cut down on lunch costs.

We then set off for the Isle of Skye. The landscapes we drive through today are the most panoramic of all: lakes stretching as far as the eye can see, so much greenery and charming little low white cottages with black roofs, typical of the Island.

We stop at Eilean Donan Castle, famous for the film Highlander. Here we are greeted by a typical Scotsman in kilt and bagpipes. The castle is evocatively surrounded by water; the interiors are recent but full of character.

We then reach the Isle of Skye crossing a long toll bridge.

First we visit Dunvegan Castle, a typical Scottish residential castle, with rich furnishings. Then we look for the remote Talisker distillery. Here one of the best Scottish whiskies of all is produced; a visit to the production areas is a must.

We finally arrive at Portree, the main town on the Isle of Skye: an extremely charming village with a colourful little harbour on the sea.

After dinner we do the traditional "pub crawl". We find as many as 5 pubs with live Celtic music: we're spoiled for choice!

Night in a small B&B with a family atmosphere.

Fort Augusts, Lochness, Cawdor Castle, Inverness

The first stop of the day is Fort Augustus, where the Caledonian Canal is located: a peculiar system of locks with enormous amounts of water and bridges for crossing.

We then arrive at the famous Loch Ness. We feel it's our duty to point out that Loch Ness is certainly not the most beautiful Scottish lake, but only one among many, were it not for the famous legend of the monster "Nessie". On Loch Ness are the ruins of Urquhart Castle. Since they are indeed just ruins, we decide not to buy the entrance tickets and only take photos from a distance. We then arrive at the Loch Ness visitor centre: a not very interesting exhibition space dedicated to the improbable story of Nessie. However, the only monster we spot is the papier-mâché reconstruction outside it; better to visit the many little shops and photograph the characteristic cottages overlooking the lake.

In one of these, we enjoy a pleasant lunch outdoors with Garlic bread (tasty seasoned bread) and Scones (typical Scottish sweets, a cross between biscuits and croissants that you enjoy by spreading them with butter and jam).

We then visit Cawdor Castle, where I particularly remember a four-poster bed in orange fabric and well-tended gardens outside.

We finally arrive at Inverness, a city somewhere between old and modern, not particularly interesting. We have dinner in a pub and taste Haggis for the first time: a typical Scottish dish made from sheep's offal and something else. I, of course, choose something else from the menu, but my fiancé appreciates the haggis very much, so much so that he buys a jarred portion to take to Italy. Haggis can be found in almost all shops selling typical Scottish products.

We stay overnight in an extremely well-kept B&B run by an elderly couple. Here we almost feel like honoured guests of the family itself, so familiar is the atmosphere. Perhaps we are the only paying guests in the house, and the room is presented with tasteful cream-coloured furnishings and extreme attention to detail. Besides the inevitable teapot, we even find a pair of binoculars to observe the lake in the distance!

Elgin, Castle Fraser, Crathes Castle, Drum Castle, Aberdeen

Breakfast at the two elderly people's home is extremely well prepared: at our disposal a large table, placed in a veranda full of flowers, and a vast choice of foods. The cost of B&Bs, pound more, pound less, is the same in every place we stay. The expense is about EUR 60.00 per night, for a double room and Scottish breakfast for 2.

We arrive at Elgin and, from there, the Whisky Trail begins (a journey of Whisky from distillery to distillery). Tourist material, in the various places we visit, is abundant. So we choose the most typical distilleries: Cardhu with a charming little lake and Aberlour, built on the river. The most aesthetically beautiful is, however, the Strathisla distillery (even if the quality of the whisky is not the best). The distillery presents itself, like all of them, as a group of grey brick buildings with typical black pagoda roofs. Strathisla, however, also has a charming water mill and pleasant visitor areas furnished with care.

All the distilleries can be visited with a guided tour. The entrance ticket includes the tasting. It is possible to buy the whisky directly in the inevitable distillery shop. But be careful! The prices at the distillery are not lower than those in other shops, and in any case, in Italy, we can find the same brands of Scottish whisky at decidedly lower prices.

