- Joined
- Jul 16, 2010
- Messages
- 11,634
- Reaction score
- 8,039
- Location
- The Weirs, New Hampshire
- Resorts Owned
- Innseason Pollard Brook
Well, we finally made it back from our first trip overseas to Scotland and, as promised, here is my synopsis of the week. I have posted a review on TUG, and well as pictures, of Kilconquhar Castle Resort, so they should appear on the site in the next few days. I had planned this trip for over a year, agonizing over all the dirty details of overseas traveling and now it’s over in a heartbeat!
The first day that we arrived at Edinburgh airport it was pouring rain with very strong winds and, after picking up our rental car at Hertz and checking in at the resort, we headed out to Anstruther to the Food Cooperative to purchase some groceries. We were jet-lagged from the flight, and slightly stressed from our first time driving on the left with a right steering wheel, etc., so we just unpacked and relaxed the rest of the day.
Second Day- We visited St. Andrews. Again, it was raining on and off. We didn’t let that stop us! We walked the Old Course and went to the St. Andrew’s Castle and Cathedral ruins, which sit on the edge of the town overlooking the sea. We also walked the town/university and had an early bird dinner at the Doll’s House Restaurant at the recommendation of another TUG member here. Was very good and reasonably priced. We also bought a few more grocery items at the TESCO food mart here. On Sundays, there is no parking charges, so we didn’t have to worry about the meter.
Third Day-There were not enough guest sign-ups for the Edinburgh tour, so we hired the driver privately to bring us in. I would not recommend driving in Edinburgh if you are not familiar with the overseas and urban driving. There is a train out of Kirkaldy, about a 30-45 minute drive from the resort, but we did not want to hassle with figuring out the schedule and such. Paying for a driver was a bit of an expensive option, but we felt it was the best one for us. Plus, we wanted to visit the Roslyn Chapel afterwards and then we would have had to figure out the bus schedule from Edinburgh. The tour owner, George, picked us up at 8:45 am right at our villa and gave us the run down of all the sights on the way, which you would not get on a train. The trams are all down in Edinburgh due to reconstruction and there was lots of traffic and bottlenecks. He dropped us off right at Edinburgh Castle and met us near the Olympic Rings later on for pick-up. We had lunch outside at the Scottish Café and Restaurant and walked along the streets. Yes- the sun did come out that day! We then asked George to take us to the Roslyn Chapel, which was fascinating and then we returned back to the villa. A full day. We didn’t get to see the Holyrood House, which George said was overrated anyway, due to lack of time.
Fourth Day-Beautiful weather! We drove to Sterling Castle and the Wallace Monument, and then drove out to for a very brief look at Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. It was a long day and a lot of mileage and I would have liked to stay in the Trossachs because I basically like natural wonders as opposed to cities, but it was a long way back, and my husband was getting tired of the concentration he needed to drive, so we took some pics and left to return to the resort. It was a full day for sure!
Fifth Day-Again, there were not enough sign-ups for the Glencoe/Loch Ness tour, so it didn’t happen. They were 2 people short and in retrospect, we should have asked if the other individuals would have been willing split the difference with us of the loss of the 2 paying guests to the driver, but I didn’t think of it until later. It is too far to drive in one day round trip, (an eleven hour day) which is why we wanted someone else to do the driving. The tour operator decided to move the following day’s tour to Glamis Castle, a distillery and the Pitchoury area to this day, but we didn’t want to do that tour, so I don’t think that happened either as they would have needed our participation to proceed. But- it worked out for us ok. It was again, a sunny day, and we visited the quaint village of Culross and then the Falkirk Wheel, which I highly recommend. An amazing feat of engineering. We took the boat ride up to experience it for ourselves. Then we headed back to the village of Ellie and had lunch at the Ship’s Inn right by the beach. Wonderful! And, we then visited the Ardross Farmer’s Market between Ellie and Pittenween and purchased some delicious Reid of Caithness Shortbread and Toffee cookies. And then back to Anstruther for a few more groceries.
