You can’t go to Scotland and not go to Loch Ness. At least that is what we thought when we booked our Insight Tour. Our tour headed there from our hotel in Inverness. Loch Ness is mostly famous for its monster, Nessie. Although some people have devoted their lives to searching for Nessie, it is …
Scottish Highlands and Blair Castle
The day after Edinburgh, we headed on north into the Scottish Highlands. The scenery was beautiful but it was a long travel day. Our first stop was St Andrews, home of the famous golf course. Golf has been played on this course for over 600 years. I snapped a picture of the 18th hole, but …
Edinburgh, Capital of Scotland
I was very excited to get to Edinburgh, Scotland. The history. The old buildings. The Edinburgh Castle, Holyroodhouse, the Royal Mile. Who wouldn’t want to go to Edinburgh? We arrived in Edinburgh late in the afternoon after our travel day. Tom and I skipped the Caelidh and dinner that was an extra on the tour. …
Settle, England, and into Scotland
Some days on our Insight tour are packed with sight-seeing. Others are quieter days as our bus travels from one area of the United Kingdom to another. The day after York was a travel day. We needed to get from York to Edinburgh, which meant we spent most of the day on the bus. We …
York and York Minster, England
The next stop on our UK trip was York, several hours north of Stratford-upon-Avon. After driving all morning, we arrived at our hotel about 1 p.m. and got all our stuff unloaded. Then we set out for lunch and a walking tour with Nigel. During our walking tour, Nigel explained some of the history of …
Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon, England
Early Sunday morning, Tom and I boarded a tour bus headed for Oxford. We are touring in the UK for the next 21 days with Insight Vacations. Although we thought about renting a car and doing this on our own, we decided against it. Tom didn’t want to drive on the “wrong” side of the …
Royal Observatory in Greenwich
On our full day in London before our tour starts, Tom and I headed to Greenwich to see the Royal Observatory and the Prime Meridian. This was a special interests of Tom’s, but I was eager to go as well. In order to get there, we had to negotiate the Tube and the DLR. We …
London and the British Museum
After our great day at Hadrian’s Wall, Tom and I disembarked from the Nieuw Statendam. It was the end of our two-month cruise. We were a little sad, and it was hard saying goodbye to the crew who had taken such good care of us. But we are ready for the next part of our …
Hadrian’s Wall, An 80-mile UNESCO Site
I have always wanted to see Hadrian’s Wall and walk along it. The day after our disappointing trip to the Trossachs National Park I got my chance. Tom and I signed up for this shore excursion a while ago, knowing it would be our only chance to see Hadrian’s Wall on this trip. We just …
South Queensferry and the Highlands
After the two island groups, our ship arrived in South Queensferry on the mainland of Scotland. And not an island called Mainland, but the actual body of land that is attached to England. South Queensferry is the port for Edinburgh. It used to be a small fishing village, but got attached to Edinburgh as part …