Buttercups and Land Rovers (Scotland)
Disclaimer: I thought it would be fun to share my insights and the things I genuinely loved from my holiday – nothing sponsored whatsoever!
Whenever I spend time in Scotland during Summer, I can’t shake the feeling that every being that inhabits this place believes it might just be the first and last warm day on earth that will ever exist.
Poppies burst eagerly from cracks in the cobbles, preparing themselves to germinate. Parks are overrun with grass even though it is no longer No-mow May.
Scots fill every available corner of sunlight wearing minimal clothing and hang their feet over the water of Leith with beer in hand long into the night.
Hedgerows are a tangled tumble of purple pelargoniums, the wild foxgloves not far off blooming – every sheep in the paddock beyond has two lambs.
It is a vigour for life that is intoxicating there, after many cold months and short days.
My in-laws live in Edinburgh, and so we often base ourselves there and take daytrips or steal away for a handful of nights to explore other regions of Scotland during our visit.
The Borders
My in-laws have a cottage in the Borders with a riotous garden overlooking a field of grazing sheep. Weekends here are spent either on lazy village strolls or intense hillside hikes. Followed by gin and tonics on the lawn while watching birds flitting through the backyard branches.
While I can’t recommend you go stay at their cottage, I do recommend booking yourself into a little Scottish cottage and utilise the “freedom to roam” notion in the UK, which means you can go almost anywhere through private paddocks and farmland.
Above are a few snippets of what things looked like there… as always, my eye is drawn to the stone cottages and flowers that all feel so foreign to me.
The Cairngorms
We opted to spend a few nights north of Edinburgh near a small village named Dunkeld with the intention to spend a day driving further north from there into the Cairngorms via the Snow Road.
Here are a few things I loved while we stayed near Dunkeld:
DUNKELD
EAT: Aran bakery, Dunkeld deli, Livvi’s, The Taybank
SHOP: Kettles of Dunkeld,The Vintage Shop
LOOK: St Ninian’s Garden, Dunkeld Cathedral, the Hermitage, Loch of the Lowes
STAY: Glen Glack Cabins
FURTHER AFIELD
Snow Road drive to Braemar; Balmoral Estate; The Fife Arms
Blair Castle & Pitlochry
Edinburgh
We always allow at least a week in Edinburgh during our visits as we tend to spend a lot of time with family while we are there. I have a little list of our favourite Edinburgh haunts below.
WANDER
Edinburgh Botanical Gardens – we always visit and the shop is also very wonderful
Water of Leith – we wander along it to reach the gardens
Leith Shore – beautiful buildings and lots of places to eat and drink
Arthur’s Seat – walk to the top on a sunny day!
The Grassmarket – a good Edinburgh street to wander down if you find yourself on The Mile
Prestonfield House – fun for a high tea
EAT & DRINK
Scotch Malt Whisky Society – what a cvibe, especially if you like whisky like we do
The Last Drop – a traditional style pub if you are near the Royal Mile
The Old Bell – a family favourite, it has great interiors
STOCKBRIDGE
This is my favourite area of Edinburgh to spend some time wandering around. There are so many beautiful places there so do your own research, but the handful of lovely places there that are currently on my radar include:
EAT: Lannan Bakery, Cannele project, I.J. Mellis
SHOP: Toast, Skout, Edinburgh Mercantile Store, The Gently Mad and the GOlden Hare bookshops are i n Stockbridge
LOOK: Circus Lane, Dean Village, and the Botanics are nearby to Stockbridge
BOOKshops
Macnaughton’s
The Gently Mad
Armchair Books
The Golden Hare