Friday, January 1, 2021

Wishlist for the next decade. Hello 2021!

            Image credits: All over internet!

After a #throwback post on Facebook yesterday, it is time for a post #LookingForward in 2021. And this one deserves to be on the blog. I spent some time picking five destinations I would like to visit sometime in not-so-distant future. I did some research online and (finally!) read "World's Best Travel Experiences" by NatGeo. Then it was time to dig deep and think what would I really like to do/see/experience to arrive at this list. I am an easy traveler, just the thought of traveling and being in someplace new, surrounded by new culture, new language excites me. Now with a little one to travel with, all these places sound too adventurous! Let us see how many years till I check them off my bucket list.

Here is my list, in no particular order:

1. Botswana/Rwanda:

African Safari. This has been the most unique experience from all our previous trips. This time I'd pick a different national park for a different experience. the Okavango Delta in Botswana seems like a good choice, as we have been to Serengeti National Park in Tanzania already. But I also want to meet the mountain gorillas in Rwanda. Now while I am here. why not go see Victoria waterfalls in Zimbabwe. I am getting greedy! 
Rwanda

2. Torres Del Paine:

Really want to trek the W circuit or the O circuit. It has to be all pre booked from what I understand. Luckily I have a few friends who have been here and their pictures were beautiful to say the least. Might make sense to combine this with a trip to Buenos Aires and take some Tango lessons.

3. Galapagos Islands:

Nature in its pristine glory. Definitely want to see the big turtles and the blue-footed boobies. The only way would be to book a tour and a cruise perhaps. I must learn how to tread before I go here. I can't be zipping in and out of wetsuits! 

4. Maldives/Zanzibar/Bora Bora:

A luxury beach vacation where I can switch off from the entire world. Get some classy beach pictures and stay in an overwater bungalow. I am really not particular where I get to do that. Is it Maldives or Zanzibar or Bora Bora. It just needs to be pure luxury. As Zanzibar is the least popular, I will share a link about this options.

5. South Georgia Islands:

I want to see penguins in their natural habitat. We did go to Prince Philip island in Australia, but I want to see bigger and more penguins. So this fifth choice is completely driven by this. Only way to get here is by a cruise. 



I wanted to mention close contenders, but they are mostly the places I want to go to. Not too exotic, but just some wishlist places. May be this list will carry over to the next decade, or may be I will have to create a new one! Who knows!

But here is wishing everyone who wishes to travel, lots of cheap flights, luxury hotel deals, and a lot of paid-time-off at work. May we all get to travel and meet our loved ones soon enough. Until then, stay safe, stay healthy and a very Happy New Year!

Cheers!

Friday, July 5, 2019

England (London, Stonehenge, Bath, Cotswold, Oxford, Lake District, York, Manchester)


Home of Sherlock Holmes
2015. It was in the year 2015, when I decided that I must watch the next cricket world cup, which happened every four years and interestingly, the next one was in UK and I hadn't traveled there yet. After passing through the London Heathrow airport a zillion times, I was finally determined to fly into London airport in 2019, which, alas, didn't really happen. Here is our brief itinerary before all the juicy details.
Day 1: Train from Edinburgh -> London
Day 2: London sightseeing
Day 3: Day trip to Cotswold, Oxford
Day 4: Day trip to Stonehenge, Bath
Day 5: London sightseeing
Day 6: Relaxed day in London with some sightseeing
Day 7: Match day in Birmingham
Day 8: Train + car to reach Lake District
Day 9: Lake district
Day 10: Lake district -> drive to York
Day 11: Match day in Leeds
Day 12: Day in York -> drive to Manchester
Day 13: Fly out of Manchester
I plan to log about this trip city-wise and not day wise. It makes more sense that way as our itinerary was also driven by car rentals and visiting families. Also, I am going to add just a section on match days to log our memories from the match days. This itinerary is a part of longer UK trip which included Scotland travel before England, which is also logged in the blog. Take a look if you'd like.

Where to fly in:

Anywhere you get good flight tickets to. Taking a train to the city you intend to visit isn't much troublesome. The distances aren't much, so it won't be time consuming as well. We flew in to Manchester as we got a good deal with the flights. Hence we visited Scotland first and then England. However, with non US/UK/EU passports, it does take a while to get through immigration.

When to go:

It is mostly cold and rainy in London even during summer months. I was afraid we are going to hit that weather going end of June. But luckily, weather got better and we were there during a heat wave, which is so much nicer than the heat waves we get in California. Weather was warm, bright and sunny. No rains, so no days were wasted sitting at our hotels. Hence, I would think July and may be August would be good times to visit. Unless, you want to go see snow clad Great Britain. I am sure that has its own charm.

London

London always always reminds me of the TV series FRIENDS that was shot in London for a few episodes. I just can't get that out of my head. So here we were. Six adults, ready to explore London!
We spent three days in London and I think we got to most of the touristy stuff we intended to, including Crystal maze! Here is how our days went.

  • Day Zero: 

Dishoom, King's Cross
We arrived late in the afternoon via train from Edinburgh, It was a decent 4 hour journey and once we got here, we decided to settle in our Airbnb, which was a three bhk apartment to accommodate us and our parents and our kitchen needs. Once we were settled, we met Roohi, my childhood friend and Rohit, Sumit's cousin was a sumptuous meal at Dishoom. You will soon realize we are huge Dishoom fans. We mostly strolled around the King's cross area and London being under heat wave, was just perfect for us. Balmy summer sun. In the evening, we got back and waited for our parents to get home from the airport. Today was the day to just settle in and start exploring the following day.  

