Week 1
Well, it’s been a while since my last post. Covid-19 happened, kids’ sports happened, life in general happened. But here we are again — back to traveling the globe. This trip to Scotland was actually supposed to happen in 2020, right before the whole planet shut down. Better four years late than never.
Day 1 – Settling In To Glasgow
We arrived on Monday, June 19th, and spent two days in Glasgow before picking up our rental cars and setting off to explore the rest of this beautiful country. While in the city, we stayed at the Voco Grand Central Hotel, which turned out to be the perfect home base for getting around town.
We spent an afternoon taking in the art at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, easily the most delightfully eclectic museum I’ve ever wandered through. The highlight for me was the 1 p.m. pipe organ demonstration, which is exactly as grand as it sounds echoing through that building. For lunch, we dined at Ox and Finch, a contemporary spot serving small shared plates that were, in a word, amazing. Highly recommend it.
Day 2 – On the Road to Glencoe
Our first real stop was the village of Glencoe, tucked into a steep-sided valley deep in the Scottish Highlands. But first, we had to actually get there — which meant picking up our rental cars from Enterprise in Glasgow.
Both cars were supposed to be automatics. They were not. Both manuals, and for someone who had never driven in the UK before, let alone on the “wrong” side of the road while also relearning a clutch, the first hour was a genuinely white-knuckle experience. Without Briana calmly informing me every few minutes that I was drifting too far to the left, this story might have had a very different ending.
We made several stops along the way to soak in the scenery, and at times it looked like we’d wandered straight onto the set of Braveheart. Breathtaking doesn’t quite cover it.
We checked into the Glencoe Inn for the night, a building dating back to the 1600s with corridors that wind here, there, and seemingly everywhere. It was easy to get lost, and at 6’4″, I can say with confidence that whoever built this inn was not designing for someone my height. Doorframes became a recurring personal enemy. We finished the day with a nice walk around the village and watched the tide roll in.
Days 3 – 5 – Isle of Skye
Glenfinnan Viaduct and a Flat Tire
We kicked things off with a pit stop at the Glenfinnan Viaduct, made famous by the Harry Potter movies. It was every bit as impressive in person, and the views over Loch Shiel were stunning enough to make you forget you were technically still on a schedule.
Back on the road for maybe 15 minutes, Briana’s dad started flashing his lights and honking behind me. I pulled over to find the Fiat he’d rented had a flat tire — and no spare. Enterprise had thoughtfully provided us with a can of Fix-a-Flat, which did approximately nothing. After a call to roadside assistance and a quick detour to the Co-op for an impromptu roadside picnic, a tow truck arrived, loaded up the car, and hauled it off to get the tire repaired.
Eventually, we got back on the road for the 2.5-hour drive to the Isle of Skye, where we’d spend three nights at the Viewfield House in Portree — a wonderfully crazy old estate, with the original section built in the late 1700s and expanded in the 1800s. The girls were thrilled to each have their own room, which, if you’ve ever road-tripped with kids, you understand is basically a small miracle. We had a late supper at the inn before calling it a night.
A Rainy Detour and the Old Man of Storr
We woke up to decent, if cloudy, weather, with hopes of hiking the Fairy Pools. It wasn’t meant to be. After a 45-minute drive, we were greeted by rain blowing in sideways off the Atlantic and wind that had other plans for our day. We turned the cars around and headed back into Portree for some shopping instead — and a new rain jacket for yours truly. We also had lunch reservations, which meant delicious fish and chips and a pint of the local lager, which is a very acceptable consolation prize.
Back at the inn, Briana and I decided to ditch the rest of the crew and see if the weather would hold out for the Old Man of Storr trail. The travel gods were clearly on our side: no rain, just some low cloud cover that made the whole hike feel even more magical.
The hike itself is roughly 3 miles round trip with about 900 feet of elevation gain, and I won’t pretend it was easy — it was tough on these aging knees. Briana, meanwhile, seemed to have discovered a mountain goat lurking somewhere in her ancestry, practically walking straight up the mountain without breaking a sweat. I guess I’m just old. There, I said it. Still, this hike is an absolute must-do for any traveler — words genuinely don’t do the place justice.
Later that evening, Briana, Stephen, and I gathered in the inn’s front parlor for some scotch and wine. The scotch here, for the record, is dangerously good.
Dunvegan Castle and Dinner on the Harbor
The next morning we woke to sunshine, fully aware it could turn to rain at any moment — this is Scotland, after all. After breakfast, we headed out to Dunvegan Castle and Gardens, ancestral home of the MacLeod Clan. The castle sits at the heart of a 42,000-acre estate that’s still lived in today, which is a wild thing to wrap your head around. The real showstopper, though, was the gardens. Genuinely spectacular.
That evening we had an amazing seafood dinner down on the harbor in Portree at Sea Breezes Restaurant. The seafood was fresh, the service was flawless, and Briana and I were both mildly stunned when Kiley ordered the mussels and Sienna went for the salmon. Our girls have never been big seafood fans, but they cleaned their plates and still had room to march straight into dessert.
Tomorrow, we leave for the Outer Hebrides.
