Holiday in Scotland

Oct 5, 2025 | Black & White, Colour, Holidays

Black and white photograph taken of a terracotta fountain in Glasgow, Scotland

And so to Scotland for our first proper holiday since retirement. It was on our list of places to visit and it did not disappoint. We stayed in Glasgow which was more down to earth, but travelled to Edinburgh which was very touristy indeed but with spectacular architecture. There were frequent, fast trains between the two cities.

Black and white photograph taken of view of Edinburgh University

We caught a ridiculously cheap train to Edinburgh to visit the botanic gardens there which were very good indeed. We intended to walk up to Edinburgh castle which was a bit of a trek but I did spot this stunning entrance to a part of Edinburgh University on the way. Very Hogwarts. When we arrived at the Castle we discovered that it was fully booked for the rest of the day and absolutely expensive to get in anyway. We walked back through the Royal mile which was heaving with tourists and full of shops selling either cheap tat or very expensive tweed clothing. Avoid this area at all costs. .

Black and white photograph taken at St Enoch's subway station in Glasgow, Scotland
Black and white photograph taken of a subway train in Glasgow, Scotland

We had a visit to the Glasgow botanic gardens on our priority list. We discovered that we could get there by subway not previously realising that Glasgow had a subway system, We had somehow managed to not notice it even though there was a subway station around the corner from the hotel. The subway is a mini version of the London Underground, the trains are small and the platforms short and narrow. The subway has an inner circle and an outer circle that run in opposite directions. Trains are cheap and frequent but hurtle along quite noisily and have a tendency to throw you around a bit. Glasgow botanic gardens were excellent. The Kibble palace glasshouse was spectacular and well worth a visit.

A colour photograph taken on at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens, Scotland
A colour photograph taken at the Willow tea rooms in Glasgow showing a tea set and shortbread

We also visited the Willow tea rooms which were designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1903. It was a lovely experience and the best shortbread we’ve ever had.

Black and white photograph taken on a walk to Arthur's seat in Edinburgh, Scotland
A colour photograph showing the spectacular views at the summit of Arthur's seat in Edinburgh

On our final day we went back to Edinburgh and had a long steep climb up to Arthurs Seat, a high hill formed from the remains of a volcano. It was blowing a gale at the top but the views were spectacular. The journey down was a bit of an ordeal but we left feeling happy that we had reached the summit. Our trip to Scotland was a great success and we look forward to exploring more in the future.