  • Day One: 

Buckingham Palace
Westminster Abbey
Today was supposed to be a typical touristy day in London. Best thing we did was to buy the London explorer pass for ourselves and our parents. Parents had the 5 attraction pass and we had the 7 attractions pass. First we called an Uber to the Buckingham palace. We got dropped off a little farther away from the palace entrance. We walked all the way and took pictures. We were in time for the changing of the guard ceremony. It gets really crowded here, so find a good spot. Well, as good as you can with all the tourists blocking your view.  Up next was the walking tour of this area. We walked from Buckingham Palace, to James Palace to all the way to Trafalgar square. Here we took a break to take pictures and grab something to eat at a nearby cafe. Then we took a token picture outside 10 Downing Street before walking to the Westminster Abbey. We didn't plan on going inside. But took plenty of pictures outside. Then we walked all the way to the Big Ben. And in between stopped to take pictures with the statues of Gandhi and Churchill. Big Ben was sadly under scaffolding and undergoing major renovations. Next up was a ferry ride from the pier right outside the Big Ben to the Tower Bridge. Our explorer pass had this covered and having an app on the phone was super helpful to scan and get your tickets. The ferry ride was sunny and bright, but windy. The commentary was funny, and gave you a good overall idea about major attractions in the city. Once we got off the ferry ride, we walked all the way to the bridge, got our tickets to get in the towers and took pictures inside. We also witnessed the opening and closing of the bridge as a ship had to pass through. Pretty exciting. Next, we spent some time at a Starbucks drinking coffee and cooling down in the hot weather.
London Eye
Final segment was to Uber all the way to London Eye. Here we got our tickets through the pass and got in the long albeit fast moving queues to get on the London Eye. It was almost sunset. View were pretty, I wish we had come here after sunset, would have been nice to see well lit London from bird's eye view. Once we got off, we grabbed something to eat and headed straight home and called it a day. We were done with a lot of major attractions today, but were a bit tired with all the walking.

  • Day Two: 

The Famous '83 World Cup balcony
We started off our day with Lord's tour. I had booked this off six months ago, because I knew that due to World Cup, there would be limited openings for tours. I am glad I did. Our parents loved the tour, especially going to the balcony and seeing the cup Kapil Dev had lifted in 1983. If you are a die-hard cricket fan like us, must must do this tour.
Before Megxit
Next up, was Madam Tussaud's. It was covered under our Explorer Pass, but the queue for getting tickets is long plus there is waiting for the entry time too. We had found this out the previous day and gotten our tickets for this day, so luckily it worked out. This attraction is the busiest one in London and make sure you have tickets beforehand, so that you avoid those 2-3 hours of wait. So we had about an hour to kill before we were let in, so we went out to grab food and drinks with parents. Also, Sherlock Holmes' house, 321 Baker street is very close by, so it makes for a good quick trip. And don't forget to take a picture with his statue. Anyhow, once we got in the wax museum, our parents went crazy taking pictures with all the Bollywood stars. They even had Narendra Modi and Virat Kohli. I have never taken so many pictures in a single location before. It was so much fun to see our parents thoroughly enjoy this place.
It was already late afternoon by the time we got out, so our parents headed home and I headed to meet my friend Roohi. I took a brief stop at Bond street for some window shopping and then headed out her place. Sumit joined me later after dropping off the parents. It was so much fun and just like old times hanging out with her.

  • Day Three: 

Crystal maze
The activity I was most looking forward to was scheduled for this day. The Crystal Maze. I had grown up watching Crystal maze, and given how crazy I am about puzzles, I was so excited about it that I can't even express and yes, the experience lived up to its expectation. A crazy host leading us through four zones and playing different types of practical games. What else could I ask for. I was super duper amazed at the setup, execution and the overall experience. On my next trips to London, I plan on adding more such things to our itinerary. But if you are a Crystal Maze fan, this is a must do. Next up, we stopped at the St. Paul's Cathedral. And it is gorgeous. I absolutely loved it. One of my favorite cathedrals for sure. Beautiful and magnanimous. Then we headed home for some home made lunch and our parents rested and ready to step out. The first stop was the London Tower museum. Our parents were very keen on seeing the Kohinoor, so we just had to make a stop here. But this time we took the tube to get to the museum so that our parents can experience the public transport as well. Once we got to the museum, we headed straight to the section where kohinoor is kept as there is a long waiting queue to get in. Its actually overwhelming to see so many jewels and gold housed in one place.  Once we got out, we wanted to get on the Big Bus as our final to-do item in London and that is what we did. We took the big Bus tour which was also included in our explorer pass and got off the near King's cross. We had made a reservation for dinner for parents and my friend and a cousin this day. After a big sumptuous meal in at Dishoom, we called it a wrap for our London tour. I guess three days were plenty for relaxed and easy touristy sightseeing in London. 
St. Paul's Cathedral

