We have now had three days in Scotland.

We arrived at our accommodation on Thursday afternoon and then headed straight into the city. This is the first city we have spent time in while on holiday which was a deliberate decision as we wanted to avoid the angst of driving in unfamiliar cities. While the car has a GPS which is a huge time saver, driving around cities, often with one-way systems and trying to find car-parks can be super stressful, thus we avoid them. So, the joy of Edinburgh is that we were staying a 2 minute walk from a bus route. So, we just caught the bus everywhere we wanted to see. Another advantage is that they have double decker buses so we took a few of the trips on the top deck which meant we saw a lot more of the scenery.

On the Wednesday evening we walked up Calton Hill. As it was a beautiful sunny evening we had great 360 views over the city. On the way up I spotted a young guy coming down wearing a T-shirt with “Mangawhai” on the front so I said “Are you a Kiwi?” and sure enough he was. He and a couple of friends who were with him are recent graduates doing a few months travelling. It was great hearing the good old kiwi accent.

On Thursday and Friday we did the typical tourist thing you are supposed to do in Edinburgh – visiting Edinburgh Castle and walking the Royal Mile, and generally wandering around getting a feel for the city.

Sadly, we were very disappointed by Edinburgh Castle. Most of the displays were about Scottish military history or the dungeons/prisons in the castle. There were so many people all trying to go and in and out of each building which seemed to have the same entry and exit it was mayhem. We didn’t bother taking any photos either so there are no pictures of that to share here.

The Royal Mile was a cool place to wander in and out shops, just browsing, and seeing a few street entertainers. We also visited a couple of free museums (a 15th century house in the Old Town and the Writers Museum about Sr Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and Robert Burns) and the lovely Princes Street Gardens.

Today, Saturday, we headed north into the Highlands destined for Inverness. We took a slight detour to visit Scone Palace, have a scone there and walk around the amazing maze in the gardens. What a wonderful contrast this was to our experience in Edinburgh. Firstly, there weren’t many visitors (apparently that’s not normal a staff member told us) but also the palace and it’s grounds are well kept and a delight to walk through.

From there the drive to Inverness was really scenic with hills and valleys and rivers. At times we felt like we were driving through the South Island (alongside the Waimakiriri) or through Tokoroa with trees on either side. Could imagine how gorgeous it would be in winter covered in snow.