Scotland Road Trip - Take 2

Apologies if the West Coast of Scotland road trip seemed to come to an abrupt end but the simple reason was that I started to feel a little unwell as we departed Scotland and by the time I got home I was downright lousy.  I even missed the chance to review the final hotel we stayed at which was a disaster for me as you know my who life and you tube channel is built on reviewing hotels.  But sometimes when you feel ill you cannot just do it and I was ill which I hope proves it when you consider I missed doing what I love the most.
OK so why am I putting the heading Scotland Road Trip 2.  Well, feeling much better and with another week of holiday to come we thought we would take the chance to visit the Dumfries and Galloway area of Scotland.  It is not a first for me as many years ago I worked around the Ayr, Maybole and Grivan area and loved the area so we have decided that whilst we wanted a break but not have the chance to travel abroad we would once again take in beautiful Scotland.  And as you do when you visit Scotland we are starting our trip in the North East.  I know that sounds daft but I will explain.  Some time ago when we were planning a weekend away as I didnt know a holiday was possible we booked a hotel near Durham so we could visit that lovely town and decided rather than come home and start then going to Scotland we would tag the Scotland trip on that hotel and not have so far to travel when we head to the land of Braveheart.
So rather than go into too much detail for now, our first trek will be to Durham on Saturday before a restful night and then off to the west coast for another one night stop.
This holiday will also be slightly different that we are planning to stay just one night in each place and take in as much as we can as well as, as many hotels as we can and I believe we have booked some lovely looking places.  But we shall see.

All for now, time to start packing the case once again.

Scotland Trip - Blog 5

Today was the leg from Fort William to Staffin on the Isle of Skye.  I was expecting a fair bit of driving and it to take a few hours but with so much to see it did take around six hours with all the stops.  All the stops were a necessity due to the fantastic things to see.  Of course there was the scenery which was quite spectacular but we also kept coming across little gems along the way.  A really interesting derelict church that had a working graveyard, and I mean by that it was still being used.  Next was a hidden waterfall and then Eileen Donan Castle which was even more interesting as it was also famous for being used in the Bond film, The World is Not Enough.  I had to admit that I checked it before putting it on here as I could remember it and when I did check it is only a brief shot of the castle before they cut to inside and a meeting.  But it was still shown on the film.  In real life though it is an impressive building and beautifully situated in a Loch.
Dragging ourselves forward we then finally made it to Kyle of Lochalsh where we pit stopped to pick up supplies from the co op shop before again journeying over the famous Skye road bridge and onto the island.
Again I pulled over to view the marvellous views and checked my phone to see how far it was to the guest house and google maps said 10 hours and 30 minutes.  I almost fainted until I realised I had it on walking mode and infant driving was around 48 minutes.  WOW I felt so much better.
The final highlight of the journey was when we found Portree, it looked so busy compared to the areas we had visited earlier in the day.  So much so we felt threatened and we rushed on, telling ourselves we would visit their tomorrow.
We arrived at Staffin and checked out the one shop/restaurant/gym/library/meeting point, probably anything the locals wanted it to be.  We then drove the 30 seconds to the accommodation and are now relaxing looking out of the window at the wonderful view I have copied below.
We are also ready for our night's rest so we can expose the island tomorrow.

For a video blog of our Scotland trip check out my youtube channel which is called, The Secret Hotel Inspector.

Scotland Trip Blog 4

We woke this morning in our nice hotel in Dalmally and was soon on the road to Oban, we had another full day so didn't want to waste a minute.  What can I say about Oban, stunning and beautiful does not give it enough superlatives.  The walk along the front was so relaxing and then a little trip inland to the shops was also nice.  But nothing can compare to sitting down, having a brew and looking at the scenery that is the bay.  The ferries were coming in and out and made for some fascinating viewing.
After four hours in Oban it was on to Fort William with a few stops along the way.  All along the journey we had stunning views of lochs and mountains.  We had to pull over several times to just sit and look.  We arrived at Fort William and after such a great start, we were a little disappointed. The town is all along the loch but no effort has been made to incorporate it into the town so the only area to walk is the high street which is fine for some trinket shopping but our holiday is not about looking in shops.  We stayed a few hours in the town before we headed for our accommodation and a first for me.  I have never stayed in a Bed and Breakfast or guest house, whichever you want to call it.
My first impression is a good one as the welcome was superb and the host could not do enough for us.  The room has everything you could want and we are really pleased with our choice of venue.

