Tag: Scotland

Back home and time to clean the car, doing the laundry and summarize this years grand tour. First the accounting, we spent in total 18.562 SEK on the hotels, 14.300 SEK on ferries and bridges. Plus 8.472 SEK on fuel. Meals and drinks not included, nor entrance fees to castles and museums.

The car, we sold the F-Type we used in Italy last year. Instead, we bought a brand new Mazda MX-5. The car has performed well during this tour. We drive in total 5.645 km, with an avarage fuel consumption of 0,64 litre/10 km. We’d bought a set of bags designed fir the car. Apart from looking great (matching the colour stitching of the interior), they worked well. We managed to fit cloathing, shoes and toilett gear for 14 days into the three bags. There were still room to fit our jackets and a couple of bottles of gin in the boot. Any longer, or in need of more gear, we would have to add a luggage rack and an additional bag. The only glitches has been two cases of warning that the BSM system isn’t working. But they went away as soon as they appeared. Apple Car Play has been working flawless, despite reading about others having issues with it. We drove most of the Autobahn with the softtop up. The noice level is significantly higher than in the Jaguar. But on the other hand, the car is much lighter.

Ferries and bridges, we had pre-booked the Öresund bridge as well as the Rødby-Puttgarden ferry via Scandlines. We’ve used thus route many times in the past. It worked out very smoothly this time as well. The brudge use number plate recognition. So, you just have to drive up to one of the gates, the light turn green and you can drive through. Fir the ferry, you have to scan the bar code on your booking confirmation. The machine is too high up if you sit in a sports car. But luckily, the lane is wide enough to allow you to get out of the car and operate the machine. On the way out, we got on an earlier ferry than booked. On the way back, we had the oposite.

We had booked the ferry from Amsterdam to Newcastle since that would take us closer to Scotland. But in retrospect this was a mistake. Not only is that ferry much more expensive than the one between Hook van Holland and Harwich. Also, it departs much earlier. So, we had to add another hotel stay in Germany in order to ensure that we would make it in time.

On the way back home, we had booked the ferry between Harwich and Hook van Holland. For some reason the boarding and departure was delayed by an hour. Harwich harbour is a very booring place to spend an evening in.

Accomodations, we stayed at the following hotels and B&Bs; Good Morning Hotels in Lund, Sweden. This was just for a nights sleep while in transit. Very simple standard, but clean rooms, friendly staff and to our surprise a bar with outdoor seating. Works well if you just needs somewhere to sleep. Cheap as well at 782 SEK for a twin bed room. Kräuterhotel & Restaurant Heidejäger in Rotenburg, Germany. We booked this one based on location, getting passed Hamburg would ensure that we would catch the ferry from Amsterdam in time. Located just 10 minutes away from the Autobahn, this turned out to be a little gem. We will for sure return if we happen to be in the area. Also, the restaurant was surprisingly good. 1.275 SEK for a twin bed room is very reasonable. Ravelston House in Musselburgh, Scotland. We stayed here for two nights. Musselburgh is well situated for visiting Edinburgh without having to stay in the city itself. It only takes 7 minutes by train to get from Musselburgh to the center of Edinburgh. The hotel only has a few rooms and a well frequented bar. So, the noise level is rather high at times. But the staff is very friendly. There are several restaurants within walking distance. We payed 2.843 SEK for two nights including breakfast and parking. Which is reasonable, albait on the high side given the location. The Caledonian Hotel in Fort William, Scotland. This turned out to be a complete disaster in terms of hotel experience. Very unfriendly staff, both in the reception as well as in the bar and restaurant. Several of them barely spoke english, most of them seem to come from eastern Europe. There were mould in the bathroom, broken hangers, patched up doors, dirty carpets and bedsheets with stains. In the restaurant, which we tried the first evening, we couldn’t order drinks at the table. Instead we had to go to the bar to order. However, the table next to ours got served by the table. Also, they were unable to split the bill. On top of this, it was rather expensive. We payed 4.582 SEK for two nights including breakfast and parking. Which is ridiculous given state of the facilities and the staff. This hotel should be avoided at any cost, even if you would end up sleeping in your car! The Dornie in Dornie, Scotland. What a difference this was, wonderful staff, great food and condition. This is a great place to stay if you plan to explore Isle of Skye. They only have a few rooms, so you better book well in advance. The seafood in the restaurant was excellent. We payed 1.766 SEK for a twin bed room including breakfast and parking. Which is well spent money. We’ll come back to this hotel for sure. Norland Bed & Breakfast in Burghead, Scotland. A charming little B&B not far from Inverness. All you could expect from a traditional B&B. Only downside was that parking was on the road outside. It’s located in a small village and we struggled to find somewhere to have dinner in the evening. The recommended restaurant was full. So, we ended up at a golf course which was ok. But nothing special. We payed 1.230 SEK for one night including breakfast. Which was a fair price. Tan Hill Inn in Richmond, England. This is a place we’ve visited before. But now with new ownership since a couple of years. Still very charming, but in much better condition. Well worth a visit with an outstanding view of the moors. We paid 2.668 SEK for one night including breakfast and parking. But well worth it for the experience. We will for sure come back again. Old Thorn Barn in Hethel, England. The B&B to stay at if you plan to visit the Lotus factory and/or Classic Team Lotus. We’ve been here before and it’s an ok B&B. The rooms are not that well insulated and you can hear noices from outside as well as from the other rooms. We payed 1.190 SEK for a twin bed room including breakfast and parking. Which is reasonable. Clarion Hotel Sea U in Helsingborg, Sweden. This is a new hotel in the city center. Parking in the basement, skybar at the roof and rooftop pool. We arrived late, so didn’t have a chance to use any of the facilities. Well located if you want to explore Helsingborg and the surrounding areas. We paid 2.223 SEK for a twin bedroom including breakfast. Parking was another 230 SEK.

