Plan Ahead: Spring Or Summer Break In Scotland

Having just returned from a getaway to Scotland with my eight-year-old son, who loved it as much as I did, I think I can convince you to visit without even mentioning the ample Harry Potter and Outlander filming locations. 

The landscape itself is one major reason to go, even for those of us who maybe don’t travel for landscapes specifically. Consider this: the iconic rolling green hills, often shrouded in fog and mist, and the dreamy lochs of Scotland are home to just five million people. New York City has more than eight million people. So, for anyone who’s ever lamented that it’s just too “people-y” outside, Scotland is for you. 

And I can confidently say that while you may think that you’ve seen the color green, you in fact have not until you’ve witnessed the Scottish countryside green. 

Here’s how we did it and, not to toot my own horn, how I think you should do it, too: 

Start in Edinburgh 

Edinburgh is utterly dreamy. Between almost surprisingly great meals and fun city-life activities, there are medieval and Georgian buildings to ogle on every corner. 

There’s senses of both history and humor all over the city. To wit: at the base of Edinburgh Castle, you’ll find the unapologetically touristy Tartan Weaving Mill. And deep inside this massive shop, you’ll find its photo studio in which you can don old time-y Scottish tartans and pose with bagpipes, flags, shields, and swords, and even a plastic sheep, or with a tartan crown sitting on a Game of Thrones inspired throne. My son, my mother, and myself did just that… 

You’ll want to meander around the village-like Edinburgh Castle and I do recommend standing in line to see the oldest Crown jewels in Britain. 

On your next day in the city, take yourselves to Stockbridge which is where you’ll likely make the same comment I did: “Okay, see, if I lived in Edinburgh, it would be around here.” Cute shops, charming streets, great restaurants. It’s the ideal neighborhood and happens to also be within a stone’s throw of Dean Village and the Water of Leith walkway, which will inevitably come up if you type Edinburgh into Google images. 

At the risk of sounding boring, some of the most fun times we had in the city were when we just strolled. Walking streets include narrow stairwells with eye-popping views, cobblestoned streets open up to cute squares and parks where we’d park for a respite (and a coffee). We meant to hike up Calton Hill and/or Arthur’s Seat for even more of a view, but convincing an eight year old to get more than 15,000 steps in a day was simply not a battle I felt like fighting.  

The food gets its own paragraph. I highly recommend the swanky afternoon tea at The Balmoral hotel. It is the perfect way to wait out a quick afternoon shower, a fabulous way to mark an occasion, and is just fun and delicious no matter what. Then, dinner at Noto was among my favorite meals of the entire trip. I highly recommend the burgers at Salt Horse and the French onion soup at Chez Jules. And, yes, my son and I both tried the haggis at Scran & Scallie (I finished it, he was so-so on it).  

I recommend a stay at Virgin Hotels Edinburgh, Kimpton Charlotte Square, The Balmoral, or Gleneagles Townhouse. 

Get Into the Scottish countryside 

You’re not trekking from the US to Scotland for just a city break, though. You must get out into the countryside, whether that’s only out to St. Andrews to golf, up to Inverness to check out Culloden and taste whiskies in Speyside, to an iconic castle hotel in the Highlands, or out to the Hebridean isles. 

We did two of those. First, we followed the advice of Laura Leiva, my fellow TQE contributor, and booked ourselves a couple of rooms at Gleneagles. It is a perfect dream that none of us will soon forget. We met the beautifully trained gundogs, we dined in the American Bar, my son and his friend who came to meet us rolled down the green hills, I even took a golf lesson. Dream Scottish castle lifestyle was achieved.

From there, I booked us a day trip with a fantastic driver-and-guide via King Tours Scotland. Our driver collected us at Gleneagles for a day of criss-crossing the Highlands with stories that ranged from the sweet to the scandalous about each castle we passed. We snaked our way around a section of the stunning Loch Lomond and then found our way to Inver Restaurant in what our driver called “the back of beyond,” meaning the middle of nowhere. 

As the self-ascribed queen of finding great food in the middle of nowhere (I’ll work on the title), I have to say this was the exact compliment I was gunning for. Inver was, unquestionably, the best meal of our trip. We started with cocktails on the terrace, sitting in the sun and staring across a loch at the crumbled Castle Lochlan. Then, we moved inside, to a room with a vibe and design that could easily be found in Brooklyn or Silverlake. As they explained the menu, they’d casually mention that the fish was caught on the loch just that morning or that the chickens come from the farm about a mile down. It’s a beautiful place serving beautiful food.

Stuffed and happy, we got back into the car to finish our day trip in Oban where we caught the ferry to the Isle of Mull.

Ah, the Hebridean Isles

Had I ever driven on the “wrong” (meaning left) side of the road and the wrong (meaning right) side of the car? No. But I figured if there was a place to give it a try, it was the tiny Isle of Mull. We ferried over, picked up the car across the street, and drove two minutes to our absolutely darling B&B: Pennygate Lodge. If you wanted me to sum up our experience of the Isle of Mull it would be this: every 20 minutes, or so, we’d have to pull over to take yet another photo of the landscape because it was just so shockingly beautiful. Over every hill, another shade of green. Around every corner, a sweet handful of sheep grazing near a loch. Pull off the road here to see a crumbling castle, pull over there to see a shipwreck, and make your way up that hill for the cutest cheese shop you’ve ever seen. My one regret is that we didn’t get lost on Mull. I’m absolutely sure it would have meant more scenic surprises. 

And then there was our Sunday roast at Croft 3. The working croft (small farm) and restaurant is in a National Scenic Area, which obviously. But then you make your way inside and find the most welcoming, happy, intimate energy coupled with a Sunday roast so good it makes you wish you were Scottish (just me?). My son and my mother ate the brownie so fast at the end of the meal, I only got a couple of hard-won bites. 

Next time 

There will be a next time. And when we go back, I’ll take my son up to Inverness (to find the Loch Ness monster, of course) and I’ll do a proper whisky tasting which was not top of mind for my eight year old son nor my ‘half glass of wine’ mother. I’ll spend time in the National Park of Cairngorms, too, though the entire country feels a bit like a national park. I’ll eat at Kitchin and pop by Fife Arms for a couple of nights. 

And then, of course, there are the many Harry Potter and Outlander sights. But I didn’t even need to mention them, did I? 

What to Pack 

We were in Scotland in August and while every local we encountered insisted that this was their coldest, wettest summer in recent memory, I got the sense that… one should always plan for rain in Scotland. 

For my son, I brought this rain jacket from Primary which came in very handy and looked cute with everything. 

For myself, this Amazon rain jacket which was great and useful if not quite as cute as my son’s. 

I also brought my favorite Farm Rio cardigan which is no longer available, but similar to this one. You already know the formula: white tee and blue jeans or black tee and black jeans, topped with this. Done. 

I wore my Dolce Vita retro-esque sneakers almost every day, which I have in navy blue and now I suddenly also need in brown suede. 

After I recently ran out of an orange blossom perfume purchased in Marrakech, I’d been looking for a travel-sized replacement. This is my winner, so far. 

‍This Lo & Sons bag is my secret to being carry-on only. Even for 9 days, with my son, in Scotland. It’s my ‘personal item’ with my Away roller bag.