My dad and I went on a 2 week trip to Ireland, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Our journey started when we took a train from London King’s Cross Station to Edinburgh Waverly. It took about 4 hours. I went through Rail Europe and got coach tickets one way for £68 (for 2 people).

NOTE: There may be affiliate links in this post*

Edinburgh

We stayed in Edinburgh for 2 days and 3 nights at the iBIS St. Andrew’s square location. It was a great spot, close to everything and had nice views out our window of St. Andrew’s square. Plus, there is a nice breakfast included and a 24 hour bar. They served pizzas and basic food, too if you fancy dinner there. We had a car, and conveniently, where we picked it up is where we also paid to park the car. Since the hotel gave a discounted rate, it was about £25 for 2 days.

Day 1

We spent the first day walking around and enjoying the city. We walked up to Edinburgh Castle but tickets were sold out, so we didn’t get to do that. If it’s something you really want to do, be sure to book in advance. Walking through the main streets was like something from a movie. I’ve wanted to visit Edinburgh for a long time!

Since the castle was booked, we went down the hill to the Art Museum. It’s free to enter, and was quite extensive. I’d say we spent 2 hours walking around. There is a lot to see! August is also the time to go to Edinburgh for their arts festival. There were tons of street performers and shows going on, especially on the weekend! We saw a couple of cool performers.

Day 2

On day 2, we drove to St. Andrew’s- about an hour and a half north of Edinburgh. We did the walking tour, which I felt it was well worth the £15 per person. Book here in advance. We also went to the golf museum after, which wasn’t as impressive as I thought it would be. It ended up being £15 total for 2 tickets- we got a discount from doing the walking tour, plus a discount for my dad being considered a senior. Without discounts its £15 each just for the museum. I would not do it for that price.

I booked a lunch reservation at the Tom Morris Bar and Grill, which was really neat. We had a great view of the course, plus the food was good. I ordered the Caesar Prawn Salad and dad had Fish and Chips. We also tried Cullen Skink- a traditional Scottish soup with fish, potatoes, and leeks. It was delicious.

That evening, we had tickets to go to the Edinburgh Tattoo, a military musician performance. We saw band performances from Scotland, England, America, Switzerland, Jamaica, and a few others I can’t recall. It was really cool! This goes on only during August, so we got lucky and I booked tickets way in advance. If you’re there in August, be sure to get tickets.

Funnily, the program emailed me about pre-ordering drinks so you don’t have to wait in line. I decided it was a good idea to get 5 beers. They ended up being pints! I gave one to my neighbor and dad and I managed to drink the other 4!

Aberdeen

After Edinburgh, we drove up to Aberdeen on our way to Inverness. Right before getting there, we came across Dunnottar Castle. It sits on a chunk of cliff surrounded on 3 sides by the sea. It’s pretty ruinous, so we decided not to pay to go in and explore. Plus, we had a long way to go getting to Inverness. But it was a great place to stop, get out of the car, and get a few steps in. It was one of my favorite random stops on our drives over the entire 2 weeks!

We stopped in Aberdeen and had afternoon tea at a place called Cup. It is Alice in Wonderland themed and super cute. We got little pink sandwiches, cakes, and scones with clotted cream and jam. Everything was great, including the environment. I would go back for sure!

Inverness

After we walked a bit around Aberdeen, we got back on the road to Inverness. We stayed at The Beufort Hotel near the city center. I wouldn’t have minded being even a block or two closer to things. I absolutely loved the city though! It was wild and calm all at the same time. It wasn’t as busy as Edinburgh had been, but there was plenty going on. We stayed 2 nights in Inverness.

Day 1

“Day 1” was actually just the evening once we arrived in Inverness. We checking into our hotel and went in search of some dinner. We ended up at Cafe 1, which turned out to be one of the best meals we had the entire time. It was a little fancier than we were prepared for and we got super lucky because someone didn’t show up for their reservation. Definitely if going here, book a reservation! I had filet mignon and dad had crab stuffed salmon. Seriously one of the best finds!

It had been a long day of driving and exploring, so we called it a night from there.

Day 2

Our second day in Inverness was one of my favorite days spent in Scotland. We started off walking down to the city center and grabbing breakfast at Coffee Affair. They had loads of different pastries and cakes to chose from along with lattes and teas. I had the almond croissant and it was delicious.

From there we decided we wanted to walk along the River Ness. There is a path that leads all the way down to Ness Island. We took our time, but it was a few miles of walking right in the morning. When we got tired, we decided to head back to the hotel, and grab a beer.

Then we drove out to Clava Cairns. This is suspected to be an old burial site two times over. There are a few theories on what it was actually used for, but the burial site seems to be the most common one. The rocks have been tested and found to be from the Bronze Age, around 2000 B.C. (that’s over 4000 years ago!)

