Booked ticket on the coach (bus) for the journey (10 hours)
from London Victoria to Edinburgh and for the local commute; in and around Edinburgh
and Loch ness, hired a car from Edinburgh. It was a 3 day visit to
Scotland.
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| Authur's seat - Edinburgh |
Spend our first day in Edinburgh town which is the oldest
town in Scotland by visiting mirror obscura (http://www.camera-obscura.co.uk) where
you can experience all kind of mirror illusion, the royal mile, earth museum
and Arthur's seat - A popular trekking site in the center of the city and
provides excellent panoramic views of the city. It is relatively easy to climb;
unfortunately we did not trek to the top due to lack of time.
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| Snow capped mountain Scotland |
Second day, we started from Edinburgh around 7:50 am and via
Blair castle (www.atholl-estate.co.uk)
reached Loch ness at 12 and our first stop was at the Loch ness center and exhibition
(www.lochness.com) . Spend about an hour before
visiting the Jacobite fleet (www.jacobite.co.uk) for a 2 hour cruise down the
loch. The cruise (cost 20 pounds) include 30 minutes boat ride, 1 hour castle
visit and 30 minutes ride back. The Urquhart castle stands as mostly destroyed
one with a information center build to provide visitors a chance to see a
documentary about the castle history.
The day was pleasant sunny day with temperature reaching up
to 19 degree centigrade which made our trip exciting. Finally, we drove back to
Edinburgh for the night; enjoying the view of snow capped mountains on the way.
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| Submarine at Lock ness Visitor center |
Day three: What can one do on a chilly cold Monday morning
in Scotland? I don’t know what would be your choice; we decided to head
straight for the scotch whiskey experience (www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk) where
one can know about whiskey history, preparation, different distillery types in
Scotland (highland, inland...) and get to see an impressive whiskey
collections, and finally enjoy whiskey sampling (Single Malt,
Grain and Blended Scotch Whiskies).
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| Edinburgh Castle |
After our lunch at the Thai orchid restaurant, which is
near the castle entrance, spend 2-3 hours visiting the Edinburgh castle. It was
beautiful castle where one can visit governor house, national war museum, crown
square, dog cemetery and St. Margret’s chapel which is quite popular with
locals - many wedding happen here; can accommodate max of 25 people. One can
also witness one o' clock gun.