There will be a review of our room on my youtube channel "The Secret Hotel Inspector" so please check it out and you will see why we are happy with the place.

Also on the channel is a video of our journey along the west coast of Scotland in my Whatabout Weekends series.

Scotland Trip - Blog 3

The day has finally arrived and I am pleased to say the wife was enjoying it as much as I was and to prove that point she was nudging me before 6.00 a.m. to suggest we started to make our move.   I left out of bed with the vigour of a hungry lion, I would like to think.  In reality I grumbled and groaned my way out of bed and bouncing off the walls I made my way to the shower.
By 7.00 we were in the car and making our way out of town and on a 300 plus mile journey to Dalmally.  Despite a few early morning queues and a couple of stops, one at a garden centre just on the A66 that has camels in the gardens and a stop at Abbington services just south of Glasgow it was a quiet journey.  One noteworthy item was that in Abbington services there are two sets of electric car charge stations, one set for Tesla and another I guess for General Electric cars.  Love to see these as I really hope electric cars take off and seeing these charge stations shows they have the infrastructure to do so.
Watered and de watered (you know what I mean) we headed onward and eventually as we journey along Loch Lomond we saw some very beautiful scenery and it continued all the way to Dalmally.  We finally arrived around 3.00 p.m. and after checking in at the hotel we walked around the village.  Within minutes we had found a lovely church and spent a short while sat in the church yard in the hot sun.  A little too long if truth be told but when it is this nice then you cant help it.  We continued our walk and eventually landed in our room.
The day was always going to be about travelling so we weren't expecting much sightseeing, that will begin tomorrow, so join me as we continue out Scotland trip.

You can look around the hotels we have stayed in on my youtube channel the secret hotel inspector

Scotland Trip - Blog 2

Five days to go and with any well planned road trip, the first thing to do is get the first couple of days sorted.  In this case it is all about working out how far I want to drive in a day, what there is likely to see and finally what hotels are in the area.

The first thing is the route, well I know I want to go to Scotland so it is up the A1, across the A66 and then up the M6 and then I will be going past Glasgow and onwards.  I expect the first day will be at least 5 hours of actual driving which may sound horrendous to some people but for me it is heaven, I love driving.

Hazy picture fades into a past memory, I love driving so much so that I have done a few road trips, each one around the 5,000 mile mark over a two to three week period.  Driving in unknown remote places is like a dream come true.  Hazy picture fades back to reality.

So this time, the hotel is booked for a place called Dalmally which seems a small place not too far from Oban and what seems like a good stopping point before visiting Oban and seeing what that well heard of town has to offer.  That is about as far as I want to book and in the past that would be a slight cause for anxiety as it can be that hotels and bed and breakfasts could be booked up, but with the invention of Airbnb then it has opened up a lot more options for staying the night.  I am not saying everyone of them will be perfect but it is somewhere to lay your head should you find at a loss and you never know you may find a gold mine. 

I have only stayed in a couple of Airbnb’s so far in my travel life but will not that each one has been hosted by very nice people who really do their best at the hosting game and go above and beyond paid hotel staff, who are doing this just for a job. I know I am generalising and appreciate there are exceptions, but I hope you know what I mean.  Still this trip may be different, we shall have to wait and see.

Before any long trip one job that I will do before heading out is check the car, oil, water and make sure the tyres have a breath of wind and ensure the dash cam is operational and recording at its peak performance, basic stuff but one that is done you do have peace of mind that the basics are covered.

With five days to go, excitement is building.

You can look around the hotels we have stayed in on my youtube channel the secret hotel inspector

Scotland Trip Blog 1

Nothing feels better than traveling to a destination that you have never visited before.  Before I carry on along this track, I will also add that it is nice to go back to places if you really love them and you have special memories there, but I still think it is great to find some new paradise. This is the case for me and my hastily arranged holiday for this week.  

