Overseas Adventure Travel
Idyllic Great Britain: England’s Lake District, the Scottish Highlands & Orkney Archipelago
6/6/2025 to 6/27/2025
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Page 1 – Days 1-2 in Chester
Page 2 – Days 3-5 Wales & Lake District
Page 3 – Days 6-8 Lake District & Edinburgh
Page 4 – Days 9-11 Edinburgh & Orkney Islands
Page 5 – Days 11-13 Orkney Islands & Inverness
Page 6 – Days 14-16 Inverness
Tour Day 6 - Overland to Edinburgh, Scotland
We had a full day planned. We would leave the hotel at 8:30 AM and not arrive at our Edinburgh hotel until 5:00 PM. We would have a few stops in between. We arrived at Hadrian’s Wall at around 10:30 AM. We met our wonderful guide for the next 2.5 hours, Paul.
In my mind, I always expected Hadrian’s wall to be a tall, impressive structure. When we arrived, it was obvious that wasn’t the case. There was a tall rock hill where a part of the wall once stood. A fellow was climbing to the top.
We began our walk up a grassy hill to get closer and examine the wall. It was just 4-5 feet tall in this area. Paul explained that most of the stones had been repurposed over the 1900 years since it was built in 122 AD. It is actually surprising that any of it was still standing. Paul described what the wall would have looked like with the gates and turrets, as well as how it was probably used. As we walked closer to it, I appreciated what an accomplishment it must have been to construct this 73-mile wall across England.
Paul continued to tell us about the area around the wall and the history of it before we walked back down to the bus. It was most interesting. We next drove to Vindolanda. This was a Roman fort that pre-dated Hadrian’s Wall and was in use from 85-370 AD. When we entered the grounds, we came to a a fountain with a winged horse.
As we walked down the path toward the fort, we could see some stone and wooden buildings.
Further away we could see the ruins where we would be going.
As we got closer, we saw that this had been a very large fort with many buildings.
Paul described the cramped living conditions showing us small barracks where 8 soldiers would live. Their horses also stayed in the same room. A benefit of the horses in the rooms, other than the obvious negatives, was that their body heat kept the rooms warmer. Below is a line of several of these barracks. Not very large.
He told us about different buildings and what they were used for.
We spent some time in one of the nicer buildings where he showed us the hypocaust floors. Heated air would circulate under the floors to heat the rooms above. Certainly, a better heating system than the horse’s body heat in the normal soldier’s quarters.
We next walked down the hill to where the Roman army museum was located for some free time there. It was in a pretty setting.
With it being a 15-minute walk back up the hill to where we would meet the bus, we didn’t have a lot of time to see as much as we would have liked to in the museum. It was also very crowded making it difficult to see some things. They had many interesting exhibits. The shoes that were found on the grounds were in such good shape for being over 1700 years old.
The bus then headed to Scotland. We stopped at the border for some photos.
We made a short comfort stop below the ruins of the Jedburgh Abbey. It was built in the 12th century and still looked quite impressive.
After an hour and a half drive, we arrived at our hotel for the next three nights, the Voco Haymarket hotel. It was a modern hotel and in a good location to explore Edinburgh.
The room only had a queen size bed, which we weren’t thrilled about. It did make the room feel roomier though. We did have some small drawers and a tiny closet for hanging clothes. The air conditioning worked quite well, and the room was comfortable for our short stay there.
The bathroom didn’t have much counter space plus the small glass shower wall allowed too much water to spray on the floor.
After settling in, Tom took us on an orientation walk of the area before dinner. As we were driving through town, we saw so many gorgeous buildings that we would see the next day. We did see some nice ones on our walk to the restaurant.
At one spot, we could look up to the Edinburgh Castle on the top of the hill.
Nearby we heard a fellow playing the bagpipes. We were in Scotland.
We went to the Fox & Faun restaurant for our group dinner.
It was a nice restaurant with a decent menu. Our choices for dinner were two small dishes and a dessert. The small dishes were appetizers on the regular menu. The purpose for this, I assume, was to experience different Scottish food items. They could have accomplished the same thing with an appetizer and a main course. Three of the items we got were:
Scottish Blue Murder Stuffed Mushrooms Miniature Steak & Ale Pie
Scottish Root Mixed Vegetable Soup
Tour Day 7 - Explore Edinburgh
We would have another full touring day. On the way to meet our city tour guide, Tom walked us past a very nice view of Edinburgh Castle on top of a solid stone mountain.
