The one where we travel to Edinburgh to spend a week or two driving around Scotland, starting with the Highlands. (Scottish Highland Fling, Part 1)

Highland Fling: Prelude

We land in London Heathrow after an uneventful if luxurious trip on Thai Airways (the food! โอ้โห!!) and head straight to stay with our good friends Patrick and Stephen (Ian Craig from the Archers – IYKYK) in Twickenham. And there we stay for 48 hours, venturing no further than the local pub for a Sunday roast.

But we do have the special treat of a visit from a few old friends. First, Emma pops down from Dublin for a frenetic 16 hour visit. Gotta love how you can do that sort of thing in Europe.
Later, Jess and Phil come by – wow! We haven’t seen you two in – twenty years?? Funny story with those two. We first met Phil in Nepal in the early noughties:

“So,” said Phil at the top of the Annapurna trail, “I understand you two are coming to London and will be staying with us.”
Al: “Yes, and thanks so much for offering up your spare room to us.”
Phil: “Oh, no problem at all – so how long are you staying? A few weeks?”
Al: “Uh… no… a few years. All of our stuff is on its way to your flat as we speak. Did Shane not tell you…??”
Stunned silence… followed very quickly by “OHHH yes of course, of course, and no problem. Would you excuse me for a sec?” (Madly finds a phone to call Jess. “Ummm… slight change in plans for the next few…years….” )

And that’s how we ended up in that West Kensington flat for three years…

While we’re in Twickenham we manage a quick stroll through the High Street, Church Street and down to the Thames where you can look across to Eel Pie Island, home of the famous Eel Pie Hotel where many bands played early gigs. We don’t cross the bridge onto the island, but wander across to the monthly vinyl record market and find a few bargains. (Trip vinyl count: 3)

Much merriment ensued through the remainder of our stay.

On to Edinburgh

And with that, we bid adieu to Londinium and head up to Auld Reekie. This is our third visit to Edinburgh (fourth counting Al’s family trip at age 10). The first was on a road trip from London when we discovered the amazing experience that is the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. At the end of that trip, before we’d even left the city, we’d booked our flights and hotel to come again the following year. Ah, the heady days of living in London.

This time we’re here a couple of weeks after the end of the festival, as the locals are recovering from what has become a crazy time, when the city swells from 500,000 to over 2 million. It’s quite incredible that the cabbies and locals can summon a smile for a tourist after that kind of month. But they do and are quite chatty and helpful.
Without the distraction of the festival, we’ve got a different focus — and with Marj providing some suggestions of things that we’d probably not discover on our own, we’re looking forward to seeing a different side of Edinburgh.

The obligatory castle picture
 

Andy Goldsworthy and The National Gallery

One of the things we love about travel is discovering artists, music and culture we’ve never heard of before. Enter Andy Goldsworthy, a famous British artist that uses nature to make art and create installations. The National Gallery in Edinburgh is hosting a retrospective of 50 years of his work, where he was invited to create an exhibition that uses the gallery in the same way he would a part of the forest or outdoor space.

What follows is a series of fascinating and beautiful installations, starting with a ‘stair runner’ made of sheep’s wool that stretches all the way up the sweeping staircase from the ground floor to the first floor of the gallery. At the top of the stairs we’re met with a wall of barbed wire wound around two of the huge columns of the gallery. Later we find a room with a path cutting through giant piles of driftwood, an entire ‘fresco’ wall of rich red clay, and a room filled with stones sourced from cemeteries all over the region.

There are also photos of Andy’s ongoing artwork ‘installations’ from 2009 where he uses leaves and other natural elements to create striking effects, like what looks like paint on a fallen elm tree as it has been slowly decaying over the last 16 years. (I’m not sure that you can call this an installation. It’s literally at the side of a river out in the countryside. When you first see the photos you assume they’ve been photoshopped to show these amazing effects, but actually it’s all real and made using plants). Have a look at his Insta account to get the idea.)

Now that we know his name, we start seeing Andy Goldsworthy works all through Scotland.

