Into the Highlands: Discovering the Beauty of Scotland’s Untamed Wilderness
Into the Highlands: Discovering the Beauty of Scotland’s Untamed Wilderness
For my graduation/family trip we took a two week vacation to explore all around the Highlands in Scotland. My father’s side is almost completely Scottish and he was very excited for this trip. To be honest we spent a lot of the time visiting places that we could trace our ancestry to and learning about our clans history. For the purpose of this review though i’m going to stick to the more “tourist” type of things we did, and by that I simply mean everyone can enjoy these places even if you have no personal connection to them!
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Quick Guide:
Language: English but it’s a different dialect!
Currency: Pound
What to Eat in Scotland:
Dores Inn
This Inn is located right on the water of Loch Ness. It’s a cute side dive bar type restaurant with tons of outdoor seating with a nice view of the Loch. They have a cool Nessi “statue” and the food is decent. We had great “adult” hot chocolate.
The Bay fish and Chips
The Bay in Stone Haven was recommended to me by a friend and it did not disappoint! My dad and I both love fish and chips and this was some pretty amazing fish! You go in to order and then we took it outside to sit on the picnic beaches by the water.
Aunt Betty’s
Aunt Betty’s ice cream shop is actually located right next door to the Bay and we couldn’t resist a little dessert. They have a ton of options to make your own creations and it’s very tasty!
Cup
Cup in Aberdeen was by far my favorite cafe, and that might be because the decor is all Alice in Wonderland themed. I cannot stress how much I loved the atmosphere of this place. We got the shareable breakfast special and it was all very delicious.
The Elephant House
The Elephant House is probably best known for being one of the places J. K. Rowling went when she was writing the Harry Potter series. I went mostly because of my obsession with elephants. The whole place is covered with elephant figurines and they have great souvenirs.
Kyloe
Kyloe is all about the meat. If you are a steak fanatic this is the place for you. They bring you fresh slabs of every type of steak you could want and you choose from the tray. Honestly some of the best food I’ve ever had. Price is very high as expected.
BARS in Scotland:
Bars are pretty hard to go wrong with when you’re in Scotland. Here’s a few we visited that I enjoyed:
Seven Kings Dumfermline
This was your typical Scottish pub type place but the service was great. We had a lovely time talking with the staff and that’s why I decided to add it to the list.
Copper Dog
This was probably my favorite bar we visited. There’s so much to learn about the origin of the name (no spoilers) and the bar tenders were a ton of fun! They have a great selection of drinks, although not the cheapest prices.
Activities in the Highlands, Scotland:
Distilleries
Distilleries are one of the most highly recommended things to do in Scotland in my opinion. My father LOVES scotch and it was pretty cool to go to all the big famous scotch distilleries and see how everything is made. You can do tours and tastings (which is well worth it). My favorite was Glenlivet.
Accommodation in the Highlands:
We actually stayed in Huntley Castle. We originally had one room and I was going to sleep on the pull out couch but when we got there the owners said “no way” and they gave me a room to myself completely free of charge!! I was so thankful, and they are amazing people to talk to. This is one of the castles that’s in our family history so we were able to learn so much from the owners. The rooms are so adorable and quaint and they have a great breakfast buffet.
If you aren’t looking to stay in castles and want to check out some other options, here is a great place to look to find a wide variety of options and prices ranges:
Sites to Visit in the Highlands:
Scotland is full of Abby’s , churches and castles. There are honestly too many to count. Our family went to more than I could list off and most of them had ties to our heritage. Nevertheless, the ones on my list are truly amazing to see!
The Abbey Church of Dumfermline
This Abby was huge. The amount of land it takes up was shocking to me at first. You can see all the old buildings and the church itself is beautiful. Stain glass windows were breathtaking.
Huntley Castle
Huntley is another one that has now been restored into an adorable Inn where we stayed for a week of our trip.
Dunnottar Castle
Dunnottar Castle was by far my favorite castle. It sits on a mountain ridge that drops straight down to the water. I was fortunate enough to visit it on a rare sunny day and enjoy the warmth by the water (I have Scottish friends who have never been on a sunny day in 20 years). The views of the water and walking around the ruins is very interesting.
Loch Ness
Loch Ness is probably one of the most famous known “landmarks” in Scotland and I will say it was beautiful as we drove around it and stopped to have lunch next to it at the Dores Inn.
EXTRAS for the Highlands:
If you are going to travel all around the highlands you will need to rent a car. Keep in mind that they drive on the left hand side of the road and all rental cars will be with the driver on the right side (so I hope you can shift gears with your left hand)!
There are adorable highland cows! Find them if you want to see the cutest cows.
Sadly I was not blogging at the time of this trip and therefore I forgot a lot of the details. I hope to go back and visit again so I can expand on my guide but until then I hope this mini guide is still useful!
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Happy travels xx
Happy Travels xx
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Trip: May 2018
Copyright Notice: All material on this travel blog site is the sole property of Travel Munchers. This includes blog posts, pages, design and all photos (whether watermarked or not). Any use of materials from this site without express written consent will be considered copyright infringement.