Tom then took us to Grassmarket. This was the public market and where public executions took place. He pointed out a marker on the ground about a woman referred to as Half-Hangit Maggie. Maggie was hanged for murdering her newborn illegitimate baby and putting it in the river in 1724. She was pronounced dead, but on the way to her wake, the family heard noises from the coffin. She was alive. Since her punishment had already been carried out, she couldn’t be hanged again. Some saw her coming back to life as divine intervention and she was allowed to go free. The words “until dead” were later added to the punishment of death by hanging.
I liked the name of the pub close by the marker, the Last Drop. Quite appropriate for hangings.
We next walked over to a coffee shop where we met with Hugh from an organization called Invisible Cities (https://invisible-cities.org).
The organization is supported by the Grand Circle Foundation. It teaches homeless people how to be walking tour guides, providing them with a job to where they can get back on their feet. The organization is in several European cities. Hugh explained what they do and introduced us to Gail who would be our guide for our city tour.
We learned about her situation and what she has accomplished since being a guide. She answered questions and helped us to understand the good work this organization does for the community.
We then began our tour. We walked along a street with some brightly colored houses.
We came to Parliament Square where St. Giles Cathedral is on one side. In front of the cathedral is a beautiful statue of Walter Francis Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch.
The crown steeple is one of Edinburgh’s most famous and distinctive landmarks.
On the other side of the square is the Edinburgh City Chambers.
In front of the building is the bronze statue of Alexander Taming Bucephalus.
Nearby was The Hub, a former church that is now a public arts and events building. It is the highest point in central Edinburgh.
Nearby was the Bank of Scotland headquarters.
The statue of a unicorn, Scotland’s National Animal, is on top of a tall column.
Also on the square was a walk of fame with markers and handprints of famous people.
When Gail’s tour ended, we continued the walk up to the castle with Tom. When we arrived at the base level of the castle, we saw the stands that were set up for the Military Tattoo program that is held in August. It is supposed to be quite an amazing show to attend. There were lots of people waiting to get into the castle.
Cathy and I were concerned that there might be a lot of steps up to the main rooms of the castle that could be challenging with the recent knee issues we were experiencing. I found that the Castle did provide a ride up to the castle for those needing assistance. Tom found out where we should wait. There were several people already there, so we joined the group to wait for the taxi. The cute little taxi arrived dropping off some people that were returning and picking up 5-6 people to go up.
About eight minutes later it returned, and we were able to go up. It was interesting going through tunnels up to the top. The driver told us to look out the right side of the taxi when we approached an open area. He said it was the best view from the castle, but only the military people stationed there could see it. I was lucky to take a quick photo as we drove by.
The very nice taxi driver, who was telling us about what were seeing, dropped us off near the entrance to the main part of the castle. He told us where to go to take the elevator up to see the crown jewels. He also told us that they would be stopping the taxi service soon because they would be firing the canon at 1:00 PM. That was a problem for us, since we booked 2:30 PM tickets to see the Royal Yacht Britannia. This was Queen Elizabeth II’s ship from 1953 to 1997. We would have to see as much as could in a short time so we could catch the taxi back down. We walked over to Crown Square. It is one of the most popular areas of the castle, since it is where you can enter the Royal Palace to see the crown jewels. There was a pretty good line there.
We walked over to an attendant who was able to take us to the elevator. We walked into a separate door and down a hall to where a very small elevator was waiting for us. It barely fit us and an attendant. When we exited the elevator, she directed us to see the crown jewels. It was a much smaller display than expected and no photos were allowed. It was just the jewel encrusted crown, a scepter and a sword. It didn’t take long to see before we went back down the elevator to continue to look around the grounds.
On the other side of the square is the Great Hall.
We went into a different building where people were entering. We saw a nice room, but it was so crowded we left quickly.
We walked around the outside enjoying what we were seeing.
We came to Mons Meg, a medieval bombard. It is a type of canon or mortar that was used during the late Middle Ages. It was built in 1449 and has a 20” barrel, making it one of the largest canons in the world by caliber.
We had to take a selfie while walking around.
