We have been to a lot of places. At last count, we have visited 52 countries. Norway next week will be our 53rd. Up until this trip, I was utterly convinced that the most beautiful place in the world is New Zealand. We were blown away by the incredible views of nature when we visited on our trip Down Under in 2009.
But after this trip, I have changed my mind. Scotland is the MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE on earth. Seriously—have you seen my photos? Of course, I don’t mean the cities as much as the country overall. I was becoming increasingly convinced as we traveled through the countryside, but when we went through Glencoe the other day, I realized this was it. The most beautiful place on earth…at least for me. I know that many of you would prefer a warmer climate, but for me, give me the constantly changing weather of Scotland.
I say this with the knowledge that we live in the Pacific Northwest, where the natural beauty is also amazing, but it’s what man has done that has tarnished Seattle and the Northwest for me. All of the places we have been I can never remember saying to myself, WOW and WOW and WOW, so often.
So, let’s sum up our trip so far and give you some honest recommendations about hotels and restaurants.
First, this has been an awesome trip so far, marred by only my catching a cold. And I am thrilled to say that other than an early-morning cough and a slightly runny nose, I am cured. We have had the best time. Where we stayed and what we ate had a lot to do with that so here’s a recap and recommendations.
Lodging
- Hotel: Howard Bed and Breakfast—Leeds
- Bed: Excellent
- Room size: Great, but no closet space left for us to use ?.
- Hosts: The best of the trip. They not only took great care of us at the B&B, but they picked us up at the train station and then later toured us all over Yorkshire and took us back to the train station.
- Breakfasts: Excellent and plentiful.
- What they did best: They made us feel like we were part of the family.
- Things they could improve: Less stinky cheese.
- Problems you will have in staying there: You can’t book this place. You have to become friends with owners, and then you stay at their house, they stay at yours, you cruise all over the world with them, and then you get to stay there…again.
- Would we stay there again? Only if the hosts from there come to see us first. It’s their turn.
- Hotel: Grasshoppers
- Bed: Subpar on the first part of our stay and better on the second. The first bed we had needed to be replaced. When you sat on the edge of it, it felt like you would slide right off. On their website, they call their beds, “kings.” Not by US standards. They are basic queens to us. We sleep in a king at home. This is NOT a king.
- Room size: First stay, a typical small European experience. Second, stay in a bigger room that we liked a lot better. Both bathrooms were the same, adequate size.
- Hosts: The people there were very helpful. We had to have our keys remade about six or eight times, and they never complained. Not sure why I had such problems with my keys but it might be my magnetic personality ?.
- Breakfasts: Excellent and plentiful. Complete choice of everything you could want for breakfast, from baked beans to granola. They did have the BEST whole grain bread for toast. I could eat that by the loaf. The only fall down here was cold plates. It would be best if you never had to put their excellent scrambled eggs on cold plates.
- What they did best: For me, it’s their location. Since they are above Glasgow’s Central Station, we got off the train, walked out of the station, around the corner, went up to the sixth floor, and we were there. When we left to come down to London, we walked out of our room at 10:00 am, and we were on the train at 10:15. Try that in an airport. They also had the absolute BEST water pressure on this trip and great bath towels—big and absorbent. I could still be in the shower if we hadn’t had to catch the train. Did I mention the free, always-available cakes and ice creams?
- Things they could improve: Use hot plates in the breakfast room. And get a new mattress in 603.
- Problems you will have in staying there: Book early. But realize they don’t open booking until six months prior. By that time, I had all the other hotels on this trip booked. Also, please note that the entrance at street level is difficult—a few steps to climb to get into the building before you get to the elevator. Tough with heavy luggage.
- Would we stay there again? If we were going back to Glasgow by train, we would. Doubt that will happen but you never know. We can recommend Grasshoppers very highly.
- Hotel: The Manor House
- Bed: Just fine, but a “double bed,” not even a Queen. Keep that in mind. It was cozy.
- Room size: A typical small European experience in a historic inn. The bathrooms were adequate in size, but because of the dormers on the roof, the shower ceiling was very low.
- Hosts: The incredible David took such great care of us. When he learned we would be missing breakfast due to a tour, he made us a sack lunch we could take with us. Both nights, we were regaled with stories over a round of whisky.
- Breakfasts: Due to our early tour on the first morning, we only ate breakfast once. It was just fine, if a little fancy. When I am out on vacation and may miss lunch, I prefer a heartier breakfast. Theirs left much to be desired in terms of quantity. Worst bread of the trip. The toast was like eating warm Wonder Bread.
