I love reading and I distinctly remember my school days when a wonderful world of fantasy unveiling in my mind through all the animated series of story books. They painted a vivid picture of castles, palaces, fairy lands, life lived to the fullest by the prince, princesses and the royals. All these and more truly came to life when we decided to explore London and Scotland through our absolutely stunning 16 days of travel through UK.
Lovely winding roads, lush
green landscapes, giant but gentle mountains, waterfalls, winds that carry you
in its arms, strawberry picking, historical artefacts ranging from dinosaur
fossils through the mother of all diamonds Koh-i-Noor, castles, palaces and
what not! We thank God for a wonderful vacation literally through a fairy land
and a lovely time together as family.
Quick specs of our trip:
Date: 03
Aug to 18 Aug 2024
Arrival: 03
Aug 2024 at Stanstead Airport (LHR was absolutely not feasible to avail staff
travel benefits)
Departure: 18
Aug 2024 from Newcastle Airport (Initial departure plan was Glasgow but later
changed to Newcastle where staff travel could be availed. Was only an
additional 3 hours from Glasgow by road)
Mode of Transport: 5
days in London - Travelled only on public transport in London. You do not
really need any other mode of transport in the city since the London
Underground (metro) and the suburban trains (Dockland Light Railway - DLR) are
well connected and easily accessible across the city. Most of the major
attractions are at walking distance to the train station. The weather was also
lovely though Londoners consider this as their summer, for us when we go from
Dubai, it is a beautiful weather indeed! You could either buy Oyster card which
is a multi-modal transport card or simply use any of your bank cards which has
as Wi-Fi logo on it which you could tap on the gunnebo gates or equivalent at
the stations.
Glimpses of London
State rooms of Buckingham
Palace takes you to a world of luxury you may have never experienced in your lifetime!
If you love to explore everything in the state rooms, you could spend the whole
day if you like. Else you could reasonably finish in 3 hours. Ten minutes from
the palace is Westminster Cathedral, a 121 year old beautiful church.
A tour of Tower of London is
an absolute must have! This is a castle built by William the Conqueror in AD
1078, served as the royal residence, a mint, a jail as well as a fortress where
precious jewels are stored including the most famous diamond the world has ever
known, Koh-i-Noor! Don't get surprised if you get a feeling on and off that you
are living in 11th century. Just a word of caution, for people who are
claustrophobic, you may find it a bit of a challenge. Nevertheless, it is an
experience worth every moment. The greatest feeling for me personally was to
see Koh-i-Noor at my hand's length! The Tower Bridge which many people call as
London Bridge is at a stone's throw away from Tower of London. Natural History
Museum was our next step where my kids, 12 years and 8 years befriended
dinosaurs from the past and learned a few elements of animal kingdom up close
and personal!
St Paul's Cathedral is the
seat of Bishop of London. This is another massive and beautiful church built in
17th century. We took the famous London double decker bus to the church for the
experience of it. London as you may know is infamous for its weather, hence
carry a small umbrella in your bag, it will come handy if it rains. We then
checked if the clock is working well by saying hi to the Big Ben and the
adjacent Parliament square. Explored some more of the city and of course did
some shopping at the famous Oxford Street.
From London to Scotland
After 5 days in London, we
hired a car from Avis / Budget nearby where we stayed and drove to Cheltenham.
Gloucester Cathedral, a 12th century architectural marvel, made even more
famous by Harry Potter series, awaited us. Be aware of the risk of getting lost
in the magnificence of the cathedral that if you are not cautious you will end
up spending a whole day there! We managed to get out after a few hours and
headed to a location where natural beauty is at its peak as the name itself
says. It was Peak District National Park. After a while we headed to York, but
not before stopping at a friend's place at Sheffield.
The National Railway Museum
in York is the place to be if you really want to feel immersed in the olden
days where steam run locomotives and other types of trains operated. Even the
tallest among us will feel dwarfed in front of these massive engineering
marvels.
Further up North, after
crossing the coastal region of Amble we stopped at Warkworth Castle, bringing
life to some of the fantasy stories I mentioned in the beginning of the story.
You get a glimpse of life lived by royals during the yester years. Alnwick
Castle, one of the best-preserved castles was destined to be our next stop. The
life and times of Percy family unfolds here, probably one of the most powerful
families after the King of UK. A pleasant surprise to see a Buckingham-like
state rooms here as well.
On the road again to reach
Dunfermline, which once was the capital of Kingdom of Scotland and less than an
hour from Edinburgh where J K Rowling wrote most of Harry Potter. Some more
shopping around in the city before heading to Cairnie fruit farm at Cupar, a 40
minutes’ drive from Dunfermline. I cannot literally explain the happiness of
those strawberries when they saw us that they literally jumped into our basket!
Strawberry picking is such fun! Further up, after a quick stop at a wheat farm,
enjoying the cool breeze near the Tay Bridge in Dundee and browsing through
unique wines at Cairn o' Mohr a local winery and passing by Lochaber waterpower
project commissioned in 1929 we finally arrived at Spean Bridge, our place of
stay for the next four days.
From that day onwards, we got
ourselves locked in a fairy tale. This is the only way to define our days in
Scotland! Everywhere you go, nature will pamper you with the most beautiful of
sights that you will literally be mesmerised! The cold clear water along with
countless pebbles at Loch Lochy, third-deepest lake of Scotland next to Loch
Ness famous for the monster story, a small yet lovely looking waterfall at
Inverness, an absolutely out-of-the world location experience gifted by Eilean
Donan Castle, the simple yet sweet port town of Mallaig, watching the Harry
Potter fame Jacobite Steam train in action and exploring the incredible
terrains at Isle of Skye, every one of these experiences left us with lasting
memories for a lifetime!
We thank all our well-wishers
who prayed, helped and supported through this journey of a lifetime!
Fun Fact: This is the
approximate distance from Thiruvananthapuram in South India to Taj Mahal in
North India by road!