Sixth Day- Weather was going to be miserable and we decided early on to stay locally. We had originally planned to drive the 75 miles up the eastern coast to see the ruins of Dunnator Castle near Stonehaven, but with the weather being bad and wanting to give my husband a break with the driving, we visited Crail and walked along the coastal path and the town a bit. Then, we headed for an indoor excursion to the underground Secret Bunker, which was right near Crail. Very interesting for history buffs. Hey- might be needed again soon the way the world is going! Afterwards, we went to the famous Anstruther Fish and Chips Bar everyone has recommended. Because it was early and the weather wasn’t good, we got right in. Very enjoyable and reasonably priced. The young woman at the ice cream counter shorted me 5 pounds, and I went back in to tell her and she gave me my correct change with no questions asked. We then headed back to the villa and stayed in like couch potatoes the rest of the day and eve, as the rain was steady and the winds were gusting!
Seventh Day- Again, gloomy weather, although the rain held off. We were short a day of planned activities because of the Glencoe tour cancellation, but were thinking of taking a boat trip out to the Isle of May. But, because of the weather, we did not book it and, wouldn’t you know, at about the time the boat was supposed to leave (2:30pm) the sun was out! Oh, well….We just took a walk into the quiet village of Kilconquhar to get some exercise, sat in the sun out on our patio near the horse pasture with beautiful views, and prepared for our trip back home the next day.
Eighth Day- We left at 4:15 am for the Edinburgh airport. It was, of course, raining, but, as it was a Saturday and so early, there was no traffic. We filled up with gas the day before, and with the diesel engine (we had an automatic) the gage barely moved for the 42 mile journey.
Car rental desks were not opened at that time, but an employee came in around 6:15 am and we handed him the rented GPS and the keys and he said they would send a receipt to us. Our flight was delayed an hour, but we amazingly arrived back to Newark airport on time. Unfortunately, our car hire was not there due to a death in the family and the replacement company she sent was 2 hours late because of traffic! We tried to rent a car before we knew what was happening and there wasn’t a single rental car available with any company! How this could be at a big airport like Newark is beyond me. Talk about stress! Thank goodness we finally hooked up with the replacement driver and got home sweet home!
Here are just a few insights I found to be applicable to our personal experience:
As many experienced overseas travelers had advised- you cannot rush around to try to see everything in a week, or 2 weeks, or whatever. For a newbie, It takes a lot of concentration, especially for people over 50 who have developed many years of habits. You have to go slow because you have to double think about everything you do. Like with the driving- you drive on the left; the steering wheel is on the right; the signs are all different. In Scotland there are speed cameras everywhere, even in the rural areas and when the sign says 30, you had better be at 30 exactly at that sign marker. Even with a GPS, it really took the 3 of us to “drive”. My husband had a hard time glancing and listening to the GPS, plus trying to understand the signs and trying to navigate those darn annoying roundabouts, which come up like every mile or 2 in some places! Our son would hold the GPS and instruct him and I, being in the front seat, would look ahead to advise what was coming up. The car rental GPS, just like the ones in the US, was great to have, but it also lead us down some crazy paths and could be aggravating at times, but we wouldn’t drive without one overseas. I am a big map person, but I couldn’t make heads or tails out of some of the road maps! The driver also cannot really enjoy the views as he has to concentrate on driving (and so do the passengers!). And, in Scotland, with all the hedgerows and stone walls on the narrow roads, you cannot pull over to take pictures, etc. My husband and I both agreed that if we go overseas again, like to Italy, we would go on a tour- less work, less thinking, less planning. Might even use a travel agent. But we are torn, because we do like having a timeshare unit - with the space and the kitchen, etc. - and are not particularly fond of hotel rooms and living out of a suitcase either! We were tired when we started the trip from our jobs(we are not retired and drive a lot on our jobs) and the driving was a bit stressful in terms of that you couldn’t really relax as you drove. Although planning the trip was exciting, it was also somewhat wearing for me mentally, at least.
This all said, my husband did a wonderful job driving. Only hit a curb like once or twice. Took our time- obeyed the speed limits; stayed in the left (slow) lane on the highway, etc.
