Pitlochry, The Trossachs National Park and Glencoe-so beautiful!

The Trossachs National Park, Scotland
The Trossachs National Park, Scotland

We have been on the move lately since leaving our last house sit and internet has been spotty so I havn’t posted for a few days now.  We left the housesit in Broxburn which was a godsend!  Both of us were battling a bad bug and it was nice to have a home to rest in but it’s been great to be on the move now and living more like tourists than locals.  We are both on the mend and have been seeing more of this incredibly beautiful country as we head up north into the Highlands.

Here is a video of the highlights from our last four days with an explanation of the places below.

 

We boarded a very busy train last Saturday from the Inverkeithing train station headed to Pitlochry, an old Victorian tourist town surrounded by hills and forest.  The weather was great and we enjoyed a few days stay here at a local B&B which was just a short walk from the train station, handy for dragging our large luggage!  Besides getting sick we are amazed at how smoothly our travels have been going so far, everything has worked out great so the preplanning seems to be working.  Knock on wood!

Pitlochry is a haven for outdoor enthusiast with lots of hiking, trail biking, camping and any outdoor activity you can imagine.  It’s totally walkable so if you arrive by train you won’t need a car at all. While in town we went on a Distillery tour (Blair Atholl Distillery), did some short hikes with incredible scenery, walked the town, enjoyed a few restaurants, visited a few pubs and ended with an amazing walk through the Enchanted Forest.  The Enchanted Forest is an annual event that luckily our timing allowed us to attend as it’s rated one of the top attractions by the Scottish tourism board with over 62,000 visitors each year.  Take a look at my video and you’ll understand.

After Pitlochry we hopped back on the train to Perth where we picked up a car rental for the next portion of our journey. We went on a road trip through the top of The Trossachs National Park and into the Highlands and Glencoe.  The road trip was breathtaking with ever changing scenery that included rolling green farmlands, Lochs (lakes) and Forests and up to the golden, autumn colored mountains of the Highlands.  Pictures don’t do it justice up here, you have to see it to comprehend the true beauty that Scotland delivers throughout.  We booked a hotel the night before and stayed in wonderful, grand old Victorian home called The Creag Mohr which is Ballachulish, Glencoe and right outside Fort Williams.  It has an opulent common room and bar with an incredible selection of Scottish Whiskey so we had to expand our knowledge and sample a few more, you know-when in Scotland!

The next morning we started the day with a full Scottish breakfast included in the room stay and dilly dallied as long as possible so we could maximize our enjoyment of the hotel. Then we packed up for a short drive to Fort Williams and spent the afternoon wandering town and the base of Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in Britain.

 

 

4 Comments

  • Angela Spencer

    November 4, 2016 at 9:08 am Reply

    Ben Nevis is a mountain? Is it more like the foothills?

    • Mark

      November 4, 2016 at 9:42 pm Reply

      Hi Angie: I know, it looks more like one of our foothills but I was surprised to hear that the hike to the summit is difficult and treacherous. In the park below they have a memorial to lives that were lost on the mountain. They get avalanches and ice slides in the winter. It is 1345m above sea level and is the highest in the British Isles. For comparison our Mount Rundel in Banff is 2948m high. The mountain is bigger than it looks in the photos, if you google you can see more photos.

  • Angela Spencer

    November 4, 2016 at 9:05 am Reply

    Love Janet’s comment….”are we doing closeups? Like really? Hehe that’s our Janet!!!!

    • Mark

      November 4, 2016 at 9:42 pm Reply

      Yes, thats our Janet!!

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