September 30, 2025 • 35 mins
Scotland promises unforgettable adventures, but even the best-planned trips can be derailed by a few common mistakes. In this episode, we reveal fifteen pitfalls travellers often make and share practical advice to help your Scottish journey run smoothly.
Here are just some of the mistakes we discuss:
- Visiting Edinburgh in August during the Fringe Festival or Military Tattoo without booking accommodation and restaurants well in advance
- Underestimating the impact of midges in the Highlands and islands during summer
- Forgetting how unpredictable Scottish weather can be — even in the middle of July
- Limiting your trip to just Edinburgh or Skye when Scotland offers so much more
- Attempting to squeeze too much into a short itinerary, especially on long drives like the NC500
- Failing to secure accommodation, ferries, or restaurants months ahead in popular destinations
- Assuming driving is the only way to explore Scotland, instead of considering scenic train journeys
- Not packing layers and waterproofs for every season
- Calling Scots “English” or mispronouncing place names like Edinburgh (“Edin-bra”) and Glasgow
- Skipping traditional Scottish food and drink, such as haggis, neeps and tatties, a full Scottish breakfast, whisky tastings, or even Irn-Bru
- Rushing instead of allowing time to slow down, soak up the atmosphere, and connect with locals
If you’re planning a trip to Scotland, don’t let these simple mistakes spoil your adventure. Take the time to explore beyond the tourist hotspots, prepare for every kind of weather, and immerse yourself in the culture, history, and warm hospitality that make Scotland such a special destination.
📝 Show Notes - Episode 169
🎧 Listen to next
- Episode #145 – Exploring Scotland by Rail: Edinburgh to Inverness Train Travel Tips
- Episode #140 Navigating the North Coast 500: Essential Tips for Your Scottish Adventure
- Episode #58 Edinburgh Travel 101: Essential Tips for First-Time Visitors
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Planning a trip to Scotland, don't let a few simple
mistakes spoil it.
Today, Doug and I reveal the 15pitfalls travellers often make
and how you can avoid them.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
Your host is the founder of theUK Travel Planning website,
Tracey Collins.
Each week, Tracey sharesdestination guides, travel tips
and itinerary ideas, as well asinterviews with a variety of
guests who share their knowledgeand experience of UK travel to
help you plan your perfect UKvacation.
Join us as we explore the UKfrom cosmopolitan cities to
(00:31):
quaint villages, from historiccastles to beautiful islands,
and from the picturesquecountryside to seaside towns.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Hi everyone and welcome to this week's episode
of the UK Travel PlanningPodcast.
Now I'm with Doug and he's backagain to share more travel tips
with you.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Hello there.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
So, following on from our popular episodes about the
mistakes first-time visitorsmake when applying a UK road
trip or travelling by train orvisiting London, we thought we'd
continue that series with afocus on Scotland.
Now we know, don't we?
We do From our own travels howimportant it is to be prepared
and avoid often easy to makemistakes that can leave you
(01:15):
feeling a bit frustrated orrushed, or feeling that you've
missed out on some of the bestexperiences.
So in this episode, doug and Iare going to share 15 mistakes
visitors often make whenplanning a trip to Scotland, but
of course, we're going to alsogive you information about how
to avoid those mistakes, aren'twe?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
We certainly are.
I mean a lot of the mistakeswe're going to come across.
We've had that as feedback frompeople as well.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Yeah, absolutely Absolutely.
So you know whether you'replanning your first Scottish
adventure, you're heading backfor another visit.
Your first Scottish adventure,you're heading back for another
visit.
Hopefully, this episode willgive you practical tips, insider
insights and plenty of ideas tohelp you get the most of your
time in this amazing part of theUK.
We both love Scotland.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
We really do yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Now, don't forget if you're interested in
destinations beyond the UK, dohead over to our global travel
planning podcast, where we sharetips, itineraries and more for
many destinations around theworld.
Now, if there is a destinationor topic you'd specifically like
us to cover in a future episodeof the UK Travel Plan and
Podcast, do let us know viaSpeakpipe, because we love
(02:13):
hearing from you.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
We certainly do.
We love the comments and thefeedback.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Yeah, we do, it's really great.
And we do get back to mostpeople when they leave us a
message, don't we?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
pretty quickly we do.
Thank you, people for thetrouble of sharing that feedback
.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Yeah, no, it's really really good.
We do enjoy that.
And then, obviously, finally, Ido want to say a big thank you
to those of you who support usevery month by sponsoring the
podcast.
It really does mean the worldto us and it helps to continue
for us to bring these newepisodes to you every week.
But yeah, I just want to give alittle bit, I guess, a
background about our connectionwith Scotland.
(02:48):
So I grew up not far from theScottish border.
My maiden name is McConnachie,so I do have a close ancestry
from Scotland, actually from theCallander region.
That's where my dad's familycame from and my grandmothers
were Campbell.
So I have a strong connectionwith Scotland.
And actually one of my mum'sclosest friends lived in
(03:08):
Edinburgh when I was growing up,so we used to spend a lot of
time driving up to spendweekends or holidays up in that
area.
It was just that little bit toofar for me at that age and I
always used to get car sick, soI always knew we were
approaching Edinburgh, becauseusually by that point I was
about to throw up.
That's a good advert.
And, of course, since then I'vebeen visiting Scotland and
(03:30):
exploring Scotland many times,many, many times, before we got
married 20 years ago.
And you've also got aconnection as well, haven't you?
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Well, I've worked in Scotland on and off during my
railway days and travelledextensively all around Scotland.
I've got family not far fromCalendagh and yeah, so we do
have a connection.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
We're not related.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
We're not related.
I may or may not have familyconnections to Scotland, but I'm
not sure.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Ah, okay, yeah, Okay.
So should we talk about?
Should we go through kind of, Iguess, in themed order.
That's probably going to makesense.
I thought we'd start with thetiming and seasonal planning
mistakes that are easy to make,to be honest.
So think about timing and whatseason you visit Scotland,
because it can make a hugedifference.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yeah, most definitely , so you can get extreme of any
weather in Scotland.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Sometimes in the same day.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yes, I'll cover the weather a little bit later.
I think, let's talk aboutpopular events, actually,
because we're recording this inAugust.
This is going to go out at thebeginning of, actually end of
September.
So we've got the FringeFestival, which is apparently
the world's largest performancearts festival, and there's also
the tattoo.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
The Fringe Festival, I understand, does date back to
around 1947-ish.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Yeah, so it's been going on for quite a long time,
quite a while.
And it has got a worldwidereputation and it ends up with
lots and lots of people.
I guess, if you're not goingfor the Fringe, what?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
you need to know is that there will be lots and lots
of people in Edinburgh who arethat is.
Any accommodation gets bookedup well in advance, yeah, and
it's more expensive.
So you've got it I guess it's.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
It's what we're trying to say is it's very, very
expensive.
Um, accommodation gets bookedup way, way in advance and it's
incredibly busy, incredibly busyin august.
The tattoo is also on in augustas well, and now that's an
annual series of militarytattoos which is held in front
of edinburgh castle, kind of inthe square in front of the
castle.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Um, and we've been there when they've been putting
the infrastructure up, haven'twe, we have, we've seen them put
in, though the the grand standsup and yeah, and it gets.
When you actually watch it thetattoo on tv you cannot believe
where the castle is and howsmall the square is and how huge
it looks on the tv and how manypeople will fit into it as well
(05:49):
, it's incredible.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Now it is again also very, very popular and, um, that
also gets booked up.
So if you are planning to visitduring august, be aware that if
you have no interest in goingto tattoo, if you have no
interest in going to the fringe,I would say recommend avoiding
staying in edinburgh in august.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
That would be mine.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
It's not just accommodation restaurants and
cafes are also very, very busyyeah, so the other time of year
that I also say to avoid.
I know we're kind of focusingon Edinburgh here at the minute,
but it's obvious one really isvisiting during Hogmanay, which
is a bit of a sore topic for mewell, well.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Yes, we've had a bit of disappointment there, haven't
we ourselves?
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yes, so do you want to explain what Hogmanay is?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Hogmanay is the New Year's celebrations, which is
incredibly popular in Scotlandas it was once outlawed in
Scotland, so Hogmanay is a bigthing to a Scots person.
It really is, and it's Hogmanaywhen they're seeing old lang
syne, which you know what ittranslates as uh, when times
(06:50):
passed in times past yeah, um,yeah, and we were there last
year hoping for the first
Speaker 1 (06:56):
time to go to hogmanay yeah, none of us have
been before and what happenedthe weather intervened this is
scotland we're talking about yes, it was called off it ended up
for the I don't know the firsttime and I don't know how many
years or if ever.
I'm sure it was actually calledoff because it was a massive
storm forecast for that evening.
Yeah, it was awful, so I yeahit.
(07:17):
That was very, verydisappointing, so it's still on
our list it is.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
You know what.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
The weather also impacted some of my plans, which
I will reveal later yeah, we'llkeep mention about the weather,
so we know that's going to be awhole topic.