Day trip to Cotswold and Oxford

Tea at Cotswold
We rented a car in the morning to drive to Cotswold and Oxford and get back to London the same night. We picked a Hertz rental closest to our location, which was Marble Arch. Pick up was quick and easy, but the trick was to get out on London central zone before you get charged for driving in the high traffic zone. So, we carefully navigated out of the city to make sure we aren't driving in the high traffic zone. Maps are readily available online for the zones.
Our goal for the day initially was to visit a village or two in Cotswold, then head out to Stratford Upon Avon followed by a walking tour in oxford. But, we realised that may be stretching ourselves with parents, so we dropped Stratford Upon avon from our plan for the day.
Oxford
Our first stop was Cotswold. Its is an AONB, Area of Natural Beauty. Some classification in UK, parallel to national parks I believe. The village we decided to visit was Burton-on-the-water, the most popular village to visit. Once you navigate to the village, there are some single roads to the village and you may be better off finding parking as soon as you see the little shops lining up the street. Else, you can drive up to the end of the long street that goes through the village and park at the end in designated parking complex. But you will need change for the parking meter. These small villages are a perfect weekend getaway if you want to spend peaceful couple of days away from a noisy city. There are some things to do in this little village, like a maze, a motor museum, a miniature village, etc, but nothing that would interest us, so we decided to just walk along the tiny streets. Beautiful little bridges and a walk along a narrow stream is what interested us. A perfect idyllic setting, straight out of a story book. We stopped for some tea and scones and then visited some shops. Its just a cute little place to visit.
Ratcliffe Camera
Next up, we headed straight to Oxford. One thing to note is that Oxford comprises of multiple college and you can't see it all in one day. There are few iconic libraries and halls you might want to pick and visit on your own, or with a tour. Best way to see Oxford for us was on foot on a walking tour. You can book different types of tours, paid and for free. We chose the tour that was offered by Oxford students for free and takes about a couple of hours. They take you to all the famous Harry Potter libraries, the dining room, the fame Christchurch college, Alice in Wonderland locations amongst many more. This is the best way to Oxford if you are budgeting your time. My favorites were the Christchurch College, the Ratcliffe camera and Einstein's handwritten equations on a blackboard in a tiny museum at Oxford.
Another thing about Oxford is parking. If you have driven here instead of taking a train(a better idea), finding parking will be the hardest thing you do. We went straight to a mall on Oxford campus and parked at the mall. (One of the best tips given by a family friend). After our two hour long walk, we stopped at a cafe, had lunch, had coffee, and rejuvenated ourselves to head out for another hour long drive to meet old family friends over dinner.


Day trip to Stonehenge and Bath

Since we already had a rented car, we had planned for another day trip outside of London. Mind you, since we were a family of 6 adults, it made sense for us to drive than to take the trains. But for a couple or 3 people, trains is definitely the way to go. Or plan was to go to Stonehenge, visit the city of Bath and then Windsor Castle if time permits. Clearly, we had to drop Windsor Castle from the plan as with parents along, things move a little slowly.
Stonehenge
Our first stop was going to be Stonehenge. This is a perfectly planned tourist spot. The visitor centre has tickets and then you get in a queue for the bus to take you to the Stonehenge. The actual circle is pretty big and located in middle of nowhere with rolling greens hills surrounding it. The whole location is pretty scenic. You get audio guides with your tickets, so take those and listen to the commentaries as you walk past various spots. We were with our extended family that day, so had planned on a picnic here. Out came the sheets and the burgers with some drinks. Was a brilliant idea by our cousins and a lot of fun. As such there is not much to see here, but you can get engaged in all the history of why and how this structure appeared and be fascinated. Later, you get in the queue to get back to visitor centre, where there is ample parking btw.
Bath in the city of Bath
Next up was drive to the city of Bath. Our plan was to rent a boat and just take boat on the canal, but unfortunately, wherever we enquired, all the boats were rented out, given it was a weekend and a sunny day. So we settled for walking on foot in the old town area. We found parking at a cricket club, which we later realized wasn't open to public and had to pay parking ticket. We walked past a county cricket ground, on to the old town center. The major attraction here in the "bath", as in the real Roman baths from which the city gets its name. The entry is a little steep and includes audio guide. Taken about 30-45 minutes to see the entire thing on your own and head out. Outside, there are cobbled streets with some musicians playing music and vendors all around you. We also went to the cathedral and wanted to climb up the stairs to get a view of the city, but the last entry had already closed. So, basically we were late today. You must plan things as per the closing times and head out early in the day if you want to check off things from your list.
Luckily, we found a very nice Boston tea shop, where we all settled in and got ourselves some refreshing teas and coffees. There was an Indian cafe nearby too, but the guy was hesitant to make chai/tea as he had run out of existing tea and didn't want to make any fresh tea. Oh well!
It was scorching hot today, given UK was under a heat wave! But nevertheless, we walked back to our cars through the streets lined with many local and branded stores and head back to Croydon, our dinner stop to meet our extended family that day.


