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Friday August 29, 2025, Fredericksburg – Austin - Edinburg - Kirkwall:

We had been interested in visiting some of the Scottish Islands since following Shetland series on Britbox on Prime Video. This trip is designed to see these parts of Scotland which we had never visited before. Our itinerary started with a flight for Austin to Edinburg via Frankfurt Germany. Our flights were uneventful and on time although we did have a long layover in Frankfurt. Fortunately, our luggage arrived with us so at last a positive omen. We picked up our Rent Car from Enterprise at the Edinburg airport and were soon on our way to Falkirk about 30 miles away. I had driven a right-hand drive car previously, but I think this was the first car I drove with a manual transition. Learning to shift with my left hand was a new skill for me but one I had to quickly master. With the help of Android Auto and Google maps we successfully navigated to the Park Hotel in Fallkirk with only one wrong turn due to being in the wrong lane. Once we were checked in, we got instructions to a local pub/restaurant within walking distance of our hotel. We were fortunate to get a table and were anxious to enjoy some Scottish Ale, but Tennants is a lager. It’s a good beer that laces a glass as well as any beer I have experienced. We ordered a pizza to go with the beer and then return to the hotel for a shower and bed. The weather is constantly changing, but the one constant is that if it isn’t raining, it’s going to soon start. We drove through some showers while the sunshine created marvelous rainbows.

Saturday – August 30, 2025, Kirkwall to Oban

>Our day started with breakfast in the Park Hotel. It was a typical Scottish breakfast with eggs, rashers, beans, mushrooms and tomatoes and also some haggis which I haven’t mustered the courage to try. After breakfast we drove 8 minutes to the Falkirk wheel. This is an engineering masterpiece which connects the Forth and Clyde and Union Canals. There is a 115 feet elevation difference between the 2 canals which in one rotation the wheel lifts or lowers boats from one canal to the other. The complete rotation requires less than 5 minutes. Many holiday boaters enjoy renting the traditional long boats for one-week excursions on the Scottish canals. From the wheel we drove about 20 minutes to the Stirling Castle. This is one of the more famous Scottish castles with a history dating back to 1110. Our tour guide provided an extensive history of the castle which I’m not going to repeat in this narrative. The complete history is available from any chat bot. Our visit to Stirling lasted about 2 hours; we were lucky that the rain held off until we were ready to leave. We had about a 2-hour drive to Oban for our next stop. Driving in Scotland is slower than back home mostly due to very narrow roads and small towns with 20 mph speed zones. It took over 2 hours to drive the 86 miles from Stirling to Oban. We had falling rain most of the trip which prevented us from enjoying the views along the lakes and rivers which traced our route. We found the Great Western Hotel right on the corniche in the middle of the town. After checking in, we found a pub for some lunch and a beer. Next it was time to relax and try to recover from jet lag.

Sunday August 31, 2025, Oban to Ballachulish

Our morning began as planned with a typical breakfast in the hotel dining room. The bread and buns are a big step below those we enjoy in France and Germany. We had the morning free before our scheduled Ferry to the Isle of Mull at 12:15. Our first activity was hiking up to McCraig’s Tower. This large circular structure provided excellent views of Oban and the harbor. This was a memorial to John McCaig’s family as well as providing jobs to stone masons in the winter. From there we walked back to the hotel because we had to check out by 10:00am. Now we had about an hour and a half to burn before we could queue up for the ferry. We decided to visit the Oban Distillery which allegedly opened at 10 in the morning. The doors were open but nothing inside was ready for business, especially the tasting area. So, disappointed, we returned to our car and drove to a castle a few minutes away. We had read the reviews and didn’t think it would be worth the price of admission but thought this would be a place where we could walk around and see what there was to be seen from the outside. However, we could not enter the grounds without paying the full entrance fee. We elected to return to Oban and wait to get in line for the ferry. As we entered the staging area, the attendant warned us that there was a yellow warning issued and that potentially the trip could be cancelled. In the meantime, we got an email from the Columba Hotel on Iona, saying that the pedestrian ferry from Mull to Iona had been cancelled for the rest of the day and therefore it was not possible for us to arrive at our accommodation for the night. Getting a refund depended on someone who might be stuck on the island and needed a room, could assume our reservation. In the meantime, they suggested that we could reserve a hotel at Craignure Mull and then in the morning take the first ferry to Iona for the day. So, I contacted a hotel in Craignure and made a reservation. Fifteen minutes later our ferry pulled into the dock and announced that due to high winds the entire ferry schedule for the rest of the day had been cancelled. Now with no way to get to our just reserved hotel and no place to stay for the night, we had to come up with a plan to proceed. We needed to consider our options before we could make any reasonable decision; this required a lunch break and Wi-Fi to accomplish. We found a nice pub with a kitchen for lunch where we could formulate a plan. We found a hotel with availability on the way to our next destination. The name of the hotel is Ballachulish, which is in the Glencoe area. The drive from Oban was less than an hour, mostly along a picturesque Loch. We arrived at the hotel checked in and enjoyed a relaxing nap until time for happy hour and dinner.