We're going to talk aboutanother thing I guess to talk
about if you're visiting sothat's kind of covered thinking
about the time of year in termsof what festivals, what popular
events are going on.
But I'm going to talk a littlebit about midges.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
You can't talk about Scotland in summer without
mention midges midges have manynames, most of it unrepeatable
it's true, right.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
So what are they?
They're very small biting flies.
Apparently it's on the femaleones that bite, don't say
anything, okay, um, but they areactive primarily from late may
to september.
We didn't see any in sky lastyear, not last year no, we were
lucky yeah, we were very lucky,um, and they really like it when
it's damp and it's still um, so, and they swarm and they bite.
(08:14):
So you will probably, if you doa search online, you will no
doubt see people covered in thembecause they're and they're
smaller than flies, they'resmaller than mosquitoes, they
are tiny and they swarm likeI've seen people covered on
their arms and they swarm likeI've seen people covered on
their arms and they're horribleI've experienced them in the
past, but not very nice no, soif it's a slight breeze, you
don't find them, but I honestlyyou can't predict whether it's
(08:37):
going to be breezy or whetherit's going to be still yeah yeah
, it depends where you'retraveling as well, but on the
heather um popular areas you youwill experience them if the
conditions are rightyeah, I think it's about being
the conditions being right, orso.
Basically, I'm just saying thatif you are gonna visit June,
july, august in particular, bevery aware that it's mid-season
(08:57):
and you need to get something toput on to keep the midges away
because, honestly, you don'twant to get bitten by these
things.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
No, very nice, so that's just something.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Want to get bitten by these things?
No, not very nice.
So that's just something I wantto mention, and the next one we
want to talk about is visitingin winter.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yes, this can present a few problems.
Some people not everybody, somepeople prefer that time of year
to travel, but you have to beprepared for things being closed
.
I don't mean just tourist knowtouristy places to visit, but
some of the areas you could goto.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
There's lots of things closed yeah, it's low
season, it's, it's dark forstart off because the short
daylight hours, the weather ischangeable and can be quite
extreme.
Obviously, the further northyou go, the darker it gets, the
colder it gets, the moreunpredictable.
I mean, the weather's prettyunpredictable anyway, but you
know, you may get snow, you maynot get snow.
(09:52):
We've actually traveled injanuary, uh, to glencoe and
there was a lot of snow, a lotof ice around.
Um, you can also get fog.
I mean, actually we were therein september last year I was not
even talking in the winterspring and there was a lot of
fog and mist on sky.
Yeah, so you've got to considerthis if you're planning to
visit during those winter months.
(10:12):
So you're going to be able todo less, you can be able to
drive less.
You need to be very careful whenit comes to considering driving
especially conditions roadconditions, and it's also a time
of year when there can be morestorms.
So you got caught out, didn'tyou this year?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
yes, I did.
Anybody who follows me on traintips group they will know that
I have big plans for my railadventure in january to go from
edinburgh to inverness via theuh, via aberdeen, the east coast
, and then back down thehighlands main line.
That plan was changed because Iwas halfway up to Inverness and
(10:49):
the notice came out all trainswere being cancelled the
following day because of thesame storms yeah, massive storms
.
So luckily, I have vastexperience in this and I made
lots and lots of plans andstopped over in Inverness and
looked at different ways to getback.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Yeah, but it was a bit tricky.
And also I remember a few yearsago we were wanting to get the
caledonian sleeper and I thinkthere'd been a massive storm and
the line was blocked yes, itwas yeah, so basically, if
you're planning around the kindof winter months I'm talking
december, january, february,even in march it can be tricky
because the storms, because ofdark weather, because of
potential snow, yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
So you really need to be very careful if you plan to
visit at that time of year it is, and that's why we always
recommend on consults and whenwe offer advice, is to build in
as much flexibility in youritinerary as time budget allows
yeah, absolutely don't do onenight, one night, one night,
that kind of itinerary, movingaround a lot, because you just
don't know if you're actuallygoing to be able to yeah um, so
that's worth considering.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
yeah, right, so the next uh theme of these mistakes
that often people make is withtheir itinerary and destination
choices.
So, okay, once you've got yourtime sorted, you really need to
think about where you choose togo, or sometimes where you don't
go, because that's the otherthing.
So I guess and I know I'vetalked about Edinburgh a lot
already but one mistake we see,and we understand, if you've got
(12:05):
limited time, that you may haveto choose just one destination,
and the obvious one is going tobe Edinburgh.
We understand that, but thereis so much more to Scotland.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
There really is.
I mean Glasgow itself.
I mean it's not far away fromEdinburgh.
I mean you're talking 15minutes of the fastest train
between the cities.
Glasgow has a lot to offer.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Yeah, glasgow is a fascinating city to explore.
We actually have a one dayitinerary on the website for
glasgow, but going up to thehighlands, there's other regions
as well that you can go andexplore.
You know, and even if you so,you want to go to edinburgh and
you've got a few days inedinburgh, do try to fit in a
either day tour or trip by trainthat's right.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
On a website we have, uh, my train itineraries as
well, circular trips as well, soyou you know perth.
I love visiting aberdeen.
I visited many times sterlingfantastic place to visit,
inverness, particular favoriteyeah you know, all these cities
have their own identity andtheir own unique place in
scottish history as well, sodefinitely worth a visit yeah,
well, you've got far northscotland, you've got the border
(13:04):
region there's just so much toScotland honestly, which is I
kind of.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I'm going to mention this because often we get asked
about visiting Scotland andincluding the Republic of
Ireland as well.
So I just, and again, Iunderstand if you've only got a
couple of weeks holiday, butideally, ideally if you can
devote one trip to Scotland andone trip to the republic of
ireland, because these are twocountries.
I mean, the republican islandis obviously republican violence
(13:30):
, nothing to do with the uk,it's not in the uk, whereas
scotland is its own country initself and there's lots and lots
to see in scotland there's lotsand lots to see in the republic
of ireland.
Now, you know, if you, if youabsolutely must, there are ways
to get across.
And you, we've actually donethis ourselves by coaching ferry
, haven't we?
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Most definitely.
I was just going to say don'tforget Northern Ireland in this
equation as well, because thatis also a fantastic place to
visit the Hannan coaches.
I've done several times betweenGlasgow and Belfast and it is
easy.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah, very, very easy it is so straightforward.
And if you really want to go ifwant to, don't want to go to
northern ireland, but you wantto go to the republic of ireland
then you can fly very easilyfrom edinburgh as well but you
can get the bus over coach, overferry over, and then get the
train to you can always take thetrain from belfast, from
belfast down to dublin, which wedid last year.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
We have done that yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
So I just want to encourage you really to kind of,
um, try not cram too much, inwhich I will mention later, but
it's just that there is such alot of beautiful places to visit
in Scotland.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
It's just stunning Every time we go.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
We can spend weeks and weeks and weeks there, and I
still want to spend more andmore time there to see even more
.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
I often ask myself which has the nicest scenery
Wales or Scotland and I have tosay, both of you win for me.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Oh yeah.
Well, I'm going to say Scotland, so Welsh listeners are not
going to be happy with me.
Oh no, don't forget Wales.
Fantastic place.
I think it's our Scottishheritage there, probably so,
yeah, now the other one I'mgoing to mention as well,
although the mistake we see meis that often people just visit
the Isle of Skye.
Now we understand why, and wealso have visited Skye numerous
times.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
We have.
I can see the draw to the place, to the island.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
It's a big island as well it's beautiful, but
unfortunately it's becoming overtouristed yeah, unfortunately
so um, it's incredibly busy.
Parking is a nightmare.
Driving can become a nightmare.
There's just a lot of cars, alot of camper vans on the roads
and the roads themselves are, inall honesty, in a pretty poor
state yeah, they weren't great.
When we were there lastseptember, the weather had been
(15:26):
quite rough yeah, there's a lotof rain so there's a lot of
potholes.
You have to be very careful.
Um, so, if you can, and Iunderstand if you want to visit
sky, I really do because it isbeautiful, but do consider some
of the other islands, thatscotland has stuff, and there
are plenty of them.
In fact, we've got a guide toall of the islands.
Um, so, our favorite, I guessprobably we loved the organ
islands.
Didn guess we really loved theOrkney Islands, didn't we?
Speaker 3 (15:45):
We really did, because it was our first visit
there, so it was a noveltyfactor as well, but we
thoroughly enjoyed it.
There's only one caveat I havewith all the islands other than
Skye is I have to take a boat.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yeah, so Doug gets seasick.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Very seasick.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
That has kind of impacted.
So I've been to Mull and Ionaand Staffa you didn't do that
trip.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
No, no kind of impacted.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
So I've been to mull and iona and and staffer, you
haven't, you didn't do that trip.
No, no, no, no, I didn't.
Um, we are hoping and we have awave to you though you did wave
to me as I went we haven't beento.
So I can say, look, we havevisited scotland many times but
we haven't been everywhere.
So, and I I can't imagine evensomeone who lives in scotland
could say that, um, we haven'tmet lewis and harris, and that
is an island I really want to goto, so we are gonna head there
May next year, aren't we?