Ninety-nine-point nine percent of people must work to keep the pennies rolling in and whilst a few lucky people do the job of their dreams the norm is that we are cast into a role that we can tolerate to keep the wolves from the door.  Generally working means that we have some money left over from the necessities and people again have a choice of what to do with that money. For me it is travel, I will happily forgo takeaways in exchange for home cooked food, smoking, drinking and generally going out.  Every penny saved can get me either to a destination further away or to different places more frequently.

Enough of my living standards and onto the reason for this or any of my blogs I have done over the thirty years since I started venturing out on my own, and yes, I was a later starter so not that young.  One area I have never been to in the UK, there are a few, is the west coast of Scotland, it is strange to think after hearing millions of times how beautiful that part of the world is, that I have never been.  I will clear up one thing, I have been to Dumfries and Galaway area many times, having the opportunity to work in Ayr, Maybole, Girvan and of course visit the beautiful town of Portpatrick, which is my favourite of the area. Only because when I first went, the sun was blazing down and it was out of season (April) so there were very few people about.

So back to this trip and in just a few days I will be heading off to Oban, Fort William and the Isle of Skye and quite honestly, I cannot wait.  Hence the reason I am already writing about it.  I think one thing that most people will do is hit Google Maps and street view to see where you are going and it looks amazing so this is fuelling my impatience even more.  Only seven days until we crank up the Volvo but that still seems far too long. 

I hope you decide to join me as I write and video my way around Scotland and of course review the hotels that I stay in.

You can look around the hotels we have stayed in on my youtube channel the secret hotel inspector

Potholes and Potheads

Ohhh what a day today, potholes and potheads.  My first point today is potholes, I know I have talked about this before so don’t go crazy on me but today on the news, oh I love the news, it was reported by a guy who is high up in the RAC so must be very trustworthy, that 400 cyclists last year were either killed or seriously injured due to potholes.  SERIOUSLY INJURED OR KILLED.  How the hell can we see those figures and not have some sort of accountability on the people who are paid to administer the roads.  If in my job I was doing something that would kill or injure one person I would, quite rightly, be jailed.  However as a project manager I do inflict pain of a different kind but at least no one is injured.  But back to my serious point, if we say there are 4.5 people per family and I make that figure from the fact that there are 2.5 kids per family and two adults then that is nearly two thousand people who are affected by the powers that are responsible for the roads.  At what point do we do something, perhaps when a celebrity or MP gets killed by a pothole related accident.  I know that this is trivial stuff compared to wars and hate that is being waged around the world but when we have pointless deaths,  I suppose like wars, then we should be tackling this.

Onto the potheads and that was just to create a sort of symmetry in my opening bit.  I was looking at getting a train and of course we go on line these days not much chance of visiting an old fashioned booking office as only major train stations have these now a days.  So I went on line and it is quite simple, you put your station and your destination before hyperventilating over the price.  Then you start to put in intermediate stops to find out if it is cheaper to book from  home to some random destination and then from there to my original destination.  Then you try other stops along the route.  Finally you look at the time of the train and you see that if you go twenty minutes later you get it half price, then you stat to look for the colour of the train.  Yes I know that bit was silly but you get my point. I need to go from my home town to Nottingham and so the fun begins.  My cheapest price is £9.10 each way so making that £18.20.  The dearest price from £37.70, and the prices in between are £19.50, £18.20, £37.60.  Just for fun I did go to an old fashioned booking office and got the price of £37.60 as long as I go after a certain time, via Sheffield and I can travel back anytime, as long as it is not on a virgin train unless it’s a brown Virgin train (Cross Country) and they seem fine dependant on the guard you get checking the ticket..  I understand why we have different ticket prices based on times cause that way we can take advantage of people having to go to work and then let people who can choose have the cheaper trains.  But why do we have so many prices for the same route.  I know I am getting old but this is really confusing.

Oh and while we are at it, I don’t mind having phone tickets as it seems convenient and much less resources used and wasted but please train the train staff on accepting them.  I have seen so many people showing them and the guard not sure where to look to see if it is valid despite the person having a receipt showing they have purchased it.

That is all for now as my blood pressure has gone up ten points just writing this but this is a great release, more people should try it. 

Here all week, try the veal.