Scotland in Five Days: Day Five

Tonight's accommodation

Day Five: You arrive at Fort Williams train station in good time to catch the local train to Glasgow. This is a four hour journey, but not as satisfying as the other trips, because it is completed in the dark. Thus, you must while away the time with reading and hot chocolate from the trolley. There is the momentary diversion of the conductor’s announcement: “Please keep the aisles clear of all luggage, bags, and DOGS.” Yes, we have a few canine fellow-passengers on our two-car train.

Ah, train travel!

Eventually you arrive at Glasgow Queens Street Station, which by now you consider a veritable home-from-home, and navigate with ease. One this occasion, you have two hours to spend in Glasgow, and you spend it by having dinner. You ask a friendly taxi driver (all Scottish people - so far - have been extremely friendly and helpful) for a restaurant recommendation. He gives you a number of them, but since you can’t understand a single syllable of his brogue, this is of limited help. Still, he drops you in a busy part of the city, lined with restaurants, and you take you pick. The food is fine (chicken stuffed with haggis), the service is excellent, and soon you are on your way to Glasgow Central Station. Waiting for you there on Platform Ten is the Caledonian Sleeper, your transport back to London.

Very familiar by now.

Tiny berth.

Finding your berth is not difficult. Fitting into it with your suitcases is more so. Your excitement at joining the famous Caledonian sleeper is somewhat tempered by the discovery that it is a broken down old train in dire need of a re-fit; and you recall someone telling you that the service is in danger of being discontinued. Nevertheless, once squeezed into your narrow berth you sleep well, rocked by the gentle sway of a train in motion.

At 6.30 am the attendant taps on your door with a cup of tea and a shortbread biscuit, as the train glides gently into London Euston Station, a mere ten minute cab ride from home base. You heave your bags into the cab one last time. They have become a little heavier, laden as they are with memories of Scotland - aka bottles of single malt whisky.

Train travel in Scotland: recommended.

Scotland in Five Days: Day Three

Culloden House

Day Three: You rise late at Cameron House, and partake of a generous breakfast buffet. Which includes - though you don’t really need this - ‘breakfast haggis’. The eggs are delicious. They come from Mrs. McDougall’s hens, according to the provenance on the menu.

Set out then for the little train station in Balloch, and catch the waiting local train back to Glasgow. At Queen Street Station, where you now know your way around, join your principal conveyance of the day, the train to Inverness.

Four hour journey compressed to 3.45 mins for you to sample.

This is a four hour journey, and you will find it is a very picturesque ride. The farmland gives way to snow-topped mountains, wide glens and rushing rivers. There are even one or two handsome stone railway viaducts to cross. Fortifying yourself with snacks from the passing snack trolley, and practicing your Scottish with the attendants, the journey passes pleasantly. You wish you had planned to get off in Aviemore, because it seems to be in some beautiful country. You make a note for a return visit. The only teensy annoyance is the constant loud commentary from an unknown travelling companion across the aisle, who has a very carrying voice and , to judge by what you can’t help but hear, an exceedingly boring life. Still, the thick Scottish brogue in which it is all delivered gives you a chance to work on your Scottish comprehension.

Snowdrops at Culloden

Arrive mid-afternoon at Inverness. heaving a sigh of relief that you no longer have to listen to The Voice, you take a ten minute taxi ride to Culloden House. In, of course, Culloden, which lies on the  outskirts of Inverness, and is the site of Culloden Field which saw the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie. The Prince slept at Culloden House in the days before the battle. It is a fine Georgian mansion, on a site which has been occupied by a house of some sort or other since the 13th century. You spacious suite, secured at bargain winter rates, is in the east wing, overlooking the expansive front drive. After the long train ride, you decide to enjoy what Culloden House has to offer, and spend some time sitting in front of a cheerful fire in the sitting room. Dinner in the in-house restaurant, with tartan table runners, is enlivened by the appearance of a piper, who duly pipes in guests arriving for a business dinner meeting.

