Scottish Tour Guide's Blog

This evening, I am posting a collection of images taken during my recent trip to Cawdor Castle which is located in the north of Scotland, near Inverness. At this time of the year, gardens all around Scotland particularly lush and colourful and a delight to visit.

Scottish Thistle at Cawdor

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This morning, we departed our very comfortable lodgings at Ballifeary Guest House in Inverness in the Highlands and proceeded to drive south down the A9  to our first stop at Blair Castle in Perthshire.

Blair Castle

Blair castle is a very well presented visitor attraction comprising a grand house (as opposed to a military type castle) together with woodland walks,  a well maintained garden and various activities for children. Blair is the historic seat of the Duke of Atholl who actually resides in South Africa. The present Duke’s ancestor was granted the right to maintain a private army by Queen Victoria, a tradition which continues today as manifested in the ‘Atholl Highlanders’ which bears arms but is essentially a ceremonial unit and not part of the British Army. The castle is a repository for old furniture, paintings, weapons and the like. Outside, the gardens were at their resplendent best at this time of year.

Swans at Blair Castle

After departing Blair Castle we drove on a few miles to nearby Pitlochry, a popular country and tourist town with a wide array of shops which attracted our attention.

Next, we drove east to Glamis Castle in the county of Angus. This is something of  a fairy tale edifice for long associated with the late Queen Mother ( mother of the present Queen Elizabeth). By coincidence today was the anniversary of the late Queen Mother’s birthday, dating back over 100 years. This castle has much to offer the visitor including a resident ghost!  Outside there are many interesting trees, a small burial ground dedicated to the family’s pets, a herd of Highland Cattle and a very pleasant Italianate garden. We availed of some lunch in the excellent restaurant.

Glamis Castle

Highland Cattle at Glamis

Culross Palace

Our next and final destination was Culross (pronounced ” Cure-oss”) on the north shore of the River Forth, west of Dunfermline. This fascinating town dates back to the 16th century when considerable wealth was generated from coal mining and salt panning which in turn financed the construction of what now looks like a Disney-esque community of winding cobbled streets and cross-stepped gables centred on the ochre-coloured Culross Palace (1597) and the Town House (1626). Fortunately, light and weather conditions proved conducive to an extensive photo opportunity.

After Culross, we drove on, across the Forth Road Bridge, to Edinburgh and final destination of the Caledonian Hilton where this interesting,. Scottish Castles themed tour, came to an end at about 8.00pm. A long but very satisfying day concluding a  four day tour.

Culross House

Wendy at Culross

Today, weather has proved relatively benign, We started our tour at Dornoch and proceeded as follows:

• Walk around the delightful town of Dornoch including a visit to the 12th century Cathedral plus other historic and interesting sites. This proved a real gem of a small town.

Dornoch Cathedral

Dornoch

Dornoch Cathedral

• Next, a 20 minute drive up to Dunrobin Castle which dates from the 19th century and benefits from stunning ‘fairy tale’ architecture. Great photo opps but overall quality of the visitor experience is average at best.  Also interesting and colourful gardens.

Dunrobin Castle

• After about 1 hour at Dunrobin we headed back south towards Inverness via Invergordon, principally to view the famous wall murals in this interesting little town.

Invergordon Mural

• Next we headed down to Inverness and then on to Cawdor Castle which has a tenuous connection with Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This is a quality visitor attraction, combining both the castle and the gardens which were possibly at their colourful peak. By chance we encountered the Countess of Cawdor and her pet dog.

Garden at Cawdor

• After Cawdor we went back to Inverness and then south down top of the Great Glen to Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness. This is a good quality and very popular attraction, possibly representing the best location to view Loch Ness.

Castle Urquhart

This evening, we are staying in the four star rated Ballifeary Guest House, which is very comfortable.