Lake District

We wanted to spend a couple of days in a scenic place while our parents went to Scotland on a pre booked tour. After thinking and researching hard, we picked Lake District and kept Snowdonia for some other time. We had stayed over in Birmingham after our match the previous day, so booked a train to Manchester and a car rental from Manchester to drive to Lake District.
Outside Beatrix Potter's house
Lake District, like other AONBs, and national parks are a collection of smaller villages in a pristine natural setting. So, like any other place, pick a village which will be your base and drive to other places of interest. We had picked Windermere, as clearly this was the most popular tourist choice and had plenty of options to eat, sleep and shop. So, from Manchester railway station, we picked our rental car and drove straight to Windermere. We reached our Airbnb early evening. Parked our car, dumped our luggage and headed out.
Over the next couple of days, our goal was to visit a few location in Lake district and spend half a day biking in the area. Sumit had pre booked his bike rental and chose a few bike routes. He finally rode the Hawkhead hill and the Wrynose Pass, which turned out to be quite challenging. Cell phone network is patchy here, so downloading maps will be a great idea. He chose the following bike route and enjoyed the views so much, that we drove here in the evening.
Now if you are not planning to ride a bike, all the places are mostly accessible by car. Lake Windermere is a pretty huge lake and offers plenty of options to do and see. We drove all the way to Beatrix Potter's house and spent time in the tiny village most of which features in her story books. And then drove down the hill to take a car ferry across the lake. One could also take the cruise along the lake and get down at various spots and do a small hike, or visit various locations and come back on the ferry to get back to you starting location. There are plenty of options.
Somewhere in Lake District
Driving Route: We started with drive to Wrynose Pass and Hardknott Pass. beautiful views. Then we drove back to Ambleside, a beautiful village by the lake Grassmere. Here we grabbed something to eat and then hiked to the Stock Ghyll waterfall. Next we continued driving to Castlerigg Stone circle, which was like a mini Stonehenge, only much more scenic and a lot less crowded. Took plenty of pictures here. On the way we stopped at William Wordsworth House, which was under renovation, so couldn't go in. Roads are narrow, so it tends to get a bit scary, but just drive carefully and it will be all fine. We drove further to Ashness Bridge and Surprise view near Derwent Water and then drove all the way around the Derwent Water Lake to Honister Pass. Drive was scary but the views were beautiful. Then we drove to Buttermere lake and back to the town of Keswick, where we again got something to eat. This is a comparatively bigger town. So you could cho
se to stay here or Windermere. On our way back,we went to Aira Force waterfall, near the lake Ullswater, which was short hike from the parking lot. And then drove around Ullswater lake back to Windermere. The views were simply amazing. I especially loved our drive next to Ullswater.
Link to our route on the map.
Ullswater Lake
The last day, we had some time to ourselves, so we went on a boat cruise on the lake. Nothing too fascinating, but some sort of activity to do. Also, I loved the local shop sin the Windermere area for shopping. Really cute stuff here. If you want to shop, don't let go of this opportunity. Even for dining there are quite a few options. We had Italian one day and Thai the other day. The weekend dinners were crowded, so we were recommended to make reservations and glad we did.  Note, we spent 2-3 days here including the biking and the driving around. We were finally driving off to York, so spend some time here and meet our parents. Also on agenda was to go watch the cricket match in Leeds.


York

York Minster
This city has two parts, and old town surrounded by fort walls and the new town outside of those walls. Needless to say, most of the attractions are inside the walled city. We were driving from Lake District to York and had planned on keep the car rental in York and then drive to Manchester.  Car parking in a nightmare here especially in the old town. You can find parking for an hour or so, but overnight and long terms parking are very expensive. We reached the city in the evening and spent some time looking for parking! We temporarily parked in a short term parking to access our Airbnb. Locating our Airbnb was another task. The houses were numbered in a weird fashion and most of the residential buildings have shops at the ground level. It took us time, but we managed to get in. Once here, we unloaded our stuff and looked for long term parking. We found something a little farther out. After parking our car, we decided to just walk around and grab dinner before meeting our parents who were getting back from Scotland later in the night.
Tea Rooms @ York
There are some places from where you can access the fort walls and walk on foot on the top of the walls around the city perimeter. The few entrance to the walled city have cute guard towers, which aren't guarded anymore, but make for nice pictures. We walked along the fort walls for sometime, then grabbed dinner at Akbars, an Indian restaurant with decent enough food before  meeting our parents at the train station and walking back to our airbnb. It is a very cute town and a lot of young vibrant crowd keeps the streets busy on the weekends.
Next day we were our to Leeds to watch the cricket match and our parents enjoyed a rest day. But the day after we decided to explore the city. The old town is easily walkable and the cobbled streets lined with local and branded shops are very inviting too. We started from the York Minster, a huge gothic style church at the one end of the old town. Then we made our way to the other end of the town, Clifford's tower. In between we stopped at some shops, and also spent time getting tea and scones at a tea boutique. That's where my fascinator came out and we took pics I had been waiting for the entire trip. Before I forget, we had dinner at 29 States Indian restaurant and the food was very good. I recommend this place if you are looking for Indian food.
York is a perfect weekend getaway town with a very medieval feel to it. I am sure its popular with UK residents as a popular vacation place. We enjoyed our time here and I loved the city vibe. In the afternoon, we were headed out to Manchester by road. The train ride is also only an hour and I highly recommend not taking your car to York and using public transport.

Manchester

Manchester
The moment you drive in to the city, you realise this is an industrial town. A syou head towards the downtown, it is like any other big city, with lots of cars, one way streets and no place to park. Our hotel was very close to most of the attractions and we were luckily able to find an overnight parking. After we freshened up, we decided to take a walk near the old town area. We walked to the Manchester Cathedral and there was huge music festival going on near the Royal Exchange Theater. Entry was free but we skipped it and chose to go to Dishoom for dinner. Since we had been to Dishoom in London and Edinburgh, it only made sense to try the one in Manchester. As usual food was great and we ended up having a very pleasant conversation with our server, which resulted in dinner being complementary and getting invited to free breakfast the next day! How sweet was that. So, for next day, we got up up early to make sure we got our breakfast at Dishoom before heading out to the airport. Interestingly enough, at the airport, we got a free upgrade! It was 24 hours of freebies for us before our vacation ended. But well, there isn't much to do/see in Manchester, unless you are planning to watch a football match. We weren't as there were no matches on the days we were there.