Speaker 3 (16:26):
we are as long as the water is extremely still that's
always the thing.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
When I said we're gonna go to an island, I get the
look, I always get the look,and it's like, oh really, and
I'm like, well, yeah, so I guessthat's advantage of a sky.
Yes, you can take the ferry,which we've done multiple times,
but there is a bridge there isa bridge which does make it
easier.
Okay, so shall we move on to thenext lot of uh topics, uh,
which is a practical side ofplanning, because the way you
(16:52):
get around, what you pack andhow far you can try to travel
can really kind of shape yourtrip.
So I think the first thingwe're talking about was
underestimating distances anddrive times and putting too much
in a day certainly so.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
I mean particularly something like the north coast
500, which is a fantasticdriving route around scotland.
Um, there's such a lot to see,and trying to do it too fast, I
think, is one pitfall a lot ofpeople can fall into and I think
we did that as well.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
I'm gonna put my hands up and say we did we
probably did.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
It's all one of these things that works better the
second time you do it.
Yeah, I think you learn fromyour own mistakes.
Sometimes we did, didn't we?
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yeah, or we learn from our mistakes and we share
them with everybody so that theydon't have to make the same
mistake.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
That's the way it works.
I mean, we've already mentionedthe weather.
The weather can play a part inthat as well, and it can slow
you down quite dramatically.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Yeah, but also the roads.
If you think about the farnorth of Scotland, the kind of
single lanes and we were therein May and there were lambs in
the road and yeah, so you don'tget anywhere fast.
There's a lot of camper vans,it's quite a busy road and in
fact, busy roads I should saywhat is worth listening to is we
(18:02):
did a really good podcastepisode with Robert from North
Coast Explorer Tours and in thatpodcast he shares tips for
driving in Far North Scotland.
It was an excellent, reallygood.
I've had so much feedback abouthow great that episode was and
helpful.
We also recommend Tripi Armo aswell if you're driving in
Scotland, because their drivingguides are fabulous.
Um, but I think it's justunderestimating the distance and
how much time, and I know welive in Australia a lot of the
(18:24):
time and we know a lot of youlive in america and you're quite
happy to do a lot of driving,but I think I think it's just
the.
The scenery is beautiful, sogive yourself the time to enjoy
it, take it in, that's right um,because it really is just
fabulous.
It really is beautiful.
You want to be able to pullover and enjoy it and take the
photos and, just, you know, sitand I don't know, just take it.
(18:45):
Just take it in um, so honestly,would you know, recommend that
and try not to put too much in aday, but actually, you know,
pace yourself and enjoy it.
Yeah, um, the the second one issomething that we get all the
time.
Now we understand that there'sa lot of people who who like to
kind of just go along and gowith the flow and make the trip
(19:05):
up as they go.
You just can't do that no, Ithink those days of travel,
particularly in these popularareas, are past well, yeah,
particularly at certain times ofyear, I'm going to say I would
mention this for parts of partsof england as well, like
cornwall and other parts ofengland at certain times of year
become extremely busy andextremely popular.
Now the place I'm going tomention is I'm going to actually
(19:27):
mention Sky, because we hearthis all the time.
People you know we're justgoing to drive and we'll get
accommodation.
You won't find accommodation onSky.
No, you won't, and you won'tfind somewhere to have dinner,
probably no you've got to bookmonths and months and months and
months in advance for Sky.
You need to book where you'regoing to eat as well.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
There's one months and months and months in advance
for Sky.
You need to book where you'regoing to eat as well.
And one thing I want to pointout as well if you're travelling
on sort of shoulder seasons andwinter months, lots of people
on the accommodation, they're onholiday themselves, so choice
of places to stop and to eat aremore limited.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Yeah, that is absolutely true.
So I think, be really carefulif you're going to like the
North Coast 500 again, pop, butvery, very popular.
Book accommodation, book yourrestaurants, book your ferries,
um, because you need to bookferries when they become
available as well, especially atpopular times.
Yeah, and you're going to thinksome of those ferries to the
islands.
That's the only way for thepeople on the islands to get
(20:22):
onto the mainland as well.
Yeah, so you know it.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
It becomes extremely popular, they live their life
and they also have to bulk upthe.
The fairies, yeah, as well yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
So, um, you know, highly recommend it, which,
obviously, sky, you can driveover, you don't have to get a
ferry.
We've done the ferry, as I'vementioned before, but but still,
and I know, when we've bookedaccommodation in sky for example
, we've always had it backsaying have you booked your,
accommodate your restaurants?
These are potential places thatyou can eat to go to.
So, um, it's worth, you know,considering those, those sorts
(20:54):
of things, and I know that northcoast 500 and when we've done
other driving trips aroundscotland we've we've booked
accommodation.
Now, interestingly, when yougot caught out in inverness, you
were lucky to even getaccommodation I really was.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Yes, I mean the.
I was told the um, the place Istayed at, which was a very,
very nice place.
If I'd arrived two hours laterI would not have got that place.
And because, continuing thatstory, it was two nights I had
to stay.
It wasn't just the one night,because the blanket stoppage of
(21:26):
trains because of the stormextended to a second day.
So I was very, very fortunate Icould book a second night.
And it was a restaurant as well, which made it easy.
Yeah, that did make it easy.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
And actually that's a good tip, because if you're
going to book a b&b, you'll getbreakfast, so they've already
got your breakfast sorted, soyou don't have to worry about
that um.
So that's worth considering andthinking about.
Um.
Another thing which are closeto Doug's heart as well here is
just not assuming that drivingis the only way to get around
Scotland, because you can takesome trains you can take some
lovely train journeys inscotland.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
The um, the west highland mainline is repeatedly
named as one of the most scenicrailways in the world, and that
is definitely true.
I like the circular trips aswell the east coast and then up
the uh by aberdeen and perth andthen come back down the
highland mainline, which I'vedone many, many times, and
that's not forgetting also theborders railway lines as well.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Definitely worth the visit, really, really worth the
visit yeah, and also that ifyou're based in someone like
edinburgh, um, we recommend thatif you're in edinburgh not to
have a car, you don't need a carand only pick a car up when you
actually leave in edinburgh,because we've come across this
many times where people have gotcars, they're doing a road trip
and they don't have, they don'thave accommodation in Edinburgh
that actually has parking andthat is a huge issue big issue.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
So actually, if you're based in Edinburgh and
you want to take some day trips,there's so many great ones by
train yes, that's it, and we'vegot most some listed on our
website as well, and these willtry to tested dozens and dozens
of times by me.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
YouTube videos as well.
Oh yes.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Oh yes, we've got a YouTube video on there as well.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
With more to come, so yeah.
With a lot more to come, yeahlots more to come, so that'll be
worth looking at.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Including the one which I'm putting together now
about my experience with theweather came and challenged my
resolve, but you know, I wentwith it, I enjoyed it and just
embraced it.
Yes, and that was your trip upto inverness, wasn't it?
Speaker 1 (23:21):
yeah, it's fantastic on this year, but again, you
should get caught up by theweather.
It can happen.
Now we're talking about theweather.
What else you can get caught upwith is not if you don't pack
layers or, honestly, even ifyou're going in the summer
months, you may need warmclothes and especially further
north you go again because theweather is unpredictable.
So we were in Orkney in May andit was the coldest it had been
(23:42):
for something like 20 years, Ithink.
With the wind chill.
It was minus 630,000 degrees.
It felt like it.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Even I had to take my shorts off and put some
trousers on.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Well, I ended up in a shop buying a massive group of
furry hats.
Yeah, that went over my ears.
It was so cold, it was freezing.
I've also we've been inedinburgh when we've arrived and
we've got sunburned, and thenext day I've so, so summer
clothes, and then the next dayI'm absolutely covered with
jumper, long trousers, socks onboots, on jumper, then a
(24:16):
raincoat and then a hat becauseit's gone so cold I said the day
before I was climbing uparthur's seat in shorts and
t-shirt that's it, so it'sunpredictable.
So really and I know we say thisall the time layers are
important, but really, layersare incredibly important and I
always have my rain jacket yesalways have my rain jacket when
I'm well in the uk, butdefinitely for scotland.
Yeah, it's true okay, so we'reon the home, straight guys.
(24:39):
So we're finally we're going totalk about the cultural side of
things, um, the little slip upsthat can just trip you up a bit
and easy to avoid really beforeyou go and just so, just to help
you out right.
And so the first one is reallydon't call scottish people
english.
Whatever you do, they're notenglish, they're a proud nation
with their own identity.
Um, so really don't want to becalled a scottish person english
(25:02):
, really, because it they won'tlike it.
Um, they are scottish.
Um, you know we have got welshenglish, scottish, northern
irish that make up the uk.
Um, so it's important tounderstand that and to respect
that, and you know just everyonehas their own identity.
Yeah, absolutely and very proudof it.
So that is really just.
It's a very easy thing, justjust important to know.
(25:24):
Um, the other one is this is Ijust want to put this in here
because we do get questionsabout this is that, yes,
scotland does have its ownbanknotes, so the coins are
exactly the same as the englishversions and both coins and
banknotes have the samedenominations.