While checking out other parts of the grounds, we saw our taxi arriving to drop off some more people. We decided to go down with the taxi while we could. When we were dropped off, the sun was shining nicely on the castle, so I was able to get a nice photo of it.
We decided to take an Uber to the port where we would have lunch close to where we would board the Royal Yacht Britannia. We knew that there were vehicle restrictions near the castle, so we walked further down the hill to what looked like a normal traffic area to get an Uber. The Uber app told us to go to a location that we couldn’t find on the Google Map. We walked to a different location. It told us to go to a restaurant that they were showing was very close to us. We couldn’t see it and the restaurant didn’t exist in Google Maps. We finally walked to museum that would seem like a place we could be picked up. The Uber app said to go close by, so we booked it and stayed where we were. I communicated with the driver and told him exactly where we were. We were picked up quickly and were on our way. It was a most frustrating experience.
When we arrived at the port, we found that the entrance to the Royal Yacht Britannia was in a shopping mall. So, we found a restaurant in the mall. When we finished lunch, we still had almost an hour before our ticket time. We decided to walk over to see if we could get on the tour early. They happily let us in early. It was a good thing, since we would stay on the ship longer than we thought we would. There was so much to see. We first walked through a display area along the path to get to the ship.
Before we went to the ship, they provided us a device that looked like an old wireless phone with a handle. It was an audio tour device. It was very easy to use and it provided great stories and information for each stop on the tour.
When we left the building, we got our first view of the ship while walking over the bridge.
We first entered the ship's bridge then looked around the outer decks.
We walked through some of the staff’s quarters and ended up at the large deck at the back of the ship.
We saw many different public rooms and living quarters. I will put photos of some of them in the review but won’t try to tell what each one is. The furnishings are obviously dated, but that makes the tour even more interesting.
The State Dining Room was quite a large room that hosted so many events.
The engine room was most interesting. When General Schwarzkopf toured the ship when it was operating. He asked where the real engine room was. With it being so clean and sparkling, he thought it was just for show. They apparently kept it spotless all the time.
This was the queen’s bedroom.
Close by was Prince Phillip’s bedroom.
This was the queen's office.
They also had a medical staff on board and a surgery room if needed.
When we left the ship, we saw the entrance stairs that the queen would use to board the ship. We also saw her Rolls Royce.
We had a much easier time getting an Uber to get back to the hotel. Since we had some time before our evening activities, I wanted to visit the St. Mary’s Cathedral that was just 5 minutes away.
The interior was very nice. I particularly liked the wood ceiling.
There was lots of beauty in this church. I was glad I decided to check it out.
This was the evening we were going to have a home hosted dinner. We were broken up into 3 groups. A taxi picked us up at 5:00 PM to take us to the home of a single woman named Elaine.
We were with Gary, Donna and Nyla. Our group really lucked out getting to spend part of the evening with Elaine. She was such a lovely and entertaining person. We had the best time with her. When we first sat down, she asked if we wanted a gin and tonic. Now that is a good host! We all shared with her about where we lived and what we did, and she told us all about her life. She is involved in some public services and stays very busy. She also had so many interesting stories to share.
She made a delicious salmon dinner with lots of sides. We were enjoying ourselves so much that the time just flew by. We had enough time to get a group photo to remember this most enjoyable dinner with new friends and an amazing hostess.
Tour Day 8 - Visit Rosslyn Chapel
This would be a very full day with some wonderful places to see. The morning tour was to Rosslyn Chapel. This is the church that was shown at the end of the Davinci Code movie where the holy grail was supposed to be buried. It looked really cool in the movie, so I was looking forward to seeing it in person. It was only about a half hour drive to the chapel. The chapel was founded in 1446. It was supposed to be a much larger church, but only the choir was completed. With it being a sunny day, the chapel exterior was stunning.
At one end of the grounds is the grave and monument to Francis Robert St. Claire – Erskine, the 14th Earl of Rosslyn.
I continued snapping away at the other sides of the chapel.
Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any photos of the interior. It was most interesting. Photos of the interior can be found online.
The visitor center was modern and attractive. I walked out to the outdoor café seating area. The view from there was quite nice.