Match Days

  • Edgabaston, Birmingham: 

Both the matches we attended were very well organised. From the moment we got off our train from London Marylebone station to Birmingham, there were directions and volunteers to help you get to the stadium. We had to first dump our bags at the hotel before we went to the stadium. And then we got an Uber to get to the stadium, but it was so crowded, that we decided to get off the car and walk to the stadium and it was definitely a good call. The security check in was super smooth and quick and finding our seats was easy enough.
And oh what seats! We got so lucky with our seats. The cricket fields are not as big, and hence the view is so good and so close to all the action, it is just a fantastic experience watching matches in UK. The crowd was fully charged up and watching the match in such an electrifying atmosphere is definitely worth the trip. There were food stalls outside and plenty of options to pick from. The queues got long during the innings break, so I highly recommend skipping a few overs and getting your food in early. Or carrying your snacks with you. Must carry your hydration with you. It got hot closer to noon and we were glad to be carrying our water bottles. All in all, Indian won against Sri Lanka, and got to see live action on the field, with Dhoni, Kohli and Sharma right in front of us.
Could not have asked for more.

  • Headingly, Leeds: 

Just like Birmingham, everything was super well organised. From parking to check in, it was all streamlined. Easy to get it and get out. Lots of food stalls, and again an electrifying atmosphere. We were carrying binoculars, so we spotted Anushka in the pavilion and also spotted Charulata, the oldest fan. Our seats were again very well located and we were seated in the first 4 fours for both the matches. We tried hard, but couldn't make it to the TV crowd. Sigh! But had a wonderful time waving our flag and wearing the Indian jerseys. Absolute fun.

Other Pointers:

Driving - 

Its left side driving, opposite of the US, but same as India. So you have to comfortable with that. Besides that, the roads aren't as wide a sin the US, I felt things were a bit cramped, parking is difficult and speeds are a little lesser.

Shout out to Dishoom

One super nice discovery in UK was Dishoom Indian restaurant. Its a UK based chain, but each and every venue is unique. We tried the one in Edinburgh, London's Kings Cross and Manchester. Some of them have a long wait, but its totally worth it. We tried quite a few options on the menu and they were all great. Also, their chai has unlimited refills and I could drink it all day. When our server in Manchester learnt that we were visiting all locations, he was so happy that our dinner was complimentary and we got invited back for free breakfast. They don't just focus on good food, but a good experience for the diners.

Big Bus London

London Explorer Pass - 

For sight seeing in London, we opted for London Explorer Pass, it gives you a cheaper price for combined ticket to a specific number of attractions. Turned out to be pretty economical for us. The app is available on phone. You can download your passes and scan the barcode at the ticket booths to get your tickets.

Rail travel - 

Super duper convenient. Highly recommended to book in advance and get seats. You can book later without seats, but then you don't want to be travelling in a crowded train without a seat. Also, look at the discount passes. They offer huge savings. We bought two together cards, which saved us a bunch of money. You need to have the passes on your phone and upload your picture, etc. Its a set up hassle, but savings are great especially you plan on using the rail transport. We use the trainline website for bookings.

Phones - 

We bought local numbers from a local grocery store and activated them. They worked just perfect for our phones and the unlimited calls and data was super convenient for navigation to stay in touch with our parents.

Other places to visit:



  • Stratford Upon Avon - A tiny Shakespeare village. We had initially planned to combine it with Oxford day trip, but we chose to go to Cotswold instead as it was closer that Stratford Upon Avon.
  • Windsor Castle - Outskirts of London. You need to buy a ticket to see the castle. It is one of the more popular and in-use castles by the royal family. But we dropped it from our day as we got pretty late driving back from Stonehenge and Bath.
  • Cambridge - It was a choice between Oxford and Cambridge for us. Both make for a good day trip from London. You could use public transport, but we were driving and as we just had to pick, we decide we will stick with Oxford as it was on our route to our family friend's house.
  • Snowdonia - It is located in Wales and we had planned to pick between Lake District and Snowdonia. After much research, we felt we should stick with lake District for this trip and then visit Snowdonia next time. It was just a matter of choice.
  • Wales - Another country a part of UK, Cardiff is a popular tourist town to visit and then Snowdonia is a national park that usually people visit. As we were skipping Snowdonia, we thought we would leave all of Wales sights for our next trip.




Friday, June 28, 2019

Scotland (Edinburgh, Inverness, Loch Ness, Isle of Skye)


After reading rave reviews of Isle of Skye, Scotland kept jumping up on my travel list. Now that we were going to UK for the cricket world cup, I was all excited to go to Scotland for a few days before our England trip. So here we were. 
Our brief itinerary:
Day 0: Arrive in Manchester -> Train to Edinburgh
Day 1: Edinburgh
Day 2: Drive: Edinburgh -> Inverness -> Loch Ness
Day 3: Drive: Isle of Skye
Day 4: Drive: Portree -> Fort Williams -> Edinburgh
Day 5: Edinburgh -> London

When to go:


We got really lucky with the weather. There were no rains. Was cloudy and sunny mostly and we got a little bit of drizzle in Isle of Skye. From what I hear, you hit rains around 90% of the time, so we did well I believe. Even though it was summer, it wasn't hot. We had to use light jackets and full sleeves shirts to feel comfortable. It gets hotter in July-August though. And I am sure the winters here must be spectacular with all the snow covered landscapes, and bone-chilling too. 

