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Scotland Road Trip Itinerary: 18 Days from Edinburgh to Orkney and the North Coast 500 · UK Travel Planning

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Your host is the founder of the UK travel planning website, Tracy Collins.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: In this podcast, Tracy shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to great villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Hi and welcome to episode 30 of the UK Travel Planner Podcast.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: This week I'm joined by Doug, who's also come to talk about a very exciting road trip that we took in uh 2022.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it was absolutely marvellous.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: We had a fantastic time.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: So, as road trips go, one destination you can be sure of as an epic road trip is Scotland.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: In this episode of the podcast, we're going to talk through our Scotland Road Trip Itinerary, which included our favourite destinations across the country.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: So we did this road trip in 2022, in May 2022, and we did it over 18 days.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: So for those of you who are interested in planning your trip to Scotland this year by road, there is actually a copy of this itinerary on the website, and I will put a link to that in the show notes.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: So basically, uh you can use the itinerary as off the peg.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's uh 18 days, but you can adapt it for 10 or 14 days.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: So in this episode, we're gonna talk through our itinerary um and also just kind of share some of the things that we really enjoyed and we recommend that you do, but also some of the things that we learnt from this trip.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: So um I think well, should we give a quick brief outline of the itinerary?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: Go for it, yeah.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so um, as I say, it was 18 days.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we started off in Edinburgh, we got the train up to Edinburgh, so we actually picked up the car in Edinburgh.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: So we went on then to Callender, over to Oban, and then over to the islands, so islands of Stafford, Mull, and Iona.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: I took, did that trip, Doug didn't?
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: He took a road trip on that day.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: We then went up to Fort William, over to the Isle of Skye, then we joined the North Coast 500, uh at Ullapol, went on to Durness, Tongue, Scale, um, again on the North Coast 500, over to the Orkney Islands, which was actually a late addition to our itinerary, um, back over from Orkney to Johnagroats, down to Inverness, and then back down to Edinburgh.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: So it was a pretty um it was a pretty epic road trip actually.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: It was, yes, and but we planned to the nth degree before we started, really.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: But no matter how much we planned it, we still changed things on the day.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, absolutely adaptable, yeah.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I think there were still things that we kind of thought afterwards we would have changed.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: So obviously we've I've reflected that in the itinerary on the website.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, so we thought because we know there's a lot of questions in our Facebook group at the moment, there's a lot of people considering planning a road trip around Scotland, and I know people kind of bit like don't know where to start.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I also will just say for those of you who prefer to travel by public transport, we've actually also just published a best of Scotland by uh rail itinerary, so you can catch a train basically in a loop round.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: The only part you can't do is sky, you have to catch a bus and then maybe hire a car on Sky or take a tour or public transport and then get yourself back to the Carla Lakoche to catch the train.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: But it's all in that article which uh Doug wrote we just published in the last few days.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: So, right, so let's talk about the first.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: So we we've decided to stop in Edinburgh for the first few days.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: Now we've been there multiple times before, um, and I will actually do a podcast very soon about things to do and see in Edinburgh, um, because I know it's a very popular destination.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: But we still spent three nights there, didn't we?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: We did, and we stayed in the same place we stayed in numerous towns before.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I managed to walk up off the seat, which was fantastic, which I keep mentioning.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, that's something that you really want to do.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: So if you haven't been to Edinburgh before, we'd recommend really that you spend at least two to three days there just to get really a taste of the city.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm not gonna spend too much time talking about Edinburgh because we have got extensive resources about Edinburgh on the website, and I will come back and talk in another podcast actually about tips um for anybody planning a trip to Edinburgh for the first time.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: So basically, after the three days in Edinburgh, we did pick up a higher car.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: So we hired a car from Edinburgh uh and picked it up.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: So now we one thing that we did do, which I would advise as well, is first of all, we had a SUV because we were going to be driving the North Coast 500, so quite steep inclines.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: We did Apple Cross, for example, which is pretty notorious, um, a notorious drive.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: So, and and we also had a second driver.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: So Doug and I both shared the driving, um, which I think is important.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: It is, it is very important.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and we sort of worked what, an hour, an hour and a half sort of drive each.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we chose the route times, I'll be honest, I get a little bit travel sick.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: So we chose a route where if it was a bit more windy, twisty, I drove that apart, didn't I?
