Castles, Lochs, and Scotch - A Day Trip From Edinburgh

Loch Lomond

In my last post, I talked about some of the reasons we chose to visit and loved Scotland. When we were planning our trip to Scotland, we knew that we wanted to see things outside of Edinburgh. However, we didn’t want the hassle of renting a car and quite frankly, we had no idea what type of itinerary would suit us the best. Enter Highland Experience Tours. We sifted through all of the different tours that they offer and found one that met our needs. It wasn’t easy to choose because they ALL sounded great. However, since we were only in Scotland for a limited amount of time, we could only choose one. We knew that we wanted to see some castles, visit a distillery, and catch a glimpse of a loch. This tour fit the bill nicely. It gave us options to visit different attractions or do different activities. So we took the leap and booked the excursion!

Waiting to leave

On the day of, we layered up and made our way to the Royal Mile to find the meeting place. It was easy to find, located right behind St. Giles Cathedral, so we checked in. Quite by a stroke of luck, or by ingenious marketing strategy, there is actually a coffee shop located inside the same building. It was obviously meant to be :). Armed with an obnoxious (but warm) hat, gloves, and cappuccino, we were ready to go. We hopped on the bus and were introduced to Michael, our guide for the day. He was very knowledgable and kept us entertained while we were on the road.

Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument

Stirling Castle

Our first stop was the gorgeous Stirling Castle. We had the choice to visit the castle or visit the Wallace Monument, so we chose the Castle! Well preserved and boasting to be one of the most important castles in Scottish history, it is an impressive place to explore. Situated atop a large crag, it gives us a stunning view of the surrounding hills, as well as a view of the Wallace Monument. Once you pay your entrance fee (x), they do sell audio guides, but also have guided tours leaving every hour. Since we weren’t sure how long the audio guided tour would take, we opted for the free guided tour that our driver suggested. The tour was great and very informative. Plus we had a little extra time to do some castle exploring on our own. We really appreciated the fact that we could piece together the areas that we were interested in.

View from Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle

Deanston Distillery and Doune Castle

Deanston Distillery

For this portion of the trip, we had to option of touring a distillery or visiting Doune Castle (made famous in Monty Python, Game of Thrones, and Outlander). Of course since we were visiting Scotland for the first time, we had to make a trip to one of the many distilleries. Deanston Distillery is a smaller distillery located in a repurposed cotton mill. When we walked into the shop, it smelled like Christmas and I’m talking that warm, spiced honey scent. The tour cost 12 pounds each and included a dram of two different whiskies, as well as a 5 pound voucher in the shop. The distillery tour was very thorough, and lasted about 50 minutes. Coincidentally 50 minutes of talking about whisky is the perfect amount of time to make you want to taste and purchase some! So after finding some treasures to bring home, we hopped back on the bus. We were running a little ahead of schedule by this time, so Michael took us to Doune Castle just down the road for a quick look around!

Doune Castle

Deanston Distillery

The Trossachs and Loch Lomond

Balmaha

After finishing at the Distillery and Doune Castle, Michael began to drive us up into the Trossachs National Park. Before we got into the park, he pulled off for a few moments so we could visit with one of the famously adorable “hairy coos”. He filled the drive with folklore and music as the bus wound through the misty hills. The landscape had already begun to change into a riot of red berries and orange leaves, making the drive even more enjoyable. When we arrived in the small town of Balmaha, located on the banks of Loch Lomond, the sun was beginning its descent behind the hills giving us a picturesque view from the “bonnie banks of Loch Lomond”. We had some time to ourselves, so we strolled around the small town and took in the gorgeous views. After a quick pint at the local pub, we were back on the bus and headed back to Edinburgh.

Loch Lomond

Hairy Coo

We greatly enjoyed our day trip with Highland Experience. Not only did we get to experience some of the highlights on our list, we also got the chance to catch a glimpse of the gorgeous and mysterious landscape outside of the city. We were able to get a taste of the treasures Scotland has to offer…and I’m going to be honest, we are ready for more! Hmm…maybe a trip to the Isle of Skye is in our future?