Day 0


Getting to Edinburgh


We arrived in Manchester and after a brief rest stop at a hotel, we were headed to Manchester. We had pre booked our tickets to Edinburgh. Advance booking saves cost when I compared the prices. Also, you can book seats if you get tickets in advance. 
Our Edinburgh AirBnB
Train journey from Manchester to Edinburgh was about 3 hours and some change. But our train kept getting delayed. First due to a disruptive passenger. Then they didn't have functioning toilets, so they had to take a restroom break at another station. The train in-charge made an announcement that if anyone took a smoke break and took more than five minutes, she would leave, and boy, she meant business. Haha! Luckily we arrived only 25 minutes later than scheduled time. Had we been delayed by more than 30 minutes, we would have been entitled for 50% refund. Darn!
From the airport, our AirBnB was a twenty minute walk. Even while booking two months in advance, the availability of hotels and BnBs wasn't as great. Looks like the options are few and they fill up fast. Our BnB was located on Queen Street and we walked everywhere from here. So, anywhere close to Princess Street, or Old Town is a good place to stay. Our BnB was cozy and pretty. Such an English/Scottish feel to it. Lacy curtains, black and white pictures in old frames. Pastel wall paper in the room and a small balcony.

Hello Edinburgh!


Edinburgh Old Town
We were so jet lagged that we desperately needed a nap. Thankfully the sunset was at 9:40 pm, so even after we slept for a couple of hours, we had daylight for quite sometime. We went to Kamasutra Indian restaurant for dinner. Pretty decent food, and to my surprise, Edinburgh has quite a few Indian restaurants. If you are here on a weekend, it may make sense to make reservations for wherever you plan to have dinner at. The restaurants get crowded. 
After dinner, we walked to the Greyfriar's kirkyard, which is an old cemetery, but the main attraction for me was the statue of a dog outside the courtyard who dies waiting for his owner next to his grave, Greyfriar's Bobby. From here we just walked towards the High street. And walked along the Royal mile for sometime. The street is lined with souvenir shops and there are street artists performing in the evening. You will hear the sound of bagpipes at any given point in time. After a short stroll, we walked back home via Princess street. It is a cute little city where you can enjoy the local shops and cafe and just walk around and soak in the culture. Meanwhile, don't forget to stop by one of those many red telephone booths and get your standard UK touristy picture!

Day 1


Morning Run and Brunch:


Skilts everywhere
Thanks to jet lag, we were up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7 am. So we decided to go for a run up to Calton Hill. It was a pleasant day with sun playing hide and seek with the clouds. The run included quite a few stairs to get to the top as well. Their is a loop around the hill to give you 360 degree views of the city. You get the views of the Holyrood Palce, the Princess Street and the sea. There are also a few old monuments and observatory at the top of the hill. 
After we got back, we were hungry, like really hungry. Luckily, yelp works in UK. And I discovered Dishoom. The one in other cities would have definitely had a long wait, so we decided this was our chance. On our way, we discovered that the St. Andrew's square, right where Dishoom is located had a fair and some bagpipers! It was armed forces day, so a lot of men and women in uniforms. At dishoom, we loved the ambience and the look of the place. Old style Irani cafes from Mumbai. We ordered chole-puri, vada pav and pav bhaji. All excellent. The flavors were amazing. I so wish we had a restaurant that served food of this quality in the bay area. 

The Royal Mile:


Up next was doing the standard Royal Mile walk. But first we walked along the Princess Street. Stopped by the iconic Scotts monument and got some good pictures and walked all the way till the end of the street. On our way was the Waterstone bookshop and cafe. I got in to use the restroom, but was pleasantly surprised by the views of the castle from their second floor cafeteria sit out. 
View from the Calton Hill
Continue walking and you are at the King's road. Its all uphill from here till you get to the castle entrance. If you have pre bought tickets, you get 2 pounds off each ticket and you avoid the long wait in the queues. We weren't too keen on going in, but wanted to hang around and take in some views. But our highlight was running into our friend Smita and her sister. We knew they were in UK to watch the world cup matches, but had no clue they would be in Edinburgh and we would just run into them on the streets. What are the odds!
St. Giles Cathedral
From here we started walking down the High street. We had walked a portion the previous day as well. But it being Saturday, it was crowded. Our next stop on this cobbled street was the St. Giles cathedral. Its very beautiful. The arches in the roof and the stained glass paintings are beautiful. There is a small room inside, I don't remember its name but it is used for granting the knighthood. The wooden engravings there are absolutely gorgeous. Its a small cathedral, compared to the ones you would see in Italy I guess, but is beautiful.
Moving on, we stopped for some street performers and then had to wade through small groups of pride parade. Then we took a break at one of the cafes for a quick bite and coffee.  There are narrow alleys that run all the way to the main street and give you the feel of old town. Plus, there are other spots to check out along the Royal Mile if you are interested. There is a museum of optical illusion, recommended by our friends, a dungeon (Mary King's close) and some galleries and museums on the parallel streets. 
Holyrood Palace
Holyrood palace will remind you some scenes from The Crown. The last entry is at 4:30 pm and of course we missed that. But were happy to get the view of the facade from the entrance. There is Scottish parliament right across the street. This is their new parliament house, functional since the last decade. The previous house was on the Royal Mile and is now closed. Apparently you can watch the parliament in action and see some live debates. The building is modern and the architecture so much in contrast to the Holyrood palce it stands across to. You can also listen to Rick Steeve's audio guided tour for the Royal Mile walk.

