We'd just had a fabulous trip through the Scottish Highlands, and are now travelling down toward the lowlands on the
eastern side of Scotland. Before long, we reached Pittenweem, a tiny fishing
village on the Fife Coast.
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| Beautiful Pittenweem |
Parking at the top of a cliff overlooking Pitenweem village, we could see how pretty it was, sitting in the curve of the bay.
After walking down the cliffside path to the village, we found it was an active fishing village with a wee port and almost no tourists.
The old houses are built right down to the sea wall and are all nicely painted and well maintained.
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| Pitenweem seafront houses |
The seafront streets follow the contours of the bay, and there are narrow winding streets and little lanes going off the seafront up the hill, with small cottages clinging to the hillside. It is all so picturesque.
We had a lovely time walking around and just enjoying the peacefulness of the place. This is all part of the Fife Coast and it is very attractive.
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| Fife Coast viewed from our Upper Largo campsite |
As it was getting late, we drove on, reaching Upper Largo where we found a lovely little camp. It was very peaceful, and we had a great spot looking out over the sea.
Moving on the next morning, we arrived at Stirling Castle. This is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland.
It’s set on a hill surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs, and guards what was the farthest downstream crossing of the River Forth.
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| Stirling Castle |
Parking was in very narrow streets, so we parked half on the footpath, then walked to the Castle. It is a spectacular building that has been restored to its original Renaissance glory.
This Castle was a favoured residence of the Stewart Kings and Queens. We saw reconstructed rooms that had been occupied by James V, Mary of Guise and their daughter Mary Queen of Scots – so much history.
It had huge kitchens, a Great Hall, and beautiful gardens.
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| Stirling Castle-The Kings bedroom |
It was quite different to the castle ruins we had seen elsewhere in our travels, and gave us an insight to life in those times.
Later, we went for a walk down into the delightful Stirling township through its narrow, winding streets. We felt it was a hidden gem that we had not known about, and were intrigued at its many beautiful stone buildings, and streets reeking with antiquity.
After that, we moved on to see the enormous Falkirk Wheel.
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| Falkirk Wheel |
The Wheel is an amazing rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Clyde Canals with the Union Canal.
It was like a Ferris wheel. A boat enters the wheel’s trough from the lock at the bottom. The wheel then rotates the trough 180 degrees, so that the boat can exit the trough into the canal above. Each trough takes several boats from bottom to top or visa-versa.
What an amazing sight. This is the only one of its kind in the world.
Before the wheel, the canals were served by a series of 11 locks and it took a whole day to pass through them.
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| Forth Bridge (UNESCO) |
Moving on, we headed to Edinburgh. On the way, we stopped to view the Forth Bridge, which is a cantilevered dual-track railway bridge across the Firth of Forth. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, as is the Firth of Forth that it crosses.
Close-by was a lovely modern bridge, with a third impressive looking one being built just up the road.
Arriving in Edinburgh, we went straight to our campsite at Mortonhall, a short bus ride from the central city.
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| Edinburgh old town (UNESCO) |
The next morning, despite drizzly, weather we headed into Edinburgh central city and were amazed at its lively atmosphere. It is a fabulous looking city with ancient architecture and a vibrancy that we loved.
The Edinburgh Festival was on with performers and buskers everywhere, and coupled with the Fringe Festival and the Edinburgh Tattoo on the same week, there were masses and masses of people. It was all so exciting.
We began our sightseeing in the Old Town. Our first stop was the Princes Street gardens and a big market, then we headed up a hill to visit Edinburgh Castle.
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Edinburgh Castle |
The Castle is set high on a rock towering above the city. It is home to Scotland’s crown jewels, and the Stone of Destiny used in the coronation of Scottish Rulers.
Arriving there, we were faced with large crowds and big queues, which made it a bit of a challenge to explore properly - but it was great.
Later, we headed out of the castle into ‘The Royal Mile’ which is actually a number of streets which joined up, all run towards Holyrood Palace. The Mile is full of fascinating historic architecture, with very narrow wynds (alleys) leading off it, to link the streets below.
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| Edinburgh's Royal Mile |
Some of the interesting buildings include St Giles’ Cathedral, the City Chambers and the Law Courts.
We walked to the end of The Mile, which is where the modern building of the Scottish Parliament is located. It faces onto the ornate Holyrood Palace, the 16th century palace of the Stuarts which is used by the Queen when carrying out her official duties in Scotland.
Then we climbed Carlton Hill for views over the city, and worked our way back through the new (Georgian) part of the city. This, along with the Old City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| View over Edinburgh |
We found so much that we liked in Edinburgh, and it was such a exciting place to explore.
After several days, we left Edinburgh to drive to the Scottish Borders area, near Galashiels. We were headed to Abbotsford House the home of the 19th century novelist, Sir Walter Scott. He built it almost 200 years ago on the banks of the Tweed River.
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| Abbotsford House, home of Sir Walter Scott |
Abbotsford House is an incredible place, so full of Scott's wonderful treasures, and with amazing decorations as well as beautiful gardens. Unfortunately, Abbotsford House was our last stop in Scotland.
Aaah Scotland – we leave you after seeing some of your most beautiful places, knowing that there are still undiscovered treasures.
We've loved the beauty of your highlands with its stunning mountains, colourful glens, unforgettable islands, and beautiful lochs; and were fascinated by your lowland's amazing rivers, and vibrant cities with their ancient history.
We would love to return to you one day Scotland, but for now we are headed back into England.
This is part of a bigger blog on our travels around England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Belgium and Luxembourg. The first blog is called "Off to do the UK in a motorhome".