In keeping with what I said about slowing the travel experience…. We also decided that we did not want to see hundreds of castles and churches in just the week we were here, so we picked a few key ones- Edinburgh and Sterling and the ruins at St. Andrew, St. Giles Cathedral and the Roslyn Chapel - and then decided on some different types of things like the Falkirk Wheel and the Secret Bunker to break it up.
We also felt we did not want to go to things like art museums and concerts or amusement parks- we can do that kind of thing in NY. We wanted to just experience things that were uniquely Scottish. Would have liked to visit the Scottish Museum in Edinburgh (which is free) , but again, not enough time.
I did feel at about the 4th day that I wanted to go home! Not that I didn’t like Scotland, but because I always had this subtle stress level underneath, and my husband felt that way as well. We didn’t feel relaxed or even exhilarated. Strange for us, because we have traveled independently to a lot of places in the US, like Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Arizona- always very invigorated and relaxed at the same time. Again, I think we were just tired from working for the past 6 months with no time off and I do believe there was a small bit of anxiety every time we got in the car to drive somewhere. We did look at it as an adventure, but you still have to be careful. I guess we were too much out of our comfort zone in a small way? If you read my resort review, even having to do things like turn all the electric breakers on and off several times a day in our villa added to this. Not really a big deal, but when you add everything up it is a bit of work!
The currency is different, of course, but similar to ours. The exchange rate was awful. We used our Capital One Card for everything, since there are no foreign transaction fees. It was taken everywhere, even though it is a swipe card. One gas station attendant said she doesn’t see many swipe cards anymore! So, all my work in obtaining the chip and pin card from Andrews Credit Union was not necessary in Scotland. In fact, none of the gas stations were pay at the pump - we had to go inside to pay anyway. (By the way, Discover card is making inroads into the UK - where you see Diners Club, they take Discover, and there are no foreign transaction fees. We, however, did not notice Diner’s Club logos where we went). VAT taxes were on practically everything except the food store. I was surprised there were VAT taxes at the attractions and restaurants. I thought they would only be on retail purchases. When asked, no one knew about giving me a retail scheme form (407) so we could get reimbursed. Annoying.
Also, we had purchased Identity Protection Sleeves for our credit cards and passports, but found them annoying to have to pull out the cards and documents every time we needed them. Scotland is a safe country and I don’t feel they were necessary. The money/neck belts were fine. Felt more secure with those, really so I didn’t have to worry if I lost my bag.
The International Mobal cell phone we bought for $39 and no monthly service fee, was good to have, although we only used it once to make a dinner reservation.
The Welcome Pak we ordered at the resort was really unnecessary as we found the supermarkets ok and some items in the pak were not used, so wouldn’t order that again if we had to do it over.
The food in Scotland leaves a lot to be desired. We felt like we were going through food withdrawal. We didn’t eat out too much, but felt we weren’t missing much with the menus at the restaurants. Pheasant, duck, venison, haggis, cheese and onion sandwiches on sliced bread- no thanks! Pastries and cookies were excellent. I was dying to have just a tuna fish sandwich! When we got back home, the first thing we did was order a lot of Chinese food! Even McDonalds would have sounded good to us and we are not fast food type people! Fish and chips were great- things like salmon and chicken and beef dishes were good. They eat potatoes with everything!
All in all, the trip went well. Always wanted to visit Scotland and the country is beautiful and the people are nice. The history is amazing. I don’t like flying, or airports or crowds, or cities particularly, (we live in a rural area in NY), so staying in the quiet countryside was lovely. I was very impressed with the gigantic farms and large amounts of farm animals throughout the country. I didn’t realize that farming was on such a massive scale there!
I do think for the total cost of this vacation, and the type of vacation it was, you get a much better value for the same type in the US. But, there is only one Scotland and I had to see it for myself! My husband and I agreed the only place we would probably travel to overseas in the future would be maybe Italy. Other than that, we will travel in the US/Canada and mainly to our home resort in VT.
PS We traveled only with carryons and it was very freeing and fine for just a week’s trip.
Sorry this is so long, but it also serves as my journal for the trip.
