Juliann Guerra

As many of you know, Scotland is one of my favorite places. A few months ago, I looked at flights and noticed I could visit Inverness and the Isle of Skye for a reasonable price. So, I booked a ticket and invited some friends. One said yes, and off we went.

An unexpected stop in London

After a red-eye flight to Heathrow Airport, we promptly missed our connection due to delays taking off in Boston and a short layover. We got onto the flight to Inverness that night, left our luggage at the airport, and took the Heathrow Express into the city.

I have a photo of myself sitting in front of the lion statues in Trafalgar Square, and I was thinking of recreating it until I saw the signs forbidding people from climbing Nelson's Column. Instead, we walked down to Buckingham Palace. From there, we walked down to see Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster. Since it was Saturday, it was packed with people, so we didn't hang out for too long. Instead, we decided to walk along the River Thames before we got too hungry and had to make a stop at Pret-A-Manger.

It was too early to head back to the airport, so we took the train to Notting Hill and looked at the colorful homes. We looked at some of the Saturday Market stalls that were open in the streets and then walked a giant circle around the area before the rain became too much, and we chose to take the bus back to Paddington Station to the Heathrow Express.

Inverness

We eventually made it to Inverness, where we promptly dropped our suitcases off and made our way to the Hootananny Pub. A childhood friend of mine, who now lives in Germany, decided to come to Scotland as well, so we caught up with her. Even though we thought we'd only be good for one drink, we stayed out until almost 2 a.m.

Sunday

The two of us met up with my friend from Germany and her friend for breakfast at Charlie's Cafe before deciding what to do for the day. We had planned to take a bus up to Dunrobin Castle but quickly realized that some countries and cities relax on Sundays. The bus wasn't running when we needed it, and a taxi would have been too expensive, so we started walking around Inverness instead.

We walked down to Dolphin Spirit, but there were only two spaces left on the boat, so we headed to Uilebheist Distillery & Brewery for a drink instead. Afterward, we walked down to the Ness Islands before returning to the city center.

We had lunch at the Highlander (I had a delicious steak and ale pie) before the two girls caught a bus to Glasgow, where they would return home to Germany.

The rest of the day consisted of shopping in any open souvenir shop, getting dinner at Blackfriars, returning to the Highlander for some live music, and then one last drink at Ash before heading to bed.

Monday

Today, we took the Rabbie's Skye & Eilean Donan Castle tour. This was a big reason I chose to stay in Inverness, and it did not disappoint. Our tour guide's name was Dave, and he was very knowledgeable about the area and its history.

We stopped for photos at Loch Ness and Loch Cluanie before our first big stop at the Eilean Donan Castle. At the castle, you can pay to go over the bridge to walk the grounds or enter the castle. After grabbing some hot drinks, we only had time to walk the grounds, but we were fine with that choice. The original castle was destroyed in the 18th century as punishment for its use in the Jacobite Rebellions. Lt Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap purchased and rebuilt it in the 20th century.

After driving over the Skye Bridge, we stopped for lunch in Portree. The two of us ate at Cuchullin, where I tried mussels for the first time. I ate a few but mainly stuck with the salmon and scallops. I also tried and enjoyed Cullen Skink, a traditional Scottish smoked haddock chowder.

Our next stops were Kilt Rock, a view of the Old Man of Storr, and Quiraing, which offered some beautiful views. Our last stop was in Kyleakin, where we grabbed a drink at Saucy Mary's before the bus took us back to Inverness.

My only complaint was that we didn't get to pet any Highland cows. We saw some from the bus, but Dave wasn't able to find a good place to stop.

I would have also done the Fairy Pools walk if we had toured the Isle of Skye alone. This tour didn't take us anywhere near them, which was fine, but they would have been a fun experience.

Tuesday

After checking out of our hotel but leaving our bags, we walked over to the Victorian Market for a hot drink at Milk Bar before taxiing to the Culloden Battlefield.

Dave gave us a summary of the battle during our Rabbie tour, but walking through the museum and reading about everything that happened was very informative. We saw clan grave markers and walked around the battlefield.

There were Highland cows here, but they refused to come to the fence to be petted. I asked two cabbies if they knew anywhere nearby to pet some Highland cows, but we were out of luck on this trip.

We headed straight to Leakey's Bookshop, the largest second-hand bookshop in Scotland. Neither of us bought anything, but it was a really cool bookshop to look around in.

We ended our trip with afternoon tea at Best Western Inverness Palace Hotel & Spa. It was delicious, but if I were to go back and had more time, I'd go a little outside of Inverness to Bunchrew House or Quila Cridhe. The Mustard Seed is a nice restaurant, and we couldn't get a table Sunday night for dinner, so we decided to have a goodbye wine to end the trip.

The Inverness Castle is closed for renovations, but we would have done that Sunday or Tuesday.

Where We Stayed

When booking our trip, we were between two hotels and decided to treat ourselves and go with the slightly more expensive Royal Highland Hotel. It was a great choice. This hotel has so much history, and it's absolutely gorgeous. We heard someone say the stairs were designed by the same architect who did them on the Titanic, and we believed it. They look very similar.

Included with our booking was a complimentary drink and a 2-course meal ticket at the connecting restaurant Ash. When we returned from the Rabbie's tour, we got an appetizer to split, an entree each, and a dessert to split.

It's also in the perfect location. Right next to the ScotRail, a block from the bus stops, and across the street from the Victorian Market.

Overall

It was a great trip. We could have used one more day since we ended up in London on Saturday, and a lot of stuff was closed on Sunday, but we saw everything we could in Inverness. The weather was a little chilly but not as rainy as I expected. Seeing a part of Scotland that I hadn't visited before was fun.