Scotland was the second country I visited during my European adventures. I had only been in London for 4 days before taking a 9 hour bus ride to Glasgow.

Now I know a 9 hour bus rides sounds terrible, but after the bus adventures I’d been on in Asia, 9 hours on a comfortable MegaBus that had reclining seats, power outlets, and actual shocks in the vehicle, was a cake walk. Also it only cost me £8 (about $12).

GLASGOW

My first stop in Scotland was the largest city in the country, Glasgow. I was only here for 2 days, and there wasn’t a whole lot I wanted to see or do, but regardless I had a nice time simply walking around the city and exploring.

In my explorations I found a lot of rain…

A lot of cool street art…

And my mom!

Ok so now you know the main reason I put Scotland on my list! My mom was there for work for a few days, so I decided to join in on the fun…along with the free hotel room and food of course!

STIRLING

The university my mom was visiting for work was in the city of Stirling, a lovely place located about halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

I got to join in the tour around the University of Stirling which has a beautiful campus.

We also did some touristy explorations of the Stirling Castle and surrounding areas.

After my mom left I stayed in Stirling for one more day and made my way to Doune Castle, about a 45 minute bus ride from Stirling center. Now most of you probably don’t know the name ‘Doune Castle’, but you do know the movie it was featured in…Monty Python and the Holy Grail! It was the castle used as Camelot where the French guards ‘fart in your general direction’.

EDINBURGH

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It has a rich and interesting history, and you could live there a year and never explore all the nooks and crannies of this beautiful city.

While I didn’t go inside, Edinburgh Castle is a major presence in the skyline, a huge and foreboding structure sitting on the top of a large hill and overlooking the city.

The city is also dotted with many beautiful parks. One of my favorites was Calton Park, which afforded you with beautiful sweeping views of Edinburgh and the harbor.

The other great park was Holyrod Park which is home to Arthur’s Seat, the highest of a group of hills, formed from the remains of a volcano, that make up Holyrood Park.

Here too you get sweeping and beautiful views of Edinburgh, but be warned it’s a bit steep, very rock, and very windy…so bring a good pair of shoes and a jacket!

THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS TOUR

While Scotland itself isn’t exactly a large country, there is so much to see outside of the cities. Unfortunately, unless you have a car, those amazing places can be difficult to get to.

Thankfully there are tours! I decided on a fantastic company, Timberbush Tours, who offered a 12.5 hour day tour (ouch) to the Scottish highlands. Most importantly this tour included a trip to the infamous Loch Ness! All for £38 (or about $55).

The bus was surprisingly full for a Tuesday in the beginning of March, but the size of the group was still manageable.

We also seriously lucked out on the weather. It had rained pretty much every day I’d been in Scotland so far…except the day of the tour. We had nice weather for pretty much the entire tour, save for a few sprinkles.

There was A LOT of driving involved to get to (and through) the highlands, but thankfully we had some amazing views to look at along the way.

Our guide was amazing. He taught us some of the history of Scotland’s biggest clans, all about the famous massacre of the Clan MacDonald as we drove through Glencoe, and the story of the infamous Nessie as we made our way to Loch Ness.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to see good ole’ Nessie that day, but we did get to meet some Highland Cows! Just as exciting if you ask me.

Then, on our long drive back to Edinburgh, we had a beautiful sunset through the mountains to close out our spectacular day.

All in all I spent about a week and a half exploring Scotland, and it wasn’t nearly enough time to see everything I wanted to. I guess that just means I’ll have to go back!

Have you ever been to Scotland? Pet a Highland Cow? Know the pain of walking up those damn hills all over Edinburgh?