I photographed the National Monument of Scotland on Calton Hill on our last day in Edinburgh. The monument memorializes the Scottish soldiers who lost their lives while fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. I managed to get myself up and out of bed early enough to hike up to the hill and catch this beautiful golden morning glow back-lighting the monument. That kind of light was certainly worth an early morning!
I’ve admitted before that I’m not generally a fan of big cities. I get anxious and overwhelmed in crowds, and I tend to prefer a more tranquil environment. Edinburgh though, full of charm and history, is a big city that I could fall in love with pretty easily. Chris and I spent four days in Scotland’s capital and second largest city, and I can definitely say I would be thrilled to visit this big city again someday. Armed with comfortable shoes and personalized recommendations from my brother who used to live in Edinburgh, we covered as much ground as we could in our short stay.
Our Airbnb flat put us only a few steps from High Street, so we covered the Royal Mile from end-to-end. We wandered the side streets and popped in and out of touristy little shops. And thank goodness for all of that walking, because we also ate our way up and down the streets of Old Town, including a fried Mars bar (which was disappointingly not as good as it sounded).
In addition to the fantastic weather we had during our week in Ireland, the weather continued to hold up while we gallivanted around Scotland, too. After all of the effort I put into searching for the perfect rain jacket for Ireland and Scotland, I never really needed it save for one chilly afternoon in Northern Ireland! We had clouds on the first day in Edinburgh, and then it was sunny blue skies and even a little on the warm side for the rest of our visit. So the lesson here is that if you want great weather in Ireland and the UK, spend a good bit of time and money on a rain jacket search.
There are plenty of places to duck in though if you aren’t so lucky with the weather: the Scottish National Gallery, the National Museum of Scotland, or maybe one of the underground ghost tours. If you’re interested in cathedrals, St. Giles’ Cathedral is breathtaking inside (and photography is allowed in exchange for a small donation).
We didn’t tour Edinburgh Castle or Holyrood Palace because of the crowds while we were there, but it was enough for me just to see the beautiful architecture from the outside. I’ve put both tours on the list for next time. And speaking of crowds, now that I’ve seen what Edinburgh looks like on a typical day, I would actually be willing to go back during Fringe Festival, the world’s largest arts festival that fills the streets with over two million attendees. (My brother attended and loved it, and I think he was disappointed that I purposely avoided it this trip.)
With only a limited amount of time in the city and a long to-do list including a day trip to Stirling, I knew we needed to choose our tours carefully. We decided on The Real Mary King’s Close tour for a dose of history and we enjoyed it. Unfortunately, photography wasn’t allowed on the tour (one of my least favorite things to hear), but I highly recommend it for a fascinating and slightly creepy look into Edinburgh’s hidden streets and underground world. After returning home with one of the worst colds I’ve ever had, I couldn’t help but wonder if being in a dank room on the tour where people actually died from the pneumonic plague was the culprit. But I can assure you, as I’m writing this post two months later I have fully recovered.
My most favorite areas of Old Town were beyond the Royal Mile. We loved exploring Victoria Street and the Grassmarket area, and we hung out at Sandy Bell’s one night for a traditional folk music session. A Harry Potter-inspired tour of Edinburgh also took us through some of the southside area, but more on that in an upcoming post.
We didn’t spend a ton of time on Princes Street, but we did go visit the gardens and took a pricey-but-fun spin on the ferris wheel. And I grinned goofily over this bagpipe player more than I care to admit.
On our last morning in Edinburgh, I took an early stroll up Calton Hill for some fantastic views of the city. Poor Chris came down with a bad cold the last few days of our trip (the one I caught once we returned home) so he stayed behind.
One of my most favorite moments in Edinburgh happened there while sitting on a park bench behind the Nelson Monument. I had the hill all to myself for a good ten minutes before any other tourists showed up. I ate my banana in the quiet and watched the sunlight slowly wash over the buildings. Having a quiet space to myself, even for just a short time, gave me that tranquil feeling I often crave and it was nice to know I can find peace even in a bustling city. And a bonus, I’m pretty sure I worked off that fried Mars bar with the hike up and back.
So there you have it, the city that just might have changed my mind about big cities! I’m ready to take on a few more next year as we head back to Europe. We’re even planning to attend a couple of festivals!
