My wife and I had some unfinished business in Scotland. We went there on our honeymoon several years ago, and we loved exploring the beautiful city of Edinburgh. The architecture is wonderful and romantic, like you’re transported into a novel. We loved visiting the castle and seeing sights along the Royal Mile.
But we never made it beyond Edinburgh on that trip.
Ever since, I’ve been thinking about the rest of Scotland, the highland landscapes, the rugged coastlines, the delicious whisky, and what Scottish culture might be like outside its historic capital. So this trip we decided to hit the road for an adventure through more of the country.
Want to plan your own Scotland adventure? Check out my 10-day itinerary here.
Glasgow
Our first stop was Glasgow, the other big city in Scotland. We didn’t have a lot of time, so we decided to use the hop-on, hop-off sightseeing bus to get around. It may not be the most hip way to get around, but it is convenient.
We “hopped on” near our hotel in the city center and listened to audio commentary while Glasgow’s points of interest zoomed by us. The city isn’t cutesy or overly sentimental with its historic character. You see a beautiful Victorian facade on the same block as a glass-and-steel modern one, often with a colorful mural painted nearby.
My favorite place to “hop off” was the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. The museum features a bit of everything, from a Rembrandt painting to a Spitfire fighter plane. We decided to focus on the art side of the museum for our visit. I loved seeing paintings from impressionist masters like Monet, and it was interesting to see galleries devoted to Scottish artists too. Also there’s this big art installation in the court area that’s a bunch of floating heads with different expressions. Cool, right?
There’s so much to do in Glasgow. I left town feeling like our time was way too short. That’s how itineraries go sometimes though.
Stirling Castle
For the next part of our journey, we rented a car and headed north toward the highlands. On the way we had a stop to make at Stirling Castle.
I love castles, and Stirling Castle is a great one. It was a key location during the Scottish wars of independence during the 14th century and later the home of the Stuart monarchs. I’ll spare you the history lessons here, but it was cool to see what was once a very important castle.
A lot of the castle has been restored to illustrate how it looked as the home of kings and queens, with tapestries on the walls and bits of fine furniture. Guides explained the decadent parties that took place in the castle’s great hall. I learned there were also “great kitchens” that were only used when it was time to prepare a huge feast for dozens of royal guests.
Stirling Castle is a beautiful setting too. Looking from atop the high stone walls, you can see miles of green countryside stretching out to the mountains. I took a lot of pictures.
The Three Isles Tour
After Stirling, we continued on toward the seaside town of Oban, the place famous as the “gateway to the isles.”
I’ve wanted to visit Oban for a long time, ever since I saw it on Rick Steves’ PBS show years ago. His recommended side trip to the nearby islands looked amazing. It’s a whirlwind tour to three of the Hebrides islands: Mull, Iona, and Staffa.
The Three Isles Tour is a full day of sightseeing, starting with a ferry boat from Oban to the Isle of Mull. Our particular ferry was unfortunately delayed for a while, but after some anxious anticipation we set off toward the islands. Then on Mull, we boarded a bus to take us across the green hills and picturesque lakes (they call them lochs). Our driver rushed things a bit to get us to our next boat on time, navigating the single lane road with surprising ease.
The next leg of our adventure was to the tiny Isle of Staffa. Staffa is a place famous for two things: a dramatic sea cave and a colony of Atlantic puffins. Approaching the famous Fingal’s Cave by boat feels like something out of a movie. You see the black rock pillars of the island from a distance. Then you start to make out an even darker void of black, a tall opening lashed by ocean waves. Our boat passed close to the cave before dropping us off nearby.
On the island, we hiked along the sea cliffs to look for the puffins. It was only a few minutes before we spotted the little black birds flying around and landing on their grassy edge of the island. There were so many! And the wonderful thing is that the puffins aren’t really scared of people. They didn’t mind us sitting down nearby to watch them march around their nesting area.
After our magical time with the puffins it was time to head to isle number three, Iona. This is where our ferry delay finally became a problem. We only had an hour on Iona before we needed to catch the ferry back to Mull, so we sprinted off the Iona Abbey to see what we could in hurry.
We grabbed audio guides and started wandering our way around the old abbey. The whole place has a meditative atmosphere, particularly the medieval chapel that seems to faintly echo with the sound of wind and waves from outside. It was a weird contrast to my hurried mentality. I stopped to admire St. Martin’s cross, a high cross made of dark stone that has stood on the spot for more than 1000 years.
After what seemed like only moments, it was time to leave and make our journey back across the bay.