Things to do, we had a rough plan of things to do. But subject to change and the weather. We were four people in total, so we updated the plans every evening over a pint or two. We started off by visiting Lindisfarne and the Holy island. The road there is spectacular since you can only drive there during low tide. But the monastery ruins and the village is more of antourist trap. We Wouldn’t recommend it. Next stop was Edinburgh, it turned out that we weren’t alone there. In the end, we skipped getting into the castle due to long ques ourside. Instead we visited the National Gallery of Scotland and the National Museum of Scotland. The gallery was nice and well worth a visit. The National Museum was just very confusing with a mix of new and old items. We will most likely not come back to Edinburgh, to many tourists for our taste. Next off was Sterling Castle, an important place in the Scottish history. Worth a visit if you are interested in history. Also, great views from the top. On the way to the west coast, we took the oportunity to drive the so called Skyfall road. It’s a single track road and the surface is very bad on some parts. If you are a die-hard James Bond fan, you should do it. If not, skip it and just watch the movie again at home. Isle of Mull was the next port of call. Starting off in a rainy Fort William, things only got better. Some very nice views and single track roads took us all the way to Fionnphort. We had a nice lunch at a local pub before driving back. The roads where in a very good condition. You just have to watch out for the sheeps that walk free. Isle of Skye, the weather forecast indicated heavy rain. But when we drove over the bridge, it was partly blue skies. There are a lot of things to see and experience on Isle of Skye. In particular if you are into hiking. We only had one day there to spend. So, we opted to drive to the Neist Point lighthouse. The last part of the road is a single track road in very poor condition. There are a lot of potholes to watch out for. Plus, a lot of visitors that aren’t necessary used to single track road. Once you reach Nest Point, the veiws are breathtaking. It’s a bit of a walk to reach the lighthouse. But it’s worth it. The next day we drove north and stopped at Urquhart Castle by Loch Ness. You need to book a time online to get access. Not much remains of the castle. But it’s a nice location next to Loch Ness. A day later and we found ourself in a little village on the east coast. The former fishing village of Staithes is well worth a visit. The one thing we had prebooked since long ago was a factory tour at Lotus cars in Hethel. This is a must if you are into British sports cars. Next door you’ll also find Classic Team Lotus who maintain classic Lotus racing cars.

Conclusion, we’ve long been planning to visit Scotland. So, we are glad that we’ve now been there. Realizing that there are much more to experience, we’ll likely vome back at some point. We hope that you enjoyed reading our blog. We will update it once we have new plans and experiences to share. Planning for us normally takes place in October-November for next year. Meanwhile, take a look at the blog entries from last September when we where in Italy. Also, there is an even older blog from 2019 when we visited Wales.

Last stint of this years grand tour. Helsingborg to our home in Åkersberga, with a lunch break in Vadstena. During the weekend, we’ll make a summary of the tour including cost, highlights and lowlights.

We decided to take a slight detour to the city of Vadstena for lunch. This included a stop at the former monastery at Alvastra. It dates back to 1143. It was closed in 1527 because of the reformation. But you can still see some remains from the old buildings.

Video from part of the drive around Omberg. One way, single track road. But beware of hikers and bikes going in the oposite direction! https://share.icloud.com/photos/02d0Sk9gJzxkVUg0wfIlKWt1g

After visiting Alvastra and driving the road around Omberg, we headed towards Vadstena.

In the interest of getting home before the shops close, we once more took to the highway. The E4 is very boring, but efficient if you want to cover miles in Sweden.

Today we drove the last 607 km to get back home. The next post will contain a summary of the 2023 tour.

