Category Archives: Scotland

What to do in Scotland; attractions in Scotland and the best places to visit in Scotland.

Autumn colours in Scotland

Perthshire in central Scotland is one of the best areas in Scotland for beautiful Autumn colours. The photo below was taken on the circular walk around Loch Dunmore in Faskally Wood near Pitlochry. From the 16 October – 1 November 2009 the Enchanted Forest sound and light show takes place at Faskally Wood.

Autumn colours in Scotland
Autumn colours at Loch Dunmore, Pitlochry

A few miles south of Pitlochry, lies The Hermitage with the spectacular Falls of Braan.

Autumn colours in Scotland

The Falls of Braan in Autumn

Autumn colours in Scotland

Autumnal colours at The Hermitage

What’s your favourite location in Scotland for Autumn colours?

Review of Glenvar B&B, Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland

Good - Charming, friendly hosts. Clean, well equipped bedrooms. Great breakfast in garden conservatory. Good value for money.

Bad – Rooms at the front of house, very close to main road and therefore rather noisy.

Rating 8 out of 10

We stayed at the Glenvar Bed and Breakfast in Perthshire for one night in October 2007. It cost £50 for a double ensuite room. We received a very warm welcome from the couple who run the B&B and were given a pot of tea with scones and jam. Our room had a really comfortable bed and was spotlessly clean. There were additions such as bathrobes and slippers that you wouldn’t expect in a B&B. The only bad thing about the room was that it faced the main road through the town. Every time a car drove past you could hear the loud whoosh. This also meant that your only view from the window was the road and houses on the other side. However the road noise didn’t disturb our sleep.

Review of Glenvar B&B, Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland

Breakfast is served in the conservatory which faces the lovely garden. We started traditional porridge, made from oatmeal, served with cream. My husband had smoked haddock and I had the vegetarian cooked breakfast. The food was of excellent quality with generous portions.

Review of Glenvar B&B, Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland

If it hadn’t been for the bedroom location at the front of the house and the subsequent road noise and lack of view, I’d have scored the Glenvar at 10 out of 10.

Review of The Thistle House B&B, Edinburgh

Good - quiet, pleasant location, clean, free on street parking, good value for money.

Bad – breakfast just adequate, single room has noisy waste outlet in shower room. A little far from city centre.

Rating 7 out of 10

The Thistle House is a ten bedroom B&B in the south of Edinburgh, a 25 minute walk from the city centre. Most of the rooms are ensuite. When booking my single room there was only £2 difference in price between the single room with shared bathroom at £28 and the “luxury” single ensuite at £30, so I plumped for the ensuite. The establishment offers free wireless internet. Although secure free parking is available on site, sometimes the number of spaces available for guest parking is limited and as I’d be arriving by car and checking in late I knew that there was free on street parking in that area.

Review of The Thistle House B&B, Edinburgh

I stayed at the Thistle House for one night in October 2007. I thought it was in a quiet. pleasant upmarket area. The exterior is a substantial Victorian villa, the reception area is very attractive and there a beautiful wrought iron banister up the staircase which is illuminated by a large skylight. My “luxury” single room was on the second floor facing at the back of the building. The room was very quiet, except for the macerator used to shred the bathroom waste which was pretty noisy whenever you used the sink, shower or toilet. The room was a bit too floral for my taste, with pink flowery wallpaper and bedding. However it was very clean, apart from a few stains on the red carpet. There were 2 packs of very tasty biscuits and plenty of tea, coffee and milk.

The breakfast room is pretty basic as is the breakfast. There were a few yoghurts, three types of cereal, apples, fruit juice and a cooked breakfast with toast. Breakfast is available from 8am to 9am.

Overall I would recommend the Thistle House, particularly if you are travelling by car you can park easily if you arrive in the evening, once the commuters have departed. You may want to find a more centrally located B&B if you are using public transport as it is a fair walk into the city centre, although there is a good bus service from the adjacent street. It is a very pleasant, quiet area and my room was comfortable although to call it a a luxury room is a misnomer. Breakfast is pretty mediocre but I would stay there again.

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Eyemouth Fishing Disaster Memorial, St Abbs

I went to see the recently unveiled memorial to the victims of the Eyemouth fishing disaster at St Abbs yesterday. The tragedy claimed the lives of 189 fishermen during a storm on October 14 1881. At first I was rather taken aback by the size of the figures on the bronze sculpture, which were only a few inches high.

Eyemouth Fishing Disaster Memorial, St Abbs

Eyemouth Fishing Disaster Memorial, St Abbs

However it’s really very effective as you draw closer and see the bereaved women and children scouring the horizon in vain. The sculpture is by local artist, Jill Watson.

Eyemouth Fishing Disaster Memorial, St Abbs

Eyemouth Fishing Disaster Memorial, St Abbs

The sculpture gives you another reason to visit St Abbs and the rest the beautiful Scottish Borders.

 


Cramond island and village, Edinburgh

I visited the Cramond village in the north west of Edinburgh for the first time yesterday. I thought that Cramond would be another great place to add to my Edinburgh: Off the beaten track guide. I’d read that you can walk out to Cramond Island, which lies about one mile off the coast, over the causeway at low tide. However it was near high tide when we arrived so the causeway was partially covered. What looks like the narrower path leading over to the island in the photo below is the top of a line of concrete pylons constructed as a submarine defence during the Second World War, which runs alongside the causeway. You should check the tide times carefully before attempting to cross and if’s only safe for 2 hours before and after low tide. The tide can some in very quickly and there have been many incidents of people being stranded over the years.

