State of Astonishment
Everything you ever wanted to know about our trip to Scotland
A week ago, we came back from our 12-day trip to Scotland. It was the first adventurous trip we’ve taken with the kids and it was a total success, the kind of restorative, thrilling, endlessly wonderful journey that you think is lost forever when you first have babies and then attempt to travel with those babies. Our boys are six and ten now and it feels like we’re in the sweet spot so many have told me about: The boys are no longer so little that we have to worry about naps and food issues and the inability to stay on their feet for more than an hour, but they’re not yet so big that they want nothing to do with us any more.
A few years ago, Hugo started showing a deep interest in medieval English history that has only grown with time. Both boys are obsessed with knights and castles. I’d been to Scotland once for a few days with friends but that was long ago. Max had never been, but had always wanted to go. Last year, we started to think about taking a trip to the U.K. to look at the many castles that Hugo has memorized by sight from his history books. Eventually, we settled on Scotland, encouraged by various friends who had been traveling there for years.
The boys have a two-week spring break around Easter. We figured this would give us more than enough time to do a good amount of exploring. But at first, travel planning felt so overwhelming. How on earth would we ever narrow down where to stay and what to see?
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We started by grilling everyone we knew: Jördis and Mathias gave us lots of tips; Jürgen and Muck loaned us their Michelin guide and their Geo Scotland issues; Tilman, who studied in Aberdeen, rattled off various itineraries; Instagram followers gave me one million suggestions; then Maja and Bertram came over for tea, we plied them with cake and got them to give us even more inside scoop, including the invaluable advice to use Cottages and Castles to find rental homes.
We started feeling confident enough about what we wanted to see and do that we were able to sit down together and, armed with Google Maps and Cottage & Castles, piece together an itinerary. In hindsight, I’d say that our planning was spectacularly successful for the first week and slightly less so with the second, but considering that we were going into things almost blind, we did well. If you’re planning your own trip to Scotland, I’m going to put down as much information as I can possibly muster below and I sincerely hope it is useful to you. Please feel free to ask questions if I forgot to cover anything!
Our first rental house was someone’s personal home. There were Barbour jackets hanging in the entry, a ton of very good books and antiques and other personal touches everywhere, as well as red stickers denoting which closets we were allowed to open and which ones we weren’t. The house was charming and adorable, with floral wallpaper and cozy bedrooms. It felt like being in your grandmother’s house, quite literally. The mattresses were a little wonky. The towels were mismatched. The kitchen was cluttered and not entirely clean. Max was appalled by the fact that none of the windows opened and in fact, the steam from the shower on the second floor regularly set off the fire alarm. There was a leak from the roof one morning (that was dealt with that same day). The whole thing felt very Scottish and romantic to me, especially because the owner is a member of a famous Scottish clan and had lots of fascinating framed memorabilia on the walls, but this may not be everyone’s cup of tea. The setting of the house, however, was beyond beautiful. There were sheep grazing in the back of the house and we watched them from a gorgeously warm enclosed porch where we ate all our meals. We were never more than 15 minutes away from breathtaking scenery. We spent the first week in a state of astonishment.
Our second rental was exclusively a holiday rental. It was spotlessly clean. Brand-new bathrooms, hotel-grade mattresses and towels and a well-equipped kitchen made staying there exceptionally easy (as did shampoo/body bars in the bathroom and olive salt/oil plus a welcome hamper full of groceries in the kitchen). It didn’t have much soul compared to the first house, but the comforts more than made up for it - plus, there was a working fireplace! Two downsides: The wi-fi signal was terrible and we were expected to strip the beds and clean the bathrooms and kitchen before we left. The house is part of a larger estate (all rentals) in what are known as the Ochil Hills north of Edinburgh and Glasgow. We were surrounded by rolling landscapes filled with pheasants, deer, rabbits and birds. It was idyllic, but perhaps not quite as breathtaking as the Highlands.
Our 12-day itinerary:
Day 1 - We fly with Ryanair direct to Edinburgh and immediately get our rental car at the airport. I am pretty worried about driving on the other side of the road, but Max (who is our chauffeur for the entire trip) is a total champ and adapts very quickly. We stop at a mall to get a USB cable for our phones to connect to the car and for lunch, then drive straight to our first rental house in Appin. Along the way we stop at the Three Sisters of Glencoe, where we get out of the car and the boys immediately gambol out into the heather- and gorse-covered landscape and we stare openmouthed at the majestic scenery. We buy groceries at a tiny grocery store in Ballachulish, then have dinner at home.