Chris and I are no strangers to the sharing economy when it comes to traveling. We’ve utilized HomeAway, VRBO, and FlipKey many times for vacation rentals, but up until our trip to Scotland I had yet to use Airbnb as a resource. We decided to give it a go when our hotel research in Edinburgh returned pricey results. I scoured the Airbnb site to come up with a well-reviewed one-bedroom flat in the perfect location for a very reasonable rate.
Lined with tons of stores and pubs, and situated steps away from both High Street and the train station, Cockburn Street was the perfect place to base ourselves for four days. (Thankfully my brother who lived in Scotland for several years let me know that it’s pronounced “CO-burn” Street and not, well, phonetically.) We could not have picked a better spot.
Our host met us at the flat to give us the keys and go over the usual stuff. Everything looked just as it did in the pictures online and we loved the space. We always enjoy feeling more like a local, and popping in and out of our flat in the city certainly made us feel like we called Edinburgh home. As an added bonus, the pub downstairs carried an extensive beer menu and served a fantastic bangers & mash. What more could we need? (Well, maybe better instructions for the washer/dryer combo, but we figured it out eventually.)
We had such good success with our Airbnb in Edinburgh that we decided to use the site again to find a flat for a long weekend in Toronto. After a bit of research I landed on this new, modern-but-cozy condo on George Street, just steps away from some of the major attractions in the city. We were able to walk to shops, restaurants, and the Hockey Hall of Fame, but the location was quiet enough that we could get some much needed sleep.
At this point we are two for two in the Airbnb luck department, so we’re giving it another try for an upcoming trip next year: Brussels and Amsterdam! We’ll continue to use our favorite sites as well especially for island trips, but I’ll definitely keep Airbnb in my arsenal of travel tools. It seems to be a great resource for finding city rentals in a range of prices.
Do you Airbnb? If so, let me know about your experiences! If you haven’t given the site a try yet, here are a few general tips:
And if you want to snag $20 off of your first Airbnb stay, click here! Happy and safe travels!
When Chris and I were planning our trip to Isle of Islay, we knew we wanted to explore as much of the island as possible in addition to visiting the various distilleries. I figured that the town of Bowmore would serve as a good centralized location, and my accommodations research landed me on the Bowmore Distillery Cottages website. Bowmore Distillery, the oldest distillery on Islay, sits on the shore of Loch Indaal in the heart of Bowmore town, and they have their own set of six self-catering cottages for the perfect place to base an Islay adventure. We love self-catering options and I found tons of glowing reviews for the cottages, so I decided to book Stillman’s Cottage.
I’m glad we stayed there because we absolutely loved it. We found the cottage cozy, clean, peaceful, and practical. Plus it was just steps from Bowmore Distillery, making it super easy to visit their tasting room. There aren’t a lot of photos of the cottage on the Bowmore website, so I’m posting a few more images here in case it’s helpful to anyone interested in Stillman’s.
Our journey to Islay (flight, road trip, and ferry) put our arrival past regular check-in hours, but the after-hours key pick-up system was simple and convenient. We were provided with the code to a lockbox where we retrieved the keys with no issues. We did have a little trouble locating our cottage at first, but we found it after running up and down the streets of Bowmore for a few minutes. All of the buildings are white and look the same!
There are several cottages at Bowmore, and ours was located on Main Street, conveniently across from a Chinese take-away restaurant, a hotel restaurant and bar, and just a short block away from a pharmacy and a grocery store. Plenty of parking spots line the front of the building and we never had any issues with finding a spot.
When you enter the front door, there is a small foyer, a half-bath to the left (not pictured) and a gorgeous map of Islay on the wall to help you plot out your island adventures. A carpeted staircase leads to the upper level where you’ll find two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The door straight ahead leads to the kitchen, and the door to the right opens to the living room/dining room. It was a little different (to us) having a door on the kitchen and living room, but my best guess is that this provides extra fire safety.
One of Chris’s favorite things about Bowmore was that our cottage came with a complimentary bottle of Bowmore 12-Year. We also found a yummy whisky tablet (candy, similar to fudge) waiting for us as well. The small movie library included a copy of The Angel’s Share on DVD and we watched it one evening in the comfy living room. The movie was good fun, especially considering our location.
