I am far too lazy to keep a journal, so this is a series of rambling recollections from my June, 2009, trip to Scotland, using just the tour itinerary as a reference.
I arrived a day early, in order to have an extra day in Edinburgh, and to allow for recovery from jet lag. The Marriott hotel is not far from the airport. There is a public bus that stops right outside the hotel, providing frequent service to the center of town for £1.20 each way. There is a shopping mall right behind the hotel, a walk of five minutes or so. On the day I arrived (Friday), it was enough for me to wander around the mall a bit, have a bite to eat, and retire to the hotel.
Saturday morning, I went to old town. My first visit was to Arthur’s Seat in Holyrood Park. The climb is not for the faint of heart, but at the summit, you have spectacular views of the city and the Firth of Forth. I visited the Scottish Parliament building, took a stroll up the Royal Mile, and in New Town, wandered along George Street. Princes Street is torn up for installation of a tram, but you can still walk on one side of it. There are a number of things to see in the center of town, including the art gallery. Our group had its welcome drink with our marvelous Tour Director, Michael, at 6:00. Most of the group, of course, had just arrived.
On Sunday we had a city tour with our local guide, followed by free time. I went through Holyrood Palace on the next to last day it was open to the public, prior to the Queen taking up residence for a while. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any stationery with me, so I was not able to leave her a welcome note. I hope she wasn’t too disappointed. That evening, we had an optional trip to a folklore show, with the expected singing, dancing, and a nice dinner. It would be the last time to sleep in the same bed on consecutive nights until my second night at home after the tour.
This is a leisurely tour, so we started each day with breakfast around 7:00 and departure at 8:30, compared to some tours with 7:30 departures or even earlier. But, as with all tours, you get to a location and have only enough time for a taste of what the place is like, and then you have to leave. We made three or four stops each day of our journey through the Scottish Highlands, sometimes just staying a few minutes, rarely staying more than an hour and a half. There were only 29 in our group, instead of 40, so getting on and off the coach and to the bathrooms is that much faster.
Our first stop Monday was at St. Andrew’s. There is a photo stop on the golf course for those who choose to walk to it, and there are shops near the course. The main street was about a 10 minute walk from where the coach parked. As with most stops, it’s a quick look about, then back on the road. Our lunch stop was at Pitlochry. If I understood Michael correctly, they built the town as a rest stop for travelers. With several other groups stopping in the same place, most of the pubs were pretty slow. When I travel, although it is nice to sample the local flavors, I prefer to spend my time seeing things, rather than waiting for lunch, and then having to rush through it in order to be back in time. That afternoon, we stopped at a distillery. Afterwards, most of the group took an optional tour of Blair Castle, while a few of us went to a nearby park that had shops and a river with two water falls for those sturdy enough to climb to see them. At 5:30 or so, we arrived at the Highlander Hotel in Newtonmore for the night. They had musicians playing through most of our meal, so it was a bit difficult to converse. I found it odd that the wait staff came mostly from Eastern Europe. I don’t know much about global economics, but I wonder why a person leaves Slovakia to wait tables in Scotland, instead of waiting tables in Slovakia, and I wonder why young Scottish people aren’t taking those jobs, given the high unemployment rate. In many of the Highland towns, the young people leave after finishing school. How are the people making a living? I also wonder how all the bed and breakfasts I saw along the way are holding up in this economy.
I should note at this point that the hotels in the Highlands are quite a bit different from the Marriotts we stayed at for the start and end of our tour. They were, shall I say, “rustic.” However, they were clean, and far enough away from civilization that you always felt safe. Because I was there right after the Summer Solstice, that far north, it is daylight past 11:00 p.m., and dawn is breaking by 4:00 a.m. The hotel in Glasgow was the only one that had curtains adequate to keep the room dark. In the others, daylight would leak in and woke me up every day at hours even a rooster would find abominable. I would use the time to make a pot of tea in my room, watch the news (not many television channels there), read, and take a stroll. It seems that each town has a lake or river not far from the hotel.
The next day started a run of absolutely breathtaking scenery. We went off the itinerary to see a Scottish version of Stonehenge. It was a short drive from there to the Culloden battlefield. If I understand history correctly, this was the last land battle fought on the island of Great Britain, in 1746. It would not appeal to anyone except a history buff, but there is a café there. The museum was not included in the tour, but if you are going to know what you are looking like outside, you have to go through the museum to get an audio guide. I could have used about another hour there to get all the segments of the audio tour, but those not wanting to do this (and I think I was the only one in our group who did) would not want to be there that long. I was certainly there long enough to get the gist of it. From Culloden, we drove to Inverness for our lunch stop. After lunch, we got to the coast road, with spectacular views of the North Sea. Along the way we saw the Emigrants’ Statue, very moving to those of Scottish descent. It depicts a man looking out to sea, with his son at his side and his wife behind him, looking back toward the land she is leaving behind. It pretty much tells the story of all of us of European descent. From our hotel in Thurso, it was a short walk to the beach for those who wanted to watch the sun set over where the Atlantic meets the North Sea. With an 11:20 sunset, I passed.
On Wednesday, we drove to John O’Groats. Those who want to cover the length of Great Britain can buy a necktie that says they have been to its northernmost city. You can get a companion tie if you choose to go to Land’s End in the southwest, but not on this tour. The morning fog hadn’t lifted, so we couldn’t see the Orkney Islands. They were visible from Thurso the night before. Most of the group took the optional visit to the Castle of Mey, where the late Queen Mother spent a lot of time. In the afternoon, we had views of the Atlantic as we made our way down the west coast. Our stop for the night was in Ullapool, not a memorable town, but an adequate stopping point.
We moved to the Isle of Skye the next day. Many tours go there, but most stay on the mainland. We had a nice optional excursion around part of the island in the afternoon. Our hotel was a short walk to the harbor.
Michael told us that without endings, there are no beginnings. Friday marked the last day of our tour, but we had some nice stops. One was at Loch Ness (no sightings of Nessie except for the stuffed ones they sell in the gift shops), and one was for a boat ride on Loch Lomond. We also saw the Commando memorial, which is within sight of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain on Great Britain at about 4,000 feet. We arrived in Glasgow around 5:30, after which most of the group did the optional farewell dinner and city drive. Saturday, of course, we went our separate ways, with about half the group headed back to the U. S. and Canada, while others were off to London, Paris, and other fun places.
I’m not sure this tour will be running the rest of the year, with travel being down. It’s a shame, because this tour has a nice leisurely pace (no early morning departures) and incredible scenery that you simply will not get on any other tour. It’s always nice to get home after a trip, but if I had the time and the money, I’d go back next week and do it again.