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's right, yeah, you did.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like Apple Cross, you drove while I silently screamed.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, that's for a different reason.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: That was just scary.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was a pretty scary.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: So um, from there we decided to go.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we went, we drove via um Falkirk to see the Kel Ps and the Falkirk Wheel.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, fantastic.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and also via Stirling to to see the castle.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a one-day trip that we did basically to get ourselves to Calendar.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: So that was our destination.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Now I hadn't been to Calendar before, but it was somewhere that you'd been to.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, I've got some family not too far from there, so it's a very good central location.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's a tiny little town, just I think it's more of a town.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and it worked out really well, didn't that?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: It was just enough.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: We didn't want to overstress ourselves up that first day.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: Being summer, it was light into the evening, but we wanted to get to the accommodation, didn't we?
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: Good time.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: So the thing is uh for that day, that was an hour's drive.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're planning to go from Edinburgh to Calendar, that'll only take you an hour.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: But obviously, because we recommend that you stop off at the Kelpies, so if you're not sure what the Kelpies are, they are the massive horse head sculptures, they're 30 meters high, there are two of them.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they're fabulous to see.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: Also the Falkirk wheel, uh, which is something if you it's basically how they move boats up onto the Caledonian canal.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: Between two canals.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's incredible to watch that.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and obviously, if you also Sterling Castle is worth stopping off for.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: So that's still going to be a full day, even though it's only an hour to get to calendar.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's other things to see, is the Bannerburn Monument as well for the battle.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: A national Wallace uh mute uh monument as well.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a there's quite a few things you can add into that day trip.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: So basically that's but it's a nice ease yourself into the drive to get yourself basically up to calendar.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: So the next day we went from um calendar and we did a basically a loop drive to Killin, then on to Kenmore, Aberfaldy, Pit Lockery, and then back to Calendar via Cumri Cref on the A9 and A822.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: So now all the information about this these distances and drives are on will be in the show notes.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: And we have got, as I say, the itinerary outfit.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: So the highlights of that day, I mean the falls of Dockett were absolutely fabulous.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: There'd been quite a lot of rain, so they really, really were full and really, really lovely.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I've got some pictures of that.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: I will share those as well.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: And also with that drive as well over Kenmore.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um Ben Laws, actually.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_02: Which is about the second or third highest peak in Scotland.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that was pretty epic as well.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: So if you really want views, and we were very lucky actually because the weather was beautiful that day.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so if you want good views, that is a really good drive to take.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then stop off in Pit Lockery and visit the fish ladder, uh, which is very famous for.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Pit Lockery is also a very pretty little um Scottish town, so that's worth a drive, uh worth you know popping into.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: So that's actually a whole day trip.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: Also, good little tip here, because I know others often we often get asked about Highland cows, is that you can see, or you could hopefully they're still there, is you can see Highland cows in a field on the right hand side of the road as you drive north out of Calendar.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: Fingers crossed that they're still there, um, but there were a couple of Highland cows in that field.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's pretty well known.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: Is it some of the tours stopping off?
