The Great Scottish Adventure
Day 17
Dunnottar Castle/Glamis Castle/St. Andrews Castle and Cathedral
Overslept by an hour. This set us back as we had over 2 1/2 hours of driving to get to our first stop at Dunnottar Castle.
The drive took us right through the Cairngorms National Park as we made our way to the east coast of Scotland. Very different feel to the other Highlands and Isle Of Skye we had been traveling. The mountains here were still very large, but more rounded and rolling. It was a very beautiful route and looked liked there were ample opportunities for camping. The roads were mostly quite narrow with many sections of single-track and it felt very remote. Fortunately, the traffic was very light.
Exhausted from the drive we reached the Dunnottar Castle ruins. What an incredible place! Another location with a long and interesting history dating back to the Early Middle Ages. The castle ruins were amazing and the location was breath taking! Perched high on the cliffs overlooking the North Sea. We spent quite a bit of time exploring the site before hurrying off to our next stop.
Glamis Castle, huge and very busy with loads of tourists. We took the guided tour through the still lived in castle, giving us a view of how the royalty lives. Totally elaborate in every room. Unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside as it is still a personal residence.
After the tour we hurried back to the van and made our way as quickly as possible to St. Andrews. Here we managed to walk the St. Andrews Castle ruins but missed last entry to the Cathedral. So we could only view it from the street. Still very impressive!
We did pretty good even with our late start. The day seemed rushed, but still thoroughly enjoyable!
Making our way to camp for the night, we stopped in Cupar for fuel and asked for advice on a place for dinner. The recommendation for a pizza restaurant was perfect. We got to have some good food and met some friendly locals and got to see a part of the cute little town.
Tomorrow is our most ambitious day yet. We will need an early start to have a chance of accomplishing our itinerary…