I want to also add that it does not get dark this time of year in Scotland, so our bodies were probably tired from adjusting to pretty much 24 hours of daylight! Even when we woke up at 3:30 am to leave for our flight, we could see out perfectly- like dusk would be here in the US.
Another thing- we could not have a "Wee Dram" in the pubs because of driving.
The first day that we arrived at Edinburgh airport it was pouring rain with very strong winds and, after picking up our rental car at Hertz and checking in at the resort, we headed out to Anstruther to the Food Cooperative to purchase some groceries. We were jet-lagged from the flight, and slightly stressed from our first time driving on the left with a right steering wheel, etc., so we just unpacked and relaxed the rest of the day.
Second Day- We visited St. Andrews. Again, it was raining on and off. We didn’t let that stop us! We walked the Old Course and went to the St. Andrew’s Castle and Cathedral ruins, which sit on the edge of the town overlooking the sea. We also walked the town/university and had an early bird dinner at the Doll’s House Restaurant at the recommendation of another TUG member here. Was very good and reasonably priced. We also bought a few more grocery items at the TESCO food mart here. On Sundays, there is no parking charges, so we didn’t have to worry about the meter.
Third Day-There were not enough guest sign-ups for the Edinburgh tour, so we hired the driver privately to bring us in. I would not recommend driving in Edinburgh if you are not familiar with the overseas and urban driving. There is a train out of Kirkaldy, about a 30-45 minute drive from the resort, but we did not want to hassle with figuring out the schedule and such. Paying for a driver was a bit of an expensive option, but we felt it was the best one for us. Plus, we wanted to visit the Roslyn Chapel afterwards and then we would have had to figure out the bus schedule from Edinburgh. The tour owner, George, picked us up at 8:45 am right at our villa and gave us the run down of all the sights on the way, which you would not get on a train. The trams are all down in Edinburgh due to reconstruction and there was lots of traffic and bottlenecks. He dropped us off right at Edinburgh Castle and met us near the Olympic Rings later on for pick-up. We had lunch outside at the Scottish Café and Restaurant and walked along the streets. Yes- the sun did come out that day! We then asked George to take us to the Roslyn Chapel, which was fascinating and then we returned back to the villa. A full day. We didn’t get to see the Holyrood House, which George said was overrated anyway, due to lack of time.
Fourth Day-Beautiful weather! We drove to Sterling Castle and the Wallace Monument, and then drove out to for a very brief look at Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. It was a long day and a lot of mileage and I would have liked to stay in the Trossachs because I basically like natural wonders as opposed to cities, but it was a long way back, and my husband was getting tired of the concentration he needed to drive, so we took some pics and left to return to the resort. It was a full day for sure!
Fifth Day-Again, there were not enough sign-ups for the Glencoe/Loch Ness tour, so it didn’t happen. They were 2 people short and in retrospect, we should have asked if the other individuals would have been willing split the difference with us of the loss of the 2 paying guests to the driver, but I didn’t think of it until later. It is too far to drive in one day round trip, (an eleven hour day) which is why we wanted someone else to do the driving. The tour operator decided to move the following day’s tour to Glamis Castle, a distillery and the Pitchoury area to this day, but we didn’t want to do that tour, so I don’t think that happened either as they would have needed our participation to proceed. But- it worked out for us ok. It was again, a sunny day, and we visited the quaint village of Culross and then the Falkirk Wheel, which I highly recommend. An amazing feat of engineering. We took the boat ride up to experience it for ourselves. Then we headed back to the village of Ellie and had lunch at the Ship’s Inn right by the beach. Wonderful! And, we then visited the Ardross Farmer’s Market between Ellie and Pittenween and purchased some delicious Reid of Caithness Shortbread and Toffee cookies. And then back to Anstruther for a few more groceries.