Walking Tour of New Town

We’ve been using the Rick Steves Guide to Scotland (because we’re old now??) which we’ve found to be quite good. We follow his self-guided walking tour of New Town, which is interesting. Then we walk through Edinburgh University (so beautiful) to dinner at a place called Canopy. Oh, and we pass a used record stall at the edge of campus. (Trip vinyl count: 5)

The obligatory castle picture 2, with the National Gallery in the foreground.

National Museum

If you’re in Scotland, having a scone is a mandatory activity. And they’ll be a recurring theme in this blog entry. The best coffee and scones we’ve found so far are at Thomas J Walls. It also turns out to have the best Millionaire’s shortbread (also mandatory) in all of Scotland (as voted by Al).

After our second breakfast, we spend the morning wandering through the Scottish National Museum to check out some more Andy Goldsworthy hidden in plain sight in the basement (another clay wall, and a pile of whale bones made into a perfect sphere!) and some rocks up on the roof top (wow, you’re really selling that one). And some random taxidermy.

Then we run-walk to make it to the Traverse Theatre for ‘A Play, A Pie and a Pint’ (thanks to Stephen for the heads up on this!), a one-hour play in the bowels of The Usher Hall. The show that was on while we’re here is not the lightest of topics — three actors on a tiny stage tell the story of a journalist in the final days of Pol Pot’s regime in Cambodia – but gripping. After the play we walk down the Royal Mile away from the castle, down to Holyrood, the Scottish Parliament and Holyrood Castle, where the monarch stays whenever they’re in town. We don’t go in to either, but enjoy the views before making our way back home. It was about two miles round trip, I guess.

Arthur’s Seat, near Holyrood Castle

For dinner, we head back to New Town, and the spectacular Dome Grill Room. This old school brasserie is set in a former banking hall, and the food and the views don’t disappoint. (We’ve also been reliably told that the Club Room offers a more intimate experience, but we really wanted to experience sitting in the Greco-Roman décor and soaking in the atmosphere).

After a few days in Edinburgh, it’s time for us to head on out of the city for a good old fashioned Highland Fling.

Highland Fling

For years Marj and Roy have been regaling us with tales of the beauty of the Scottish Highlands and this mythical place called ‘Brora’. Picture an ancient links golf course snuggled on the misty shores of the North Sea, dotted with golfers in their plus fours with hickory sticks slung across their backs as sheep and cows wander carelessly across the fairways, while in the distance the unmistakable drone of a lone piper drifts across the valley. This is what we’ve been promised.

So today we head out of Edinburgh towards Brora. And, since Scotland really isn’t that big (like, really not that big), we’ve planned a leisurely day with stops along the way. Starting with a stop at ‘the other Perth’* for the obligatory photo and a wander through the riverside sculpture garden. (*For those who aren’t aware, Michelle’s from the Original and the Best Perth, in Western Australia, where we now live). It’s also our first, and last, experience with the astoundingly frustrating Scottish parking app, RingGo.

Birnam Wood

While most people we’d spoken to about Scotland seemed obsessed with Outlander and the idea of visiting the castles mentioned in the (book? series? movie? no idea), our theme du jour was ‘the Scottish Play’ (Macbeth). Al has always had a soft spot for the Bard. Maybe because it’s one of the few things he remembers from University (perhaps the only texts he actually read?). Anyway, that’s the reason we find ourselves diverting off the main road, through the quaint hamlet of Birnam to one of the last remaining trees of the medieval Birnam Wood forest.

While it is a spectacular tree the sign does admit that while it is very old, it’s unlikely to be the exact tree from the time of Macbeth in the 11th Century. Still quite cool. We’ll revisit Macbeth again a little later on. Spoiler alert: Birnam Wood is important. (“Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be, until / Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill / Shall come against him”).

Another detour along winding, apparently two-way roads take us to Queen’s view lookout with views up Loch Tummel.