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yeah, we did see a few tours there.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that that's kind of that's the next day.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: So Calendar, really pretty pretty place to visit.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and there's a supermarket there, it's you know one of the larger places in that area, so it gives you a good chance to stock up, and uh yeah, pubs as well.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: There's some nice pubs and I remember we've got fish and ships.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: So the next day we drove to Oban.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: So on that day we went via the Trossock National Park, Loch Lomond, uh, and Loch Katrine.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: So that was that drive that day.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: We drove basically from Calendar to I can never pronounce it, but on Loch Lomond, which was a 45 kilometre drive before then driving to Oban on the A82, which was um a 74-mile drive, and we went via Inverary Castle, which again is very famous Scottish castles castle.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you saw a photo of it, you'd recognise it.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: That was a lovely day.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: The weather had turned though.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: Remember, this was May, so the views on Loch Blomond weren't brilliant, it was quite low cloud.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um but it was a bit chilly.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: It was a bit chilly, yeah, it was a bit cold.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and also when we got to Invereri Castle, it was heavy rain, so we're kind of we drove in, had a little look, and then and then left.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: But you do have enough time that day.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: Again, one of the things I think we've learned is that you just have to be adaptive to the weather.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, you can't, it's the UK, you can't necessarily predict the weather.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't have the best weather.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and one we found is not to get too downhearted and despondent because you you make all these plans and the weather sort of intervenes.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: So we just took it on a stride and oh well, move on.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: We stayed in Oban for a couple of nights.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the reason we went to Auburn was that I really wanted to go over to Molt, Iona, and Stafford, um, and see Fingles Cave.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I took a uh a 10-hour, I think it was a 10-hour trip, boat trip that that next day from Auburn.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Doug, because you get a bit seasick, you didn't do that.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: Bitters in very season.
• 10:21
  unknown: Yeah.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: I took the A828 coastal road and it comes out of Auburn, and you follow the the coast all the way up to Ballahewish and Glencoe.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: But on the way, you've got the Dunstervage uh castle, uh Castle Stork, and the views are just stunning.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: And a bit old-fashioned.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_02: I took a pack lunch with me, and I sat looking at the views, of course, and it was really, really nice.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: A beautiful day.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I know you had a really and I I really enjoyed as well going over to uh Mole and Iona and Staff.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: Again, we had the the weather was changeable.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: One thing I would say to you if you are planning to do that boat trip, and I would highly recommend it, is just um really think carefully about what you're wearing.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure that you've you're kind of prepared for all events weather-wise, um, and that you wear really good shoes with good grip because and also probably walking boots would be a good idea because it's quite when we went over onto the um island of Staffa, it is quite muddy.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I know I'd seen pictures of people who'd been there previous weeks before we went over, and it was very windy and wet, um, and actually kind of ruined my shoes going over there.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, really think about carefully about what your footwear is going to be, especially if it's been wet.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: But that was a fantastic day.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: So it was absolutely Oban's a really interesting uh place to visit.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's supposed to be the is it for seafood?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: I don't eat seafood, yeah.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's the uh seafood uh capital of Scotland.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: I don't eat seafood, so it doesn't affect me, but I know uh plenty of people who do plenty of restaurants, um, cafe serving.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: So the only thing I guess about uh Oban is that parking's not great.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: So if you you know we stayed in a bed and breakfast, but it you know it it's there's a lot of one-way little streets and windy roads.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, it just makes sure that you get accommodation with parking that I'd highly recommend.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then um we actually walked down to the ferry the next morning.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's probably quicker, yeah.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and those steps straight down.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so yeah, so you really have to consider that for urban.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: So the next day we drove to Fort William and we we didn't go on the same route that Doug had taken the day before, we went via the A82, which takes you via Rannickmoor and Glencoe that way, which is uh it's one of my I mean I've talked about it numerous times, but Glencoe is probably one of my just favourite places in the entire world.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: There's something about that place that is amazing.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so there's lots of viewpoints to stop off um along the way.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: You've got the Rannockmoor viewpoint at the bridge of Oki.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_02: That's right, yeah.