Scotland

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.

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.

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.

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). 

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.