The House of Bruar

Also seemingly obligatory as you drive North is a stop at the House of Bruar, which cleverly targets tourists at their peak excitement point just as they get their highland adventure underway. It lures them in with plenty of motorway signage spruiking all things quintessentially highland. From cashmere gloves to tartan throws to hunting-themed decorations for one’s after-dinner whisky room, this place has everything you never knew you needed.

It’s also not a bad spot to stop for lunch (oh my lord, the hot choices at the counter are astonishing!) or to stock up on picnic fare like hot smoked salmon, Scottish cheese and oat cakes. In fact, definitely a good place to stock up on those things. Well worth a wee visit.

Brora Bound

After our Bruar sojourn, we make it to Brora right on time for our meeting with Marj’s old friend Alistair at the Brora Golf Club. A local who spent every summer here for most of his life before retiring to the town and helping to run the local golf club, Alistair’s gentle brogue was exactly the introduction we needed to get us excited about the next few days. His stories from the past combined with the rich history captured in sepia photos on every wall of the club, all while enjoying a warming dram in one of the overstuffed chairs in the lounge? Call us charmed.

Brora is a seaside town that bursts to life in summer. In the early autumn it’s a little somnolent but still a place where people say hello as you pass on the street.

The next day sees Al leaping out of bed like a kid on Christmas morning. A little over a year ago he’d booked a tee time for this very morning, crossing his fingers every day since then to bring fine (or at least reasonable) weather. We look out the window to see the sun rising over the North Sea, a long stretch of glittering beach and most importantly, the green of the links course stretching out in the distance. Without writing another entire 5,000 word blog post about the round of golf, let’s just say that the experience doesn’t disappoint. …And the score? Doesn’t matter…

Of Falcons and Sutherland

Just south of Brora lies Dunrobin Castle, which introduces us to the Sutherlands, a family that controlled a large piece of this Highlands region (Sutherlandshire, naturally) and whose name we’d see pop up throughout the rest of our trip. Having grown up in Canada and Australia, it’s kinda neat to come across all these names and places that have made their way across the Commonwealth. (I know, colonial place names can be a touchy subject…)

We start the self guided castle tour with the usual information panels describing the people featured in the enormous portraits on every wall of every room. Big pictures of random people. Not exactly fascinating. Then, just as we’re taking a photo of Feathers looking nervously at a lion skin rug, a voice booms out from behind us and we think we’ve been caught out. But actually it’s just a hyper-enthusiastic volunteer.

Clearly bored and looking for people to talk to, he tells us all kinds of fun facts about Dunrobin. For example, the place is now owned by an Earl who used to be a police officer and lives in a regular house up the road. So, just like us then. Incidentally, we learn that Dukes are English nobility, whereas Earls are the Scottish equivalent. He shows us a portrait of the 5th Earl painted with a similar technique to the Mona Lisa — his entire head swivels as you walk from one side of the portrait to the other (the painting, not the volunteer).

Out in the huuuuge gardens, the day is ridiculously beautiful (not exactly the mental picture we have of Scotland) and sun sparkles off the sea as we head down the massive external staircase, past some crazy big plants (GIANT RHUBARB) and sit to enjoy the falconry display. We watch as various birds of prey do their thing, swooping at up to 200 miles an hour. We hope that ‘their thing’ doesn’t involve grabbing one of us in its beak (Feathers may have hidden in Michelle’s jacket).

‘Giant Rhubarb’

Norman Cook perhaps?

“Here’s some stuff I shot.”

Yep, pretty sure that’s a bird you shot there.

I would drive 500 miles

In search of the classic Scottish scene of a stag silhouetted on a highland hilltop, we follow Alistair’s instructions and drive out a winding gravel road through a local glen. We catch glimpses of a few stag off in the distance, but they are but specks even at full zoom. We console ourselves that it’s been a stunning drive through one of those long, languid northern hemisphere autumn twilights. Then, just when we’ve given up and are heading back we’re finally rewarded: a stag making his way majestically across the river. He wanders closer so we can take a photo. Very obliging, these Scots.