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: I was stunning views across the uh Van Moor, which is um uh peat bogs, peat bog.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I if you catch a Caledonian sleeper as well, you get great views as you cross over Ranickmoor from the from the train.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and as you're coming into um Fort William, um look out for Ben Nevis, which is the highest mountain in the UK, and you can't really miss it, to be honest.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we stayed off uh we stayed in Inverness for a couple of nights, and not in Venice, we stayed in Fort William for a couple of nights, which I'd highly recommend.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we were catching the Jacobite train, uh the Harry Potter train, which is famous from the movies, it crosses over the Glen Finan viaduct.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's gets spooked up incredibly quickly.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're planning to do the Harry Potter train this year, uh you you might already have missed out.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: And if you have, you're probably gonna have to book a tour from Edinburgh or or Glasgow to get yourself on the Harry Potter train because it is so incredibly popular.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: There's lots of things to do in Fort William as well, though.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: And surrounding areas, beautiful walks as well.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: So you've got Neptune Staircase, you've got Glenfinan Church, you know, the monument.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: So uh what one tip I would say as well, if if you're catching the the um Harry Potter train, we did record it in the morning, is when you get back in the afternoon, jump in your car and get yourself back to the viaduct, and you can actually see the afternoon train as it comes back over the viaduct.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: You'll see a lot of people there, a lot of photographers there.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's right.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: Stunning views from wherever you stand.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it's great.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: So you get to travel in the train in the morning and you get to see it across the viaduct in the afternoon.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: So you get both.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Highly recommend if you can swing it to go first class.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was a fabulous experience.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: You still stop off for a few days, a few days, a few hours in Malai on the way, and again, there's a lovely little Harry Potter shop that's worth popping into.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: If I would recommend when you get into Malag off the train that you go and get something to eat straight away because um it's everybody wants to everybody that gets off the train is gonna go to eat, so make sure you go and get yourself some lunch straight away.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: So after uh staying in Fort William for a few days, we then drove over to Sky.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to go to Malai to catch the ferry.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: You catch the ferry across from Malay, uh takes about 20 minutes, I think.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's very quick and it takes you to Armadale.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so if you're driving from Armadale at Portry, it takes you about an hour, but there's so much to see along the way that that really um it's just an absolute, you know, Isle of Sky is fabulous, absolutely fantastic.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, a few tips to the Isle of Sky, because we have got an itinerary for the Isle of Sky and lots of information for about Sky on the website.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we know it's one of the most popular destinations uh for tourists to go to Sky.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: We were there May, we had three days, um, one day of fabulous weather and two days of let's say not fabulous weather.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: Not great weather.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: So again, you need to be prepared for for that, that that that might happen.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: And if you know that's gonna be the case, try and squeeze as much as you can the day that the weather's really good.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot to see on Sky.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, highlights for for us, I really enjoyed Gutting Dunvegan Castle and gardens, they were beautiful.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean it's one thing I will say people associate Sky with just people who want to go walking.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: We don't do a huge amount of walking and just just appreciate the scenery.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: I had a little bit, but not not uh I won't call it myself serious hiker.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: No, but I think that it's worth actually saying because it it did because I don't particularly like hiking, I don't I'm not I don't make a secret of that.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: But we went to the ferry pools and it's a bit of a hike to get to them.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: I I was actually quite surprised.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's a bit of a shock, steep as well, yeah.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, steep, you've got to kind of go down a steep hill, and then obviously you've got to climb back up on that again, and it is quite a walk to get to them.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: They were actually finishing off a few bridges, which will make things a bit easier because when we were there this uh in 2022, you actually had to cross over the river by stepping stones, um, which is fine, but it's gonna be so much better now that these bridges have gone in.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_02: Make sure you take some water because there's nowhere to buy drinks there, wasn't it?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, not at all.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: And you've got to get parked as a car park, which is quite far, and you've got to kind of yeah, so you need to take some money for parking and yeah, prepare for a hike to get to the fairy pools.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely worth it, but you know, it's it's they're not just right next to the car park, let's say that much.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: Other places are you went to the fairy glen.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: I kind of gave up that day because the the heavens opened and we had like a massive little squally storm.