Thanks Bob for an enjoyable tour tale. I did this tour in 2005 and although the journey was slightly different to yours it brought back wonderful memories. I too hope to do the tour again one day. Cheers. Jenny.

The waitresses and waiters can earn more in Scotland than in their home countries (think Mexicans in the US). Why don't the locals want to do it? It's not well enough paid for them could be one of many reasons (again think Mexicans).

Well done Bob! I couldn't have explained our amazing trip any better. It truly was a wonderful experience and being our first trip it was nice to have such a wonderful group to share it with. We too would go again in a minute lots to see and enjoy.

Deb & George

Hi, George and Debbie! I got your e-mail last night, hope everyone got my reply. I still haven't sorted all my pictures to see which ones to print.

BobH, thanks for your tour tale, it brought back many memories of our own TT of Scotland.

We were in your neck of the woods yesterday (Huntington Beach).

Thank you for your most enjoyable thoughts on this tour, Bob. I am doing it myself in a fortnight for the second time (I last did it some years ago), and your recollections made me look forward to it!

Bob H - thank you for taking the time to post your experience on the tour. I take the Country Roads of Scotland tour September 26, 2009. Reading your tale, made me visualize the destination. Thanks!

On the subject of Eastern European staff, we were told by our TD on a recent tour of Poland that even university graduates would go to Britain and elsewhere to work as waiters or even kitchen staff because the wages in Poland were so low in comparison.

I hope the later tours proceed. Our TD said they had been cancelled due to not having enough guests. What's the latest on this?