Itinerary followed throughout Scotland

Stirling - Linlithgow - Edinburgh - Oban - Glencoe - Fort William - Eilean Donan - Skye Island - Plockton - Strathpeffer Highland Games - Loch Ness - Inverness - Western Ross - Fort George - Glasgow

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and the second most visited in the United Kingdom behind London.

During the kingdom of James II (15th century) Edinburgh substituted to Perth as the capital of Scotland. Nowadays is the administrative and cultural capital, whereas Glasgow keeps a more developed industry.
Mary Stuart was queen when she was 6 due to the death of his father James V. She married Francisco II of France, who died short after, thus completing the shortest reign of France. Mary Stuart came back to Scotland in 1560 and she found the opposition of the reformers (called Presbyterians). John Know was the leader. He was a Calvin's disciple. They were against the monarchy and tried by all means to destabilise Mary. They organized numerous disturbances. Among this chaos Mary married his cousin Lord Darnley. Lord Darnley ordered the assassination of the secretary, suspected of being the Mary's lover. The husband died a day later in a mysterious ambush. Every suspect pointed at the queen, and to improve her situation Mary approached the Count of Bothwell, that probably was the man who assassinated Lord Darnley. All these happenings enraged the noblemen, which rebelled and forced the count escape and Mary's abdication. She escaped to England to take refuge with her cousin the queen Elisabeth. Since then in Scotland the Presbyterian Church predominates (they are Protestants). As the English queen didn't have successors she was afraid of losing her throne so she decided to keep Mary captive for 18 years until Mary was executed in 1587, accused of treason.
The Mary's son, James VI, gained the throne of Scotland. Since Elisabeth didn't have successors, James was designed as the English king in 1603. He was called James I of England and since then both crowns belong to the same person. James settled in London and left his original land.
After several kings, Charles I reigned from 1625 to 1649 but he tried to do without the Parliament, a relation that had started to deteriorate since James I. The political conflict ended in a civil war. Charles I, supported by Scotland fought against Oliver Cromwell and the Parliament's army. In 1649 Charles I was decapitated. England became the first European State where the parliamentary rights defeated the absolute power of the monarchs. Cromwell acceded to the power and he had to resist the pressure of the supporters of the successor Charles II (the Scottish people). Cromwell died in 1658 and the monarchy was reinstalled in 1660. Charles' successor James II questioned the Parliament's authority again, so a new revolt led to his dismissal three years later. The Parliament chose a new king, William III, the Dutch king. He was a docile king and in 1689 he signed a document that reduced the royal power, and this power decreased progressively during the 18th century and was transferred to the ministers.
When everything seemed calm, again a busy period arrived. The inhabitants of the Scottish Highlands were very loyal to the Stuart family and they didn't recognize the king. One of the heads of the McDonalds swore faithfulness with a week delay. As reprisal all the clan was killed in Glencoe in 1692 while they slept.
At the beginning Scotland crossed a difficult economic situation due to the limitations imposed by England. Almost in bankruptcy, Scotland was obliged to sign the Union's treaty in 1707, and the Scottish Parliament disappeared. The Stuart's supporters (called Jamesites) were indignant and they rose up against the abuse in 1715. They were quickly defeated. 30 years later there was a second attempt under the command of Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie), that reclaimed the throne for his father. Backed by the highlanders and France he conquered Edinburg and tried to cross the border to England. The highland chiefs refused to continue towards the south and the expected French help failed. The English army commanded by the Duke of Cumberland pursued Charlie until Culloden, when in 1746 the battle took place, with the final destruction of the Jamesites. The monarchy forced the highlanders to dissolve the clans and banned the bagpipes (cornamuses) and the skirt (called kilt). The Highlands began to empty. Many of them emigrated to America or Glasgow, a workers city with painful job conditions. When the English domination finished, Edinburgh felt in the passivity. The English government didn't mind about the bad Scottish situation, so it caused that, from the 19th century, a new national movement broke and was traduced into the creation of the Scottish Nationalist Party in 1934. The 18th and 19th centuries were outstanding as for literature: Robert Burns (poet against the English supremacy), Stevenson (the Treasure's Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), Walter Scott (that invented the historic novel, such as Rob Roy or Ivanhoe), Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes). Graham Bell (who invented the telephone) was born here as well.
For all these reasons Scotland keeps it own features that allow thinking about this territory almost as a nation. They have their own soccer and rugby team, their own Church, the legal system and education system. The strong national feeling, backed by distinguished Scottish such as Sean Connery, ended in the autonomy of Scotland after the referendum of Tony Blair, with the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. Nowadays, one third of the population would prefer the independence.

We arrived to Edinburgh. There was a low fog that gave a magic touch to the town. The worst thing of the city is the price of the parking. At the tourist office they said that the entire centre is payable, so the only option was to release money.

