Honeymoon In Scotland Day 10

We had spent the morning at Stirling Castle, we now had the choice of pushing hard and getting home late this evening or taking our time and stopping off for one final night.

One final night it was, and how glad we were that we did!

We left Stirling, picked up the motorway and headed South. Turning off and heading across country, up over the Kirkstone pass before dropping down towards Ullswater lake.

We had not pre-booked anywhere, we thought we would drive, spot a hotel we like the look of and try our luck.

We spotted a hotel on lake Windermere which looked rather impressive, right on the lake and pulled in. As soon as I walked in through the door, regardless of cost I knew we were staying here the night!

I have to say that out of all the hotels we stayed at the Langdale Chase Hotel beat them all hands down.

Words fail me as to how good it was, you will just have to go there and spoil yourselves!

This was what I saw as I walked in!

Later on relaxing with a Gin and Tonic beside probably the best fire place in the world!

With views like that from your bedroom window, how could you possibly not like the place!

That evening we had a fabulous meal, the staff were brilliant, but to my disappointment we were not woken during the night by ghostly goings on as the place is reportedly haunted!

We could not put off our journey home anymore, tomorrow we would be back to reality!

The journey continues................

Honeymoon In Scotland Day 9

This would be our last day in Scotland, but before we left Stirling we thought it would be nice to have a wander around Stirling Castle that sits high up on the hill, dominating the local landscape.

The castle itself is steeped in history, far too much for me to write up here, so follow the links and spend some time learning about this amazing place.

We spent a good few hours wandering around the place, but by far for me was the Regimental Museum of the Argyll and Southern Highlanders.

Reading about their exploits over the years, did make me a bit emotional!

Well worth a visit, I think we were lucky going at this time of year, I could imagine at the height of the tourist season that it would be just a bit too busy!

We now had to make a decision. Do we head straight home in one dash, or do we break the journey up by stopping off in the Lake District?

The journey continues..........................

Honeymoon In Scotland Day 8

So now it's down hill all the way!

From Tongue we were heading South following the A836, if you can possibly think of this road as an A road. More a single track with the odd passing place.

Over heathland and Loch Loyal where we picked up the A9 and followed this all the way down to our final night's destination in Stirling.

To be honest I slept for the best part of the journey I was still suffering from a heavy cold, so Kiera did all the driving.

We had made it  down by mid afternoon and we checked into the Stirling Highland Hotel.

Very grand looking, but to be honest for it's price it was nothing more than a posh travel lodge!

The food was exceptional though!

That afternoon we decided to wander into town. I used to live around 10 miles away and taught people to drive in and around Stirling.

I remember the town as being rather upmarket, sadly, things of changed. Even charity shops were closed down!

It all looked a bit grubby and run down, perhaps we caught it on a bad day, but it just had a feeling of decline about it all. Left me feeling a little down to be honest.

That night as it was our last night in Scotland we pushed the boat out and had a serious blow out in the restaurant.

Tomorrow we would be homeward bound, but depending on the weather we would take a look at Stirling Castle.

The journey continues............................

Honeymoon In Scotland Day 7

Once we had packed once more we were on a familiar heading of "North" following the A835.

We had no where in mind to stop tonight, but just thought we would wait and see where we ended up.

Where the A835 meets the A837 at Ledmore we turned left and followed this right out to the west coast past Loch Assynt.

With some absolutely amazing scenery, I know I have said this before, but just when you think it could not possibly get any better, it does!

I'm sure this view has not changed one bit since prehistoric times (apart from the road)!

Through Rhicarn, Clachtoll, Stoer, Rienachait, Clashnessie and on through Drumbeg, being about the only name I could pronounce.

Rejoining the A894 once more we were heading North.

Through Scourie and at Laxford Bridge we joined the A838 which took us up to Durness.

It was here that we sought out Smoo Lodge. A while ago we were looking to see what was for sale in this part of the world, and Smoo Lodge was on the market. A 10 room bed and breakfast with massive potential.

As it had been sold, we guessed that it was refurbished and up and running, but on checking with the local tourist information it was not yet finished.

This we could clearly see once we had located it. This surprised us both as we were rather hoping to spend the night there!

We had a check around to see what else was on offer locally, but found little that appealed to either of us.

So we made the decision to push on to Tongue where we had found a rather good looking hotel to stay in.

The Tongue Hotel was a former Hunting Lodge and had lost very little of it's old charm.

Our room was fabulous with a fine view and a comfy bed.

My one and only criticism was the food, well, not exactly the food as in it's quality, rather more about it's quantity!

It was very pretty to look at, but a tiny squirt of mashed potato with my lamb cutlets was not enough to feed a mouse!

In my opinion they could of done with dropping the fine dining experience, after all spending a day spent out in the mountains you require a little more than grated carrot, a sprig of broccoli and a squirt of mash!

Tongue is also the place where I had to lay up and rest for 2 days after I had come off my Honda C90 when I went round the UK. 

A comfortable night, with a good breakfast and once more we were packed and ready for the off!

The journey continues.........................

Honeymoon In Scotland Day 6

Today it was time to move further North, no real plan of direction other than try to hug the coast as much as possible and see where we end up.

We had been using Booking.com to book hotels on this trip and so far we had not been disappointed.

So we decided that we would aim for Ullapool, and find a hotel there.