Sixth Day- Weather was going to be miserable and we decided early on to stay locally. We had originally planned to drive the 75 miles up the eastern coast to see the ruins of Dunnator Castle near Stonehaven, but with the weather being bad and wanting to give my husband a break with the driving, we visited Crail and walked along the coastal path and the town a bit. Then, we headed for an indoor excursion to the underground Secret Bunker, which was right near Crail. Very interesting for history buffs. Hey- might be needed again soon the way the world is going! Afterwards, we went to the famous Anstruther Fish and Chips Bar everyone has recommended. Because it was early and the weather wasn’t good, we got right in. Very enjoyable and reasonably priced. The young woman at the ice cream counter shorted me 5 pounds, and I went back in to tell her and she gave me my correct change with no questions asked. We then headed back to the villa and stayed in like couch potatoes the rest of the day and eve, as the rain was steady and the winds were gusting!
Seventh Day- Again, gloomy weather, although the rain held off. We were short a day of planned activities because of the Glencoe tour cancellation, but were thinking of taking a boat trip out to the Isle of May. But, because of the weather, we did not book it and, wouldn’t you know, at about the time the boat was supposed to leave (2:30pm) the sun was out! Oh, well….We just took a walk into the quiet village of Kilconquhar to get some exercise, sat in the sun out on our patio near the horse pasture with beautiful views, and prepared for our trip back home the next day.
Eighth Day- We left at 4:15 am for the Edinburgh airport. It was, of course, raining, but, as it was a Saturday and so early, there was no traffic. We filled up with gas the day before, and with the diesel engine (we had an automatic) the gage barely moved for the 42 mile journey.
Car rental desks were not opened at that time, but an employee came in around 6:15 am and we handed him the rented GPS and the keys and he said they would send a receipt to us. Our flight was delayed an hour, but we amazingly arrived back to Newark airport on time. Unfortunately, our car hire was not there due to a death in the family and the replacement company she sent was 2 hours late because of traffic! We tried to rent a car before we knew what was happening and there wasn’t a single rental car available with any company! How this could be at a big airport like Newark is beyond me. Talk about stress! Thank goodness we finally hooked up with the replacement driver and got home sweet home!
Here are just a few insights I found to be applicable to our personal experience:
As many experienced overseas travelers had advised- you cannot rush around to try to see everything in a week, or 2 weeks, or whatever. For a newbie, It takes a lot of concentration, especially for people over 50 who have developed many years of habits. You have to go slow because you have to double think about everything you do. Like with the driving- you drive on the left; the steering wheel is on the right; the signs are all different. In Scotland there are speed cameras everywhere, even in the rural areas and when the sign says 30, you had better be at 30 exactly at that sign marker. Even with a GPS, it really took the 3 of us to “drive”. My husband had a hard time glancing and listening to the GPS, plus trying to understand the signs and trying to navigate those darn annoying roundabouts, which come up like every mile or 2 in some places! Our son would hold the GPS and instruct him and I, being in the front seat, would look ahead to advise what was coming up. The car rental GPS, just like the ones in the US, was great to have, but it also lead us down some crazy paths and could be aggravating at times, but we wouldn’t drive without one overseas. I am a big map person, but I couldn’t make heads or tails out of some of the road maps! The driver also cannot really enjoy the views as he has to concentrate on driving (and so do the passengers!). And, in Scotland, with all the hedgerows and stone walls on the narrow roads, you cannot pull over to take pictures, etc. My husband and I both agreed that if we go overseas again, like to Italy, we would go on a tour- less work, less thinking, less planning. Might even use a travel agent. But we are torn, because we do like having a timeshare unit - with the space and the kitchen, etc. - and are not particularly fond of hotel rooms and living out of a suitcase either! We were tired when we started the trip from our jobs(we are not retired and drive a lot on our jobs) and the driving was a bit stressful in terms of that you couldn’t really relax as you drove. Although planning the trip was exciting, it was also somewhat wearing for me mentally, at least.
This all said, my husband did a wonderful job driving. Only hit a curb like once or twice. Took our time- obeyed the speed limits; stayed in the left (slow) lane on the highway, etc.
In keeping with what I said about slowing the travel experience…. We also decided that we did not want to see hundreds of castles and churches in just the week we were here, so we picked a few key ones- Edinburgh and Sterling and the ruins at St. Andrew, St. Giles Cathedral and the Roslyn Chapel - and then decided on some different types of things like the Falkirk Wheel and the Secret Bunker to break it up.