- What they did best: One word: David. He made our visit.
- Things they could improve: It shocked me at breakfast in the classiest hotel we stayed in to be given the flimsiest paper napkins I have ever seen. Kleenex tissues have more substance. For a place like this not to have linen napkins? No excuse. They could also get better bathroom linens. Of all the places we stayed, these were the worst.
- Problems you will have staying there: If you are tall like me, book a ground floor room. The dormers in the upstairs mean that the showers in the bathroom will have no headroom. Not only did I have to bend over in the shower (no jokes here please) but I kept banging my hands into the ceiling when I was trying to apply shampoo.
- Would we stay there again? Yes, but only if David is still there and we have a downstairs room.
- Hotel: Balintoy Bed and Breakfast
- Bed: Excellent.
- Room size: The biggest room we stayed in on this trip. We loved all the extra room. It is well laid out and well furnished.
- Hosts: As good as David was at the Manor House, Gillian positively affected our entire trip. She is the best. We corresponded before the trip, and she gave us some great advice that paid off while we were there. She’s the one who told us to book restaurants at least three months early. I can’t stress enough that you need to do this. She was exactly right. She also would check in with us at breakfast every morning about what we were doing that day and the best way to get there. She became less of a host and more of a friend as the three days passed. She always asked about our touring and dining on the previous day so she could pass the knowledge on to future guests.
- Breakfasts: Excellent. Done as a light buffet. And the BEST COFFEE on the entire trip. Strong and hot. She brought an entire French Press to our table…just for us. We always emptied it.
- What they did best: One word: Gillian. We also loved the location. It was about a mile from downtown, so it was very quiet but still easy to get to.
- Things they could improve: Not much. But one little thing that would be an easy fix—some small shelf in the shower, please. Lining up our shampoo, conditioner and soap on the shower floor was a pain. Just a hanging rack from the shower head would work. See how minor that is? This place was great.
- Problems you will have in staying there: It took a bit of back and forth to make the reservation. I do wish that the Balintoy took credit cards, but they only accept cash or bank transfers. With much help from Gillian, we finally got the bank transfer thing to work. I still prefer having the safety of a creed card.
- Would we stay there again? You bet we would—in a minute.
Dining
Because of Gillian’s recommendations, I booked restaurant tables for dinner every night we were in Scotland other than the one night we did our 15-hour tour in Oban. I couldn’t get any restaurant to book after 8:00 p.m. and we couldn’t be sure we would be off the ferry by then. As it turned out we weren’t off until around 8:30 p.m. and there was nowhere that still had a kitchen open (It’s a small town).
Nights 1-3: Leeds, England
- Night one: Howard Bed and Breakfast—Leeds
- Delicious chicken dish. Lots of other great stuff to go with it.
- Night two: Murgatroyds—Leeds
- Really good Fish and Chips. Kind of a big family restaurant out by the airport. The fish was excellent. I am tired of chips. But I wasn’t when we had these, but could someone make crispy, thinner chips… please?
- Day three: Lunch at the Wensleydale Heifer in Wensleydale
- had eaten dinner at the Heifer when we last visited Paul and Gail, and it was just as good then as it was this time. A HUGE lunch. Absolutely would go again, and you should too if you are ever in the area.
- Day three: Howard Bed and Breakfast—Leeds
- Dinner was just cheese, crackers, olives. No one wanted anything more. But then they brought out the stinky cheese. If you eat there, skip that.
Nights 4-5 and 11-12: Glasgow, Scotland
- Night one: Banca di Roma
- One of the best meals on the trip. How much did we like it? We went back again on Day 11. It was a nice break from local food to have some high-end Italian. Best appetizer of the trip. A four-item dish with some of the best chicken I have ever had. I have to learn how to make it. For entrées, Kathleen had eggplant parm, I had a bolognese sauce made from octopus. Not as good as it sounded but still delicious.
- Night two: The Ivy Cafe-Glasgow
- Fun and quirky. Delicious shepherd’s pie. We would eat there again. We are eating at another Ivy with the same basic menu in London tomorrow night.
- Day ten: Ardnamurchan
- This place identifies itself as a “traditional Scottish restaurant.” That does not mean you have to eat haggis. I had a venison stew which is one of the two best meals I had on this trip. It tasted like candy…it was that good. My lovely wife had a lamb shank and I got to taste it. It was also amazing…but not as good as my stew.
- Day eleven: Banca di Roma
- See my note above. Still, the best appetizer we had. This time we had an entrée for two that was a delicious pasta dish but they gave us way too much.