Monday September 01, 2025, Ballachulish-Glencoe-Fort William-Loch Leven:

We enjoyed a much-needed night’s rest and now seemed to have recovered from the jet lag as well as the frustrations of the unplanned changes in our itinerary. The hotel breakfast was the standard English breakfast buffet. I’m still not brave enough to try the haggis or the black pudding especially after having looked up the ingredients on my open-source AI. Following breakfast, we climbed up to the bridge over the Loch Leven narrows which was completed in 1972; prior to then the opposite bank of the loch could only be crossed by ferry. This was a good opportunity to get some climbing steps and as well as afford an excellent photo opportunity of Loch Leven and the surrounding landscape. We returned to the hotel and checked out. We had asked Google Maps to direct us to the Glencoe Tourist Center, but for the first time this trip Google was very confused and took us to a remote inn off a one lane road nowhere near the tourist’s center. Although this was an interesting place to visit and gave us a chance to grab so photos of the area. I think several other drivers were using Google maps to the tourist center, because the amount of traffic on this one lane road was a lot more than it was designed to handle. We backtracked a couple of miles and found the large sign directing us to the real visitor’s center. There we gathered a lot of information about the area and the geology of the formation of the valley. We then drove through the Glen and eventually found a place to park. There are trails leading into the hills at each lay by; we wanted to do some walking, and this was a good opportunity. A note about the weather in Glencoe: if you can’t see the mountains, it’s raining, if you can see the mountains, it's going to rain. All the trails are well marked and well used; sometime steep and rocky but not treacherous. With the frequent daily rain, the trails are wet and if you step off the trail onto the peat, ground water will ooze up around your shoes. There was off and on rain as we walked, but nothing so strong that would deter us from enjoying this very famous and historical valley. From Glencoe, we drove on to Fort William; Becky wanted coffee. Fort William is a tourist mecca with one main pedestrian street lined with tartan shops, whiskey stores and cafes. We found a café that had good soup and a latte for Becky. Then it was time to fuel our rental car and find our hotel for the night. The Lock Leven Hotel and Distillery is on the opposite shore of the Loch from where we stayed the night before. We had time to rest a while and change before happy hour and dinner in the hotel. This hotel has a distillery attached which makes gin. In the bar we tried some of the local gin mixed with tonic and while not the best I can remember, it was certainly OK. In the dining room we both selected the steak and ale daily special and paired with a French Languedoc merlot with the Tandem label and a picture of a tandem bicycle on the label. For dinner we both selected Steak and Ale Pie. It was quite good, but the portion size was Texas sized and neither of us could finish our meal.