Arthur's Seat:


Arthur's Seat
Up next on our list was the hike up the Arthur's seat. It was a strenuous hike. About one mile each way with 1000 ft of elevation gain. It wasn't easy, but the views from the top are mind blowing. Do it if you have the stamina and the time. Gorgeous. Downhill didn't take much time and once back, we wanted dinner. We decided to meet with Smita and her sister at Mother's India Cafe. They serve small portions, so you can try multiple things and being four people we tried quite a few things on the menu. All were so good. This was our lucky day with some good Indian food at Dishoom and then here. I recommend panipuri and chaat for sure. Everything else was good too, so you won't go wrong with your order. I just loved how walkable this city was. There is uber too if you aren't too keen on walking. 

Day 2


Drive to Inverness:


Our plan for the day was to rent a car at the airport and drive. We ubered to the airport. Our Scottish driver was so chatty and so helpful. I loved our conversation for the fifteen minutes. He kept telling us basic road rules, how to get the gas at the station. And we passed by a beautiful school, which I assumed was an old palace or something, but I was wrong. It was built as a school for the deaf and the dumb and was not functional anymore. As you get out of old town, you start seeing newer construction and realize how big the city is. Anyhow, we rented our car and were off.
High Tea at Perth
Following directions wasn't hard at all. Scottish people love roundabouts and so do Chandigarh people. So we were home as far as navigating around the roundabouts was concerned. About an hour in, we decided to have brunch at Perth. Luckily, yelp showed this tea and breakfast place, Efiie's at Perth. I absolutely loved this place. The English setting and serving in fine bone china, was just too good of an experience. The food was okay and so was the tea, but I was wowed by the experience. Must go to a tea room if you are in UK. Must, must.
Driving further, we spotted Blair Castle. I had no intentions of going in. So, we skipped that part, but you could stop by and take some pictures of the castle. 
Inverness Castle
The views are pretty. Vast green highlands. A river at times next to the highway. Keep driving and you'll reach Inverness. A good place for lunch. We wanted to get our swim for the day, but their fancy athletic centre was closed for a swim meet that day. Hence, we ventured into the city. Very small old town area. You can walk the entire area in a 10-15 minutes. Got some good views of the Inverness castle from the Ness bridge. And next stop was a restaurant for lunch. While I got hangry looking for a restaurant, they started closing at 3pm. So I opted for whatever I saw next which happened to be an Italian place was pretty decent. 
Next we were driving along Loch Ness. 

Loch Ness:


Loch Ness
We drove straight to the Urquhart Castle. Very pretty castle, apparently at the deepest point in the lake. You have to buy tickets to go in and get some views. Its mostly in ruins, but thats the beauty of it. From here, keep driving to Fort Augustus. A small town to take a break and you could drive to the Suidhe viewpoint form here. We were tired and wanted to head back, so we didn't. This place has top views of the lake and the pictures are pretty, so might as well stop by if you can. You could follow this itinerary or viewpoints.
Urquhart Castle
Onwards, we arrived at our BnB place booked via AirBnB. It was a cottage at the end of narrow road in Dornie. Walkable distance from the Eilean-Donan castle. I'll write more about the castle on our way back to Fort Williams as that is when we visited the castle. The views from our room were amazing and once again we were served english breakfast in fine bone china by our host. Its Glennan House, and we recommend it, in case you are looking for options. The castle lights up at night and looks really pretty, but we both were tired and skipped it.

Day 3


Isle of Skye:


Today was the day for our highlight of the Scotland trip. The weather forecast showed mild showers all day, but it was a bit of drizzle in the morning and not at all disruptive. I am so thankful for the lovely weather that cooperated with us. Portree is definitely the town where you can get options to eat and drink. So we planned our trip around Portree. We started from Dornie and reached Portree in about an hour. We weren't as hungry, so decided to do the north out and back loop. 
Old Man of Storr
Drive is pretty and the first stop is Old Man of Storr. Its a rock formation that stands firm at the top along with other strangely shaped rocks. Its a hike from the car park. So, park the car and get your hiking bag out and start walking. It is a decent elevation gain to the gate from where you could either do a loop or go out and back. If you got a little up, you will get rewarded with beautiful views. Sumit hiked all the way up and I huffed and puffed till I saw him returning back. I realized I had hiked around a mile from the car park and the views were getting better and better. Also, the constant bleats of sheep and lambs were quite serene.
Kilt's viewpoint
Next stop was drive all the way upto flower cottage. Not a scenic viewpoint, but a hotel located at the scenic spot. We stopped, took pictures and started driving back. We stopped at the Kilt Rock viewpoint, which is a must stop. Offers the view of cliffs, a waterfall and the clear waters. Keep driving and their a waterfalls on the left. Its right along the roadside, so might as well stop. Now we were back in Portree and it was time for lunch before heading to the south loop. We got lunch at cafe Arriba. They had some decent vegetarian options, so no complaints. Also, we tried vegetarian haggis, which is a Scotland specialty. Umm, not that bad. I could get used to this taste.
Now, we drove to the Fairy Pools, Off the higway, it becomes a single narrow lane. And you must drive carefully. Pull into the passing lanes to let the traffic pass by. Fairy Pools are about twenty minute walk from the parking lot. Go and take some pictures, don't have to hike all the way up.
Neist Lighthouse
From here, it was a long drive to the Neist Point Lighthouse. My favorite attraction in the Isle of Skye. Find some car parking. Now you can either take the designated pathway all the way up to the lighthouse, or just go right from the cafe shop and walk ten minutes out to get the beautiful cliffs and the lighthouse in the view. We did the latter and oh boy, the views were amazing. I didn't think that hiking up to the lighthouse could give me the views of the cliffs and the lighthouse. So, we skipped it. Also, I was excited to get my cover picture. 
Up next, was the final stop of the evening, Dunveagon Castle. They close at 5 pm, so of course we were late. And I kept looking for some view points, which should be outside the castle, but didn't get any results. Later discovered that if you follow the road all the way till end you will be able to get views of the castle, but they are from a little farther away than you'd like. Now we were headed to our Airbnb, some five miles away from Portree. Nested in middle of the valley with such pretty views, these people get up to such view everyday! Again a decent experience with the AirBnB. 
We should have called it a day, but went for a swim to the Arainn Fhinn, the Fingal Centre in Portree. Excellent pool and some great facilities. You see, I try my best to get Sumit his training workouts even when we are on a vacation. We had dinner at Taste of India, which was pretty pretty bad. But some Indian food at 10 pm, is better than nothing I guess. 

