Our Trip to Scotland- Favorite Things we did

We decided to drive from London, to the Cotswolds, to Scotland! It was a long drive, around 6 hours, but we got to see a lot of the countryside. We left the Cotswolds at around 1 pm and wanted to make it to Edinburgh before dark so we could do the King Arthurs Seat Hike, luckily it doesn’t get dark until 10 pm in Scotland. Sharing all that we did in basically 1.5 days in Scotland, basically we will be back!

King Arthurs Seat Hike- Made it in time to hike up to King Arthurs Seat! The hike is considered Moderate, roughly 2.5 miles roundtrip and takes about 2 hours to enjoy and complete. The girls did it in dresses and Finn completed it with no problems! King Arthurs Hike takes you up an extinct volcano where at the top you get a complete 360 degree view of Edinburgh, its also widely considered to by the location of the legendary King Arthurs Court!
Landy’s Fish and Chips– We were lucky to eat at Landy’s before it closed, the kids loved their Fish and Chips and Kevin and I were able to get our fish grilled, which we loved!! Fun family friendly place!
Greywall Hotel and Chez Roux– We stayed in Greywall Hotel which is about 20 min outside of Edinburgh city center it was little further away than we would had liked, but the views were pretty and the accommodations worked best for our family of 5. Again more of an ARBNB feel they did have a restaurant on site which was nice to be able to eat breakfast at, they also had washer and dryers in the home which is always a big plus!
Lochness/GlenCoe and The Highlands- Woke up early and took a day tour we meet our driver Colin early in the morning, loaded up in his van and off we went! Colin was great, he had traditional snacks for the journey and had his traditional Scottish Kilt on! There was alot of driving, roughly 5 hours, but we stopped often and saw so much of the country that we wouldn’t had been able to see without take the drive. Colin was so knowledgeable about the area and we would recommend his tour to anyone!
Lochness- Our first stop was a Lochness, on a boat tour I was so fascinated about the legend and stories of not only Nessie but of the lake itself and all the Lochs that are connected to one another! Loch Ness is 23 miles long and deeper than the North Sea!! The Lake stays at around 41 degrees year around and never freezes, the lake is extremely dark due to the peat moss in the lake which gives it a dark and mysterious feel! We did not see Nessie, but we loved the 30 min cruise around the lake! Make sure you book in advance to ensure a spot. Such a pretty place and well worth the long drive!!
GlenCoe– Such an amazing place, the views were incredible and we loved seeing and learning about the area! Gelncoe is famous for its towering mountains and what is considered to be traditional Scottish Terrain, it is also the location of one of few Scottish Ski resorts and the filming site for such movies as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, James Bond Skyfall and Monty Python! This is a fun map of the area and with movie locations for Glencoe and the Highlands.
Ben Nevis- We drove by this, the highest mountain in Scotland. I would have liked to explore more in this area! Ride the gondola and hike trails. There is a hotel on the top of the mountain, that would have been fun to see!
Vittoria on the Bridge- We made it back to Edinburgh late and needed to find a spot to eat, after searching we found and were so happy we did, it was an Italian restaurant, Vittoria, it and had something for everyone, the restaurant was cute and busy we lucky didn’t have to wait long but would recommend getting a reservation to ensure you get in, really we found that to be the case for most restaurants in Edinburgh.