Travel: Bonnie Scotland
Take a tour of historic Scotland, with heavenly scenery, whisky and songs for the road…
DAY 1
Flying into Glasgow, I was greeted by the tour guide, and bused into the city for an escorted tour of Scotland, organised by Cosmos. On day one, the first full gathering of the clan was not until 5.30pm over drinks. We gently bonded over dinner in the hotel, then mostly retreated to our rooms, knowing we had breakfast at 7am and to be on the road by 8am.
DAY 2
Our day began with a drive around the sights of Scotland’s largest city, past the 12th-century cathedral, statues of local heroes Robert Peel, Walter Scott, Joseph Lister, et al, along Georgian terraces and squares built by the tobacco merchants, the ‘ Virginian dons’, and weighty Victorian civic buildings celebrating the wealth accrued from shipbuilding on the Clyde.
We then took the low road north to the banks of Loch Lomond. We could stand on the open, top deck of our boat on the loch, weaving between islands and along thicklywooded shores.
Then on to the family-owned Glengoyne whisky distillery, home to single malts since 1833 and a tour that was fascinating, even for me, who hates whisky. Our distillery tour guide confessed the same dislike, so I didn’t feel bad turning down the free glass. ‘There are only two things to add to a wee dram of our 10-year-old malt,’ proclaimed the manager. ‘Either an angel’s tear of water or another dram.’
Last call of the day was Stirling’s immense castle, historic residence of many royal, which squats on a volcanic plug overlooking the city.
DAY 3
Day three was amazingly rich and rewarding as we cruised through knock-your-socks-off Highland scenery, the glens hosting wispy clouds like smoke, the mirror reflections of the lochs backed by high and heathered hills.
It was also scenery threaded with history. We drove through Glencoe, the ‘ Valley of Tears’, site of the 1692 massacre of clan MacDonald. We took the ‘Road to the Isles’ to Skye, following in the wake of Bonnie Prince Charlie, evading British troops after the failed Jacobite rising. We stopped by his statue overlooking Loch Glenfinnan and the nearby ‘Hogwarts Express’ viaduct.
DAY 4
From Mallaig we sailed over the sea to Skye (not carrying a lad born
to be king on this occasion), then back via the Skye Bridge to the mainland and on to Inverness via the romantic Eilean Donan castle and the shores of Loch Ness. No sighting of Nessie – who, according to the most recent theory to explain its lack of appearance, has been a victim of global warming. Our guide was a font of knowledge, able to recount horrible histories and quirky anecdotes on demand, and occasionally playing CDs of folk songs, either appropriate to where we were or just for the fun of the lyrics. Everyone loved Andy Stewart’s Donald, Where’s Your Troosers? and Ye Cannae Shove Yer Grannie Aff the Bus.
DAY 5
Next stop, Inverness – we stayed at the Columba hotel overlooking the leafy River Ness, and had time for a wander and a brief inspection of its pair of castles before setting off for Aberdeen.
Our prime stop of the day was Culloden, the battlefield where the Jacobites were defeated in a bloody battle. In the museum there’s a fourscreen video presentation, which makes you feel as if you’ve been caught right in the middle of it. We drove through the dramatic landscapes of the Cairngorms.
Then from the ‘Granite City’ of Aberdeen, we visited Scone Palace, where Scottish kings were crowned, and the famous St Andrews golf course before ending in Edinburgh, seeing its castle, and the Royal Yacht Britannia in Leith. So handsome is the city that I recalled the tale of the Scotsman, who at Heaven’s pearly gates was asked by St Peter where he came from. ‘Edinburgh,’ he said. ‘In that case,’ said St Peter, ‘you might not like it here at all.’