Jenny`s 70th & Scotland
Route Part 1: Baldham-Hexham
Baldham to Hexham, visiting Ruth&Paul, Pete&Julie, then picking up our daughters from Manchester Airport on the way.
Route Part 2: Hexham-Scotland
This map shows our week-long tour of Scotland, from Hexham:
- Alnwick Castle (1 hour, 80km)
- Edinburgh (1:45, 135km) Monday&Tuesday
- Balmoral Castle (2:30) Wednesday
- Inverness (2:00, 140km) Wednesday
- Fort William (2:26, 104km) Thursday
- Glen Coe Thirsday/Friday
- Oban (1:35, 100km) Friday
- Dumbarton (1:51), 120km)
- Manchester Airport (4:08 370km) Sunday
For pictures of Inverness, Fort William and Isle-of-Skye from our last visit, see the 2024_Scotland page. After dropping the girls at Macnhester Airport we dropped in on Dave & Lou for a coffee, before catching a ferry from Dover and driving through Sunday nights to ararive home 10ish on Monday morning.
Alnwick Castle
Featuring in Harry Potter films. After a rather late start from Hexham, we were too late to do both the gardens and the castle, so settled for the castle, visiting the s tate rooms, and walking round the castle walls, but not taking a broomstick lesson.
Edinburgh
Scotland's capital city, and 2nd biggest tourist attraction in the UK, with majestic castle, many stately buildings (eg Holyrood Palace), parks, museums and shopping streets. A must-see is the Royal Mile, a route from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace.
No fun to drive the camper van in the city, and the Club Campsite we stayed at last year was nice, but it took a long time to get into the city by public transport, so we spent 2 nights on the Morrison Pilton Drive parking lot which was a 20-minute bus ride to the centre.
Balmoral Castle
Nestled in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, Balmoral has been the cherished home of the British Royal Family since 1852, offering visitors a unique glimpse into royal life surrounded by breath-taking Highland landscapes.
We viewed gardnes and ballroom, and took a meal & cream tea in the reasonably priced restaurant, before heading on to Inverness.
Inverness
Considered to be the capital of the highlands, close to Loch Ness, and is the start of the NC500.
We arrived in time for a quick walk around the town centre, before heading to Bunchrew Caravan Park, with a niice view over Beauly Firth.
Fort William
On the eastern shore of Loch Linnhe, Fort William is a major tourist centre with Glen Coe just to the south, Ben Nevis and Aonach Mòr to the east, and Glenfinnan to the west.
Glen Nevis Campsite, where Harry Potter played Quidditch, was unfrotunately fully booked, so we headed on towards Glen Coe, overnighting at the beautifully located Invercoe Caravan & Motorhome Park.
Oban
The most prominent attraction in Oban is McCaig's Tower which is visible from a great portion of the town.
The area around Oban has a dramatic scenery of the coast and mountains, as well as historically valuable local castles and ancient religious sites. North of the town the natural rock formation of Fingal's Dogstone is connected in legend to the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.[37]
Unfortunately it rained heavily all day, so after lunch we commenced our return journey, up Glen Orchy to take the A82 along Loch Lomond, passing Glasgow, stopping for a meal in Dumbarton., then continuing on past Glasgow, overnighting in a lay-by on a minor road just of the M74.
Galerie
Various pictures from the holiday....
