 |
| Spoiler alert: it is my recommendation that you get out of the cities for quite a bit of time? |
Planning Your Time
It's inconceivable that you'd spend any time in Scotland without hitting Edinburgh, but I'd recommend giving Glasgow about an equal shake of the stick, and I would strongly suggest that on any trip longer than a weekend, you err on the side of time outside Scotland's two major cities. On a packed long weekend, I'd say a day per city isn't crazy, and I'd use the third day on one of the van-or-bus day trips on offer. (You'll have more variety booking a departure from Edinburgh, and it's worth opting for the longest trip possible.) These typically give you some kind of trio chosen from the pool of a Loch, a castle, a distillery, a Glen or other natural landscape, or maybe Hadrian's Wall, though that would likely be its own thing. The caveat here is that I never did one of these tours, opting instead for DIY options, but spending time in Scotland without getting out into the wilderness is something of a waste, frankly.
Ideally? Spend at least a week in Scotland, and don't spend more than half of it in Edinburgh and/or Glasgow combined. Where should you go? Read on, cats n kittens!
Edinburgh
 |
| The apex of the Royal Mile, I guess this is fine if you have to hang out in a dumb ol city. |
The two things I think are essential Edinburgh are Arthur's Seat and the Royal Mile. The former, a crazily windswept mountain, gives you great views of the town and is just a fantastic physical climb. With good weather this is a great way to fight jetlag your first morning in Scotland. The latter, while the tourist epicenter, is picturesque, a cobblestoned path up to the really-impressive castle. It's also worth exploring Regent Gardens, a less-daunting climb with some appealing and half-finished monuments at the peak. For me? This is about it. Edinburgh is a lovely city, but its cultural attractions aren't to my taste, with much more afoot in Glasgow that struck my fancy.
Beyond this, the reason you might spend more than a day in Edinburgh is if you're there for the Fringe. If so, some notes: first, the Royal Mile gets insane. If you want to see busking and weird street theatre and lots of "come see our show!" pleas, you're in heaven. If you're there for the architecture or atmosphere, it'll be lost if you're not there at the crack of dawn. The Fringe is a hoot, though, and if you're in the theatre/performance world, worth taking in just to careen around trying your luck on whatever you can catch. Grab the impressive program and see what looks good! Most of the high-profile stuff will sell out fast, but the fun is in gambling on the unknown...
What about food though
Edinburgh was where I spent time with my Fancy Food Friend Anne, so my recommendations here are all a bit tony, but that's right for Edinburgh. Gardener's Cottage is a delight, hearty seasonal fare served in an unassuming communal-style dining environment, where you're likely to befriend neighbors over an ever-changing menu. Ondine is rather a bit more sleek, a seafood-oriented spot with an impressive wine list, and more city-centre. Also near the thick of things is The Dogs, a kind of gastropub with delicious, seasonal, creative riffs on traditional Scottish cuisine. All three offer affordable and/or set menus at lunch, which is as ever the best way to save money on eating out on the road. (As usual, my advice is lunches out, dinners in, use the markets, and you'll feel more extravagant than you're actually being.)
Glasgow
 |
| People Make Glasgow |
Full disclosure: my fondness for Glasgow has a lot to do with having friends who live there, and for the ease with which we've used the city as a springboard to get out into the countryside. But the city's got a lot on offer too! GOMA is the most iconic, the modern art museum with the Wellington Cone (look it up) out front. That's about the best distillation of the Glaswegian spirit: here's this impressive sculpture, let's stick a traffic cone on its head. Look at these clowns...
Apart from GOMA, there's a robust art scene fed in part by the city's affordability and anchored by the Kelvingrove Gallery and Remy Mackintosh's Lighthouse, the latter of which offers views of the admittedly grubby city. Near the gallery, on a pleasant day, make the most of Kelvingrove Park, a superb sprawling green space cut by a river and climbing to a hilltop.
If you're interested in Scotch and won't have much time outside Glasgow and Edinburgh, you may consider a half-day excursion to Auchentoshan distillery. Just off the commuter rail line out from Glasgow, they offer tours and tastings, with a friendly and scruffy staff happy to walk you through the distilling process, highlighting what makes them unique from most of their Scotch-distilling brethren across the country. (I'd suggest opting for a notch above the baseline tour, for a bit more personal touch and a wider tasting of their offerings.)
Finally, performances! There's a robust music scene year round, and Glasgow is also home to the National Theatre of Scotland, a stupendous and inventive organization, as well as the Scottish Youth Theatre, which counts among its alumni Gerard Butler, Karen Gillan, and lots of others I'm not hip enough to know. It recently expanded to a national ensemble, drawing performers from across Scotland. Both do excellent work, and there's also solid ensemble and devised work in the fringe scene. Glasgow is a city to go and do, not to go and look; take in a show and go for a drink afterwards. Explore. Adventure!
 |
| There's some ril stupendous mural and street art here toooooo |
You've got some stellar Indian options here, starting with Mother India's small plates and Ranjit's Kitchen for some of the most delicious vegetarian Indian you'll ever have. Ashoka Lane boasts a few more curry shops and pubs, and will put you in the relatively trendy West End, with a solid student trade from the nearby University. As you may imagine, coffee shops proliferate; Artisan Roast is a favorite for both the brew and the atmosphere.
