Our Trip-of-a-Lifetime began on April 23, 2016 starting in Scotland and ending 15 days later ending in Dublin, Ireland on  April 24th.  

We boarded our luxury coach operated by "CIE Tours International".  They  provided us with a wonderful tour in conjunction with Dream Vacations.  "With all their previous tours", they've locked in the best places to stay, the greatest restaurants and they stopped at the best places that Scotland and Ireland had to offer!  What a wonderful tour!

Our very first hotel stay was with the Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club close to Edinburgh, Scotland.  It was located in Kirknewton which was in the suburbs but not far from the airport. It was a 4-star huge hotel with two restaurants and golf course. The rooms were comfy/ cosy with the breakfast buffet being part of our travel package!  The place was so large, I had to ask for help to find my room!

On our first excursion the tour bus was to drive to Leith, Scotland, to show us how the Royalty vacationed!  This is "the most popular tour" -  the Royal Yacht Britannia was a former floating home of Queen Elizabeth II.  This Royal Yacht was in service from 1954 until 1997 for many of her luxury travels around the world.

Enjoy the City Tour of the medieval Royal Mile (to view Princess Street, the  shops, restaurants and many other attractions.  Edinburgh is "Scotland's compact, hilly capital".  It contains a medieval Old Town and elegant Georgian New Town with gardens and neoclassical buildings.

Based in the Old Town and within a World Heritage site, the area is culturally and historically important to the city and jam packed with things to see and do. The Royal Mile is the historic heart of Edinburgh, with the museums, restaurants, and many shops.  

The next morning we did our tour of Edinburgh's Royal Mile, where we found the whole road was closed down for a special parade.  As you can witness below, lots of people on bicycles and dressed up in costumes and with painted faces.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse stands at the end of Edinburgh's Royal Mile.  Arthur’s Seat is an imposing peak in the Holyrood Park with sweeping views and Calton Hill is topped with monuments and memorials. 

According to medieval legend, the Abbey was founded in 1128 by David I of Scotland after seeing a vision of a stag, (deer).

Explore the Palace's close associations with some of Scotland’s most well-known historic figures such as Mary, Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie, and learn how today it is used by The Queen when carrying out official engagements in Scotland and she stays there during Royal Week each year.

The Edinburgh Ghost Bus Tour is a theatrical sightseeing tour, taking you on a journey around the darker side of Edinburgh. Our creepy conductor showed us the darker side of the city!

We delved into Edinburgh’s horrific history on this evening "ghost bus tour".  With our spooky local guide, they took us on an adventure to visit the city’s most terrifying locations, haunted by infamy and restless spirits!

From our seat in a double-decker vintage bus, we could gaze at eerie sites such as Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh Castle, the grave yard, Grassmarket, and the Royal Mile.  Our big stop was getting off the safety of our "Ghost Bus" to explore the graveyard behind a church.  There was a lot of green moss covering all the really older gravestones and I took lots of pictures for you to examine on our 30-minute download we made just for you!

Throughout the trip, hear anecdotes and facts about Edinburgh’s chilling past,  with bloody executions, unspeakable tortures, and murder, etc.  Here's the bus...

Looming over the city is Edinburgh Castle, home to Scotland’s crown jewels and the Stone of Destiny, used in the coronation of Scottish rulers. 

Edinburgh Castle is located at the top of the Royal Mile, at the west end of Edinburgh's Old Town. The volcanic Castle Rock offers a naturally defended position, with sheer cliffs to north and south, and a steep ascent from the west. It even has it's own canon for protection!

The great cannon Mons Meg was largely obsolete and only used for ceremonial occasions by the time of Mary Queen of Scots. She was fired on 24th September 1558 to celebrate the marriage of Mary to Francis, the French dauphin. It is said that a cannonball was fired almost 2 miles across the city and was recovered from Wardie Muir, close to the present day Botanical Gardens.

The only easy approach to enter is from the town to the east and the castle's defenses are situated accordingly, with a series of gates protecting the route to the summit of the Castle Rock, as you can see is straight up the side of a high cliff.

Edinburgh Castle is a world famous icon of Scotland and part of the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh's World Heritage Site, perching dramatically on the volcanic Castle Rock and dominates the Edinburgh skyline.