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I went back to the car.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it was um almost biblical storms, it was uh quite uh quite hair-raising, but it's just added to the moment.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so after Sky, we headed over to join the um the North Coast 500.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: So we crossed over, we we went to um first of all, crossed over the Sky Bridge, the Carlo La Colche, and then we went to Islandon Castle for some pictures.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: That was more yeah, the the views of the uh the lock there and the castle are stunning.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we probably enjoyed the views more than the actual venue itself.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think so.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it was nice, and we spent a little bit of time there, probably enough time, and that was fine.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then we popped in at uh Manuela's Wii Bakery um for a for a bite to eat, which is um not too far from um it's kind of between Aladon Castle and Carlo Le Colche.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a it's brilliant, it's a lovely little bakery.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: So if you get a chance, pop in there um to pick up some snacks.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then um we drove three hours um up on the A890 and A832, 120 miles now on the famous North Coast 500 route up to um Ollopool.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this is the day that we drove the Applecross.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's quite hair-raising.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a slow driver, so you know, and we're glad we did it though.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: It was Yeah, I wouldn't want to fancy doing it with the caravan behind or a motor home.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: No, I I think one thing, yeah, if you're gonna drive in Scotland, you need to be really aware of kind of that some of the roads are particularly narrow, like there's just one, you know, there's just one enough for one car.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh there's lots of passing places, so you you know, you pull over and you let the cars um past you or kind of go, you know, whichever way if they're coming towards you, obviously pull over and let them pass.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: But if there's somebody going a little bit faster than you, you can pull in and let them pass.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think you need a uh sort of a combination of patience and confidence.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, I'll just close my eyes.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, so and and we were also there in May, so a lot of lambs and sheep around.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to be really careful, really pay attention.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because and also at one point we had um a deer in the road as well.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, stags, deer, sheep, just a huge amount of um livestock.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: So you really have to pay attention and be careful.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: So so that famous I can't pronounce it, Bilak Nabar Road, uh goes from Kishorn to Apple Cross.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that if you if you put that into your itinerary, fair plate here.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I I I wouldn't miss it out.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: You can't do that in winter because that that road is short, but really prepare yourself.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe watch some videos about that route.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: It is, and it I think it took us longer than the actual route maps holds.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think so, yeah.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um because obviously it's not going to take into account the amount of times you have to stop for the cost to catch.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's true.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: And you have to go slow because obviously, like I say, all the livestock you have to be really careful because that there's labs, and also because the that the the scenery's just stunning.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um so this this western this western coast of Scotland is pretty awe-inspiring, it really is.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: It just it takes your breath away.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um I it at some points I just thought I was an alternative universe, I actually wasn't in the UK.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: It it really is.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you know, do give yourselves time to to enjoy that scenery, so don't be racing from here to here to here.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that was one of the things that we said, didn't we?
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: We we would add extra days in.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we wanted to enjoy because when you're driving along, there's unfortunately it's gonna be impatient people who are obviously against the clock and they just want to move around as quickly as they possibly can.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, and again, it's all part of having the patience to be able to take it all in and enjoy it.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we stayed in Ullapol for uh for an evening, so we we actually went to a really nice um restaurant, and we'll see if I can actually find the name of it, but it was uh it was lovely now.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: I can't have to try and find it and put it into the the show notes, but we did have some um lovely scallops and with black pudding, which was really nice in this uh uh restaurant in Ullapool.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: So the next day then we headed off um to Derness and Tung.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: So this was a beautiful, again, another very scenic part of the route.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: So took about um about two hours for the first part to Derness and then about another hour or so to Tung.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: So again, don't get because we kind of looked at the distances and thought, Fow, but actually it takes longer.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: So give yourself plenty of time.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: And we we stayed in fantastic accommodation.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: We stayed in a um a glamping pod.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it was fantastic.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we didn't know what to expect for that, didn't we?