Day 2 - We drive to Kinlochleven, hike the area around the Grey Mare waterfall, take the first of a million photos. We try to have lunch at a few different restaurants in Glencoe, but they’re all full (a recurring theme for the trip, since UK schools have the same two-week break we do). We end up at the Crafts & Things Coffee Shop and have baked potatoes and sandwiches and our first fudge slice, which launches an obsession for the rest of the trip. At the end of the day, we drive a few minutes from our house over to Loch Linnhe to see Castle Stalker while the wind chills us to the bone. It’s too early in the season to take a boat ride over to the castle, which is the only way to visit it.
Day 3 - For various reasons, a grumpy day that none of us really enjoy (the only one on the trip, thank goodness!) Maybe because it’s raining? We drive to Fort William and visit the West Highland Museum. We have an unspeakably bad lunch at a pub in town, then spend the rest of the day prowling around the Glenfinnan Viaduct and the Glenfinnan Monument. (We had hoped to get tickets for the Jacobite Steam Train, but it had been sold out for months.)
Day 4 - A brilliant day. We start by driving to Dunstaffnage Castle, which is fascinating for all of us. Then we head to the gorgeous seaside town of Oban, where we have a fancy lunch at an excellent restaurant called Ee-Usk (the phonetic pronunciation of the Gaelic word for fish) and introduce the boys to the joy of eating dressed brown crab. We spend a few hours browsing and shopping in Oban, then head out to Ardchattan Priory, where I have nothing short of a spiritual experience. What I mean is I want to give up our entire lives in Berlin immediately and move right to this very side of the loch. (If you visit on a Wednesday, you’ll get to see the Ardchattan Priory Gardens, closed otherwise.) It turns out that the Priory is owned privately - and you can rent their house. Please, someone do it and then tell me all about it: Ardchattan Manse.
Day 5 - We drive the farthest we’ve gone since getting to Appin, all the way up Loch Ness to Urquhart Castle, which is sprawling compared to the other castles we have seen. After we’ve seen every nook and cranny, we drive to the nearby town of Drumnadrochit for a delicious lunch at The Ness Deli (my first fish pie, while Max continues his fudge slice awakening). A bagpiper serenades us on the village green. In the afternoon, we take an unexpected turn to see the ruins of Invergarry Castle, then stumble upon the sublime Glengarry Castle Hotel where we have tea in the library. Again, please book yourself a holiday at that hotel, then let the rest of us live vicariously through you!
Day 6 - It’s time to leave our beautiful rental in Appin and drive to our next rental near the town of Dunblane. On the way, we stop at Kilchurn Castle, where I inadvertently stomp through a bog and soak my feet, and have lunch at Loch Fyne Oysters where I eat sparkling fresh oysters harvested from the Loch right in front of us. (Hugo tries his first oyster, which unfortunately never makes it past his teeth.) We drive through Loch Lomond National Park, stopping at the Rest and Be Thankful viewpoint to take pictures, all of us slightly gutted to be leaving the Highlands, which feel like the most beautiful place we’ve ever been. We settle into our new house, buy groceries at the Marks & Spencer Food Hall in Dunblane, where I proceed to keen over all the beautiful prepared food kits.
Day 7 - We drive to Stirling Castle, which is fantastic for little kids, and then exhaust our little kids by marching up to the Wallace Monument. Afterwards, we go on a long hike (mostly horizontal though) in the hills near our home.
Day 8 - We drive to Doune Castle, the filming location for Outlander and Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which means the audio guide is narrated by Terry Jones, visit the unbelievably beautiful seaside town of Culross, eat lunch (a ploughman’s lunch pour moi) at the Red Lion Inn, and end up exploring the fascinating Dunfermline Abbey, where Robert the Bruce is buried. We take a walk through Dunfermline, visiting bookstores and eating another fudge slice (sub-par this time!).
Day 9 - This is supposed to be the first of two days in Glasgow. We start out by visiting the Riverside Museum (designed by Zaha Hadid), which is marvelous and completely overwhelming. We have a terrible lunch at a hole in the wall in Glasgow and then set out to stroll through the city, but quickly realize that not planning our visit more carefully may have been a mistake. For the first time during the trip, the children complain about walking. I realize that a city visit with kids is way harder than letting them loose in the Highlands for hours on end.