Finally, Glasgow has potentially the best Scotch bar in the world: The Pot Still. My guy at Auchentoshan pointed me there, and as a relative newbie (now much wizened and educated) there couldn't have been a better introduction. My bartender listened to me describe my tastes (mostly a bourbon fan at the time, but looking to edge into peat/smoke) and then grabbed five bottles from everywhere: up a ladder, around a corner, along the bar, up another ladder. She talked me through them, let me take a whiff and pick one to start with. (Later, another bartender would disappear down a trap door because he remembered off the top of his head having a specific vintage of Lagavullin 12 Year stashed in the basement.) Incredibly friendly, approachable, and un-snobby, the combo of this and Auchentoshan are as likely as anything to turn a curious visitor into a whisky enthusiast. Note that this'll be a madhouse on the weekend, so adjust accordingly if you can. Also note, after sampling whiskies here and elsewhere ranging from £2-10 a pour (and those £10 pours are rarities) you will permanently resent the pricing of Scotch back home.
Skye
 |
| Skye is a not-unpleasant place to be even when it rains. But also when it's sunny it's maybe ancient and magical. |
If you can, come here with a car, and off-peak-season. While a surprising stretch of the island is served by one-lane highways, it's actually easier to navigate than the more bustling two-lane highways in northern Scotland, without abrupt curbs, and with more communication between drivers. Look, if I did my Northern Scotland driving in this beast, you can do it too:
Driving will let you get an early start exploring The Old Man of Storr, the Fairy Pools, and Quiaring. It'll also let you roam a bit beyond your home base (likely Portree) for food and drink. Talisker Distillery is well worth a visit, on a moody and mist-sprayed coast. Given Scotland's strict laws on driving under the influence, you'll want to follow that visit with a walk up to The Oyster Shed, whose name completely lit up the face of a weaver I chatted with on Skye, and for good reason. Cured, raw, or simply-steamed seafood and other provisions sold out of a sortakinda market stand, with picnic benches to the side. Grab some oysters, a shellfish plate, or maybe some pate, and look out over the landscape. At the other end of the rustic-refined spectrum is the "oh my god every BBC inspired daydream come to life" Kinloch Lodge, a worth-the-trek hotel/restaurant in the wild landscape of southern Skye with satisfying food and enough relaxed countryside-elegant atmosphere to choke a horse (this is I THINK their official motto).
Finally, if you can, stay 2-3 nights and take your time. Find out what artisans (weavers, artists, potters, etc.) have their studios or shops open and arrange visits if they're by-appointment-only. They'll be delighted to discuss their work, and at least in my experience, won't pressure you to buy (though you'll probably want to...)
Further Afield
One of the reasons I keep going back to Scotland, beyond the presence of excellent friends, is its seemingly endless variability. I've yet to make it up to the Shetland Islands (a real dream), into the Caigorms, or out to Islay; I'd like to spend more time in Glencoe than my drive down to Glasgow from Skye; and I'd like to spend a bit of time in Oban. There's a lot still on my horizon, but what's nice is that nothing's all too far away. Inverness is only a three-hour drive from Glasgow or Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow are only an hour apart, and even the long haul drives (John o'Groats or Skye to Glasgow) max out at about six hours. Almost any trip can bounce you out into some adventure depending on what you like. Here, a few of the miscellaneous spots I've gotten to see...
 |
| I liked this pit stop more than most rest stops in America, frankly. MOST, anyway. |
Culloden Fields are the grounds of the last battle fought on British soil, and is beautifully converted into a grassy, expansive park; on a gray day (odds are you'll get a gray day, if not a rainy one) it's somber and desolate, counterbalanced by its frequent use as a dog park. Doggos > war, is I guess the point?
Clava Cairns is nearby Culloden, both an easy drive from Inverness; these ancient burial grounds are pretty impressive, not so much visually as for how accessible the cairns are. Walking among them you get an easy sense of their scale and significance. Again, if you can do this outside the summer crush of bus tour season, all the better.
Food: just northwest of these two spots, the Cheese Pantry has an awe-inspiring cheese cave with overwhelming selections to choose from. It's a nice stop on your way to Elgin if you're thinking of taking in the Johnston's factory for an overview of Scottish wool manufacture, which why wouldn't you.
Loch Ness: I just drove by this on my way to Skye, and most of the Ness kitsch isn't to my taste, but it's gorgeous, and on a fine day, probably worth one of the many boat tours that take you out into it. But I don't know if it gets better than viewing it from the road at dawn on New Year's Day... And personally, I wouldn't work too hard to make your itinerary work around it. (My apathy regarding Ness and Edinburgh makes me the outlier, I know.)
Eilean Donan Castle: En route to Skye, this is one of the most stunning castles in Scotland. I'm usually a "meh" on touring the inside of these buildings, unless they're well-contextualized, but even stopping by on a day which saw the castle closed, walking the grounds and seeing the surrounding lakes was a real treat.
Near Glasgow
The Highlands are stunning and windswept, but don't sleep on the lowlands! The countryside near Dalmellington or Craigengillan is serene and varied, and you're much less likely to be sharing space with tourist groups. Likewise, Loch Doon is an impressive body of water for water skiing, boating, or hiking around (with a castle we never got around to seeing). It may not be as dramatic or otherworldly as Skye, or as famous as the Inverness-adjacent sites, but it's a beautiful corner of the world nonetheless.
In short, not much in Scotland disappoints. (Aberdeen isn't on this list, largely because I've only spent a late night and a morning there, and while it's lovely I didn't feel I missed an ocean of adventure by not sticking around longer.) There's a lot I still want to explore, but if you're looking for some starting points, hopefully these are useful! Me, I'd steer you to a day or two each in Edinburgh and Glasgow, a night or two on your way up north, whether in Inverness or (my preference) a small town near Glencoe or the Caigorms, two or three nights on Skye, and a sweep back down on your way out. But who knows; maybe a few visits from now I'll be pleading with everybody to catch a puddle jumper to Shetland, or a ferry to Islay. What I know for sure is, it is worth the return just about every time.
 |
| Even in the gross, cold, damp. Just a dang heckin' good place. |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.