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, fabulous.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: I think.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: One of the favourite places that we stayed.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: I know we talked about it in a previous episode of top 10 things that we did when we're in the UK, and staying in that was just amazing.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: Again, you know, we're surrounded by herds of um deer.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh which was fabulous.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: And um, what was really good is we we had a Wi-Fi device that we used so we could both hotspot off that, and that worked even up there, even on the far north of Scotland.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: So some good places to stop off.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: You went to we're we stopped off at Smoo Cave.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't walk down to the caves to have a look, but you did.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: I did a walk down and took it up, took some photos, and it was magical actually.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: There's some lovely beaches as well along that part of the route.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we did want to go on the Golden Eagle Zipline, but unfortunately it was too windy.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: It was too windy, it was shut the day that we were there anyway, so we couldn't do that.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: But again, it's just wild scenery and beautiful kind of coastline.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_02: It changes scenery as well as you're driving around it.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: You know, in some places of mountainous and there's greenness, and yeah.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, there's just all rocks everywhere.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it it is absolutely something amazing.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: So, what we did on the next day of our itinerary is we decided at the last minute, really, I think a couple of weeks before we went, because we'd spoken, I think it's episode 10 with our friend who'd actually done the North Coast 500, and they'd included a trip onto Orkney Islands.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: Now it was somewhere that we both wanted to go to.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: So we decided to see if we could do that.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: Now it was pretty expensive for the ferry, it was I think it was about£150 return, but we decided no, we really want to do it, and we are so glad that we did.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it meant an early start the next morning because it was quite a drive.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: It was uh I think it was about I don't know how much, 60 miles or something.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: I can't remember exact mileage we had to do, but we had to leave fairly early in the morning.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: And avoid the deer at that time.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and there was a lot of wildlife, a lot of herds of deer on the road, um, and a cow, cow which wouldn't move in the middle of the road.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so again, give yourself plenty of time.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: So that so we had to get to Gills Bay to catch the ferry.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um on the way there, we stopped off at Dunnett Head, which is the most northerly point on mainland Britain.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, mainland Britain.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I've got some fantastic pictures there.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: So highly recommend that you do that.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: We did have time to do that um on the way and still get to the ferry in time, ferryport at Gilles Bay.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um now the ferry takes you over to mainland Orkney, which is the name of that the main island on Orkney, um, over to a place called St.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: St.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: Margaret's Hope, which is at the northern part of South Umsay.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: So so you disembark there, so you obviously drive your car into the ferry, leave the car, go and sit um in the on the deck.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's covered, it was really nice, and we had a bacon sandwich and some drinks and tea and stuff.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_02: Luckily, it was very, very smooth crossing for me.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because I know you were you were a bit worried.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: I don't like that.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: No, and then uh so then we spent we literally got over to Orkney sort of late morning, and we were over there until the following afternoon where we caught the train the caught the train, caught the ferry back over to mainland um Scotland.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I would highly recommend it if you can to fit in a couple of days in Orkney.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: You probably don't need more than a couple of days, but it was amazing, absolutely fantastic.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_02: So highlights on um Orkney or uh Scarborough.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: Scarborough, absolutely May Show Chambered Cairns.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, May Show, um the Italian Chapels, fantastic, the Ring of Broadka, the Stones of Staness.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, this is a place where you know you just you step back in time and we're talking a long time.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: And there's a a rude word name of a little village, which I won't tell you and look that one.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, that's true.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: There's lots of hats and bugs we can get with our um so we we couldn't find the sign for it.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: I wonder if that'd be nicked.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, um, yeah, so it was cold.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Orkney was freezing cold.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: Apparently, it was one of the coldest made that had for a long time, and we actually had to buy hats and uh it was very, very cold.