Even without the stag sighting, this drive through the back roads of far north Scotland was stunning

Clynelish Distillery

The trip to Brora includes a stop at the local distillery, Clynelish, but we’re a little disappointed to find the small distillery of Marj’s memories has been taken over by the marketing machine of Johnnie Walker. Not so disappointed that we don’t try a few, mind. There are dozens, nay, hundreds of distilleries dotted across the country. You can’t really go wrong if you try them all.

The Tarbat Peninsula

The next day is a little cloudy and looks like rain so we opt for a bit of a drive through the Pictish countryside of Tarbat Peninsula. Our first stop is the Tarbat Discovery Centre, at the restored church that was once the site of a Pictish Monastery. The Picts sound like a feisty lot. They were some of the only people in the British Isles to fend off the marauding Roman invasion. It’s because of the Picts and other Northern tribes that Hadrian’s Wall was built. The Romans gave them the name Picti for ‘painted people’ because of the blue paint they wore (or possibly their tattoos).

(Fun fact 1 – the blue face paint worn by Mel Gibson in Braveheart is not accurate and was probably based on the idea of these ‘painted warriors’. Except that they were fighting the Romans about 1,000 years earlier (2 – 4th Century) and disappeared as a people more than 400 years before William Wallace. Fun fact 2 – I’m beginning to doubt whether Mad Max was historically accurate too)

On the flip side of all this warrior character, the Picts seem to have also been quite cultured. Some of the only evidence left of the time is large ornately decorated stone carvings.

We happen to be there on ‘Open Doors Day’ at the Discovery Centre, and a very enthusiastic volunteer gives us a quick tour and a flashlight to shine on the stones. Without her insights, we would have likely wandered in and out in about 10 minutes and thought it was just a bunch of old stones with nice carvings. Hot tip: Borrow a flashlight when you’re there to bring out the relief of the carvings. 

This one is easy to see the detail, but some of the stones in the crypt are very faint
 

She shows us the desk where a resident artist has dedicated himself to demonstrating that the Book of Kells was actually produced here in Pictland, rather than on the island of Iona. He’s recreating the hide, the inks and the tools to make versions of different pages within the Book of Kells, to demonstrate that the materials and hides used could only have come from this specific region.

A modern artist’s recreation of the Book of Kells illuminated calligraphy

Indeed, literally the same day that we are visiting the Discovery Centre, an academic publishes a book supporting this theory, upending the generally accepted history of the Book of Kells. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/sep/26/new-research-may-rewrite-origins-of-the-book-of-kells-says-academic.

Needless to say, everyone at the Centre is terribly excited about the resulting kerfuffle.
We drive around to several of the huge carved stones dotted around the place.

So ends our time in Brora, but we’re not quite done with the Highlands yet. Next we’ll be making our way down the northern edge of Loch Ness, that mighty waterway that cuts diagonally across the heart of the Highlands like a slash of a saber. But that will need to wait for Part Deux.

Highland Fling in a Nutshell

• If you’re planning on being in Edinburgh at the time of the Festival (August), be prepared for a very different experience than what we had. The city quadruples in size, and buzzes with life. Every restaurant, hotel and bar is full, and the streets are alive with people and energy. You’ll need to book ahead – like, 12 months ahead. 

• To get to that beautiful back country drive, head north from Brora about 7 minutes until you pass the ‘Wolf Stone’ (marking the killing of the last wolf in Sutherland?!), then take your first left at Lothbeg. You don’t need 4wd. Just hold your nerve and follow the road all the way up to Kildonan, where you can get back on the main road. It’s about an hour’s round trip from Brora.

• The UK Parking App (RingGo) is so freaking frustrating, we never got it to work and have no advice for you, our fellow traveller, on how you might get it to work yourself. Good luck. From the website – “Please note that if you are using a foreign device you will not be able to download the RingGo app, due to the app not being supported by the international app stores. You can still use our mobile website which is very similar to the app or the automated telephone line on 0203 046 0010 to book your parking.” Really??? The website doesn’t work either. We never tried calling because… what?