Scotland

The trip over to Scotland from Larne in Ireland was reasonably smooth.  There was a bumpy part in the middle but it didn't last long.  As soon as Scotland came into view, about 30 minutes out, the water calmed and it  became very smooth.  Many thanks were given.

From the port at Cairnryan, we travelled north through a really nice seaside town called Ayre and onto Glasgow.  We spent one night in Glasgow but didn't get to see a great deal of it.  Had a walk around the city centre checking out some of the Victorian era architecture.

From Glasgow we continued on to visit the southern tip of Loch Lomond and enjoyed a day on the Bonnie Banks.

From Loch Lomond we travelled across to the beautiful town of  Stirling for a look at the Stirling Castle and the amazingly well preserved old town.

From Stirling we continued on to visit the Falkirk Wheel, the world's only rotating boat lift.  At the Tourist office in Stirling the lady told us that if you arrive at the wheel by 5.30 pm you were able to camp in their car park for a small fee, so that is what we did.  Had a really quiet night as the only campers there, just us and the security guard and the beautiful coloured light show on the wheel after dark.

The beginning of the rotation with a day trippers boat aboard.

Almost to the top.....

And then it was time to take our place in the wheel for the rotation to the top.

A rather amazing experience.  We just took the short boat ride up into the top canal and then back down again, but there is a day tour that can be booked which if we ever go back to Falkirk again, we would definitely do.

After our time at Falkirk, we travelled on towards Edinburgh, turning off  just before Edinburgh and crossing the River Forth.  We were heading for St Andrews (famous for golf) but ran out of time to make it all the way there.  We hugged the coast passing through the cute towns of  Burntisland and Kirkcaldy.  After spending the night at Leven we made our way back towards Edinburgh and stayed just out of Edinburgh at Dumferline, a short train ride into Edinburgh.

Looking up along the main street of Dumferline

The old Abbey in Dumferline

We caught the train  into the city centre of Edinburgh to visit Edinburgh Castle and catch some entertainment during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

After our visit to Edinburgh, it was off for a reasonably long drive south heading for Hadrian's Wall. We travelled as far as Gretna which is the last town before crossing from Scotland and over into England.  There were signs after each Scottish town which says it all....

With some luck I would love to take the advise of the Scottish signage and return to visit the Northern areas of Scotland which we have run out of time to visit this time.

Will bring you up to date soon with the last stage of our trip down through Britain and to our final destination back in London.