Tuesday September 02, 2025, Loch Leven-Eilean Donan-Mallaig:

We enjoyed a quiet breakfast in the hotel dining room, of course it was the typical Scottish menu, but the difference was it wasn’t a buffet but served by a waiter at our table. After finishing breakfast and checking out of the hotel (and buying a bottle of the house distilled gin) we headed for the most photographed castle in Scotland, the Eilean Donan. I won’t attempt to give a history of the castle, if you’re interested you can find a complete history using AI. It is privately owned and completely restore in 1932 and was inhabited by the owner until 1972. The owners still visit but stay in the modern and renovated servants’ quarters rather than the outdated accommodation in the castle itself. It was a fascinating tour with knowledgeable docents who were available to answer questions and provide insights and tidbits not mentioned in the brochures. Following our tour of the castle, we headed onward to the isle of Skye. We crossed the high bridge and were soon driving on the island. The weather was very typical in intermittent rain shower mixed in with sunshine and rainbows. Apparently, I was confused when I made our hotel reservations. I thought I had booked a hotel in Portree but discovered that our hotel was in Mallaig. The locatiion of this hotel required a ferry ride back to the mainland to a small 800 population fishing village. Fortunately, the hotel was very nice with an excellent view of the water. We had a couple of minutes to kill before our room was ready, so we planned an alternate schedule for the next day while enjoying a beer in the bar. Later we had time to walk around the village and tour the harbor where there was the fishing fleet. We then went to a local restaurant for dinner and enjoyed fresh caught grilled salmon and cod. That ended the day and then it was time to relax and maybe try the gin we had bought from our last hotel.

Wednesday September 03, 2025, Mallaig-Skye-Mallaig:

Our plan for the day was to maximize our time on Skye. We had purchased ferry tickets for the 2nd crossing of the morning at 8:30. Because breakfast didn’t start until 8:00 we arranged to have continental at 7:00 so we could be in line for the ferry at 8:00. These arrangements worked well, affording us a full day to visit Skye. We had about an hour to drive to Portree from the Ferry landing. Our chat with AI indicated that we should visit the geological formation called “The Old Man at Storr”. Apparently, there isn’t much else of interest because every tourist on Skye was trying to find a place to park to hike to the “old man”. We never found a parking place at the trail head, but we did find a pull off place about a mile away. We left the car and walked back a mile to the trail head and started to hike the “interpretive loop”. This trail was steep and rocky and eventually we decided we had seen all we wanted to see. We probably had gone more than halfway, but not knowing what was ahead, we turned back to return to the car. Of course, the car was a mile down the road from the trail head, so we didn’t lack for distance covered. Back in Portree, we found a parking lot and then went to get some photos of the famous harbor with the painted houses. Next, we found a convenient pub for lunch before driving on the Fairy Pools. This is a small stream flowing out of the mountains that has carved some waterfalls and pools as it makes its way to the ocean. This also is a major attraction because all the tourists that were at the old man were at the Fairy Pools. The road to the pools was a bit challenging because it is a one lane track with multiple pull-out points to allow cars, buses and camper vans to pass. So, we added at least another mile to our accumulated total for the day, but wondered, is this all there is to the Fairy Pools? I think Peggy Lee’s big hit should be playing in the parking lot. Now it was time to end our excursion on Skye and head back to Armadale for our return ferry to Mallaig at 6:30. We had just enough time to stop at the Torabhaig Distillery. We were the last car allowed in at 4:45 because it was closing at 5:00. Only the shop was open…no tasting or tours possible. We then continued on to the ferry landing and returned to our hotel by 7:00 and made dinner reservations for 8:00.

Thursday September 04, 2025, Mallaig-Stromness, Orkney:

Today was mostly a travel day to relocate for the West Coast to the East Coast across the entire northern Scottish mainland. In order to accomplish this plan, we had to leave Mallaig by 6:00 in the morning to drive the 5 hours necessary to arrive in Scabster in time to catch our 1:15 ferry to Orkney. The trip was uneventful, and the weather was perfect for driving. We arrived the Thurso with plenty of time to stop at a local coffee for coffee and a scone. Next, we continued on to get in line for the Northlink Ferry to Stromness. This was a very nice boat, and the crossing was extremely smooth. I had purchased a pass to the first-class lounge which made the passage even more comfortable considering we had driven all morning to get there. Soon we arrived at the Stromness terminal. Becky had found some points of interest using ChatGPT; we left the ferry landing and headed immediately for the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar which were only 15 minutes away. These are places where a neolithic civilization that existed more than 5000 years ago. We had time to walk around the stone rings and take some photos as well as visit with the rangers. Next, we drove on the Skara Brae which is a village that existed more the 5000 years ago and considering the age is in remarkable state of preservation. We might have lingered a little longer, but we had arrived at closing time, and the rain had started to fall. We were now ready to find our hotel and relax for the evening. We had booked a room in a quaint hotel near the ferry landing in Stromness and by sheer luck it happened to have the best restaurant in town. It was a no brainer to make reservations and enjoy a quiet, restful evening without ever leaving our hotel.