However, scottish banknoteslook different as they have
different features and picturesbut, as in England, you can't
(25:45):
use paper notes.
They're no longer legal tender.
So you know, in theory, bothBank of England and Scottish
banknotes are accepted acrossthe UK.
There should be, in states,pound sterling on them, but in
practice, some shops andretailers in england aren't keen
on accepting scottish notes.
It's less of an issue in placesclose to the border, like where
I'm from in northumberland, orin major tourist centers, but
(26:10):
honestly it's.
If you do have any scottishcash, I would get rid of it
before you leave scotland um,but like everywhere in the uk
these days, you know, usingcontactless is very common.
Yeah, I mean, I hardly ever useany cash at all, but I just
wanted to put that there becauseI know that is a question that
we've had is, like you know,often we get asked what is the
currency in the UK?
(26:31):
So it's pound.
It's pound sterling, same asScotland.
They just have differentlooking notes.
That's right.
The other one, I'm going totalk this whiskey, this one's
for you, doug.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Well, it used to be in my drinking days.
Yes, I did.
I was quite partial to a littleGlenmorangie.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Yeah, and this is just a spelling one, and it's
just really that there's adifference between how it's
spelling.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Yeah, one's with an E and one's without.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
So which is?
Speaker 3 (26:51):
which.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
So the.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Scottish whiskey is generally with an E, aha, okay,
so I just wanted to put that onein.
I'm not going to say that is ablanket across the board and you
know there's no exceptions,because somebody will probably
come and tell me that there isanother exception, but my
understanding is that is exactlyas it is.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
So whiskey without an E is Scottish.
Yes, okay, cool, yes.
Now another thing we're goingto just mention is just
mispronouncing some of the placenames.
And look hands up, we all do it.
We do it as well.
There's some places there'salways a story I always tell
about.
I mispronounced somewhere inNorthumberland that made my mum
laugh her head off, and I'm fromNorthumberland.
(27:31):
So there you go.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
But just two common mistakes that we hear are
pronunciations and I'm going tosay we will.
We can't pronounce them.
I'm not scottish, so I've, whenI worked in scotland, how many
times it was.
Uh, I want to say I was laughedat because I was the boss, but
um but a few raised eyebrows.
Well, we can't say it with ascottish bro.
That's the difference.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
So but it is edinburgh, edinburgh, edinburgh
yes right, so edinburgh.
I guess what we're trying tosay is it's not Edinburgh.
Okay, we hear that a lot.
We see it spelt without the H,and I'm sure there's plenty of
Scottish people that will laughat my pronunciation as well.
Oh, most definitely but.
I'm trying, but it's Edinburgh,not Edinburgh.
That's the basic thing.
(28:12):
I just think.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
if you're trying it, that's fine Edinburgh yeah, I
think Edinburgh comes up whenpeople from America have it as
predictive text and I think itjust probably changes it to
Edinburgh because I understandit is a place in Texas, I think
okay, it's actually saidEdinburgh pretty think, pretty
much thinking, huh, and theother one is actually Glasgow
(28:33):
yeah, glasgow, yeah that's.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
So that's gal yeah, we often hear Glasgow and it's
not as Glasgow.
So just think go in, it's notGlasgow.
Yeah, we often hear Glasgow andit's not as Glasgow.
So just think go.
In fact it's not even that,because if I was, how do you
pronounce it, Doug?
If it was Scottish?
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Glasgow or Glasgow.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Glasgow.
That's it Glasgow, yeah, sojust.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Apologies for any Scottish people listening for
that terrible total dialect.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
I know we're going to apologise, yeah, but we're
apologising for this, but wejust want to say Edinburgh and
Glasgow, there you go.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
those they'll be fine , that sounds very posh, no, but
I was going to say otherwise.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
I can just, I can just imagine now all these
visitors going to Edinburgh andGlasgow saying it with a, with a
Geordie accent.
So and this takes me I used to.
I used to teach English andactually, because I'm from the
north of of England, I pronouncemy vowels slightly different.
And I remember teaching somekids to speak English and
actually one of the teachersfrom the school coming in and
laughing her head off becauseall the kids were pronouncing
(29:24):
all these words with a Geordieaccent.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Can you just say the vowels for me.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
A-E-I-O-U.
No, you're not going to say it.
There's a comedian calledMichael McIntyre who does a very
, very, very good sketch aboutthe geordie accent and how we
say it is here for all ourvowels, but anyway, I'll
actually will link to that inthe show notes because it is
funny.
But anyway, we're just going totalk about yeah, so accents and
pronunciation we get is can bedifficult and challenging.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Now let's talk about food, one of my favorite topics
oh, I love scottish food, I haveto say particularly scottish
breakfast.
Um, usually the elder yorkguest house, if you're listening
, maury, thank you very much.
You do the best yeah, he doesnow.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
So this is a mistake.
We see, it's not tryingtraditional scottish food.
Honestly, haggis, neeps andtatties, try it.
It's amazing.
It's amazing how many peoplewe've kind of encouraged and
they've got back to us and saidwe went to mecca's mash bar, we
loved it, we loved it, we lovedthe haggis, uh, and honestly
it's, it's worth trying fullscottish breakfast, as doug said
.
So what's slightly different?
(30:22):
What's different from anenglish breakfast?
What are you going to getdifferent?
Speaker 3 (30:25):
we're going to get a potato cake, which is delicious,
yeah, so tatty scones yeah,some haggis yeah, haggis, what
about lawn sausage?
Oh yes, the flat sausage.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
That's very tasty yes , that's square sausage, square,
flat sausage.
You'll usually also get blackpudding, haggis baked beans
fried mushrooms, toast, theusual things.
Yeah, I've also had and I'vegot to try and think what it was
like um oats yes, we did, andin venice we had that.
Yes, yeah, which was reallytasty.
So if you're staying at a b bum, and obviously some of the
hotels as well, tried at leastonce.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Well, yeah, do you try it, do you?
Speaker 1 (30:56):
try haggis.
Now there are some morecontroversial foods that you can
have in scotland, as in thedeep fried mars bar that is
quite famous I have tried thatmany years ago.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
It doesn't work for me no, I, I avoided it.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
We actually have a photo of a place in edinburgh
when we're here.
Well, because we stayed inedinburgh for six weeks this
year and we, we were so temptedand I was like, oh no, I don.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
I tried it once.
It's not for me.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
And, of course, Doug, your favourite drink when
you're in Scotland.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Oh, iron Brew.
I live on them.
When I'm up there I even cutdown on the tea, which is
something else for me, but IronBrew I do really, really enjoy.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
I like the colour.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Yeah, the colour's good.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Because it's bright orange.
It's a very lovely colour.
It's very popular.
Do try Iron Brew when you're in.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Scotland.
Yeah, and they do a sugar-freeversion as well, which I also
like.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
And let us know if you've tried any of these foods.
I want to know what you likedand what you didn't like.
What was your favourite?
And we've heard Iron Brew isreally popular.
Ah yeah, Quite a lot.
It's delicious good.
So by the time this episodecomes out, doug will actually
potentially be in Scotland, soI'm going to get some photos of
(32:03):
him trying some of thesedelicious.
We'll get some photos of you,maybe with a deep-fried Mars bar
, I know.
I'm daring you, I know, I knowI'm daring you, but by the time
this episode, I want to have aphoto of you with a deep fried
Mars bar.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Check that out in the show notes, as long as I can
have a breakfast as well earlyin the morning.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
You can definitely have one, okay.
So we'll move on to the finaltip, and I guess we've kind of
alluded to it throughout thiswhole episode it really is not
allowing time to slow down andenjoy Scotland, so trying to
just tick off too many siteswithout really time to relax in
a pub chat with locals soak upthe atmosphere.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Just enjoy being in Scotland.
Oh, most definitely.
It is such a great country tovisit.
There's something for everybody, really.
But just embrace the wholeexperience yeah, I love Scotland
.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
I have to say, if it was warmer I'd live there you've
said that before, haven't you?
I've said that numerous times,I do love Scotland and I guess
that there's the draw there allthe time.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
You've often said you feel an affinity with Scotland,
haven't you?
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Yeah, definitely, and I do.
I've travelled to 60-oddcountries around the world and
Scotland will be in the firsthandful, without a doubt.
It has so much to offer.
So do go, do enjoy it, do tryto get outside of Edinburgh,
outside of Skye, outside of LochNess, because those are the
three places that everybodyseems to want to go to.
(33:22):
They're lovely places, I'm notgetting you wrong, but do try
and see more.
There's so much culture, somuch history, so much to see and
do.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Yeah, that's right, the history is long and I want
to say complex.
That makes it sound very, verystuffy, but it isn't.
There is a great amount ofhistory there the relationship
with the English particularly.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Definitely so.
In a nutshell, get your time inright, plan your itinerary
carefully, don't underestimatedistances or logistics, and be
mindful of Scotland's uniqueculture.
Do that and you'll avoid themost common mistakes and have a
fantastic trip.