Day 4


Bike Ride:


Biking the Isle of Skye
Plan was for Sumit to rent a bike at the Skye Bike Shack, close to Portree and go for a bike ride, while I spend time at various cafes and get this blog done. Portree is a cute little town and walking around was fun. I visited quite a few souvenir shops and also walked around the harbour.
Bike Route
Sumit completed this bike loop, about 40 miles from the bike rental place Skye Bike Shack. The owner was pretty helpful and a bike enthusiast himself. The roads are narrow, but the drivers are used to bike riders, so nothing to be really scared of but we mindful at all times. From here we were headed to Edinburgh, but not before making a few stops on our way back. Goal was to reach Edinburgh by midnight. 

Drive to Fort Williams:


Silgachen Bridge
Our first stop was Sligachan brigde on our drive back. It is a very old bridge and you get some great pictures of this bridge. Keep driving and admiring the views. 
Next stop was Eilean Donan Castle which we had skipped the day we stayed in Dornie. We went in the castle. It is a residential place and the inside is fully furnished. You get to see a few parts of the castle if you get the tickets. If you are interested in pictures, the best shots ate from outside. It is one of the most picturesque castles I have seen.
Viaduct view from Glenfinnan
Next up was drive to Fort Williams. We just drove straight to the town and headed to a restaurant we picked online. The restaurant food was okay, nothing great, but I was more excited to go to the Harry Potter bridge. It is 30 minutes from Fort Williams. The views of the viaduct however are not on the main road and you need to hike for about 20 minutes to get a to a good viewpoint. Its not difficult to find the viewpoint as you'll see a lot of people heading in that direction. It is located close to the Glenfinnan station. However, you must time your visit with the train times. There are regular trains passing the bridge, and also steam engine trains going a couple of times every day. Look up the timetable if you want to see a train on the bridge. Nevertheless, the views of just the bridge are spectacular too. You can also ride the train from Fort Williams to Mallaig and then then the ferry onwards.

Drive to Edinburgh: 


Next up was drive straight to Edinburgh. If you have time, you can stop by various viewpoints on the way, else drive straight to Edinburgh. I would suggest you stop by close to Loch Lomond for a day and enjoy the views and take pictures on your way back. We hadn't planned on visiting Loch Lomond, so we drove straight to Edinburgh If you have time, stop by to take in the views of Ben Nevis, Glencoe, three sisters and Brackfinn falls. We reached our rental center at 12:05 am, dropped off the car and hired an uber to our airbnb. Luckily, we had rented the same airbnb as before so we were familiar with the house and the owner had given us the keys to keep for our second stay. Worked out perfectly.

Day 5


Train to London:


Pre booking your train and making a seat reservation is always a smart things to do. We arrived at the station in the morning. Grabbed a couple of bagels and coffee and got on the train for our 4+ hour journey to London. Bye bye Scotland. We will be back again for some parts we missed, but our parents will be visiting next week on a pre booked tour.

Other pointers:

  • Must get a railcard if you plan to take multiple trips. Check out various options. The one that worked for us was "Two Together Railcard". It was easy to get and gave us deep discounts on tickets. We booked all our tickets from trainline.co.uk
  • Narrow single lane roads are everywhere, especially in the Isle of Skye. Follow the protocol and wait in the passing areas for other drivers.
  • Decided to skip Glasgow as it is "just another city"
  • Skipped Loch Lomond as we were short on time.
  • If going to Loch Lomond, might as well ride the jacobite train too.
  • Aberdeen is another popular city to visit.

Castles:

I personally don't like going inside the castles as much I like enjoying their setting and their facades. For me a castle nested in middle of mountains, on top of a hill are more picturesque than going inside these castles.  See below for the list of castles on this trip:

  • Edinburgh Castle - Set atop an extinct volcano, looks majestic from the city. Has exhibit of crown jewels and one of the oldest inhabited castles.
  • Blair Castle - Looks very pretty from the highway with green mountains in the background. Boasts of a good distillery closeby.
  • Inverness Castle - Smaller castle, but if you stop by in the city for lunch, take in the views from the bridge.
  • Urquhart Castle - Castle is in ruins. It is next to Loch Ness and you pay to go see. We totally enjoyed going in seein the ruins. Gives really good views of the Loch.
  • Eilean Donan Castle - Loved the setting of this castle. You take a footbridge to get to it. The better views of the castle and the bridge are from the parking lot. Fun fact: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai movie was shot here. See this link on youtube.
  • Dunvegon Castle - We missed this as we arrived late. It closes at 5 pm. But I anyway didn't intend to go in, but couldn't figure out where to get the views of this castle from. If you do, let me know and I will  add them here :)