Friday September 05, 2025, Stromness and Kirkwall, Orkney:

Today is our 54th wedding anniversary! We started our day with a good English Breakfast at the Ferry Inn in Stromness. We had planned to tour the sights in the city center of Kirkwall. These included the 12th century St. Magnús Cathedral, the bishop’s palace and the Kirkwall museum. But first we had to drop off laundry which we could collect later in the afternoon. The St. Magnus Cathedral was begun in 1115 and completed some 300 years later. It’s made primarily of local red limestone which shows its exposure to 800 years of harsh weather conditions. The cathedral does not belong to any church denomination and is owned by the people of Kirkwall. There is a non-denominational service on Sunday, but otherwise it is just a tourist attraction and a community gathering space. Next, we toured the harbor area and located the hotel where we would dine later in the evening. We had put off visiting a distillery until today, so we drove to Scapa Distillery which has be in operation since 1885 on Orkney; that is except for about 6 years following 1972 when it (along with several other Scottish distilleries) closed because there was a glut in the market causing economic disaster. The distillery did reopen with the investment help of consortium money. Today its niche is unpeated whiskey. We did a flight tasting of three of the whiskey while learning not about whiskey making but also the business challenges of surviving in Scottish whiskey market. We then drove to another neolithic ruin, but it was accessible only with a prearranged tour. We returned to Albert Street to collect our laundry and then returned to our hotel in Stromness for happy hour and to get ready for our anniversary dinner. We had reservations at the Harbor View Restaurant in the Kirkwall Hotel; the setting was lovely and the people watching was excellent. The meal and service were both fitting for an anniversary celebration.

Saturday September 06, 2025, Kirkwall – South Ronaldsay, Orkney:

The schedule for today took some careful thought and planning. We were relocating by ferry to Shetland, but the ship did not leave until 11:45 in the evening. We had to check out of our hotel by 10:30, which meant we had a full day to tour but without a hotel. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the Ferry Inn and then packed our luggage into the rent car and started exploring more neolithic sites that we haven’t yet seen. We drove to South Ronaldsay Island which is connected by four causeway which had been constructed during WW2 as barriers to keep the German submarines from entering the Scapa Flow. Our first stop was the Tomb of the Eagles. This was a 5000 year old burial structure that was discovered in 1958 by the farmer who owned the property. He was looking for rocks to make stone fences and realized this was a significant artifact which could be uncovered and researched. The site lies along the cliffs on the southern tip of the island. The site had been closed to tourists for 6 years, never reopening after the Covid shutdown. But this year, they had temporarily reopened for the month of September. We were just lucky to be there at the right time. The Tomb is only accessible by walking a mile through the farmer’s pastures. The entrance into the tomb chamber is very low which required laying on your back on a roller trolley and pulling on a rope to move you into the chamber. That was a bit unique but not really challenging. Of course, the original roof had long since caved in but restoration efforts and recreated a roof to protect the chamber from the elements. Following the visit to the tomb, we continued our discovery tour along the cliffs hoping to see some rare birds but only saw a bunch of gulls. Our next stop was the St. Peters church and cemetery. Nothing special here; it was just listed as a point of interest. By now we were ready for a coffee break and a bowl of soup. We drove to the little town named St. Margaret’s Hope where we found the Robertson’s pub, café and coffee shop. We enjoyed a nice bowl and soup with coffee and then did a walking tour of the town which took us by a local craft shop which had arts and crafts from local artisans including knitted goods. Becky couldn’t resist the temptation and purchased a knitted cap. She claims that it’s for a silent auction. One more stop at the Italian Chapel which had been the site of an Italian WW2 POW camp. The prisoners built the chapel as well as one of the barriers and the only structure that remains is the chapel. By now we had finished touring for the day and headed for a pub with Wi-Fi so we could listen to the UT vs SJS football game. We had made arrangement to meet Robin and Steve for dinner at an Indian restaurant; they had just arrived on Orkney on the afternoon ferry. It was nice to catch up and exchange stories of our experiences here in Scotland. We left about 10:00pm to check in for our overnight ferry to Shetland. We had booked a cabin for the 8-hour cruise. The cabin was comfortable and a welcome place to rest after the full day of touring.