Don't forget, we've got loadsof resources on our website,
plenty of other podcast episodesto help you plan, including our
London UK road trip and UKtrain travel mistakes episodes.
(34:04):
You'll find all the linkswaiting for you in the show
notes at uktravelplanningcom.
Forward slash episode 169.
So I guess we just have to saythank you to everybody for
listening.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Yeah, if you've enjoyed today's episode, please
consider leaving us a review onyour favourite podcast app.
It really helps others find theshow.
But until next time, from bothDoug and me happy UK travel
planning.
Thank you for tuning in to thisweek's episode of the UK Travel
Planning Podcast.
As always, show notes can befound at uktravelplanningcom.
(34:37):
If you've enjoyed the show, whynot leave us feedback via text
or a review on your favouritepodcast app?
We love to hear from you andyou never know, you may receive
a shout out in a future episode.
But, as always, that justleaves me to say until next week
.
Happy UK travel planning.
Planning a trip to Scotland, don't let a few simple
mistakes spoil it.
Today, Doug and I reveal the 15pitfalls travellers often make
and how you can avoid them.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
Your host is the founder of theUK Travel Planning website,
Tracey Collins.
Each week, Tracey sharesdestination guides, travel tips
and itinerary ideas, as well asinterviews with a variety of
guests who share their knowledgeand experience of UK travel to
help you plan your perfect UKvacation.
Join us as we explore the UKfrom cosmopolitan cities to
(00:31):
quaint villages, from historiccastles to beautiful islands,
and from the picturesquecountryside to seaside towns.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Hi everyone and welcome to this week's episode
of the UK Travel PlanningPodcast.
Now I'm with Doug and he's backagain to share more travel tips
with you.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Hello there.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
So, following on from our popular episodes about the
mistakes first-time visitorsmake when applying a UK road
trip or travelling by train orvisiting London, we thought we'd
continue that series with afocus on Scotland.
Now we know, don't we?
We do From our own travels howimportant it is to be prepared
and avoid often easy to makemistakes that can leave you
(01:15):
feeling a bit frustrated orrushed, or feeling that you've
missed out on some of the bestexperiences.
So in this episode, doug and Iare going to share 15 mistakes
visitors often make whenplanning a trip to Scotland, but
of course, we're going to alsogive you information about how
to avoid those mistakes, aren'twe?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
We certainly are.
I mean a lot of the mistakeswe're going to come across.
We've had that as feedback frompeople as well.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Yeah, absolutely Absolutely.
So you know whether you'replanning your first Scottish
adventure, you're heading backfor another visit.
Your first Scottish adventure,you're heading back for another
visit.
Hopefully, this episode willgive you practical tips, insider
insights and plenty of ideas tohelp you get the most of your
time in this amazing part of theUK.
We both love Scotland.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
We really do yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Now, don't forget if you're interested in
destinations beyond the UK, dohead over to our global travel
planning podcast, where we sharetips, itineraries and more for
many destinations around theworld.
Now, if there is a destinationor topic you'd specifically like
us to cover in a future episodeof the UK Travel Plan and
Podcast, do let us know viaSpeakpipe, because we love
(02:13):
hearing from you.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
We certainly do.
We love the comments and thefeedback.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Yeah, we do, it's really great.
And we do get back to mostpeople when they leave us a
message, don't we?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
pretty quickly we do.
Thank you, people for thetrouble of sharing that feedback
.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Yeah, no, it's really really good.
We do enjoy that.
And then, obviously, finally, Ido want to say a big thank you
to those of you who support usevery month by sponsoring the
podcast.
It really does mean the worldto us and it helps to continue
for us to bring these newepisodes to you every week.
But yeah, I just want to give alittle bit, I guess, a
background about our connectionwith Scotland.
(02:48):
So I grew up not far from theScottish border.
My maiden name is McConnachie,so I do have a close ancestry
from Scotland, actually from theCallander region.
That's where my dad's familycame from and my grandmothers
were Campbell.
So I have a strong connectionwith Scotland.
And actually one of my mum'sclosest friends lived in
(03:08):
Edinburgh when I was growing up,so we used to spend a lot of
time driving up to spendweekends or holidays up in that
area.
It was just that little bit toofar for me at that age and I
always used to get car sick, soI always knew we were
approaching Edinburgh, becauseusually by that point I was
about to throw up.
That's a good advert.
And, of course, since then I'vebeen visiting Scotland and
(03:30):
exploring Scotland many times,many, many times, before we got
married 20 years ago.
And you've also got aconnection as well, haven't you?
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Well, I've worked in Scotland on and off during my
railway days and travelledextensively all around Scotland.
I've got family not far fromCalendagh and yeah, so we do
have a connection.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
We're not related.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
We're not related.
I may or may not have familyconnections to Scotland, but I'm
not sure.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Ah, okay, yeah, Okay.
So should we talk about?
Should we go through kind of, Iguess, in themed order.
That's probably going to makesense.
I thought we'd start with thetiming and seasonal planning
mistakes that are easy to make,to be honest.
So think about timing and whatseason you visit Scotland,
because it can make a hugedifference.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yeah, most definitely , so you can get extreme of any
weather in Scotland.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Sometimes in the same day.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yes, I'll cover the weather a little bit later.
I think, let's talk aboutpopular events, actually,
because we're recording this inAugust.
This is going to go out at thebeginning of, actually end of
September.
So we've got the FringeFestival, which is apparently
the world's largest performancearts festival, and there's also
the tattoo.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
The Fringe Festival, I understand, does date back to
around 1947-ish.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Yeah, so it's been going on for quite a long time,
quite a while.
And it has got a worldwidereputation and it ends up with
lots and lots of people.
I guess, if you're not goingfor the Fringe, what?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
you need to know is that there will be lots and lots
of people in Edinburgh who arethat is.
Any accommodation gets bookedup well in advance, yeah, and
it's more expensive.
So you've got it I guess it's.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
It's what we're trying to say is it's very, very
expensive.
Um, accommodation gets bookedup way, way in advance and it's
incredibly busy, incredibly busyin august.
The tattoo is also on in augustas well, and now that's an
annual series of militarytattoos which is held in front
of edinburgh castle, kind of inthe square in front of the
castle.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Um, and we've been there when they've been putting
the infrastructure up, haven'twe, we have, we've seen them put
in, though the the grand standsup and yeah, and it gets.
When you actually watch it thetattoo on tv you cannot believe
where the castle is and howsmall the square is and how huge
it looks on the tv and how manypeople will fit into it as well
(05:49):
, it's incredible.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Now it is again also very, very popular and, um, that
also gets booked up.
So if you are planning to visitduring august, be aware that if
you have no interest in goingto tattoo, if you have no
interest in going to the fringe,I would say recommend avoiding
staying in edinburgh in august.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
That would be mine.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
It's not just accommodation restaurants and
cafes are also very, very busyyeah, so the other time of year
that I also say to avoid.
I know we're kind of focusingon Edinburgh here at the minute,
but it's obvious one really isvisiting during Hogmanay, which
is a bit of a sore topic for mewell, well.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Yes, we've had a bit of disappointment there, haven't
we ourselves?
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yes, so do you want to explain what Hogmanay is?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Hogmanay is the New Year's celebrations, which is
incredibly popular in Scotlandas it was once outlawed in
Scotland, so Hogmanay is a bigthing to a Scots person.
It really is, and it's Hogmanaywhen they're seeing old lang
syne, which you know what ittranslates as uh, when times
(06:50):
passed in times past yeah, um,yeah, and we were there last
year hoping for the first
Speaker 1 (06:56):
time to go to hogmanay yeah, none of us have
been before and what happenedthe weather intervened this is
scotland we're talking about yes, it was called off it ended up
for the I don't know the firsttime and I don't know how many
years or if ever.
I'm sure it was actually calledoff because it was a massive
storm forecast for that evening.
Yeah, it was awful, so I yeahit.
(07:17):
That was very, verydisappointing, so it's still on
our list it is.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
You know what.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
The weather also impacted some of my plans, which
I will reveal later yeah, we'llkeep mention about the weather,
so we know that's going to be awhole topic.
We're going to talk aboutanother thing I guess to talk
about if you're visiting sothat's kind of covered thinking
about the time of year in termsof what festivals, what popular
events are going on.
But I'm going to talk a littlebit about midges.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
You can't talk about Scotland in summer without
mention midges midges have manynames, most of it unrepeatable
it's true, right.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
So what are they?
They're very small biting flies.
Apparently it's on the femaleones that bite, don't say
anything, okay, um, but they areactive primarily from late may
to september.
We didn't see any in sky lastyear, not last year no, we were
lucky yeah, we were very lucky,um, and they really like it when
it's damp and it's still um, so, and they swarm and they bite.
(08:14):
So you will probably, if you doa search online, you will no
doubt see people covered in thembecause they're and they're
smaller than flies, they'resmaller than mosquitoes, they
are tiny and they swarm likeI've seen people covered on
their arms and they swarm likeI've seen people covered on
their arms and they're horribleI've experienced them in the
past, but not very nice no, soif it's a slight breeze, you
don't find them, but I honestlyyou can't predict whether it's
(08:37):
going to be breezy or whetherit's going to be still yeah yeah
, it depends where you'retraveling as well, but on the
heather um popular areas you youwill experience them if the
conditions are rightyeah, I think it's about being
the conditions being right, orso.