Besides the "Whisky Trail", in the same region the "Castles Trail" also takes place (a journey among castles), since it is precisely in this area that the best castles of all are located.

We start with Castle Fraser and Crathes Castle, both beautiful outside and inside. We then move on to Drum Castle, a castle with a tower, and then we begin searching for a B&B. In fact, for this one single night, we have made no booking from home.

Of course we chose precisely the area with the fewest B&Bs to go on an adventure! To find accommodation we have to push on as far as Aberdeen. We settle for a pleasant little house, run by a strange old man with a disturbing appearance, with a garden crammed with "eclectic" constructions of his own invention. We decide to shut ourselves in our room, also because Aberdeen turns out to be a rather squalid place.

A sad city of grey stone, where all the churches are deconsecrated and used as pubs and discos. The people we meet have a not very reassuring appearance, and besides, it's Saturday night, and from experience, you know, the English let loose on Saturday nights and often lose control.

Dunnottar Castle, Braemar, Glamis, Blair Castle, Pitlochry

We leave Aberdeen without regret and head, on the recommendation of the old man from the B&B, towards Dunnottar Castle. It is an evocative castle ruin situated on a rocky outcrop sheer above the sea.

By chance we pass by Braemar Castle and decide to visit it. It is, to be precise, a Tower-house, characterised by having one room for each flight of the central spiral staircase. The furnishings are truly cosy, though less luxurious than the castles we have visited so far.

We then visit the castle with the most sumptuous furnishings of all: GLAMIS. It is known as the Queen Mother's castle and frequented by the royal family.

If Glamis is the most sumptuous castle, Blair Castle is instead the most majestic. It differs from all the others in the white colour of its exteriors and the enormous gardens it is surrounded by. In the village of Blair we also visit a characteristic water mill.

We finally arrive at Pitlochry, a charming and well-kept village with brick houses and lots of flowers on the windowsills. Along the river, we visit a curious salmon ladder, made up of connecting pools.

Our B&B is beautiful: it looks like a castle, and we perform the ritual of tea in a charming glass veranda right in our room.

Scone Palace, Falkland castle, St. Andrews, Crail, St. Monans, Edinburgh

At breakfast they offer us Black Pudding. Although my fiancé tastes it, we are unable to tell you what it is....Beats me!

The day begins with the visit to Scone Palace: a castle with remarkable interiors and charming kitchens used as a Tea Room.

You should know, in fact, that every single castle or museum we visited turns out to be equipped with a well-appointed Visitors Centre complete with Tea Room (where you can have a quick snack with tea, sandwiches and tempting Scottish cakes) and well-kept Gift Shops where you find more refined souvenirs compared to those commonly available in tourist shops.

Second stop is Falkland Palace, which is in the charming and flower-filled village of Falkland. The castle, unlike the previous ones, has particular Italian-style gardens and austere interiors and an interesting chapel.

We arrive at St. Andrews, home of golf, where the ruins of a castle and a church are found in a particular archaeological area.

Finally, return to Edinburgh crossing a series of cheerful seaside villages (Crail - Anstruther, Pittenweem - St. Monans). We make a short stop in each of them, collecting a series of very colourful photos.

So we return to the Edinburgh B&B where we spent the first 2 nights and buy souvenirs in the Royal Mile.

We recommend "Royal Mile Whiskies" where you can find the rarest (and most expensive) whiskies, impossible to find in Italy, but also other traditional Scottish foods.

Edinburgh and back

On waking we head immediately to Edinburgh airport. Again a stopover in Amsterdam and, unfortunately, return to Milan. We pick up our car left in a car park, connected to Malpensa with very convenient shuttles, and then home, with our eyes full of unforgettable images.

Unfortunately, in 8 days, we have visited only a minimal part of Scotland. For a more complete view, it is necessary to plan at least another holiday of the same length. The territory is decidedly vast: the South of Edinburgh is full of castles and the islands of the various archipelagos offer the best natural landscapes. We absolutely must plan a second holiday in Scotland, but not right away! In a few years for sure, to complete the wonderful experience just concluded.

DANI AND MAX to find out more, visit our website:

texts by Daniela photos by Max