If you have ever considered taking a trip to Scotland let me just say—yes yes yes book it now! Seriously you won’t regret it. Why take a trip to Scotland? Well for one..Scotland is simply stunning. It is also filled with the nicest people you will ever meet.
I flew with Iceland Air…originally I purchased tickets with American Airlines it’s a long story that will be in a different post. I found that Iceland Air had the best airfare for a last minute flight.. literally the following day.
Transportation
I was in Scotland for 11 days and I stayed at an Airbnb in Edinburgh. The day I arrived I went to the bus station next to the Waverly Train station and I purchased a bus pass. There were different packages like the Hop on Hop off tourist bus and then there was the Lothian Bus the locals use. My bus pass was for the Lothian Bus because it was not only more affordable but because it allowed for a lot more stops. The bus system is a lot different than what I was used to. I used a bus all day every day and there were only two buses that announced the stop on a speaker. The rest of the time I had to make sure I was paying close attention and hoping I could read the bus stop signs in time to determine if it was my stop or not. If you aren’t sure if the bus will take you to the right stop just ask the bus driver. They were very helpful and some of them even announced tome that I had arrived at my stop. Also make sure you pick up pamphlets with the different bus routes. I missed it in the hurry of getting my bus pass so I went back to pick them up. There are taxis in Scotland but I only used them when I was in a time crunch. It obviously wasn’t budget friendly to use a taxi for every place I needed to go for 11 days
Tours
It was on my bucket list to go to the Highlands. The Royal Mile had tour information so I went to check them out. The one that seemed like the best fit was with Nessie Hunters. They were not only the most affordable but they had several stops unlike some of the other tour groups I looked into. Some of the other tour groups seemed very rushed and I wanted to truly be able to experience the Highlands without being rushed right back onto a bus. For this reason, I booked with Nessie Hunters. My tour guide was Tully and he was wonderful. He was very informative and had a great sense of humor. The tour was a total of 12 hours. Our first stop was the Highland cows. Then we made several stops to see breathtaking views before going to Loch Ness. We had a total of 2 hours to spend at Loch Ness. I had signed up for the boat ride which was an hour long. There are small restaurants around Loch Ness so I made sure to grab a quick lunch before my boat ride.
Places to Eat
My Mom and I wanted to have afternoon tea but we never booked anything in advance which was a problem. What I could find was very expensive. We wanted something that was at a good price and a casual atmosphere and Clarinda’s Tearoom gave us just that
I’m Italian and pasta is my favorite food. When I found Vittoria’s I was incredibly happy! It’s an Italian restaurant with flavorful dishes and their proportions do not disappoint.
What to Pack
Scotland is known to experience all seasons in a day so I wanted to be prepared. I made sure I had layers. I packed T shirts and tank tops to pair with wraps and cardigans. I also packed a few heavy sweaters for the evenings. I brought both full length and cropped black leggings with me and two raincoats because it rains nearly every day in Scotland. I however ended up lucking out with only a few rainy days during my stay. I brought two pairs of shoes. A pair of sneakers and a dressier black shoe. I needed both shoes to be comfortable and versatile and they worked great for me.