Basically, I'm just saying thatif you are gonna visit June,
july, august in particular, bevery aware that it's mid-season
(08:57):
and you need to get something toput on to keep the midges away
because, honestly, you don'twant to get bitten by these
things.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
No, very nice, so that's just something.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Want to get bitten by these things?
No, not very nice.
So that's just something I wantto mention, and the next one we
want to talk about is visitingin winter.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yes, this can present a few problems.
Some people not everybody, somepeople prefer that time of year
to travel, but you have to beprepared for things being closed
.
I don't mean just tourist knowtouristy places to visit, but
some of the areas you could goto.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
There's lots of things closed yeah, it's low
season, it's, it's dark forstart off because the short
daylight hours, the weather ischangeable and can be quite
extreme.
Obviously, the further northyou go, the darker it gets, the
colder it gets, the moreunpredictable.
I mean, the weather's prettyunpredictable anyway, but you
know, you may get snow, you maynot get snow.
(09:52):
We've actually traveled injanuary, uh, to glencoe and
there was a lot of snow, a lotof ice around.
Um, you can also get fog.
I mean, actually we were therein september last year I was not
even talking in the winterspring and there was a lot of
fog and mist on sky.
Yeah, so you've got to considerthis if you're planning to
visit during those winter months.
(10:12):
So you're going to be able todo less, you can be able to
drive less.
You need to be very careful whenit comes to considering driving
especially conditions roadconditions, and it's also a time
of year when there can be morestorms.
So you got caught out, didn'tyou this year?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
yes, I did.
Anybody who follows me on traintips group they will know that
I have big plans for my railadventure in january to go from
edinburgh to inverness via theuh, via aberdeen, the east coast
, and then back down thehighlands main line.
That plan was changed because Iwas halfway up to Inverness and
(10:49):
the notice came out all trainswere being cancelled the
following day because of thesame storms yeah, massive storms
.
So luckily, I have vastexperience in this and I made
lots and lots of plans andstopped over in Inverness and
looked at different ways to getback.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Yeah, but it was a bit tricky.
And also I remember a few yearsago we were wanting to get the
caledonian sleeper and I thinkthere'd been a massive storm and
the line was blocked yes, itwas yeah, so basically, if
you're planning around the kindof winter months I'm talking
december, january, february,even in march it can be tricky
because the storms, because ofdark weather, because of
potential snow, yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
So you really need to be very careful if you plan to
visit at that time of year it is, and that's why we always
recommend on consults and whenwe offer advice, is to build in
as much flexibility in youritinerary as time budget allows
yeah, absolutely don't do onenight, one night, one night,
that kind of itinerary, movingaround a lot, because you just
don't know if you're actuallygoing to be able to yeah um, so
that's worth considering.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
yeah, right, so the next uh theme of these mistakes
that often people make is withtheir itinerary and destination
choices.
So, okay, once you've got yourtime sorted, you really need to
think about where you choose togo, or sometimes where you don't
go, because that's the otherthing.
So I guess and I know I'vetalked about Edinburgh a lot
already but one mistake we see,and we understand, if you've got
(12:05):
limited time, that you may haveto choose just one destination,
and the obvious one is going tobe Edinburgh.
We understand that, but thereis so much more to Scotland.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
There really is.
I mean Glasgow itself.
I mean it's not far away fromEdinburgh.
I mean you're talking 15minutes of the fastest train
between the cities.
Glasgow has a lot to offer.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Yeah, glasgow is a fascinating city to explore.
We actually have a one dayitinerary on the website for
glasgow, but going up to thehighlands, there's other regions
as well that you can go andexplore.
You know, and even if you so,you want to go to edinburgh and
you've got a few days inedinburgh, do try to fit in a
either day tour or trip by trainthat's right.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
On a website we have, uh, my train itineraries as
well, circular trips as well, soyou you know perth.
I love visiting aberdeen.
I visited many times sterlingfantastic place to visit,
inverness, particular favoriteyeah you know, all these cities
have their own identity andtheir own unique place in
scottish history as well, sodefinitely worth a visit yeah,
well, you've got far northscotland, you've got the border
(13:04):
region there's just so much toScotland honestly, which is I
kind of.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I'm going to mention this because often we get asked
about visiting Scotland andincluding the Republic of
Ireland as well.
So I just, and again, Iunderstand if you've only got a
couple of weeks holiday, butideally, ideally if you can
devote one trip to Scotland andone trip to the republic of
ireland, because these are twocountries.
I mean, the republican islandis obviously republican violence
(13:30):
, nothing to do with the uk,it's not in the uk, whereas
scotland is its own country initself and there's lots and lots
to see in scotland there's lotsand lots to see in the republic
of ireland.
Now, you know, if you, if youabsolutely must, there are ways
to get across.
And you, we've actually donethis ourselves by coaching ferry
, haven't we?
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Most definitely.
I was just going to say don'tforget Northern Ireland in this
equation as well, because thatis also a fantastic place to
visit the Hannan coaches.
I've done several times betweenGlasgow and Belfast and it is
easy.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah, very, very easy it is so straightforward.
And if you really want to go ifwant to, don't want to go to
northern ireland, but you wantto go to the republic of ireland
then you can fly very easilyfrom edinburgh as well but you
can get the bus over coach, overferry over, and then get the
train to you can always take thetrain from belfast, from
belfast down to dublin, which wedid last year.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
We have done that yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
So I just want to encourage you really to kind of,
um, try not cram too much, inwhich I will mention later, but
it's just that there is such alot of beautiful places to visit
in Scotland.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
It's just stunning Every time we go.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
We can spend weeks and weeks and weeks there, and I
still want to spend more andmore time there to see even more
.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
I often ask myself which has the nicest scenery
Wales or Scotland and I have tosay, both of you win for me.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Oh yeah.
Well, I'm going to say Scotland, so Welsh listeners are not
going to be happy with me.
Oh no, don't forget Wales.
Fantastic place.
I think it's our Scottishheritage there, probably so,
yeah, now the other one I'mgoing to mention as well,
although the mistake we see meis that often people just visit
the Isle of Skye.
Now we understand why, and wealso have visited Skye numerous
times.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
We have.
I can see the draw to the place, to the island.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
It's a big island as well it's beautiful, but
unfortunately it's becoming overtouristed yeah, unfortunately
so um, it's incredibly busy.
Parking is a nightmare.
Driving can become a nightmare.
There's just a lot of cars, alot of camper vans on the roads
and the roads themselves are, inall honesty, in a pretty poor
state yeah, they weren't great.
When we were there lastseptember, the weather had been
(15:26):
quite rough yeah, there's a lotof rain so there's a lot of
potholes.
You have to be very careful.
Um, so, if you can, and Iunderstand if you want to visit
sky, I really do because it isbeautiful, but do consider some
of the other islands, thatscotland has stuff, and there
are plenty of them.
In fact, we've got a guide toall of the islands.
Um, so, our favorite, I guessprobably we loved the organ
islands.
Didn guess we really loved theOrkney Islands, didn't we?
Speaker 3 (15:45):
We really did, because it was our first visit
there, so it was a noveltyfactor as well, but we
thoroughly enjoyed it.
There's only one caveat I havewith all the islands other than
Skye is I have to take a boat.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yeah, so Doug gets seasick.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Very seasick.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
That has kind of impacted.
So I've been to Mull and Ionaand Staffa you didn't do that
trip.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
No, no kind of impacted.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
So I've been to mull and iona and and staffer, you
haven't, you didn't do that trip.
No, no, no, no, I didn't.
Um, we are hoping and we have awave to you though you did wave
to me as I went we haven't beento.
So I can say, look, we havevisited scotland many times but
we haven't been everywhere.
So, and I I can't imagine evensomeone who lives in scotland
could say that, um, we haven'tmet lewis and harris, and that
is an island I really want to goto, so we are gonna head there
May next year, aren't we?
Speaker 3 (16:26):
we are as long as the water is extremely still that's
always the thing.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
When I said we're gonna go to an island, I get the
look, I always get the look,and it's like, oh really, and
I'm like, well, yeah, so I guessthat's advantage of a sky.
Yes, you can take the ferry,which we've done multiple times,
but there is a bridge there isa bridge which does make it
easier.
Okay, so shall we move on to thenext lot of uh topics, uh,
which is a practical side ofplanning, because the way you
(16:52):
get around, what you pack andhow far you can try to travel
can really kind of shape yourtrip.
So I think the first thingwe're talking about was
underestimating distances anddrive times and putting too much
in a day certainly so.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
I mean particularly something like the north coast
500, which is a fantasticdriving route around scotland.
Um, there's such a lot to see,and trying to do it too fast, I
think, is one pitfall a lot ofpeople can fall into and I think
we did that as well.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
I'm gonna put my hands up and say we did we
probably did.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
It's all one of these things that works better the
second time you do it.