Long transfer today, from Hook van Holland to Helsingborg. All in all a very uneventful day, but with some annoying delays and lack of food. The ferry arrived to Hook van Holland in the early morning with planned disembarking at 08:00. There was however a delay in getting off the ferry. Further delays led to it taking us more than one hour to get off the boat and passed the passport control! This took away any margin we had to the ferry between Puttgarden and Rødby. We had however booked an open ticket so that we could take another ferry. Subject to free spaces of course.

Several roadworks along A1 with corresponding stau ment that we only managed to get on a ferry from Puttgarden at 17:45. We finally reached the hotel in Helsingborg at 21:30. By which time there were no food available at the hotel. Despite the reception claiming that the roof top bar was open and serving food until 23:00. Turned out that their kitchen closed at 21:00. We took a short walk around the city center but no food were to be found anywhere. So, we ended up getting a bag of crisps, some nuts and Pepsi from the minibar…

Today we drove some serious miles, 949 km to be precise. Tomorrow will be the last stint, Helsingborg to Åkersberga (north of Stockholm).

After breakfast at a rainy Tan Hill Inn we drove eastwards. We considered going to York and the viking museum. But it turned out that you had to pre-book online and there were only time slots available after 16:00. Which was way to late for us. So, instead we set our sights at Staithes on the east coast. It looked pretty online when it showed up among things to do in Yorkshire.

Staithes was once one of the largest fishing ports in the North East. At the turn of the 20th century, there were 80 full-time fishing boats putting out from Staithes. At least according to Wikipedia. Now it’s turned to tourism instead with several hotels and restaurants. However, the village gave a run down impression. But it’s worth visiting if you happens to be in the area. We had lunch at the Royal George.

We then drove on mostly dual carriageways and motorways towards Norwich. It was raining heavily during part of the drive. So, the softtop stayed up all day. We drove 517 km today. Tomorrow we’ll visit the Lotus factory.

Last day in Scotland, going south. We left Lossiemouth after a nice breakfast at Norland B&B. The destination for today was Tan Hill Inn in the Pennines. So, quite a distance to drive today. We didn’t plan any other activities today because of this. But we had received recommendations for some roads through Cairngorms National Park.

We headed towards Cairngorms National Park and found B9008 and A939. Both turned out to be brilliant roads for sports cars. Unfortunately there were some caravans and mobile homes there as well.

We had lunch at Taste Perthshire. It was ok for being a service station type of establishment. We both had haggis before leaving Scotland. But I must admit that the one I had in Edinburgh was much better.

After lunch, we drove on more dual carrageways in order to get to our destination in reasonable time. We stopped in Penrith to fill up the tank before driving into the Pennines. We’ve visited Tan Hill Inn before, back in 2016. Since then there have new owners who are renovating the facilities. The room we got was really nice with views over the moor. Tan Hill Inn is famous for being the highest situated pub in England. It used to be a mining district, but now only the pub remains.

Today we drove 532 km. A mix between single track roads (again) and dual carriageways. Tomorrow we’ll be driving to Norwich on the east coast.

Today the wheater was very gloomy. Rain, grey skies and 15 degree Celsius. We decided to stop and take a look at Urqhart Castle. However, it turned out that you had to book tickets online for a free slot. So, we had to kill off some time in nearby Drumnadrochit.

Urqhart castle dates back to at least the 1200s. However, it has been in ruins since 1692.

We then stopped for lunch in Inverness. By then it started to rain again. So, we didn’t walk around the city as planned. After eating lunch at the White house, we went on to fill up the car and drive to the B&B for the night. We did consider visiting Fort Georg. But the rain didn’t encourage outdoor activities.

Today we only drove 192 km. But tomorrow we’ll be heading south to Tan Hill Inn. That will be a full day of driving. We plan to stay away from the motorways. But this would partly depend on when we get started. Partly on the weather.

Today we started from a rainy Fort William. There was even a yellow warning because of heavy rain. We were glad to get out of the rat hole called The Caledonian Hotel. It is to be avoided at any cost, you’ll be better off sleeping in your car!

The first stop was the Commando Memorial, just outside of Fort William. It’s dedicated to the british commandos who fought and died in the second world war.

The target for today’s drive was the Neist Point lighthouse, on the western tip of the Isle of Skye. This took us through parts of the Highlands. There were some nice roads and views, despite the weather.

The last couple of miles to Neist Point was single track road. The road condition was horrible with lots of potholes. Plus sheeps to look out for on and beside the road. But the view from the point was breathtaking. Just as we made our way back from the lighthouse, the rain started to pick up.

After we’d climbed back to the car park, it was well beyond lunch time. So, we headed towards Portree. By then the rain was pouring down. Most restaurants had stopped serving lunch by the time we got there. But we found a café and treated ourself with some belgian waffles. We also bought a bottle of local gin from Misty Isle Gins.