Nights 6-7: Oban, Scotland
- Night six: Ee-Usk
- Even though it has a really different name, this place was outstanding. Kathleen had the halibut and I had a seafood salad that had more seafood than salad.
- Night seven: No place
- We couldn’t find anywhere to eat after we got off the ferry at 8:30 p.m. so we starved to death. The rest of this trip was finished by our doppelgängers.
Nights 8-10: Portree, Scotland
- Night eight: The Antlers Inn
- Just a good place for a quick meal. We had a big lunch in Mallaig so we just wanted to have a quick bite. This place was perfect. The best thing about dinner was the great service and the talk we had about the awesome music with the servers. It was a fun and memorable night. One of those you love to have when you are traveling.
- Night nine: The Rosedale Inn
- As good as the seafood salad at Ee-Usk was, the seafood linguine at the Rosedale was better. And Kathleen had a gnocchi that rocked. It has sweet potatoes in the sauce and it made it taste just perfect.
- Night ten: The View Restaurant
- This place was tied for the best restaurant with the Banca di Roma. It has a gorgeous view (of course it did) but the food was amazing. The bread service came with an unexpected surprise—pickled walnuts. They are awesome! I immediately thought I needed to make it myself but when I looked up the recipe it turns out it takes A MONTH TO MAKE IT because the walnuts have to ferment. I think I will just buy it by the jar on Amazon. Our entrées were also amazing. Kathleen had the chicken which she really liked and I had “shins of beef and spring garlic risotto.” WOW! To find this kind of food this far north in such a small town was phenomenal.
That about covers the food and lodging. Just a few more kudos to award. Except for some photos of the dishes of renown. Enjoy and feel free to look at these on your phone. That’s what I used to take them.
Best Scotland surprises:
- How well I adjusted to driving on the “other” side of the road. The first couple of days Kathleen was freaking out because I was driving to close to the left curb. But after some much-needed direction from her I wised up and things improved. Until the last day when I actually bumped a curb with my rear left tire. I think it jumped out at me ?.
- How awesome the food was. Be honest, when you think of British and Scottish food, you don’t think of great cuisine, right? Well, that changed for me on this trip. All our food was amazing…except the chips.
- How incredibly beautiful Scotland is. I knew it was beautiful, but WOW! There, I said it again.
- How small Scotland is. Getting from one place to another took us no time at all. We were able to drive almost two-thirds of the country in six hours or so.. Try that in California and you will still be in California and have a ways to go.
- How many fewer tourists we saw compared to what we expected. Pretty much every day (except returning from Portree to Glasgow) the traffic was just fine. Sometimes the car parks could be a little full but the downtowns of Oban and Portree were not that crowded.
- There were no midges. The pest of Scotland did not show up. We brought midge spray, we planned to wear dark clothes so as not to attract them, we did our research but no midges. Kathleen thinks that’s because the wind was always blowing and the temps stayed low.
- The Scottish weather and how fast it changed. You could literally be in bright sun one minute and two minutes later be in pouring rain. And it kept going back and forth for the entire trip. On most days (as you can see in my photos) I had plenty of great weather to shoot in. In fact, I preferred the big fluffy clouds to a flat blue sky. We are so happy we are doing this trip and not the Med where the temps have soared into the 100s this week.
Biggest bad surprises:
- How many people in Scotland (especially Glasgow) still smoke. It was everywhere. Every doorway, every street corner, and every place we went (thankfully not indoors) there were people smoking. We know that people smoke more in Europe than in our Pacific Northwest but this was much worse than we had seen in Greece, Italy and Spain two years ago.
The one Scottish experience I never want to have again:
- Trying to use the facilities on a 30-foot boat moving 25 knots an hour on a water surface with six-foot swells. I still don’t believe I survived that with my body intact. A close second would be waiting for a city bus for two hours in downtown Tobermory.
The one Scottish experience I really would love to have again:
- This is a toss-up between my experience shooting the puffins on Lunga and just driving through Glencoe. After struggling through Fort William traffic I almost told Kathleen that we should just bag Glencoe and drive back to Glasgow by the shortest route. Thank heavens I didn’t.
For me, this sums up Scotland: beauty everywhere, great weather and wonderful people. I am happy to be married to a woman of Scottish ancestry so we have an excuse to come back someday…I hope. I would truly hate to think I won’t see the beautiful place again.
I am attached to the west coast of Scotland – it’s gorgeous to look at and challenging. You have to contend with the possibility of being blown away or rained on. And in the summer months, you can be eaten alive by midges. —Clive Anderson