The kitchen provided everything we needed to prepare and enjoy a few meals. A small refrigerator is hiding in the corner there, but it was plenty of room for our Chinese take-away leftovers and some breakfast items. We made use of the combo washer/dryer a couple of times, which was one of the reasons I specifically wanted Stillman’s Cottage. We didn’t go outside to the garden patio since it was a bit chilly during our visit, but I can imagine it would be a nice spot for enjoying a coffee or a dram.
The second floor holds two bedrooms each with an en suite bathroom. We slept so well in the incredibly comfortable master bedroom and enjoyed the spacious master bathroom with the best water pressure in the shower that I’ve ever experienced while traveling. We didn’t need to use the second bedroom with the twin beds (I didn’t post photos of the second bathroom), but this cottage would be perfect for two couples or a family. Plenty of space and privacy.
We loved staying at Bowmore Cottages and wouldn’t hesitate to book Stillman’s Cottage again in the future. In fact, Chris is already dreaming about going back someday soon. Let me know if you plan to stay at Bowmore and if you have any questions!
And just a note: I wasn’t compensated to post about Bowmore Distillery Cottages or asked to do so – we simply enjoyed it that much! Plus I had a hard time finding pictures, so I wanted to help. Enjoy!
The plans for our entire Ireland & Scotland 2015 trip began with Chris’s idea to visit the Lagavulin distillery on Isle of Islay. That one thought quickly turned into spending a week in Scotland, which then spiraled into adding a second week so we could see Ireland, too, since we’d be nearby. And once we arrived on Islay, we decided we might as well see all eight whisky distilleries. You know, since we were right there.
Eight whisky distillery visits over the course of three days might sound like a tight schedule, but it can be done! With a long weekend on Islay, Chris and I stopped by each distillery, we did a combination of tours and/or tastings, and we still had time leftover for seeing Islay. You probably could do a tour plus tasting at each distillery if you planned your three-day schedule carefully; just be mindful of the differences in opening hours. For instance, opening hours and days change throughout the seasons for most distilleries, and Kilchoman is always closed on Sundays.
And of course you’ll want to be mindful of your own tolerance. From our experience the tastings typically included 3-5 drams measuring about a finger or more, so if you’re hitting three or more distilleries in one day it can add up to several ounces. Please drink responsibly! There are taxis and tours available on Islay if you need a designated driver.
photo courtesy of wikipedia.com
Most visitors combine visits to the three southern shore distilleries together (Lagavulin, Ardbeg, and Laphroaig) for proximity’s sake. You can even walk the distance among these three. We planned the 4.5-hour Water-to-Whisky Experience with Laphroaig for a half day before leaving the island though, so we didn’t end up visiting those three in one day. As for the other five, you could easily group the two northeastern guys together on one day (Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila), and the two western distilleries on another (Bruichladdich and Kilchoman). Add centrally located Bowmore to either of those pairings and voilà – a great three-day schedule in whisky wonderland.
We started off our itinerary with a pre-booked premium tasting tour of Lagavulin who sadly doesn’t allow photography or videography on their tour. Don’t leave your cameras behind though – you can walk out to the dock and get great shots of the exterior. The tour group was permitted to take photos in the tasting room as well. And speaking of tastings, the guided session of five different whiskies was quite thorough with tasting tips and notes for each whisky. Bonus: as the designated driver, Lagavulin allowed me to tour the distillery for free.
Did I confess yet that I’m not a whisky connoisseur or even a whisky drinker? Well, I’m not, so if I had to choose my favorite distillery it would be based on merits other than the whisky itself, and I would choose Ardbeg. I loved the atmosphere of the bar and the adjacent restaurant where we ate a delicious lunch, and I enjoyed the outside experience even more. It helps that we had an unusually beautiful day weather-wise. I sat with Chris at a picnic table and soaked in the picturesque surroundings while he worked his way through a five-dram taster.
I will always remember the drive to Bunnahabhain. I nervously drove up and down the twisty, narrow mountain roads to the distillery wondering how employees do that commute daily! I guess it’s not terribly bad if the roads aren’t busy and/or if you’re an accomplished left-hand side driver. Islay wasn’t my first rodeo when it comes to driving on the left, but it’s still not super comfortable for me and I’m not crazy about it on narrow roads. Thankfully I only had to pass another car once or twice and did so without incident. Well, without major incident anyway – I did skid on some gravel at one point and got my heart pumping a bit!
