Scotland Road Trip : 5 days 4 nights Part 1

Wallasey, North of England  to  Fort William, Scotland

This was our wonderful journey through Scotland, starting from our home in Wallesy Merseyside. 

In March 2017 we embarked on a 5days 4 nights journey through Scotland by car and had been one of my best holidays for the year. Weather wise, at that time were not doing us any favor in giving us any good clear pictures due to frequent rain iand gloomy days in the Highlands but, we still enjoyed our journey, breathing fresh air and having the opportunity just being there to see the view of the lakes and the highlands. For some area where we were not lucky enough to take any nice pictures, we bought a few post cards of that place. I was told the best time to visit Scotland was during late March to May, that's spring and September to November for the autumn period.

The purpose of our trip was mainly to see the scenery especially in the highlands. It was a scenic road trip. 1 night at Fort William and 3 nights in Edinburgh.

31st March 2017 (Friday) -  We set out our journey as early as 8 am from Wallasey.
  Even though GPS device was available in the car, we would still prefer a map, partly due to habit. With the map,we could easily mark or track,before and after the trip.

From Wallasey to Fort William( about 524.6 km) it's about a 6 hours drive 

We took 2-3 hours more because of too many short breaks to enjoy the scenery and getting fresh air.
We drove from our home Wallasey using M58 then merge to M6 passing by Preston, Lancaster.
At Crookland we merge to A591 route to pass by Windermere because we heard that Windermere was a good place to visit too. Unfortunately ,it was misty and raining so we did not stop by at Windermere and continue to Keswick .

Misty, thick fog  at Windermere around 10 am

Loch Lomond during sunset

Beautiful scenery of Loch Lomond from the car.( The Loch stretches from Cameron House all the way to Ardlui for 23 miles along the Lake/Loch). It was a scenic trip.

Snow capped mountain covered by clouds at Glencoe. Temp 2-4 degrees Celsius.

A breathtaking scenery

Shaggy cow also known as Highlands cattle are hairy cows at Glencoe.

 They are well-known for their lean meat compared to other cows.

A lone ranger escaped from the fence and quietly munching away the grass. On top of the hills were fast moving mist. I took a  picture of this sheep because we don't see one in my hometown.😁😁😁😁

We reached about 5 pm and stayed overnight at Travel Lodge at High Streets

Travel Lodge at High Street , Fort William
Find out more in their website https://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/565/Fort-William-hotel

Travel lodge was about 50 pounds per night. Anyway, it's only an overnight stay. The double bed was very clean and comfortable. Location was good, right in the town area. We took a brief walk around the town. Wetherspoon (Great Glen) was just next door. We had our dinner there and had a pint of beer. Then we continued to the traditional Scottish Pub "The Grog and Gruel", It was on the same row as the Travel Lodge. It's a Friday night so it was packed. My husband had a go with the Scottish Ale and love it!. Staff were friendly and there were live music. By 10 pm. we called it a night and settled to our land of nod because we're going to have another long day the next day. Fort Augustus only take about 45 mins but Edinburgh was a longer journey about three and half hours.

At 6 pm, the sky darkened very quickly and thick fog was coming, covering some parts of the Loch in seconds.
 It's like the horror movie called "The Fog"

 1st April 2017- Early morning, 7 am at High Street, Fort William.  It was drizzling and cold outside.

We had our Big Scottish Breakfast with Scottish Haggis, Scottish sausage, beans, toast,eggs,mushroom, tomatoes and a pot of tea at Morrisons for about 6 pounds. I ate like a pig. After that I wished I could slouch like a couch potato but couldn't because there were so much to do for the day😞😞

 Some shops had opened in High Street, so we bought some souvenirs. My husband bought a Scottish kilt while I bought some key chains and  a few packages of Scottish Walkers short bread as they were indeed very cheap from 99 Pence to a pound!!! I really shop like crazy with those.

We visited West Highland Museum at Fort William. Entrance is free. It's a small but meaningful Museum.

 As I was looking and reading the contents in the photo, the name Mr "William Fairbairn" caught my eyes!  It seemed to be the same person whom my father had been talking about when I was a little girl. His Boss's father!!! I wished my father was still alive so I could say, *I saw the photo of your boss 's father, William Fairbairn! "😂

The rain had stopped around 10 am so we walked up the hilly slope hoping to get  a better view of the Loch Linnhe ( In Scottish It is a Lake) .

This was the highest we could get but still not good enough for photo taking. The view of  Loch Linnhe was blocked by the buildings. Too bad but at least we tried.😞😞
But we found something amusing...we saw a little shade house next to a hostel up the hill.

We were curious what's in this shade house, 

It's a just a smoking area for smokers.😂😂😂.Must be too cold outside that a shade house was built next to the hostel.

Even though time was short here, we still enjoyed every minute of it.

The only regret was, not able to experience the Jacobite steam train and the Glenfinnan Viaduct which some reviewers said that you could feel goosebumps when the train ran through it. If you are a Harry Potter fan, you  surely don't want to miss it since Jacobite steam train was the train they filmed as Hogwarts Express taking Harry Potter from platform 9 ¾ all the way to Hogwarts. The train trip will take at least half a day which we couldn't afford in time wise.

Part 2 of My Road trip to the Highlands, coming up soon.....