On the normal itinerary, we would have gone back to the hotel for free time the rest of the afternoon. Since everyone chose to do the optional afternoon tour, we didn’t need to go back to town, so we had to kill some time. We drove around a little bit and then drove over the Forth Road Bridge. It was built in 1964 and was the longest suspension bridge in the world at that time other than in the United States. We then drove across the Queensferry Crossing bridge that was opened in 2017. We drove to a viewing area to take photos of the bridges.
To the right of the two main bridges is a train bridge. The most interesting thing about it was that there was a closed island prison underneath it.
We then left for the lunch that was included with the tour. Next to the restaurant was a large garden center and gift store that many went to while waiting for our lunch time.
The restaurant, Mannerstons, was very good. The service was very helpful and friendly. For lunch we were able to have soup and pick out a sandwich. The soup was outstanding and the sandwiches delicious.
The optional tour included visits to the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies for a cost of $140 per person. Not a cheap tour, but everyone wanted to go. This is very unusual. Tom never had any full group take an optional tour. I was very glad we had this tour because I had been looking at alternative ways to see the Kelpies before I saw that this tour was being offered.
On our way to the Falkirk Wheel, we passed by an unusual looking playground.
The Falkirk Wheel is the only rotating boat lift in the world. I never heard of it before seeing it offered on this tour. It was completed in 2002 to connect two canals by lifting boats up 79 feet. It has become a very popular tourist attraction. We arrived at the visitor center and walked around to see the wheel.
The below photo shows it in the middle of its turning. Here is a LINK to a video that shows it in action and tells some interesting info about it.
We were going to board a boat and experience the wheel once while going up and again while coming down after a short boat trip.
It was surprisingly smooth. If I closed my eyes, I wouldn’t have known we even moved. When we got to the top and moved out of the wheel, we came to a tunnel that was illuminated.
It wasn’t long after getting through the tunnel that we turned around and came back through the tunnel and back down the wheel. The whole experience took about 45 minutes.
We got back on the bus for the 15-minute ride to the Kelpies. This is the main reason we took the optional tour. Each horse head is 98 feet tall and weigh 300 tons. Construction was completed in 2013 at a cost of £5 million. The name Kelpies comes from:
“The mythological transforming beasts possessing the strength and endurance of ten horses. The Kelpies represent the lineage of the heavy horse of Scottish industry and economy, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges, and coal ships that shaped the geographical layout of the Falkirk area.”
We couldn’t see the Kelpies when we exited the bus in the parking lot. We needed to go down a sidewalk next to a field. In a few minutes we got our first glimpse of the giant horse heads gleaming in the sunshine. Wow, what a sight! They were amazing. I took photos from so many angles.
We were so lucky to have a beautiful sunny day to see these amazing sculptures. We had to take a selfie in front of them.
We were on our own for dinner this evening. After researching many restaurants, we decided to book Makar’s Mash Bar (https://makarsmash.com). We saw a video on YouTube from a restaurant reviewer that raved about the place. It has also been rated the Best of the Best on TripAdvisor every year since 2018.
On the way there, I got a nice photo of the St. Giles Cathedral.
We went to the restaurant and saw a line waiting to get in. We were glad we had reservations as was recommended by most of the reviews we saw. As we were waiting to get in, I saw a sign that said that if you have reservations go around the corner four doors down. That was strange, but we did as we were told. Sure enough, we came to another Makar’s Mash Bar. This one was for reservations only. There was a sign on the door that there were no reservations available for the evening. What a great idea to have one restaurant for reservations and one for waiting in line. We walked into the very casual restaurant and were told that our table would be available shortly.
We walked to the outdoor eating area to wait.
Within a couple minutes we were seated inside. I knew from watching the review video that I wanted the Slow Cooked Lamb Shank with an Infused with Port of Leith Tawny Wine, Rosemary and Tomato Sauce. I had it with their most popular mash, the Smoked Bacon and Spring Onion.
Cathy ordered the Crown of Slow Cooked Beef Shoulder with a Rich Horseradish Infused Gravy with the Whole Grain Mustard Mash.
Both meals were just outstanding! We couldn’t have been happier with our dining choice. It’s a good thing this restaurant is 4,300 miles away from us or we would want to go regularly and gain way too much weight.
After dinner, we went back to the hotel to pack for our flight in the morning to the Orkney Islands. We would be leaving the hotel at 6:45 AM. It would be a long day.
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