In the end, I got us safely to Bunnahabhain and back, and Chris enjoyed sampling several whiskies here. We stopped by without any reservations and were able to join a very generous impromptu tasting in the gift shop.
Since we decided at the last minute to visit all eight distilleries, we didn’t have anything booked in advance with the exception of Lagavulin and Laphroaig. While most visitor centers were able to accommodate us without reservations, tastings and tours definitely need to be booked in advance at Caol Ila. We popped in anyway just to check it out, and we were graciously offered a complimentary mini tasting. So for the full Caol Ila experience, check their schedule and be sure to reserve in advance.
In the things-that-probably-don’t-matter-as-much-to-whisky-fans department, Bruichladdich wins my vote for most interesting branding. I noticed right away that Bruichladdich sported an eye-catching modern typeface in bold whereas the other brands leaned towards a more traditional vibe. I asked about it in the Laddie Shop while Chris participated in a tasting, and found out that they rebranded in 2001 as part of a progressive and innovative initiative. Bruichladdich is also your opportunity to try an Islay spirit other than whisky since they distill and bottle their own gin.
We only popped by Kilchoman briefly since their hours didn’t quite jive with our schedule. It’s the newest distillery on the island and getting to their location is a fun drive through the countryside with a bonus of being close to Saligo Bay beach. As I mentioned, Kilchoman is closed on Sundays, but the farm distillery offers plenty of tours and tastings in their regular schedule Monday through Saturday. They also have a cafe, so along with Ardbeg this is one of the distilleries you could easily combine with lunch.
Since we stayed in the cottages at Bowmore (more on this in the next post), we simply moseyed into their visitor centre just steps from our accommodations. We sat at a cozy bar where Chris selected a trio of tasters from the menu and it was there that I discovered something whisky-related that I enjoyed drinking: Drambuie. Blended and bottled by Bowmore in their Glasgow location, sweet and fiery Drambuie reminded me of liquid red hots. And since we only needed to walk back to the cottage, I was able to participate in the drinking and merriment. Chris discovered something, too: Bowmore 25-year, one of the best whiskies he tasted on the entire trip.
Chris and I finished our Islay adventure by participating in the ultimate tour: the 4.5-hour Water-to-Whisky Experience at Laphroaig. If you want to know everything that goes into the Islay whisky distilling process, this tour is for you. It’s an investment in price and time, but you simply won’t find a more in-depth and hands-on experience, and you’ll walk away with an impressive knowledge of whisky making from start to finish.
Our tour started with a walkthrough of the distillery itself where photography is not only allowed, it’s wholeheartedly encouraged! And an indulgent sensory theme continued throughout the 4.5 hours – touching, smelling, and tasting were all part of the tour. We stood inside the kiln, scooped barley from the floor malt, visited the water source, cut peat, and tasted special cask samples that will never be for sale.
After learning about the distillery process, we hiked out to the water source and enjoyed a picnic lunch with several Laphroaig samples. (Note: The brisk hike is maybe a mile roundtrip on easy enough terrain, but do step carefully and I recommend wearing the provided Wellies even if it hasn’t been raining.) Be sure to fuel up at lunch, because next comes the hard work! You’ll have a go at cutting peat out in the field, and the satisfaction of knowing you contributed to the smoky flavor of someone’s future whisky.
At the end of the tour, we sampled several different whiskies straight from the casks and had the opportunity to use a valinch to pour our own bottles. As a designated driver I passed on samples throughout the day, but Laphroaig sent me home with a dram of every single whisky that everyone else tasted!
We didn’t make the trek over to neighboring island Jura, but Chris did have a chance to sample a Jura whisky on the ferry back to mainland Scotland after our Islay weekend came to an end. If you want to include the Jura distillery, I’m guessing you’d want to add a fourth day. As for the three-day eight distilleries Islay itinerary, I recommend booking at least some tours and tastings in advance to avoid any disappointment, depending on what is on your must-taste list.
As for Chris’s final verdict, Lagavulin remains his favorite overall with Laphroaig as a close second, and he also recommends Bowmore 25-year as a must-try. If you really want to be totally immersed in all aspects of the whisky making process, don’t miss Laphroaig’s Water-to-Whisky Experience. Let us know if you visit Islay and what you think of the island’s own whisky trail!