Dunkeld

Our first stop after we departed Gretna Green was the town of Dunkeld. We drove in and were immediately smitten. We came for the famous smoked salmon and stayed the afternoon for all the history, outdoor hikes, and Ma & Pop shops. The River Tay is gorgeous and I was feeling river fresh the whole time. It was sunny our whole time in Scotland but brisk enough for a toque.

We stumbled on an arboretum – a park dedicated to unique trees that were very in vogue in the 19th century. There are arboretums all around Great Britain. Forest and Land Scotland is a great website to explore some of the hiking and history of the parks. While I was there, I noticed the deep love that the Scottish have for protecting nature and it has evolved over time.

In Dunkeld we found an amazing smoked salmon shop, a delightfully bright and cozy coffee shop and bakery, and a boisterous local deli.

There is also a Scottish-Canadian connection in Dunkeld. Former Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie was born near Dunkeld in 1822 and went to school there until he was 13 years old. He moved to Canada at 19. Many years later served as the second Prime Minster of Canada from 1873 to 1878.

We headed for the renowned Hermitage Park after we left Dunkeld. The Hermitage has some of the tallest Douglas Fir trees in Great Britain.

Pitlochry

Pitlochry is another charming town while also being more touristy. If I was to use a Canadian comparison – Pitlochry is like ‘a Banff’ and Dunkeld is like ‘a Jasper’. There is a cool hike with MAJOR old history called The Pass of Killiecrankie. It is a gorge where an epic battle was fought between the Red Coats and the Jacobites. There is a spot where a soldier jumped 18 feet across the river to escape the Jacobites. That sounds like a stunt right out of action movie!

We also had a quick stop to walk around the gardens Blair Atholl Castle.

Cairngorms

And then we continued on our epic drive to the north hoping to hit the Dalwhinnie Distillery. The landscape changed dramatically. I loved it!

The tour behind the scenes of the Dalwhinnie Distillery is excellent. Our tour guide was a local with deep roots in the community. She gave us a lot of context about the importance of the distillery as employment for community members and some of the consequences of earlier practices. There is a really strange relationship between the British government and the distillery operators that I noticed, especially regarding the special ‘closed-system’ alcohol box for testing.

The whiskey is quite soft and delicate – I really enjoyed it! As an aside, I also quite liked Scottish gin.

Our second last stop was the Highland Wildlife Park. We saw polar bears, a tiger, a lynx, and bison. The polar bears were the most exciting part and we saw one eat a fish. The park has a drive-through section and a walk-through section. It was really well done and reminded me of a special wildlife park we visited in the Yukon, Canada.

Inverness

I was struck by how pretty Inverness is when we drove in. The city is centered around the river so there is lots of nice walking downtown. We arrived the evening of Halloween – we were fully expecting to see some famous Scottish partying in the streets and we were not disappointed.

The Road Trip Map

In October, we did a quick 10 day road trip of Scotland. My brother and new sister-in-law had their wedding in Gretna Green and so we did some exploring before and after the festivities. We landed in Glasgow, took the train to Edinburgh and after that we were travelling by rental car. If you considering a road-trip, here’s what we did.

• Glasgow – 2 days
• Edinburgh – 2 days
• Gretna Green – This is where the wedding was and we were here for an overnight. The lowlands were lush and green and worth a visit. But if you are more interested ‘The North’, you can add a day there.
• Dunkeld/Pitlochry – 1 day
• Cairngorms/Inverness – 1 day
• Isle of Skye – 1 day
• Oban – 1 day
• Loch Lomand/Luss – 1 day

Glasgow

First thing, as a people, I have an affinity for folks that have called themselves Glaswegians. That’s the most badass people name I’ve ever heard.

When we arrived it was a Sunday afternoon and we walked past a pub that had a LIVE big band. It was completely packed with joyous dancing people and was a hip-hopping time. It was way to busy for us to pop in with our luggage and it still haunts me. When do you stumble across a big-band show?!

Walking around Glasgow was fun and I felt the architecture was inviting and warm. We also noticed some Scottish-Italian heritage things going on and were intrigued by that. The heritage was most evident at Cafe Gandolfi where they had many historical photos of Glasgow on the wall, which included Italian bakeries and shoesmiths. Turns out, many Italians immigrated to Glasgow in the 1890s fleeing famine and poverty. They settled and established businesses.

Places to check out:

• Cafe Gandolfi – get the full scottish breakfast
• Blackfriars Bar – try Tiny Rebel beer :)
• Willow Tea Rooms – restored Charles Rennie Mackintosh architecture. Fancy but a nice stop for a tea in the afternoon.

Edinburgh

Ok, you definitely need two days for Edinburgh if you are into history. The difference between Edinburgh and Glasgow is noticeable. Glasgow felt ‘of the people’ and Edinburgh felt … oh god, I can’t believe I’m saying this… bourgeoisie. And while I feel more affinity to Glasgow, I definitely appreciated the AMAZING amount of historical sites in Edinburgh. We always try to take in the free walking tours (and those guides ALWAYS earn a generous tip because they know their shit).

Some cool stuff that I learned on the walking tour (copied directly out of my notebook):

• Edinburgh has 3 inactive volcanoes and the building are built into the rock so typically they have many floors within them that meet the eye. I have a theory that because of how the city is built, the people of Edinburgh likely have a gift for dimensions.
• The founding tribes were the Gauls, the Normans, the Britons, and the Picts.
• Scottish enlightenment philosopher David Hume’s statue is now a symbol of luck…even though he fought against notions of luck his whole life. Now, millions of people rub the toe of his statue (located on the Royal Mile) for luck. Poor David Hume…
• The graveyard in Edinburgh has about 20,000-25,000 extra corpses because they were removed and relocated. The ground there is so soft that often bones will poke out of the ground (this happened to a member of our walking tour who found a tooth!!). There is a box in the church to return found bones to be reburied.
• The old wall of the city is visible in the graveyard. It was constructed with the ashes of 20,000 people who were killed on suspicion of being witches.

The Grassmarket is a bit overrated and don’t go there to eat. Outside of Grassmarket, there is a mega cool craft beer market called BrewDog that you should check out. We had a great visit with the staff sitting at the bar. Edinburgh is a fun place to wander around in the evening.

Driving out of Edinburgh in a rental car when you are used to being on the right side of the road is taxing. Just make sure your Sat Nav is on and be calm. It’s challenging but doable.

Next post, I’ll go through our journey to ‘The North’ (as seen on an official highway sign). Prepare yourselves…