Culloden House

The Dining Room, Culloden House

Your choice?

Elegant.

After dinner you fall asleep in front of the fire again, whisky in hand.

In the morning, after yet another Full Scottish, you take some time to see Inverness. A friendly taxi driver turns out to be a part-time tour guide, and gives you a short ride around the town, pointing out Inverness Castle and the fast-flowing Ness River. Here there are bargains to be had at the Pringle shop - half-price cashmere. Spring must be on its way. Then you stock up with a few bottles of single malt to take home. It is soon time to take a taxi back to Culloden House. You depart at noon.

...to be continued.

Inverness Castle

Scotland in Five Days: Day One

The Witchery on The Royal Mile, Edinburgh

If you want to take a quick look at Scotland - well, you will have to restrict your destinations, of course. There’s borderlands, lowlands and highlands to consider. But here’s one possible itinerary. You will notice that it avoids airplanes altogether, and also cars to a significant extent, and relies on that most leisurely and civilised form of transport, the railway. It also involves staying in some rather lovely destination hotels. This is was a deliberate choice, since in February you can’t expect the weather to be too kind, and indeed it might be downright nasty. So the accommodations were chosen for their welcoming nature, and provision of fireplaces.

All aboard!

Day One: Proceed to Kings Cross Station, London, and board the train for Edinburgh. The journey is picturesque and takes about four and a half hours. Have lunch on board. Alight at Edinburgh’s Waverley Station, positioned at the foot of The Mound between the Old Town and the New Town. Proceed up the hill towards The Castle, stop on the Old Town cobblestones just before The Castle gate, and arrive at The Witchery, a restaurant with with rooms.

'The Guardroom'

Gothic bathroom

Meet your eccentric housekeeper Roxy, climb two stories up a stone spiral staircase, and enjoy a full tour of your room, called The Guardroom, in a 15th century building on the Royal Mile. Admire the opulent decoration, the extraordinary bathroom, the costumes and the view of the Old Town rooftops. Note that the hallway slopes, er, downhill. You have two sitting rooms, a large bedroom, the aforementioned bathroom, and a hidden kitchen. Two fireplaces (gas) are in evidence. But sadly, Roxy explains that the Power-That-Be have decreed that they are too “dangerous” and you’re not allowed to use them. A glint in Roxy’s eye says that you might if you dare, but in the end you don’t dare.

Comfy bedroom

In fact, not only is the heating quite fine, but the weather is surprisingly mild, temperatures having crept up into double digits. Set out for a quick afternoon tour of Edinburgh Castle, that magnificent redoubt perched above the city. The Castle was once home to Mary. Queen of Scots, and in a small back room (with n excellent view) she gave birth to James VI (of Scotland; he became James I of England -- but it’s a long story). Ponder a while in this small room, the sad and short life of Mary, cousin to Queen Elizabeth I, and threat to her throne. Cheer up by viewing the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Great Hall.

Edinburgh castle

Tartans

It’s windy at The Castle, and the evening is drawing in. Take a stroll down, and back up, the Royal Mile. Inspect the cashmere and tartans in the shops. Consider the astonishingly wide selection of whiskies. Go back to the The Witchery for dinner, since its restaurant is considered one of Edinburgh’s finest. Sample haggis and Scottish salmon. As a digestivo, try a single malt. Half an inch of deliciousness.

Mary, Queen of Scots

Edinburgh from the Castle

Next morning, enjoy a Full Scottish Breakfast (warning: black pudding is involved); consider porridge with whisky, reject. Take an after-breakfast stroll around the Old Town. Stop in to The Elephant Cafe, where local resident J K Rowling is said to have spent her time writing some of the early ‘Harry Potter’ books. Happen by accident upon the Scottish Writers' Centre in Lady’s Stairs House and view exhibitions about Sir Walter Scott, Rabbie Burns and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Miss your train, because Edinburgh is so absorbing...but return to Waverley Station and catch the next one...to Glasgow.

...to be continued.