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: So again, you need to really prepare if you're planning to do a road trip um in Scotland.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_02: We had uh at that time of year.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: We ate quite a bit of soup, didn't we, and um cups of tea to keep warm.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: So then after the next day, we caught the ferry back, um, back to Gills Bay and then drove to John O'Groats because you've got to have a picture at John O'Groats because we were going to be at Lands End a few weeks after that, so we really wanted to have a picture at each each end of the country.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then we drove back via John O'Groats back down to Inverness, which again was a nice drive.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I can't we were actually past a castle on the way, and I can't remember the name of the castle now.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's a really famous one as well, and I can't think.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was shut by the time we got there because we were later on in the day, it was shut, but so we we continued on, and we did pass some Highland cows as well on that route down to Inverness, which was nice.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: So we stayed in Inverness for a couple of nights.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's a lot to do in Inverness for it and again a very famous place to stop off, very popular place to stop off.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: Colloden Battlefield, um, go to Loch Ness, take a cruise, Castle Urquit, absolutely fabulous place to visit.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: Trying to think, oh, Clava Cairns again for stones.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: I did get there's a lot of stones in Scotland.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I did keep touching them, but nothing happened.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't seem to go into the past and meet Jamie for your outlander fans.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: I did try numerous times, but nothing happened.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: But yes, the clava cairns are another good great trip to take from Inverness.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: So the next day was our last day, and we drove down.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: So this is now day 18.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: Leave Inverness.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um again, lots, lots, there's actually lots of lovely places just to see Inverness.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um there was a lot, quite a bit of traffic congestion around there, as you remember, as well.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: So you've got to sort of plan your route out.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we had a couple of nice, we had a nice meal there as well.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, just when I think about meals, actually, I forgot to mention this on the Isle of Sky.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: One thing that's worth doing is popping into I think it's a Morrison supermarket in Fort William and just stocking up on drinks and snacks, get yourself a cool, cool bag, shove it in the car.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because uh there's only the co-op on um on Sky, what's the capital?
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: Poetry, poetry.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you're better off kind of stocking up there, and also when you're doing that out the the kind of north post 500, having plenty of kind of snacks and and stuff to eat in your car as well, so that you've you're kind of prepared.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: Plenty of places to get petrol.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't really struggle with that, but on Sky, make sure that you book four meals because we struggled with that.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: We did.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: We end up um going to a fish and chip shop, I think.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, which was lovely.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: And it wasn't a standard fish and chip shop because you had to wait for uh different sittings.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, it was very, very busy.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Though it was, and that was May, it was incredibly busy, incredibly difficult to get in to eat anywhere.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: So you need to really book ahead if that's what you're gonna do, um, unless you're gonna take your own food or stay in an Airbnb.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, the the name of the castle that we we drove past on the way to from John of Groats was Dunrobin Castle Doves Remembered, but which was beautiful.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but unfortunately, by the time we got, I think it was about four o'clock, and I think it was closing at that point.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: So, again, if you wanted to do that that kind of coast route a bit more, probably maybe get the ferry over and stay in John of Groats, not a huge amount in Johnna Groats, but you could do a bit more exploration of that on its head, that area, and then stay in John of Groats and then get up earlier the next day and do that kind of route back down to Inverness.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: You could add an extra day in.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like I say, this this um itinerary is really flexible uh with what you do.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: So then we arrived back in Edinburgh via how did we go?
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: How did we drive that way back?
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: I can't remember.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_01: Did we go through the Ken Gorm?
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_02: We did, we touched the edge of the Ken Gorms National Park.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we allowed ourselves plenty of time again with an early star, didn't we?
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: So we were catching a train down to York actually that day, so we needed to get back into Edinburgh for sort of one o'clock.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: We'll have plenty of time to get the car.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I I think um I'm just thinking about some of the tips that what would we do differently if we're gonna do this?