Honours of Scotland, on display in the Crown Room, are the oldest Crown jewels and the Stone of Scone in Britain. Made of gold, silver and precious gems, the priceless crown, sceptre and sword of state are objects of immense significance.

The crown was made for James V, who first wore it at the coronation of Queen Mary of Guise in 1540. Mary Queen of Scots was the first to be crowned using the new crown and sceptre together, in 1543.  The last monarch to stay overnight in Edinburgh Castle was Charles I, in 1633.

Edinburgh Castle is now one of Scotland’s top tourist sites, attracting more than one million visitors annually. It has been part of Old and New Towns of Edinburgh, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1995.

That day we all boarded the bus to travel north to St Andrews, very famous for golf and Scotland's oldest university.  Our first tour was at the picturesque ruins of St Andrew's Cathedral.

Cathedral of St Andrew; 

The Cathedral of St Andrew is a ruined cathedral in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was built in 1158 and became the centre of the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland. 

Our excursion started as we explored the remains of Scotland’s largest and most magnificent medieval church. Even in its ruinous state, the cathedral remains a prominent landmark highly visible from the sea.

Ruins of St. Andrew Cathedral;

The Ruins of St. Andrew Cathedral, known for "learning and culture", is a wonderful coastal resort and the world's home of GOLF!  Every golfer would love to come here!

We were able to walk around and enjoy the town as our director told us about the famous people and happenings here.  It was a once-in-a-lifetime adventure and there are a lot of wonderful photos that captured our whole tour - on our 30-minute download!

Our next stop was in the beautiful town of Pitlochry; 

The average journey time between Pitlochry and Inverness is 1 hour 41 minutes and traveling to that small town was a spectular drive through the Highlands - where we saw our first snow on the high mountains to Inverness - the Highlands of Scotland is aptly named “the capital of the Highlands”.  It's name is a Gaelic word meaning "mouth of the River Ness". 

Situated on the banks of the River Tummel, the centre features a gift shop and café with jaw dropping views of Pitlochry Dam and Loch Faskally.

Inverness;

We drove on through the long snowy mountains of the Highland mountain roads until we approached our next adventure of mastering our luggage at the Columbia Hotel. 

As a guest  enjoyed a wonderful dinner in their Victoria Restaurant which serves traditional English and Scottish cuisine as well as relaxing in our MacNabs Bar and Bistro overlooking the river.   The view from the restaurant was spectacular!

Then a big buffet for our breakfast and back on the road again starting our day going through the next town of Inverness or Nairn.

Ness is a river - Loch Ness (famous for its monster!)

We drove along Loch Ness and enjoyed the views of this deep lake - famous for it's tales of the

Loch Ness Monster! The Ness is a river which flows out of Loch Ness (famous for its monster!) into the Moray Firth (famous for its resident pod of Bottlenose dolphins). This is where a hydroelectric dam was built to generate electricity and to allow the Atlantic Salmon to pass through each season.​  We saw this ruin (the next photo) in our long drive...

Soon we passed over the bridge to the Isle of Skye viewing the Skye Kitchen and Saucy Marys.  We all had lunch at the Stables Cafe and went on to tour over the small bridge to the Castle Gardens and Museum of the Isles.

Some of the trees were huge, the garden was scattered over the vast lawn area, and beautiful spring flowers because we were there in April.

The story of Clan Donald,s history was told within the walls of the building containing the pictures and story of this great man - who was the powerful Lord of the Isles in his lifetime.

The ruins that was occupied by the Clan Donald Centre was there in ruins as part of the "Clan Donald Lands Trust".

You'll find the Armadale Castle Ruins and the most beautiful landscaped gardens in our many wonderful photos available for you in our 30-minute download!

After our wonderful informative tour, the bus took us to the town of Cairnryan where it was driven on the ferry along with the cars and the people then ventured up the steps to the main part of the boat to enjoy the ride to our next adventure!  There was food you could buy, a TV room with nice chairs and lots of places to wait and visit with the other passengers.

Once we returned to the mainland, the bus would drive off to continue on the "Road to the Isles through some of Scotland's most popular scenery taking us on our journey through the beautiful Glen Coe Peaks to Glenfinan and Neptune's Staircase - stopping for photos at the Glenfinnan Monument and continued to the Isles of Glencoe Hotel.

The Isles of Glencoe Hotel;