After getting back on the main road from Clava Cairns, there are signs for Culloden Battlefield. We decided to pull off and see what it’s about. I’m so glad we did! Although we didn’t pay for the tour or for the museum (£15-20 per person), there was still a lot to see and learn about walking around the battlefield itself. This is the site of a war-ending battle between the British government and the Scottish army (Jacobites). The battle lasted only an hour, but 1000-2000 Jacobite soldiers were slaughtered. Only 300 British government men were killed by comparison.

After the sobering site of the battlefield, we decided to take the advice of one of our waitresses from the night before and drive to Rosemarkie. It’s a small coastal town about 20 minutes north of Inverness. I’m so glad we went there, it was such a cute and peaceful place.

By chance, I had a small hike pinned in the area called Fairy Glen Falls. Dad and I went up to see the little falls. It was a nice trail that was easy and manageable for beginners. It is about a mile and a half out and back. The falls aren’t huge, which I think disappointed my dad, but I loved it! Plus we got out in nature a bit more. After, we grabbed an ice cream at Rizza’s and made our way out of town.

While we were up at the falls, we met a small family who are Scottish, but taking a holiday to drive and explore the country. They recommended a stop at Clootie well, which is right along the way back to Inverness. Naturally, we had to stop! The legend of Clootie well is that if you dip a cloth of sorts into the well and tie it to the tree nearby, your wish will come true. Dad sacrificed both of his socks so we could dunk them and make wishes!

Back in Inverness, I wanted to find a Sunday roast so dad could experience that! We managed to get into Waterside Restaurant at the last second before they stopped serving. It was so good! This roast is the reason why I can’t say the night before is the best thing we ate in Scotland. It is a tie between the two. We also treated ourselves to some sticky toffee pudding as dessert.

A Long Drive

The next morning, we left Inverness for a long drive down to Glasgow. This was the other day I absolutely loved in Scotland. We started off driving along the River Ness, which eventually turns into Loch Ness. I had it in my head that I would be out there swimming in the Loch! It’s a bit cold, so I settled on sticking my feet in, while searching for Nessie.

We made a couple of stops along the road to see the Loch. The first had a pretty steep path down to the shore, so I went alone. Luckily, the further down the road we went, the closer the road got to the shoreline, so dad was able to see it from a better vantage point too. Every little town along Loch Ness spouted shops selling Loch Ness monster themed things.

Side note: Along this road is Urquhart castle, which I think is probably quite impressive to see. You need a reservation, so make sure to book that in advance. I didn’t, so we didn’t see it. After we passed Loch Ness completely, we drove straight down to a town called Fort William. It was a long, not super exciting part of the day in my opinion. I got a little car sick, which probably didn’t help. In Fort William, we just went to a KFC (I know-it was the only time we did American fast food).

From Fort William, we drove to Stirling. This is a drive I won’t ever forget. It was GORGEOUS. Amazing mountains, beautiful landscape, and the moody weather. Incredible. I want to go back to hike! The only con to this part of the day was that we couldn’t stop to admire the beauty. I had booked a castle tour at Stirling Castle, and we were right on time as we were driving.

Despite that, Stirling Castle was so cool! It made up for the bummer of not stopping on the drive. Tickets online were £17.50 each, which I think is worth it. I was so glad we did it! Dad was in awe-it was our first real castle tour of the trip. The castle sits on top of a pretty big hill, so the second you come into Stirling you can see it. The castle was built from 1490-1600, so seeming something that old still standing as it is is so impressive. There is a lot of history there.

Glasgow

From Stirling, we went to Glasgow, dropped our car off and got a bus back to our hotel. We grabbed pizza at a place called DiMaggios. It was fine for a chain restaurant, but it is close to the hotel.

The next morning we had a few hours before our bus left for Carinryan, so we walked down into St. George Square. There, you can find about 10 or more statues of famous Scotsmen. It was a nice way to see a bit of Glasgow since we didn’t have a lot of time. The walk from our hotel to the square was cool because it was mostly a pedestrian area. There was a woman singing, a woman playing bagpipes, and a few other street artists. The architecture there is so cool and dark.

Once we got our bus to Cairnryan, we had about a 2 hour journey south so we could catch the ferry to Belfast, Northern Ireland. You can book the bus here, or buy tickets at the station. That concluded our time in Scotland. I could have spent 2 more weeks there and still not been happy! I absolutely loved it and I can’t wait to go back.

For the next part of this incredible trip, read “Traveling the Causeway Coastal Highway“. And be sure to check out SafetyWing for travel insurance if you’re going abroad!