Cramond island and village, Edinburgh
Cramond Island causeway

You can walk east along the Esplanade towards Silverknowes or south along the River Almond Walkway. The Almond flows into the Forth estuary at Cramond. The most picturesque part of the walk is at the waterfall which you can view through the arches of a ruin.

Cramond island and village, Edinburgh
River Almond waterfall

Cramond village is very pretty and there are a couple of pubs, public toilets and a large free car park. You can visit the 15th century Cramond Kirk built close to the site of a Roman fort.

There a couple of pubs and a cafe in Cramond village as well as a large free car park and public toilets. You can reach Cramond on the no 41 Lothian bus from Edinburgh city centre.

More Edinburgh Tips

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£19 and £29 rooms at Travelodge UK – ideal for a budget break

Sometimes you just need a convenient, cheap but clean and comfortable place to stay for the night. Maybe it’s an overnight stop on a journey or a budget leisure break. Travelodge is the perfect solution especially if you can plan in advance. If you can book at least three weeks in advance and are staying in low season you can bag a room at the supersaver non refundable rate of £19.

If you book at least one week in advance you can find some rooms at the non refundable rate of £29. You’ve got to be realistic and not expect to find the lowest prices at prime locations in high season.

The family rooms have a large double bed and a bed settee which can sleep 2 kids or one adult so it is amazing value for money. The price is for the room only. You can purchase a boxed breakfast for around £4 per person at reception or many Travelodges have a Little Chef restaurant next door.


£19 and £29 rooms at Travelodge UK ideal for a budget break

Many Travelodges are located at motorway services, so there may be some road noise and the location is not too scenic. However in Scotland some are in an excellent locations to access lovely areas. Musselburgh Travelodge allows easy access to Edinburgh. and the coastal region of East Lothian. There are a couple in Dundee with the beautiful county of Angus on your doorstep. You could explore Perthshire from the Perth or Kinross Travelodge or Fife from the Glenrothes or Dunfermline Travelodge.

£19 and £29 rooms at Travelodge UK ideal for a budget break
Perth

I’ve stayed at many Travelodges over the years. Probably the best was the newly built Harrogate Travelodge located in centre of Harrogate, where I stayed earlier this year. Some of the Travelodges are newer and in a more pristine condition than others but I’ve always found the rooms to be spacious, clean and comfortable.



Porridge as you’ve never known it.

The 14th Annual Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championship took place in the Scottish Highlands yesterday. Being an exiled Scot, albeit it three miles over the Border in England, my attention was drawn to this. Now I do like to eat porridge for my breakfast some mornings but I have to admit it’s the porridge oats version cooked in the microwave, rather than the traditional recipe made with oatmeal.

Porridge as youve never known it.
The overall winner Maria Soep

The contest winner, Maria Soep, who runs a B&B in Argyllshire, triumphed against several professional chefs.

Porridge as youve never known it.
Speciality winner, Al Beaton

The Speciality winner’s concoction featured stewed apples, raisins and cinnamon topped with cream. Other entries included seafood porridge and white chocolate porridge with stewed fruit and whisky cream. The mind boggles, I think I’ll stick to my plain quick cook oat porridge served with sugar and full fat milk.

Guide to Fife, Scotland now online

I’ve just uploaded my guide to the county of Fife. in the east of Scotland. Fife lies north of Edinburgh over the Forth Estuary. St Andrews is the best known town in Fife, due to golf and being the place of study chosen by Prince William.

Guide to Fife, Scotland now online
Falkland Palace

However there are a lot of other places worth visiting such as the villages of Falkland, Culross and Ceres and the East Neuk of Fife, a collection of small fishing villages south of St Andrews. One of the things l really like about Fife is the variety of view over the Forth Estuary towards Edinburgh and East Lothian. I think that the best views are from Kirkcaldy, Burntisland and Kinghorn.

Guide to Fife, Scotland now online
Burntisland from the beach 


Views from The Nelson Monument, Edinburgh

I was in Edinburgh yesterday for the Open Doors Day and the best photo opportunity had to be from The Nelson Monument on Calton Hill.

Views from The Nelson Monument, Edinburgh
The view north over the Observatory to the Firth of Forth

Views from The Nelson Monument, Edinburgh
The view to Salisbury Crags and the Scottish Parliament

Edinburgh is really beautiful, interesting coastal city especially if you venture, even slightly, off the beaten track.

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Snow sports in Scotland – taking the piste?

Visit Scotland’s campaign portraying Scotland as a Winter Sports mecca has been criticised as misleading potential visitors. There’s hardly been any decent snow cover in the north of Scotland for years. I know when our son attempted to go snowboarding a couple of years ago it was all slushy hardly the “Artic wonderlands” mentioned on the Visit Scotland website.

Snow sports in Scotland – taking the piste?
Skiing in Scotland, it’s so CR@P you would not believe it” by moron noodle

When I did a Flickr search for “skiing Scotland” the first photo to come up was the one above with the text “Glenshee in Scotland, imagine skiing in cold sleet and howling winds = skiing in Scotland”.

Update Winter 2008

Our son had another attempt in 2008 and after a very early start and a 2 hour coach trip arrived in Aviemore to discover that the snow had melted overnight.

Update January 2010

After all the snow and low temperatures of January 2010 our son had a perfect snowboarding experience at Aviemore.