This afternoon was the reconnaissance of the town. From the tourist office located at the great commercial Princess Street we walked around towards the old district, and the magnificent Royal Mile . It is a street that drives from the castle until the palace, and it houses the most ancient buildings.
The street is simple marvellous and poetic. It is really lively and a long stretch is pedestrian.

In addition there were all sorts of manifestations, especially theatre and music, since other parallel festivals developed, such as a film festival, a books fair or the Fringe's festival (vanguard and amateur theatre) . The street is full of dressed up people that try to call with imagination the biggest number of people to their plays. The atmosphere is fun and crazy. Every local is rented to house all sorts of groups with interest in performing anything. The city is a whole spectacle.

Many Scottish military bands with the cornamuses, the kilts and the drums perform, but also they bring performances from many countries. The scenery of the castle at night is magic. The spectacle ends with the apparition of the soloist piper at the battlements. The arrival of the never-ending buses carrying the performers is waited each evening with great expectation and the streets are crowded.

The Royal Mile is full of people who cheer and applaud when the vehicles pass in front of them. They seem rock or actor stars. One advice: I tried to obtain a ticket for the Tattoo since a month in advance, by email and telephone without success. In Edinburgh we went to the ticket office but there wasn't any ticket available either (we had the hope of somebody giving them back). If you are interested in, you should purchase them with several months in advance.

At night we drove back to Glasgow under a thick fog that made the trip difficult. The highway between Edinburgh and Glasgow was foggy in every drive we made. We arrived exhausted to Glasgow and there was an instant that I didn't realise that I was driving on the wrong side until I saw two far car lights coming in my direction. Don't worry, because this happening was due to the absence of cars that induced my slip-up. It is easiest when there is some traffic and you let the others guide you.

The next day we came back to visit the most important monuments. Glasgow and Edinburgh are close, only 1 h. by car. Together with the fog it was raining all the day without stopping. Despite the two first days were nasty as for the weather, we were lucky in general, since the rest of the holidays (when we visited the Highlands) were splendid, something not very common in summer. Every picture that you see at the shops are made in sunny days, but you have to come here ready for rain or cold more or less the half of the days.

We walked up to the castle of Edinburgh directly. It dominates the town from a 100 m. high hill. The former reinforcements date from the 11th century but the most parts remaining are from the 16th century and later. The king James III lived here and the restructuring of the castle reached the culminating peak in 1511, with the James's IV inauguration of the Great Salon. With the Stuarts the castle became the main fortress in Scotland. This stronghold has been assaulted and recovered in many occasions.

In the Middle Ages it was the most important castle during the continuous wars between England and Scotland. In 1566 James VI was born here. The last highlight occurred when the English troops refused to open the gates during the Bonnie Prince Charlie's siege in 1745. Since then this castle has assumed many other uses.
The military complex is a marvel with many interesting spots and stories. I will only tell you about the most important things.
The visit was free for us. We had the pass that we bought in Stirling, valid for 3 days. We entered with a big group of tourists. Despite we were looking for the doorman to show the pass we suddenly realized that we were inside the fortress unintentionally (we didn't see any doorman), so we went on.

The stronghold allows understanding how the ancient fortresses ran in detail, through the visit of the different buildings. There are several canons. One of them, called the 1 o'clock canon, is fired every one o'clock p.m. This tradition that began in 1861 welcomes hundreds of tourists waiting for the moment. Despite you know that it is going to fire, the fright is secure.

We walked upward looking at the canons, barracks, residences, gates and museums that we would visit afterwards. We reached a beautiful chapel , the most ancient building in the castle and the town, from the first half of the 12th century.

Nearby the chapel we found the immense canon for medieval sieges called Mons Meg . This canon from 1449 and 7 tons weight was a present of Philip of Burgundy to James II. They used it in some sieges, but the complicate transport (they were necessary 100 soldiers to move it 5 km. per day) made that they forgot about it a century later. In 1558 it participated in the celebrations of the wedding between Mary Stuart and the king Francisco. The projectile appeared at a distance of 3 km. It exploded in the birthday of James VII (1861).

We continued towards the top, to the Crown's square , the heart of the castle. It was built in the 15th century as the castle's yard. The truth is that this place was never the residence of the royal family that only came here if they were threatened. The square is surrounded by many historical constructions:

The Royal Palace . Mary Stuart lived here when she was waiting for the birth of James VI, which happened in 1566. The king James returned here in the 50th anniversary (1617) to impel the restoration of the Royal Palace . The last sovereign that slept here was Charles I in 1633 the day before the coronation.
Inside the Palace they keep the Honours of Scotland . They are the most ancient royal badges across the United Kingdom , formed by a crown, a scepter and a sword. They were forged during the reigns of James IV and V, and they were used for the coronation of Mary Stuart (Stirling , 1543) for the first time.