Yeah, I think you learn fromyour own mistakes.
Sometimes we did, didn't we?
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yeah, or we learn from our mistakes and we share
them with everybody so that theydon't have to make the same
mistake.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
That's the way it works.
I mean, we've already mentionedthe weather.
The weather can play a part inthat as well, and it can slow
you down quite dramatically.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Yeah, but also the roads.
If you think about the farnorth of Scotland, the kind of
single lanes and we were therein May and there were lambs in
the road and yeah, so you don'tget anywhere fast.
There's a lot of camper vans,it's quite a busy road and in
fact, busy roads I should saywhat is worth listening to is we
(18:02):
did a really good podcastepisode with Robert from North
Coast Explorer Tours and in thatpodcast he shares tips for
driving in Far North Scotland.
It was an excellent, reallygood.
I've had so much feedback abouthow great that episode was and
helpful.
We also recommend Tripi Armo aswell if you're driving in
Scotland, because their drivingguides are fabulous.
Um, but I think it's justunderestimating the distance and
how much time, and I know welive in Australia a lot of the
(18:24):
time and we know a lot of youlive in america and you're quite
happy to do a lot of driving,but I think I think it's just
the.
The scenery is beautiful, sogive yourself the time to enjoy
it, take it in, that's right um,because it really is just
fabulous.
It really is beautiful.
You want to be able to pullover and enjoy it and take the
photos and, just, you know, sitand I don't know, just take it.
(18:45):
Just take it in um, so honestly,would you know, recommend that
and try not to put too much in aday, but actually, you know,
pace yourself and enjoy it.
Yeah, um, the the second one issomething that we get all the
time.
Now we understand that there'sa lot of people who who like to
kind of just go along and gowith the flow and make the trip
(19:05):
up as they go.
You just can't do that no, Ithink those days of travel,
particularly in these popularareas, are past well, yeah,
particularly at certain times ofyear, I'm going to say I would
mention this for parts of partsof england as well, like
cornwall and other parts ofengland at certain times of year
become extremely busy andextremely popular.
Now the place I'm going tomention is I'm going to actually
(19:27):
mention Sky, because we hearthis all the time.
People you know we're justgoing to drive and we'll get
accommodation.
You won't find accommodation onSky.
No, you won't, and you won'tfind somewhere to have dinner,
probably no you've got to bookmonths and months and months and
months in advance for Sky.
You need to book where you'regoing to eat as well.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
There's one months and months and months in advance
for Sky.
You need to book where you'regoing to eat as well.
And one thing I want to pointout as well if you're travelling
on sort of shoulder seasons andwinter months, lots of people
on the accommodation, they're onholiday themselves, so choice
of places to stop and to eat aremore limited.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Yeah, that is absolutely true.
So I think, be really carefulif you're going to like the
North Coast 500 again, pop, butvery, very popular.
Book accommodation, book yourrestaurants, book your ferries,
um, because you need to bookferries when they become
available as well, especially atpopular times.
Yeah, and you're going to thinksome of those ferries to the
islands.
That's the only way for thepeople on the islands to get
(20:22):
onto the mainland as well.
Yeah, so you know it.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
It becomes extremely popular, they live their life
and they also have to bulk upthe.
The fairies, yeah, as well yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
So, um, you know, highly recommend it, which,
obviously, sky, you can driveover, you don't have to get a
ferry.
We've done the ferry, as I'vementioned before, but but still,
and I know, when we've bookedaccommodation in sky for example
, we've always had it backsaying have you booked your,
accommodate your restaurants?
These are potential places thatyou can eat to go to.
So, um, it's worth, you know,considering those, those sorts
(20:54):
of things, and I know that northcoast 500 and when we've done
other driving trips aroundscotland we've we've booked
accommodation.
Now, interestingly, when yougot caught out in inverness, you
were lucky to even getaccommodation I really was.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Yes, I mean the.
I was told the um, the place Istayed at, which was a very,
very nice place.
If I'd arrived two hours laterI would not have got that place.
And because, continuing thatstory, it was two nights I had
to stay.
It wasn't just the one night,because the blanket stoppage of
(21:26):
trains because of the stormextended to a second day.
So I was very, very fortunate Icould book a second night.
And it was a restaurant as well, which made it easy.
Yeah, that did make it easy.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
And actually that's a good tip, because if you're
going to book a b&b, you'll getbreakfast, so they've already
got your breakfast sorted, soyou don't have to worry about
that um.
So that's worth considering andthinking about.
Um.
Another thing which are closeto Doug's heart as well here is
just not assuming that drivingis the only way to get around
Scotland, because you can takesome trains you can take some
lovely train journeys inscotland.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
The um, the west highland mainline is repeatedly
named as one of the most scenicrailways in the world, and that
is definitely true.
I like the circular trips aswell the east coast and then up
the uh by aberdeen and perth andthen come back down the
highland mainline, which I'vedone many, many times, and
that's not forgetting also theborders railway lines as well.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Definitely worth the visit, really, really worth the
visit yeah, and also that ifyou're based in someone like
edinburgh, um, we recommend thatif you're in edinburgh not to
have a car, you don't need a carand only pick a car up when you
actually leave in edinburgh,because we've come across this
many times where people have gotcars, they're doing a road trip
and they don't have, they don'thave accommodation in Edinburgh
that actually has parking andthat is a huge issue big issue.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
So actually, if you're based in Edinburgh and
you want to take some day trips,there's so many great ones by
train yes, that's it, and we'vegot most some listed on our
website as well, and these willtry to tested dozens and dozens
of times by me.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
YouTube videos as well.
Oh yes.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
Oh yes, we've got a YouTube video on there as well.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
With more to come, so yeah.
With a lot more to come, yeahlots more to come, so that'll be
worth looking at.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Including the one which I'm putting together now
about my experience with theweather came and challenged my
resolve, but you know, I wentwith it, I enjoyed it and just
embraced it.
Yes, and that was your trip upto inverness, wasn't it?
Speaker 1 (23:21):
yeah, it's fantastic on this year, but again, you
should get caught up by theweather.
It can happen.
Now we're talking about theweather.
What else you can get caught upwith is not if you don't pack
layers or, honestly, even ifyou're going in the summer
months, you may need warmclothes and especially further
north you go again because theweather is unpredictable.
So we were in Orkney in May andit was the coldest it had been
(23:42):
for something like 20 years, Ithink.
With the wind chill.
It was minus 630,000 degrees.
It felt like it.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Even I had to take my shorts off and put some
trousers on.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Well, I ended up in a shop buying a massive group of
furry hats.
Yeah, that went over my ears.
It was so cold, it was freezing.
I've also we've been inedinburgh when we've arrived and
we've got sunburned, and thenext day I've so, so summer
clothes, and then the next dayI'm absolutely covered with
jumper, long trousers, socks onboots, on jumper, then a
(24:16):
raincoat and then a hat becauseit's gone so cold I said the day
before I was climbing uparthur's seat in shorts and
t-shirt that's it, so it'sunpredictable.
So really and I know we say thisall the time layers are
important, but really, layersare incredibly important and I
always have my rain jacket yesalways have my rain jacket when
I'm well in the uk, butdefinitely for scotland.
Yeah, it's true okay, so we'reon the home, straight guys.
(24:39):
So we're finally we're going totalk about the cultural side of
things, um, the little slip upsthat can just trip you up a bit
and easy to avoid really beforeyou go and just so, just to help
you out right.
And so the first one is reallydon't call scottish people
english.
Whatever you do, they're notenglish, they're a proud nation
with their own identity.
Um, so really don't want to becalled a scottish person english
(25:02):
, really, because it they won'tlike it.
Um, they are scottish.
Um, you know we have got welshenglish, scottish, northern
irish that make up the uk.
Um, so it's important tounderstand that and to respect
that, and you know just everyonehas their own identity.
Yeah, absolutely and very proudof it.
So that is really just.
It's a very easy thing, justjust important to know.
(25:24):
Um, the other one is this is Ijust want to put this in here
because we do get questionsabout this is that, yes,
scotland does have its ownbanknotes, so the coins are
exactly the same as the englishversions and both coins and
banknotes have the samedenominations.
However, scottish banknoteslook different as they have
different features and picturesbut, as in England, you can't
(25:45):
use paper notes.
They're no longer legal tender.
So you know, in theory, bothBank of England and Scottish
banknotes are accepted acrossthe UK.
There should be, in states,pound sterling on them, but in
practice, some shops andretailers in england aren't keen
on accepting scottish notes.
It's less of an issue in placesclose to the border, like where
I'm from in northumberland, orin major tourist centers, but
(26:10):
honestly it's.
If you do have any scottishcash, I would get rid of it
before you leave scotland um,but like everywhere in the uk
these days, you know, usingcontactless is very common.
Yeah, I mean, I hardly ever useany cash at all, but I just
wanted to put that there becauseI know that is a question that
we've had is, like you know,often we get asked what is the
currency in the UK?
(26:31):
So it's pound.
It's pound sterling, same asScotland.
They just have differentlooking notes.