We came up with The Ferry Boat Inn, which looked great, sat right on the harbour front, a good little pub which looked like it did good food as well, perfect. So we booked it.

A great breakfast once more and we left the Skeabost Hotel feeling full and ready for a days drive.

We headed back on the A87 and once more were treated to magical views. We crossed back over the bridge and were once more on the mainland.

Turning almost immediately right at the Kyle of Lochalsh and headed North to Plockton.

Plockton, is a very picturesque fishing village, it is where the BBC filmed the series Hamish Macbeth.

We did not stop for long, really just enough time to take a few pictures, we wanted to keep moving!

Hugging the coast once again we eventually ended up on the A890 and this we then followed along the shore of Lochcarron.

Turning onto the A896, we followed this till we reached the road signed for the Applecross Pass. Now this was spectacular, it had it all, height, windy roads with stunning views. At the top we pulled over and we were in the snow line. This road we followed until we reached the A832.

Words fail to describe how amazing the scenery is along this stretch of road. Truly beautiful.

Once at the top we stopped to catch our breath, not that we could see that much as we were in the clouds with mist and drizzle.

Even the snow looks like sheep!

With Loch Maree to our right we were heading North once more.

Every time we crested a hill our breath was taken away by the view, we kept saying, surely it cannot get any better, but it did.

We kept on this road till it joined the A835 where we turned left and headed North once more to Ullapool.

Ullapool nestles on the banks of Loch Broom, and is a bustling fishing village and ferry port to many of the surrounding islands.

The Ferry Boat Inn was easy enough to find and with no dedicated parking we were lucky enough to find a space right outside.

Now this is where what appears on a website can look totally different to what is placed before you.

From the outside it looked exactly the same, but as soon as you went inside the place looked tired and dreary.

There was a reception, but it looked as if it was last used properly sometime in the late 70's!

I walked into the bar, which was a bit more cheery, and spoke to the barman, who was helpful enough and sorted us out with a key to our room.

Something just did not feel right with the place, so we asked to see the room before we unloaded our bags, which I am so glad we did!

Up a flight of stairs with old carpet and faded wall paper we found our room. No view other than a roof.

The room smelt damp and on looking into the bathroom, with mankey carpet on the floor, black grouting and a general look of neglect we decided there and then we would not be staying.

We went back down stairs, took this up with the barman, who was apologetic and said we would have to come back either later or tomorrow morning to try and get a refund as we had all ready paid online earlier!

He did however give us the name of a hotel just 5 minutes down the road to try.

This we did and we ended up in The Royal Hotel, absolutely splendid with a four poster bed and a stunning view of the Loch from our panoramic window which led out to our balcony.

So out of adversity comes along something good!

The two above were taken from our room

To be honest we felt a bit cheated, as The Ferry Boat Inn were charging us £90.00 for a room which was not worth £40.00 On the other hand The Royal charged us £120.00 for an amazing room. Absolutely no comparision!

We had walked up to The Royal, so I walked back to get the car as it had it's own car park. Here I happened to bump into the manager of The Ferry Inn.

She could not of been more helpful, she said she would arrange a full refund as soon as she could, and apologised.

True to her word, the refund was processed along with a number of confirmation emails. This was excellent service and it was just a shame that the decor and quality of the rooms were not up the the same standard as the staff that worked there.

Back at The Royal, we relaxed, and went down to the bar for a bite to eat, we had the choice of restaurant or bar, and decided to stay in the bar. Once more we were not disappointed by either the food or the service from the staff.

We slept soundly in preparation for the next part of our journey along the North Coast.

The journey continues.............. 

Honeymoon In Scotland Day 5

We woke to clear Skye sky's and a fantastic view from our window!

Today we were going back towards Dunvegan castle as we were told that there may be the possibility of spotting seals.

We stopped in a little boutique gift shop that Kiera had spotted yesterday, we ended up buying a book called "The Life And Death Of St Kilda" a story of a far flung Scottish island. It's story is remarkable and is well worth a read.

We decided not to stop at the castle as we had other plans for the day, but first seal spotting!

Driving past the castle we headed to Claigan and it wasn't long before Kiera spotted them on a little island!

If you look closely the little white splodges are seals! We had now spotted seals!

Now that we had seen seals we decided that a bit of fresh air may blow the cobwebs away. We had heard of a place with fantastic views and a bit of a walk which we could take.

This is where Kiera's sense of direction went slightly wrong! The place we were heading for was called the "Quirang". Kiera said that she had been talking to a little old man and he had said it was just South of Portree.

So off we went. Yes, the little old man was correct in that there was a "Quirang" just South of Portree, but it was a bloody bed and breakfast and not "The" "Quirang"!!!!!

Mind you the drive gave some great views across the island.

After consulting google we got on the right track and headed North!

Spotting some Highland cattle as we went.

It did not disappoint! In fact it was spectacular. Even the drive up to the top was amazing.

The photo's give a reasonable idea of it's grandeur, but to be honest it was breath taking!

We walked for around an hour, both of us still full of cold, headed back to the car park and had a freshly made tuna sandwich from the catering trailer parked there.

We decided that we had taken enough fresh air and headed back to the comfort of our rather splendid hotel at Skeabost.

That evening we had a couple of beers from the Innis and Gunn brewery in Edinburgh and another gorgeous meal, we have been truly spoilt with food so far on this trip!

The journey continues............