Edinburgh to Glencoe

July 10

After another amazing breakfast at La Barantine Victoria, we took a cab from the cramped but perfectly located Grassmarket Hotel in Edinburgh to the car rental location at the Edinburgh train station, about ½ mile away. We rented a car from Euro Car. I got an automatic transmission so that I didn’t have to work a stick shift with my left hand while at the same time also learning to drive on the left side of the road, with the steering wheel on the right side of the car. Euro Car was easy to deal with, and the woman at the counter very helpful.

Driving the roads was not as difficult as I had imagined. I think that starting off travelling within the city proved to be a good way to get comfortable since I was merely following the cars in front of me. It was definitely easier than driving elsewhere so I’m glad we started in a city. We considered the driving experience a success because over the course of three days I almost got us all killed only one time! Not bad.

We had three days to tool around Scotland before Emilie and I were to begin our hike across England from St. Bees, England a few hours southwest of Edinburgh. So other than to be in St. Bees on the night of July 13 we didn’t really have any other plans. Daughter Suzannah would head to London on the 14^th, the day we were to begin our coast to coast hike.

Our thoughts were to drive to the Scottish Highlands south of Isle of Skye. We decided to not drive the additional couple of hours to the Isle of Skye because of the risk of rain and mist getting in the way of our views as it did on our Backroads hiking trip a few days prior. So, we decided to drive to the Glencoe area to hike, take in Highland scenery, and see some places where some Harry Potter scenes were filmed.

Doune Castle

After about one hour heading west toward Glencoe from Edinburgh in central Scotland, we passed a sign on a country road for Doune Castle. We decided to check it out. We discovered that this 14^th century castle is where Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Outlander, and Game of Thrones were filmed. It was a cool castle with a self-guided audio tour narrated by Monty Python’s Terry Jones. We were able to walk all over the inside of the castle on our own. We really got a good feel for living in it as we explored all of the rooms, stairs, and various nooks and crannies, including the bathroom…modern plumbing is definitely not overrated. It was a fun tour that was definitely worth the detour. We stayed about an hour.

Glencoe

The scenery, as we got into the Highlands became green, green, green….hills, pastures, and mountains. We knew when we had arrived…it was just so beautifully different from where we started the day.

Doune Castle, Kinlochleven, Scotland, Gray Mare Waterfall — Viaduct as we entered the Glencoe area of Scotland

We arranged for an AirBnB in Kinlochleven, a small village located in Lochaber, in the Scottish Highlands and on the eastern point of Loch Leven. The tiny village is a popular stopover spot for hikers of the multi-day West Highland Way. Kinlochleven is surrounded, and overshadowed on three sides by steep, towering green mountains. We had a whole house to ourselves for the next two nights.

Doune Castle, Glencoe, Scotland, Kinlochleven — Kinlochleven

We settled into our AirBnB home, turned on the heat and went to explore the village and get dinner. While exploring the village we saw a very large elk foraging off the road.

Doune Castle, Glencoe, Scotland — Not a great pic but there’s the elk in downtown Kinlochleven

We ate at the Highland Getaway, a casual restaurant with pub downstairs, and which overlooked the river running through town. Good homey food, and friendly service. After dinner, Emilie and I went on to check out a short 15 minute hike to the nearby 150’ Grey Mare’s Tail waterfall, which we were told about by our waiter at the Highland Getaway. It was a beautiful walk through lush green forest with moss covered rocks and a picturesque wooden bridge. The falls were loud and impressive…a real hidden gem.