Sunday September 07, 2025, Lerwick, Shetland:

The midnight ferry crossing from Kirkwall to Lerwick was comfortable and smooth considering the 25mph wind outside. Our reservations included a cabin for the night which came with passes to the Magnus Lounge and a couple of complimentary drinks from the bar. We did visit the lounge long enough to finish a drink and then headed to our cabin to shower and sleep a few hours before the 7:30am docking in Lerwick. We drove first to the Grand Hotel to find out when we could check in for our reservation. We learned that our room would be available at 2:30 so that meant we had the better part of the day to see some tourist sights. We asked AI to plan a walking tour that would take us to the sights of the filming of the Shetland TV series. We walked by the Police Station, the Town Hall and the Lodberry which is better known as Jimmy Perez’ house. We met a gentleman outside the house who gave us a lot of information about Lerwick and the filming of the series. He had actually been an extra in a couple of the shows. We then returned to the car and drove to the Scalloway Castle which is a ruin with a colorful history. Unfortunately, the museum was closed on Sunday. We had seen during our morning discovery walk that there was a Methodist church very close to our hotel. Of course we had to attend the 11 o’clock service. Our next stop was to the iron age archeological site of Jarlshof on the southern part of the island. This site has been the home of at least three civilizations. First for the neolithic iron age, later the Vikings and finally to settlers/farmers in the 18th century. At the end of our visit and being windblown and cold, we were ready for a hot coffee and a bowl of soup and by luck there was a nice hotel with a restaurant adjacent to the site. We then returned to the Grand (not so grand) Hotel to rest and visit the pub before going to the Dowry Restaurant for dinner.

Monday September 08, 2025, Lerwick, Yell, Unst:

Our plan for today was to visit the northern islands of the Shetland chain. Breakfast at the Grand Hotel was a little different from any of the other hotels we had stayed in. Instead of a typical buffet, we had a waiter who took our order and then served us at the table. We had a good visit with our waiter who gave us some advice about our planned itinerary for the day. We wanted to drive to the northernmost place in the UK which required two ferry rides to arrive at the Hermaness Natural Reserve. The road ends here and if you want to see more, you walk. We hiked about a mile farther hoping to see the northern most lighthouse in the UK, but it was a farther hike than we had time for. Next, we visited the Unst Heritage Center which was a “museum” of life on Unst including knitting, farming and history. On the return to the ferry landing, we stopped to see a reconstruction of a Viking longhouse and ship replica. We made one more stop to visit the ruin of the Muness Castle. We were able to go inside and look around, and in its time, it would have been an amazing place, but time and weather had taken its toll leaving only a relic of times gone by. Unst island is very rural and sparsely populated with the major economic support coming from sheep, cattle and fish farming. We actually drove onto the ferry for the 10-minute crossing back to Yell and continued the 17 miles to the last ferry back to Shetland. We had not booked a reservation for this ferry and unfortunately, we weren’t able to drive on. So, we waited 30 minutes for the next ferry which had more than enough room. We thought we might have time to visit the Scalloway museum on the return, but losing 30 minutes at the ferry dock forced us to change plans and return to Lerwick. We wanted to go to “The Lounge” which is the Pub that was in many scenes in the Shetland TV Series, unfortunately it was closed and probably won’t reopen due to a serious staffing shortage which has plagued this city for several years. We did find a Pub for a drink and met a local couple who were happy to talk about their life on Shetland. Finding a restaurant on a Monday night in Lerwick is a real challenge. The places that were open were either fully booked or take-away only. There was a cute little French place (C’est la Vie) which had only 8 tables. The owner met us and said we could have a place in 45 minutes; that was acceptable for us. The meal was worth the wait; to have a well-seasoned meal prepared by a French chef was a real treat. Because this place was small and intimate, we visited with patrons at two other tables. All were tourists who wanted to share their experiences and offer suggestions of things to see and do on Shetland.

