Driving Around Scotland
We started Day 5 early (for us) for a chance to catch the sunrise. We were not disappointed, as almost immediately we were greeted with this view just a few steps outside our hotel room.
We walked around the hotel grounds for a little bit before checking out the golf course clubhouse and surrounding areas. It was a crisp morning that reminded us of early fall in Edmonton – when the grass gets a little crunchy and the air is cold but refreshing.
As we waited for the sun to come up, we caught a couple of women enjoying their morning walk, likely on their way to work or school
As the sun peaked over the horizon Jess caught Sunny goofing around
We waited a few more minutes, grabbing a couple of detail shots before heading back to the hotel to have a nice breakfast before we checked out of the hotel and began our trek up to the highlands of Scotland.
As we drove through the early morning Scottish countryside we happened upon a dilapidated roadside castle. It was quite literally just off the highway in the middle of a small village. There was a small sign saying it was being restored, but no other details about the castle. How European.
Driving around Scotland we encountered a mix of sun, cloud and rain. We drove from St. Andrews to Aviemore, which was only 200 miles and normally would take around 2.5 hours. We took about 3.5 hours as we stopped to enjoy some of the great views and had a lakeside picnic with some ducks.
We made our way to Cairngorms National Park – the largest in the UK – and took the funicular railway to the top of CairnGorm Mountain – the 6th tallest in the UK. Compared it mountains back home in Canada it was fairly small, but it offered an amazing view of north, east and western Scotland. We lucked out and the weather cleared off while we were up at the top.
We had a 2.5-3 hour drive back to Edinburgh for our final night in Scotland, so we set off on the 2nd last funicular ride down the mountain and started the drive to Edinburgh. We stopped at the same lake we had lunch at to catch some nice sunset light before continuing the drive.
We thoroughly enjoyed our quick trip to and through Scotland. Driving around Scotland was definitely a real treat, and we had (unusually) awesome weather for the duration of our 5 days. We can’t wait to make another, longer, trip to Scotland and really see what the country has to offer.
You can see the rest of our trip here:
Euro-Trip Day #1 – Edmonton To Scotland
Euro-Trip Day #2 – Exploring Edinburgh
Euro-Trip Day #3 – St Andrews Scotland
Euro-Trip Day #4 – Fairmont St Andrews
Euro-Trip Day #5 – Driving Around Scotland
White Cliffs Of Dover & A Quaint English Village – Euro-Trip Days 6 & 7
Canterbury & London – Euro-Trip Days 8, 9 & 10
Northern Lights & Thingvellir National Park – Euro-Trip Days 11 & 12
Southern Iceland Waterfalls – Euro-Trip Day 13
Exploring The South Coast Of Iceland – Euro-Trip Day 14
Exploring Eastern Iceland – Euro-Trip Day 15