They were used to crown Charles II and since then they were hidden in several places of Scotland, out of Crommwell. In 1707 Scotland signed the Union's Treaty and the Honours were locked in the Crown's Chamber. In 1818 Walter Scott, with the prince's permission, ordered to open the chamber and force the lock. The Honours were exactly like one century before.

Near the Honours there is the Destiny's Stone , that lies here since 1996. This stone was employed as the throne for the coronation of the Scottish kings in the Scone 's abbacy. The king Edward I (called "the hammer of the Scottish") stole it in 1296. They kept it in Westminster in London, inside the coronation throne, and it was used for the coronation ceremonies of the English monarchs, and since 1714 the Great Britain kings. Nowadays the stone rests in Scotland and it only leaves it to crown the new king in Westminster.

Other wonderful building is the Great Hall , which James IV built in 1511 as the main ceremonial spot in the castle. They didn't make use of it because the royal family preferred to live in Holyrood's palace. When Cromwell captured the castle in 1650 the hall was employed as barracks for two centuries. In 1886 the army abandoned the building and the restoration began. The medieval wooden ceiling is fantastic. They are exposed numerous and quite impressive weapons and armours.

The last one is the Monument in memory of the Fallen from Scotland . The church of Saint Mary was situated here but in 1540 became ammunition's warehouse. In 1750 they pulled down it to construct barracks. When the garrison left the castle in 1923 they made the most to transform the building into a monument to commemorate the fallen during the I World War. It also pays homage to the fallen at the II World War and posterior campaigns.

From the square you access to the castle's cellars . They have been used for many aims throughout the history, especially as a jail. It housed French war prisoners captured during the Seven Years war against France. The cellars were reused as prison in the American Independence War (1775-1783). It kept up to 1000 prisoners, most of them sailors from nationalities such as Spanish, Irish and Americans.

We needed a morning to visit the castle. Afterwards we walked along the Royal Mile, lively and noisy due to the festivals. The street is elegant, flanked by ancient buildings and palaces.
We hesitated about entering the Obscure Chamber and Tower as it seemed attractive but we decided to continue. The ticket allowed for views of the town as well as rooms of holography, photography and optics. Perhaps if it had been cheaper...

In the Royal Mile there are many interesting buildings that can be visited or that house museums and expositions. The list is long, so I will talk about a few:

The Writers museum , a house from the 17th century with manuscripts of Robert Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. Free entrance.

The cathedral of Saint Giles , from the 15th century (a fire destroyed the previous one from the 13th) century. Beautiful dome with a crown shape. In the splendid interior the best is the chapel and the Cardoon Order room , whose knights are designed by the queen. This cathedral was the see for the preaching of John Knox.

At the edge of the Royal Mile we reached the interesting Holyrood's palace . It is the queen's official residence when she comes to Edinburgh. The audioguide is very complete and free, so I highly recommend it to facilitate the visit because you follow the explanations easily.

David I founded the abbacy of the palace in the 12th century. In 1500 the works of the palace began, and they were finished at the end of the 16th century, in a Renaissance style.

Besides the Throne Hall you walk into the room where Rizzio, the secretary of Mary Stuart, was assassinated. They are worthwhile the queen's room and a secret passage from the 16th century that has been discovered in 1970, linking Lord Darnley's room with the abbacy, that probably the Rizzio's assassins used it to enter. The last spot is the formidable abbacy's ruins, where you breathe a magic air.

We went back throughout the Royal Mile and down to the Grassmarket's district. The Grassmarket's square was the weekly market from 1477 until 1911 and the scenery of numerous executions. Many ancient streets join here.

One of them drove us to the Greyfriars' church, from 1620, the first church built after the Reform. We also walked towards Chambers Street, a street that houses several important buildings such as the Heriot Watt's university, a theatre, the old university, the Museum of Scotland (a modern building) and the Royal Museum .

The museums closed at 17 h., very early. In the Museum of Scotland they explain the history of Scotland till nowadays.

We wanted to see the district of New Town , since it is an example of Gregorian architecture. The streets are elegant and symmetric, and the whole is very harmonious, from the end of the 18th century. The best spot is Charlotte Square , but we couldn't enjoy it for long as a heavy rain was falling. Many shops are located in this part of the town. We also passed in front of the National Gallery of Scotland, one of the biggest art galleries in Europe that was already closed.

We returned to the Royal Mile, surrounding the castle to search for a place to have dinner and keep warm and dry. We found one tavern full of Scottish people, always a great sign. We ate a typical Scottish meal, the delicious haggis, and of course we accompanied it with the excellent Scottish beer, both lager and ale.