This year I told myself I would cut down on holidays and focus my finances on my house so decided to do short and sweet UK trips. In the summer I visited Cornwall and this Autumn, me and my friend decided to go up north to Scotland. So this is a little post on what I got up to, where I went and how much I spent.
Pre- booking Scotland
Although we did book 2 hotels/bnbs before we went the trip was pretty spontaneous! We knew where we wanted to start and where we wanted to end so booked both bnbs and pretty much followed the wind. See where it blew us! We looked at Booking.com and the prices were pretty expensive and didnt look that great. So we decided to look at AirBnB instead and couldn't believe what we found. We found farm cottages, and ski lodges for around £75 per night and booked them straight away.From where I live (Doncaster), it took round 4 hours to get to our first stop. We full up the car and hit the road on Thursday early mornings.
Where to go in Scotland?
We decided to go to the following places:
- starting at Balloch (this is where the Lochs begin (loch lomond) and is one of the most beautiful places ive seen in the UK)
- Loch Lomond
- Luss
- Inveruglas
- Falls of Falloch
- Killin (the start of Loch Tay)
- Loch Tay
- Kenmore
- Aberfeldy
- Cairngorms National Park
- Tomatin
- Finishing off at Aviemore
Must see in Balloch and Loch Lomond - Scotland
- Balloch Castle
- Balloch Castle Fairy Trail
- Cameron House
- Duck Bay
Balloch is a small town which starts of the Lochs in Southern Scotland. It starts off one of the most beautiful lochs called Loch Lomond. Whilst there we visited the Balloch Castle which is absolutely beautiful. The grounds are huge and allows you to walk along the loch and see the views from all angles.
You can visit the Chinese garden and see the beautiful trees and flowers as well as the fairy trail too.
We then drove up the left hand side of Loch Lomond stopping off at Luss, Inveruglas and Falls of Falloch on the way.
Must see in Loch Tay - Scotland
Loch Tay is the next loch we visited as it is on they way up north to Cairngorms National Park. We started off in little village called Killin of which we visited the Falls of Dochart. The falls are absolutely beautiful of which you can walk along and even swim in. We stayed on a farm in the middle of the Loch with the most beautiful view.
The next day we stopped off at Kenmore for some lunch and shortbread and Aviemore for a break from the long drive. Here we visited Castle Menzies and Birks of Aberfeldy.
After leaving Aviemore, we spent the next 2 hours heading to the highlands going to our next and last stop of Cairngorms National Park.
Must see and do in Cairngorms National Park
We had one day to spend in Cairngorms which is not enough to see it all. the drive through Cairngorms seeing the amazing views was out of this world. It actually felt like was in Canada. We used our time wisely and head straight to Aviemore - the biggest ski resort in the UK. I was so surprised to find how vibrant it was, busy with bars and restuarants but also quaint and in the middle of nowhere. This is where we saw the reindeers and climbed some beautiful mountains. We then head to Tomatin for the night and stayed in this huge lodge before heading home
How much to take for a Scotland trip?
Four four days, I personally spent:
Total: £175
Day1: £25 half of Bnb in Balloch
Day 2: £38 half of Airbnb in Loch Tay
Day 3: £35 half of Airbnb in Cairngorms + £14 to see the reindeers
Petrol/Diesel: four days total £75
Food was generally cheap and waterfalls and attractions were all free!
Going to Scotland in October was one of the best choices as the trees and views were autumny but warm enough to not have to wrap up too much.
You can find more pictures on my Instagram and my next post will be sharing where I stayed including links to the AirBnbs with this view...
Ive never been to Scotland! such a beautiful place!
ReplyDeletePam xo/ Pam Scalfi♥
What beautiful pictures! I have visited Edinburgh twice (once on a trip, and once with work) and I loved Scotland so much. I want to visit more of the highlands and the lochs. xx
ReplyDeleteJessie | allthingsbeautiful-x
So nice article, glad to read this post, thanks so much!
ReplyDelete