Day 10 - Rather than go back to Glasgow as planned, we decide to spend a weekend there another time and head back to the wilderness. We drive to The Trossachs National Park, go hiking in the mossy forest and visit the small town of Callander, where we have a surprisingly excellent simple lunch at the Old Bank. And we visit the slightly claustrophobic Hamilton Toy Museum which enthralls Bruno so much he decides he wants to start collecting toys. Immediately.
Day 11 - This is supposed to be the first of two days in Edinburgh. The drive is hairy - it’s during rush hour and it’s raining. We start with a long visit to Edinburgh Castle, which is packed with other people. When we’ve finally had enough, we take the boys to get ice cream at Mary’s Milk Bar to tide them over before our very late lunch reservation at Dishoom. The ice cream is delicious, but almost too rich - none of us feel like finishing our cones. Mercifully, our appetites reappear for our incredible meal at Dishoom. We spend the rest of the day walking around Edinburgh, where I nearly weep at the beauty of it all and start scheming how to move our family here. We walk down Broughton Street, visit the excellent Golden Hare Books (sign up for their subscription service immediately! They ship worldwide!), fail to get into several different restaurants that friends recommended, and end up having an easy dinner at Franco Manca (pizza; it’s a chain, but good). We walk back to the car in the gloaming and there is beauty everywhere I look and I drive the kids crazy by going on about it for far too long.
Day 12 - I desperately want to return to Edinburgh for our last day, but the boys beg us to stay outside in the countryside a little longer. So we head to the site of the Battle of Bannockburn, which has a very moving memorial and a fantastic dress-up room in the visitor’s center replete with various helmets made from steel. Afterwards, we drive to Linlithgow, and visit Linlithgow Palace, the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots. We have lunch (fish cakes!) at a local pub and then it’s already time to return our car and fly home. Max and I are bereft! The vacation was just what we needed and we’re so sad to leave.
My tips, some of which may be stupidly obvious:
One word: SNACKS. To make the long days easier for the boys, we made big breakfasts for the boys at home, then always had things like plain oatcakes along for mid-morning snacks. Tea and cake in the afternoon were non-negotiable. There’s very little that can’t be overcome with hydration and a treat. (We made dinner at home almost every night.)
We were incredibly lucky with the sunny weather, but it was quite cold and often very windy. Wearing lots of thin layers was key: Think Heattech undershirts and socks, thin wool sweaters, silk scarves, the warmest hiking boots you can find and puffy coats or jackets. This ended up being too much during our city visits, but was just right for the Highlands.
Book tickets to castles or museums ahead of time.
Book reservations for lunch and dinner ahead of time or have back-ups in place; even casual spots on weekdays were crammed. If you’re there on a Sunday, find a pub serving a Sunday roast.
Spend as much time as possible in the Highlands.
If you’re going to visit a city like Glasgow or Edinburgh, make an itinerary in advance. In Edinburgh, if you don’t want to stay in a hotel, look for apartment rentals in Stockbridge; they’re cheaper and still quite close to everything.
Whenever you find a cafe selling homemade cake, go there. Whether it’s fudge slice or iced gingerbread, Scots know their cake.
Instead of buying tweedy stuff and cashmere in random stores during your travels, save your pennies and spend them on gorgeous things from Brora at the airport.
Buy oatcakes, shortbread and Selkirk bannock as souvenirs.
I hope this was helpful! Please post any questions in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer. We loved Scotland so much. Next time: Skye!
The last time I went to Scotland, I was pregnant with my oldest who is now 18! Clearly time to go back. I bought a cookbook there and a wonderful wool blanket that we still use all the time. I wanted to address the idea of traveling with kids. One of my husband's uncles once told me the golden time to travel with them was between the ages of 7 and 12 - old enough to be slightly independent and young enough to still want to hang with the parents. I have two boys, 18 and 16, and we still find them to be delightful travel companions. We get a tiny bit of eye rolling now and then but mostly we have enthusiastic interested grateful companions who can also carry heavy luggage. It doesn't have to go south when they hit their teens!
We were in Skye the year before our first child was born. It was pure magic! Night train from London to Inverness, rental car and a friends’ family’s crofters cottage.