Tuesday September 09, 2025, Lerwick-Escheness-Burra:

We had researched some more points of interest to visit on our last day on Shetland. We discovered the cliffs at Escheness and a walk in the area around the lighthouse. The cliffs are located almost an hour’s drive north of Lerwick, but the drive was thrilling as well as spectacular. Many of the small back roads on Shetland or single track with passing points located at frequent intervals. Fortunately, there isn’t much traffic so it’s rare that we have to wait at a passing point for cars to pass. The cliffs are located in a very remote but picturesque part of the island. We found the lighthouse parking lot and began to explore on foot the magnificent views of the cliffs. The day was the clearest weather of the entire trip with a bright cloudless sky, but plenty of wind to remind you that you are visiting a very northern parallel. Next, we drove south to the museum at Scalloway to learn more about the evolution of civilization on Shetland and a bit of WW2 history especially about the Shetland Bus which aided the Norwegian Resistance during the war. We then set out to discover the island of Burra and its points of interest. Driving on a single-track road through some beautiful farmland was the highlight. Google maps was not real certain about the area so navigating involved several uncertain turns as well as a couple of U-turns. We knew we had made a wrong turn somewhere when the road abruptly ended at a farmer’s barnyard. We turned around and eventually found the correct track to the Minn Beach. We did stroll the beach, which is as picturesque as any we have seen but the water was too cold to entice us to go for a swim. It was now time for a coffee break, so we drove into Scalloway to a café for a break and a cup of coffee. Now we were in a time conscience mode because our ferry to Aberdeen would be available for check-in within an hour. We did have enough time to walk the main street and then drove to the NorthLink Ferry landing to check in for our 7:00 departure to Aberdeen. We located our cabin and then went to the Magnus lounge for happy hour and dinner. The food of this ferry was excellent and the service in the lounge was almost instantaneous.

Wednesday September 10, 2025, Aberdeen-Edinburgh:

Our ferry arrived on time in Aberdeen at 7:00am. The Magnus Lounge opened at 6:00 for coffee and breakfast. It was a little rushed, but we managed. The voyage had been smooth, but sleeping on a gently rocking ship was a challenge for me. All drivers were summoned to their cars at 7:00 to unload the car deck. We were the 2nd car in line and soon we were driving on the streets of Aberdeen. Becky continued her quest to visit Scottish castles, and the Aberdeen region is full of them. Our first stop was the Dunnottar Castle which was only 20 minutes away from Aberdeen. It didn’t open until 9:00 so we had some time to rest in the car and walk around the grounds. This was a huge castle dating back to the 12th century and I’m sure in its time it was quite the residence. Here’s the link to the castle if you’re interested. www.dunnottarcastle.co.uk This castle is not disability or mobility accessible and requires some strenuous stair climbing to visit. Next, we drove to the Carthes Castle about 45 minutes away. This one had been lived in until the 70’s so it is in marvelous condition. It has been willed to the Scottish Trust which now maintains and operates it. We took a short coffee break after touring the castle and then started our final leg of the trip back to the Doubletree Hotel at the Edinburgh airport. It was the first time I had driven on a 4-lane motorway with a 70mph speed limit. We arrived without issues at the hotel and turned in our Vauxall Corsa rent car and learned that we had driven 1300 miles over the past 12 days. We were both ready for a happy hour beverage and later dinner.