Oban Distillery
Writing about the isles, I almost forgot about Oban! The town felt a bit touristy, but still charming. It was fun to walk along the promenade watching the ferry boats come and go and dodging the occasional aggressive seagull.
The highlight for me was a visit, nay, a pilgrimage to the distillery that’s right in the center of town. Oban Distillery was founded in 1794, and ever since it has produced a fine single malt Scotch whisky (yes that’s how they spell it). I happened to be familiar with this particular whisky, so I was excited to go on a distillery tour and try a few samples.
Inside we saw the two copper stills, like two giant tea kettles that boil the fermented barley and water into a clear alcohol. Our guide explained that this product was not whisky yet. It’s the magic of aging in oak barrels that turns the alcoholic liquid into Scotch whisky.
Three samples of whisky later, I was feeling extremely positive about the distillery and the town of Oban. In fact, a dram of that whisky might just be the best reason to visit.
Isle of Skye
The scenery of the highlands got more and more dramatic as we drove north toward the Isle of Skye. In a trip with lots of beautiful scenery, it’s hard to pick a most beautiful spot. But if I had to, it would certainly be somewhere on Skye.
Of course, Skye’s beauty is no secret to tourists these days. Even though we booked more than two months in advance, we couldn’t find a place to stay in the main town of Portree. Rather, our rooms were over in the tiny village of Uig. I liked it there though. It has a peaceful atmosphere and amazing sunset views to the west.
We had a full day to hike around and explore the island as much as we could. It felt like stepping into some realm of fairies and magic, with misty peaks that loom over green valleys. There’s an area called the Quiraing (kerr-ang) where the rock slopes look as if they’ve been carved by a giant sculptor. Geologically speaking it’s a landslip, where the volcanic rock has broken off in irregular pieces over time.
We drove a loop around the northern part of Skye, known as the Trotternish Peninsula. We saw waterfalls hiding in shaded clefts of rock and more paths winding across the sheep-filled hillsides. From the high cliffs, the views across the ocean were so amazing that we kept stopping at different viewpoints just to look around.
Ready to plan your trip to Skye? Have a look at my Skye travel guide.
Culloden
Before long, it was time to say goodbye to the fairy realm of Skye and head back to the mainland. We decided to skip Loch Ness (sorry, cryptid fans!) and travel to the historic battlefield of Culloden.
Warning: history lesson incoming.
To make a long story short, Culloden is the site of the final decisive battle of the Jacobite rising of 1745 and the last land battle fought on British soil. By this point of the trip, my wife and I were heavily invested in the story of the Jacobites and Bonnie Prince Charlie, who sought to restore his family’s dynasty to the royal throne with a rebellious military campaign. There were threads of the Jacobite rising woven throughout our prior stops like Stirling Castle, where the army laid siege to the castle for a time (spoilers: that didn’t go well). Their whole campaign came to a head at Culloden.
At the battlefield, we followed our tour guide to where the Jacobite army clashed with the government army and were ultimately routed. In a hail of musket and cannon fire, hundreds of the Jacobites were killed on that marshy field. And many more were sent fleeing, including Bonnie Prince Charlie himself.
In the aftermath of Culloden, the British government retaliated against the Jacobites and their supporters in the highlands. They enacted laws to take away land rights and even suppress traditions like wearing tartan. It’s not a happy story, but I was glad to spend an afternoon getting to know it.
Inverness
After seeing awe-inspiring scenery and heavy historical sites for a few days, it was a relief finally arriving in Inverness. The city felt homey, with plenty of character but not many big sights to see. I loved taking a bike ride along the River Ness and walking around the city center. I may have stopped at the gelato shop on Church Street multiple times.
For me, the highlight of visiting Inverness was the Scottish traditional music. We went to a venerable pub called Hootananny, where you’ll find live music every night. By the time we arrived, the seating was pretty much full. We grabbed a pint and stood by the bar as a trio of musicians set up. Soon the fiddle player kicked things off and the band was off playing a fast tune!
There’s something really magical about the atmosphere of a pub when good traditional music is happening. Everyone tunes in to the same wavelength of music, tapping toes and nodding along to the rhythm. Time seems to stretch as musical ideas from long ago are brought into the present.
But alas, for us it was soon time for a flight back home.
Our trip to Scotland “beyond Edinburgh” was amazing, and I got to see everything I hoped to. Weirdly though, it only makes me want to plan another trip there. I wish I had another day to see places in Glasgow or to take a different road on the Isle of Skye. Plus there are even more islands to explore in Scotland, farther into the highlands and beyond the places we made it to this time.