That's right.
The other one, I'm going totalk this whiskey, this one's
for you, doug.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Well, it used to be in my drinking days.
Yes, I did.
I was quite partial to a littleGlenmorangie.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Yeah, and this is just a spelling one, and it's
just really that there's adifference between how it's
spelling.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Yeah, one's with an E and one's without.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
So which is?
Speaker 3 (26:51):
which.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
So the.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Scottish whiskey is generally with an E, aha, okay,
so I just wanted to put that onein.
I'm not going to say that is ablanket across the board and you
know there's no exceptions,because somebody will probably
come and tell me that there isanother exception, but my
understanding is that is exactlyas it is.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
So whiskey without an E is Scottish.
Yes, okay, cool, yes.
Now another thing we're goingto just mention is just
mispronouncing some of the placenames.
And look hands up, we all do it.
We do it as well.
There's some places there'salways a story I always tell
about.
I mispronounced somewhere inNorthumberland that made my mum
laugh her head off, and I'm fromNorthumberland.
(27:31):
So there you go.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
But just two common mistakes that we hear are
pronunciations and I'm going tosay we will.
We can't pronounce them.
I'm not scottish, so I've, whenI worked in scotland, how many
times it was.
Uh, I want to say I was laughedat because I was the boss, but
um but a few raised eyebrows.
Well, we can't say it with ascottish bro.
That's the difference.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
So but it is edinburgh, edinburgh, edinburgh
yes right, so edinburgh.
I guess what we're trying tosay is it's not Edinburgh.
Okay, we hear that a lot.
We see it spelt without the H,and I'm sure there's plenty of
Scottish people that will laughat my pronunciation as well.
Oh, most definitely but.
I'm trying, but it's Edinburgh,not Edinburgh.
That's the basic thing.
(28:12):
I just think.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
if you're trying it, that's fine Edinburgh yeah, I
think Edinburgh comes up whenpeople from America have it as
predictive text and I think itjust probably changes it to
Edinburgh because I understandit is a place in Texas, I think
okay, it's actually saidEdinburgh pretty think, pretty
much thinking, huh, and theother one is actually Glasgow
(28:33):
yeah, glasgow, yeah that's.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
So that's gal yeah, we often hear Glasgow and it's
not as Glasgow.
So just think go in, it's notGlasgow.
Yeah, we often hear Glasgow andit's not as Glasgow.
So just think go.
In fact it's not even that,because if I was, how do you
pronounce it, Doug?
If it was Scottish?
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Glasgow or Glasgow.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Glasgow.
That's it Glasgow, yeah, sojust.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Apologies for any Scottish people listening for
that terrible total dialect.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
I know we're going to apologise, yeah, but we're
apologising for this, but wejust want to say Edinburgh and
Glasgow, there you go.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
those they'll be fine , that sounds very posh, no, but
I was going to say otherwise.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
I can just, I can just imagine now all these
visitors going to Edinburgh andGlasgow saying it with a, with a
Geordie accent.
So and this takes me I used to.
I used to teach English andactually, because I'm from the
north of of England, I pronouncemy vowels slightly different.
And I remember teaching somekids to speak English and
actually one of the teachersfrom the school coming in and
laughing her head off becauseall the kids were pronouncing
(29:24):
all these words with a Geordieaccent.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Can you just say the vowels for me.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
A-E-I-O-U.
No, you're not going to say it.
There's a comedian calledMichael McIntyre who does a very
, very, very good sketch aboutthe geordie accent and how we
say it is here for all ourvowels, but anyway, I'll
actually will link to that inthe show notes because it is
funny.
But anyway, we're just going totalk about yeah, so accents and
pronunciation we get is can bedifficult and challenging.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Now let's talk about food, one of my favorite topics
oh, I love scottish food, I haveto say particularly scottish
breakfast.
Um, usually the elder yorkguest house, if you're listening
, maury, thank you very much.
You do the best yeah, he doesnow.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
So this is a mistake.
We see, it's not tryingtraditional scottish food.
Honestly, haggis, neeps andtatties, try it.
It's amazing.
It's amazing how many peoplewe've kind of encouraged and
they've got back to us and saidwe went to mecca's mash bar, we
loved it, we loved it, we lovedthe haggis, uh, and honestly
it's, it's worth trying fullscottish breakfast, as doug said
.
So what's slightly different?
(30:22):
What's different from anenglish breakfast?
What are you going to getdifferent?
Speaker 3 (30:25):
we're going to get a potato cake, which is delicious,
yeah, so tatty scones yeah,some haggis yeah, haggis, what
about lawn sausage?
Oh yes, the flat sausage.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
That's very tasty yes , that's square sausage, square,
flat sausage.
You'll usually also get blackpudding, haggis baked beans
fried mushrooms, toast, theusual things.
Yeah, I've also had and I'vegot to try and think what it was
like um oats yes, we did, andin venice we had that.
Yes, yeah, which was reallytasty.
So if you're staying at a b bum, and obviously some of the
hotels as well, tried at leastonce.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Well, yeah, do you try it, do you?
Speaker 1 (30:56):
try haggis.
Now there are some morecontroversial foods that you can
have in scotland, as in thedeep fried mars bar that is
quite famous I have tried thatmany years ago.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
It doesn't work for me no, I, I avoided it.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
We actually have a photo of a place in edinburgh
when we're here.
Well, because we stayed inedinburgh for six weeks this
year and we, we were so temptedand I was like, oh no, I don.
Speaker 3 (31:16):
I tried it once.
It's not for me.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
And, of course, Doug, your favourite drink when
you're in Scotland.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Oh, iron Brew.
I live on them.
When I'm up there I even cutdown on the tea, which is
something else for me, but IronBrew I do really, really enjoy.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
I like the colour.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Yeah, the colour's good.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Because it's bright orange.
It's a very lovely colour.
It's very popular.
Do try Iron Brew when you're in.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Scotland.
Yeah, and they do a sugar-freeversion as well, which I also
like.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
And let us know if you've tried any of these foods.
I want to know what you likedand what you didn't like.
What was your favourite?
And we've heard Iron Brew isreally popular.
Ah yeah, Quite a lot.
It's delicious good.
So by the time this episodecomes out, doug will actually
potentially be in Scotland, soI'm going to get some photos of
(32:03):
him trying some of thesedelicious.
We'll get some photos of you,maybe with a deep-fried Mars bar
, I know.
I'm daring you, I know, I knowI'm daring you, but by the time
this episode, I want to have aphoto of you with a deep fried
Mars bar.
Speaker 3 (32:16):
Check that out in the show notes, as long as I can
have a breakfast as well earlyin the morning.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
You can definitely have one, okay.
So we'll move on to the finaltip, and I guess we've kind of
alluded to it throughout thiswhole episode it really is not
allowing time to slow down andenjoy Scotland, so trying to
just tick off too many siteswithout really time to relax in
a pub chat with locals soak upthe atmosphere.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Just enjoy being in Scotland.
Oh, most definitely.
It is such a great country tovisit.
There's something for everybody, really.
But just embrace the wholeexperience yeah, I love Scotland
.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
I have to say, if it was warmer I'd live there you've
said that before, haven't you?
I've said that numerous times,I do love Scotland and I guess
that there's the draw there allthe time.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
You've often said you feel an affinity with Scotland,
haven't you?
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Yeah, definitely, and I do.
I've travelled to 60-oddcountries around the world and
Scotland will be in the firsthandful, without a doubt.
It has so much to offer.
So do go, do enjoy it, do tryto get outside of Edinburgh,
outside of Skye, outside of LochNess, because those are the
three places that everybodyseems to want to go to.
(33:22):
They're lovely places, I'm notgetting you wrong, but do try
and see more.
There's so much culture, somuch history, so much to see and
do.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
Yeah, that's right, the history is long and I want
to say complex.
That makes it sound very, verystuffy, but it isn't.
There is a great amount ofhistory there the relationship
with the English particularly.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Definitely so.
In a nutshell, get your time inright, plan your itinerary
carefully, don't underestimatedistances or logistics, and be
mindful of Scotland's uniqueculture.
Do that and you'll avoid themost common mistakes and have a
fantastic trip.
Don't forget, we've got loadsof resources on our website,
plenty of other podcast episodesto help you plan, including our
London UK road trip and UKtrain travel mistakes episodes.
(34:04):
You'll find all the linkswaiting for you in the show
notes at uktravelplanningcom.
Forward slash episode 169.
So I guess we just have to saythank you to everybody for
listening.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Yeah, if you've enjoyed today's episode, please
consider leaving us a review onyour favourite podcast app.
It really helps others find theshow.
But until next time, from bothDoug and me happy UK travel
planning.
Thank you for tuning in to thisweek's episode of the UK Travel
Planning Podcast.
As always, show notes can befound at uktravelplanningcom.
(34:37):
If you've enjoyed the show, whynot leave us feedback via text
or a review on your favouritepodcast app?
We love to hear from you andyou never know, you may receive
a shout out in a future episode.
But, as always, that justleaves me to say until next week
.
Happy UK travel planning.
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