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_01: So this is just again, just giving you some tips, those of you who are thinking about doing this trip this year.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_01: If you're gonna do the North Coast 500, give yourself plenty of time.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: We did not have enough time, uh, we really didn't, and I think we could have added another three days in.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's always gonna be the case.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: I think because there's so much to see for everyone that yeah, you're always gonna want more time, and because the weather is so unpredictable, even in May time.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, yeah, it was it was I I didn't expect it to be as cold as it was.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: So again, that the weather is a big thing.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: So make sure you take layers, you've got a waterproof coat on.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: I took, I had my waterproof jacket, uh, footwear, you know, think about walking boots, some things that are comfortable on your feet as well.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_01: Don't underestimate the cost either.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: I think we because it'd been a couple of years since we've been back to the UK and we were a bit surprised just how expensive like petrol, it was very expensive.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I mean there's a lot going on in the world, sort of thing.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: So the cost of petrol was uh it's on the increase.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: But when we knew the price of food had gone up, but it was a bit of a shock to us exactly how to put it.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then I think um, like I said, things like think about you know putting yourself a cool bag in the car, filling it up, like Morrison's in in um Fort Williams, a good place to go.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: Get yourself some uh meal deals, sandwiches, crisps, drinks, whatever, so you've got those with you.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: Again, just being flexible.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_01: If the weather's not great, just trying to plan.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: Don't have such a strict itinerary that you can't, like for example, the three days on sky, we had to shift things around because the weather was not brilliant, one two of the three days.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we did things like the gardens, and obviously it's a lot of outdoors, but we could do a bit more driving on some of the days where it wasn't so so brilliant for walking.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then I think the other thing, one thing we also want to say, and and I think I'm particularly bad at this, is um I spend too much time looking through my phone or looking through my video device, is actually missing things because you're not taking in the scenery around you.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: And there were a couple of times where I was trying to find my phone when we had a ho we had we literally drove around a corner and there was a Apple Cross.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, it wasn't Applecross, it was when we're leaving the the um lamp and pod when we're catching the Oh that one.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, there was one at Apple Cross as well.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: So it was twice, it was twice where we had stags or deer in the middle of the road, and I was too busy faffing on trying to get my phone or trying to take a video that I actually missed them.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's just keep your eyes open, yeah, enjoy the scenery, take turns with driving so that you can both enjoy the scenery.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: Most definitely.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that's it.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: Is there anything else that you can suggest?
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's one thing uh I'm glad we did consider this was make sure that you where you're staying has parking, yeah, adequate parking.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_02: Because there's a couple of times because it was a summer summer month, yeah, we were using the whole day, weren't we?
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, absolutely possibly good.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_02: And by the time we arrived at some accommodation, a lot of the parking spaces had disappeared, yeah, and been used.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_02: So a couple of places, calendar comes tomorrow, and is that we had to search around a bit for somewhere to park the car.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's true.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's true.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: I think um if you're going in summer as well, do bear in mind if you're not used to that, that it's it's light.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, the the fur obviously the further north that you go, the lighter it is.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: And it was it, it was I don't know, did we see any darkness on where I don't know?
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_02: Not total darkness by 11 o'clock.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_02: It was you maybe needed your lights on your car.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was amazing.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a basically a quick rundown of our itinerary, some quick tips, things that we're thinking about if you are planning your own Scottish road trip this year.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: Again, there's huge, there's lots and lots of uh resources for this on our website.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: We have also got a Facebook group which you can join and ask questions, and we're available in that.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we go on there, do Facebook lives, we do question and answer sessions.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so there's loads and loads of information that you can ask from us, from other members of the group.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, I mean, leave us some feedback if there's other things that you want to know.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: Otherwise, I think that's a fairly good rundown of the itinerary.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: Again, the itinerary and all every all this information will be on the show notes as well as links to the actual full itinerary, which you can download, um, which has got recommendations as well, places to stay.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_02: We could talk for hours on.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_02: We could, absolutely.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we're planning to do similar talk about our um, we did a road trip around Cornwall as well, so we're coming on to a podcast later to talk about that.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: But in the meantime, really, I just want to say thanks for listening uh this week.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_01: We really appreciate everybody who downloads, who listens to the podcast.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: We're just so happy that so many people are enjoying it and we get some uh fantastic feedback.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, until next week from myself and Doug, we just want to say happy UK travel planning.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.