The hotel for this night is The Dornie in Dornie. This is in a different league compared to the hotel in Fort William. Nice and clean rooms, friendly staff as a start. We decided to have dinner at the hotel. Dornie is a very small village and there are few other alternatives. The dinner and service was excellent! We had seafood plates and langustines respectively. Followed by icecream with chocolate or cheese plate. After this we took a late evening walk to the nearby Eilean Donan Castle. Tomorrow we’ll drive to Inverness via Loch Ness.

When we started planning this tour last Autumn, we considered taking a train ride. With the Jacobite Steam Train. But after looking at the fairs, we skipped this. Instead we decided that there must be something else to do in this region. Then we sort of forgot about the day we had available in Fort William. Last night we spent some time in the bar trying to make ourself heard while there was some local singer performing in the background. Based on the weather forecast, we concluded that Ben Nevis out of the question. Also, the whiskey distillery in Oban was fully booked. So, we opted to do some more driving. This time out on one of the nearby islands.

We settled for Isle of Mull and specifically Fionnphort. Which is as far you can get on that island. It was good that we practiced on driving at single track roads yesterday. Because today we drove approx 321 km of which 280 km where single track. So, we are getting the hang of it. A884 was nice to drive through the mountains before reaching Lochaline and the second ferry.

Once on Mull, the landscape started to shift. There are still forrests as well as open fields on higher ground. But also more villages along the shoreline. And you start to get the feeling that you are actually on an island near the Atlantic ocean. Today it was rainy but almost no wind. But we could only assume that this can be a very harsh place during Winter months.

Eventually we reached Fionnphort. We decided to have lunch there. There is a small shed by the ferry terminal that sells seafood. But we opted for the pub instead, the Keel Row. Good food and friendly staff. Three of us had fish’n’chips and one went for a burger. Across the straight lies another island, Iona. But beyond that you’ll find the Atlantic ocean.

On the way back, we decided to take another route once we were back on A861. We drove westward until we reached A830. Both the A861 (partly single track) and A830 offer some really fun driving. Once we got back to Fort William, we had dinner at a pub in the city. Tomorrow we’ll drive to Isle of Skye.

Today we woke up on the ferry when it was approaching Newcastle. We decided not to eat breakfast onboard. Instead we just grabbed a cappuchino and a croissant to get us going. After refilling the tank and buying some sandwiches plus orange juice, we drove north.

First stop was Warkworth castle. It sits quite spectacular on a hill top. Most of it is in a derelict state. But parts of the Great tower is preserved. It’s worth a visit if you happen to pass by. A189 and A1068 are nicer to drive than A1.

We then drove on to Lindisfarne and Holy island. It’s a well known destination for us vikings! Our ancestors raided the monastry in the ninth century… The road to the island is only accessable at low tide. It makes for a remarkable drive close to the sea level.

Despite some rain showers, we went for a walk to Lindisfarne castle as well as to the later church ruins and still standing church of St Mary. Nice views but somewhat of a tourist trap. Also, a lot of tourists at a small area. So, now we can tick that off the list.

We then drove on to Duns and Jim Clark Motorsport Museum. As you can see, it’s a very small museum. Only two cars on display unfortunately. It’s nice to have been there, but we can’t really recommend it unless you really are into F1.

The last part of today’s journey gave us some glimps of Scotland. Unfortunately there were no way that we could park and take some photos. But nevertheless some lovely scenery while getting closer to Edinburgh. Our hotel is located in nearby Musselburgh. The hotel room is ok, albeit a bit worn. Since there was some sort of celebration going on in the hotel bar. We decided to go somewhere else to have dinner. After some 20 minutes walk, we found a seafood restaurant that was good.

Tomorrow we’ll be exploring Edinburgh. So, no driving tomorrow. Today we drove 303 km.

The second day has been all about transit. From Lund via Copenhagen and Rødby to Rotenburg. Normally when we go to UK, we go via Hoek van Holland and Harwich. That ferry departs late in the evening. So, it’s not a problem to drive directly to the harbour ftom the south of Sweden during one day. But this time we will take the ferry from Amsterdam to Newcastle. This one departs much earlier and we don’t want to risk missing it. Soft top down all day long and 35 degrees Celsius in Germany. Took some water to stay hydrated.

Some stau at the Autobahn around Hamburg (as usual). But otherwise an uneventful day. Breakfast at a service station in Denmark and lunch at another one in Germany. During the crossing between Rødby and Puttgarden, we saw some of the barges used to build the new tunnel. It’s planned to be ready in 2029. This time however we got a sports car friendly parking among the lorries on the lower deck. Wide lanes and no steep ramp to worry about.

The hotel is near A1 and the room looks good. A lot bigger than last night. Check-in was a bit messy when they couldn’t find our reservation. Lots of space on the parking area. We’ve driven 459 km today.

Tomorrow we will be driving to Amsterdam to catch the overnight ferry to Newcastle. That’s when the real adventure begins.