We also felt we did not want to go to things like art museums and concerts or amusement parks- we can do that kind of thing in NY. We wanted to just experience things that were uniquely Scottish. Would have liked to visit the Scottish Museum in Edinburgh (which is free) , but again, not enough time.
I did feel at about the 4th day that I wanted to go home! Not that I didn’t like Scotland, but because I always had this subtle stress level underneath, and my husband felt that way as well. We didn’t feel relaxed or even exhilarated. Strange for us, because we have traveled independently to a lot of places in the US, like Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Arizona- always very invigorated and relaxed at the same time. Again, I think we were just tired from working for the past 6 months with no time off and I do believe there was a small bit of anxiety every time we got in the car to drive somewhere. We did look at it as an adventure, but you still have to be careful. I guess we were too much out of our comfort zone in a small way? If you read my resort review, even having to do things like turn all the electric breakers on and off several times a day in our villa added to this. Not really a big deal, but when you add everything up it is a bit of work!
The currency is different, of course, but similar to ours. The exchange rate was awful. We used our Capital One Card for everything, since there are no foreign transaction fees. It was taken everywhere, even though it is a swipe card. One gas station attendant said she doesn’t see many swipe cards anymore! So, all my work in obtaining the chip and pin card from Andrews Credit Union was not necessary in Scotland. In fact, none of the gas stations were pay at the pump - we had to go inside to pay anyway. (By the way, Discover card is making inroads into the UK - where you see Diners Club, they take Discover, and there are no foreign transaction fees. We, however, did not notice Diner’s Club logos where we went). VAT taxes were on practically everything except the food store. I was surprised there were VAT taxes at the attractions and restaurants. I thought they would only be on retail purchases. When asked, no one knew about giving me a retail scheme form (407) so we could get reimbursed. Annoying.
Also, we had purchased Identity Protection Sleeves for our credit cards and passports, but found them annoying to have to pull out the cards and documents every time we needed them. Scotland is a safe country and I don’t feel they were necessary. The money/neck belts were fine. Felt more secure with those, really so I didn’t have to worry if I lost my bag.
The International Mobal cell phone we bought for $39 and no monthly service fee, was good to have, although we only used it once to make a dinner reservation.
The Welcome Pak we ordered at the resort was really unnecessary as we found the supermarkets ok and some items in the pak were not used, so wouldn’t order that again if we had to do it over.
The food in Scotland leaves a lot to be desired. We felt like we were going through food withdrawal. We didn’t eat out too much, but felt we weren’t missing much with the menus at the restaurants. Pheasant, duck, venison, haggis, cheese and onion sandwiches on sliced bread- no thanks! Pastries and cookies were excellent. I was dying to have just a tuna fish sandwich! When we got back home, the first thing we did was order a lot of Chinese food! Even McDonalds would have sounded good to us and we are not fast food type people! Fish and chips were great- things like salmon and chicken and beef dishes were good. They eat potatoes with everything!
All in all, the trip went well. Always wanted to visit Scotland and the country is beautiful and the people are nice. The history is amazing. I don’t like flying, or airports or crowds, or cities particularly, (we live in a rural area in NY), so staying in the quiet countryside was lovely. I was very impressed with the gigantic farms and large amounts of farm animals throughout the country. I didn’t realize that farming was on such a massive scale there!
I do think for the total cost of this vacation, and the type of vacation it was, you get a much better value for the same type in the US. But, there is only one Scotland and I had to see it for myself! My husband and I agreed the only place we would probably travel to overseas in the future would be maybe Italy. Other than that, we will travel in the US/Canada and mainly to our home resort in VT.
PS We traveled only with carryons and it was very freeing and fine for just a week’s trip.
Sorry this is so long, but it also serves as my journal for the trip.
I want to also add that it does not get dark this time of year in Scotland, so our bodies were probably tired from adjusting to pretty much 24 hours of daylight! Even when we woke up at 3:30 am to leave for our flight, we could see out perfectly- like dusk would be here in the US.
Another thing- we could not have a "Wee Dram" in the pubs because of driving.
Last edited:
