A Road Trip Around Beautiful Scotland

We all know the past couple of years have been a little tricky (to say the least) for jetting off abroad on holiday. So, this time around we decided to stay a little closer to home and spend eight days on a road trip around beautiful Scotland and it turned out to be one of the best holidays we’ve ever been on.

Yes, I agree there’s nothing much like the feeling of stepping foot off the plane and feeling the warm breeze of some tropical country against your face, but I’ve come to realise just how beautiful the British Isles are and if you visit the right spots, at the right times, it really does take some beating. This is true of Scotland.

Scotland

Having only ever visited cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, we decided this time to stay away from built up busy areas, gravitating more towards everything Scotland’s landscape has to offer. I’m talking about the miles upon miles of beautiful highlands, mountains, forests and coastlines. With this in mind, we packed our bags and planned our route, searching for those hidden gems.

Our planned route started at Loch Lomond then moved North West to The Isle of Skye. From here we drove to Loch Ness, then up to the north coast to Inverness. We carried on driving along the north coast heading east and slowly travelled down the gorgeous east coast of Scotland. We finished our trip in Banchory before heading home back to Leeds.

The wonderful team at Citroen who could see the value in our trip offered us one of their brand new super cool Citroen C4 SUV’s to travel in. This actually changed the whole trip for us as it was such a smooth and relaxing drive in this beautifully engineered car. We clocked up a total of 1500 miles overall and it felt like we were flying rather than driving as the Citroen C4 was an unbelievably comfortable experience. It comes equipped with Advanced Comfort Technology, meaning the seats are made with extra supports and foam to make you feel like you’re floating on clouds.

The car came with all the fancy mod cons too, SAT NAV which is a total lifesaver in Scotland believe me, lane assist, heated seats, Bluetooth technology and apple play for my phone. Not only that, but it just looked so damn stylish with blacked out privacy glass, full black alloys and a really sporty finish. It’s fair to say we both loved this car, and it was perfect for tackling Scotland’s rugged, unspoilt terrain.

Our first stop was Loch Lomond a huge lake in southern Scotland which is home to an abundance of red deer and to be quite honest, it looked as endless as an ocean. It really is beautiful. Our accommodation for the night was at the stunning Lodge on Loch Lomond which is perfectly situated. Nestled between the trees and resting quietly on the shore of the Loch, this place boasts one of the most outstanding views. It’s also a 5-minute walk away from Luss, which has been voted Scotland’s most beautiful village. The Lodge at Loch Lomond has its very own private beach and jetty where you can find a whole host of water sports and activities too.

The Lodge offers 47 beautiful rooms with stunning details of Scottish Heritage. Our room was on the top floor with a large balcony over-looking the most fabulous, picturesque views of the loch. It was super clean, spacious and came with a large bathroom and its very own wooden sauna. This was a complete surprise and something I absolutely loved about this place. The Lodge is dog friendly too, they actually had a gift-bag sent to our room filled with dog treats for our pooch which was such a nice detail.

For dinner we were invited to dine in Colquhoun’s waterfront restaurant. With outstanding panoramic views of the loch and a beautiful menu we were not disappointed. The restaurant has a Taste Our Best Accreditation which recognises businesses that provide and promote quality Scottish food and drink and it really shows here. The food was sublime with plenty on the menu for vegetarians, I even got to try some vegetarian Haggis. What a way to start off our road trip!

For our next venture we travelled north west to Isle of Skye where we spent two days in a Wigwam, climbing mountains such as The Old Man of Storr, visiting castles and exploring some of the most beautifully serene locations I have ever come across. Tall mountains sit amongst wide lochs and oceans as far as the eye can see. The whole island is a truly spectacular sight. From here we moved further north to the coastline of Inverness. Driving around these parts of the world is kind of hard to explain as around every corner there is something so mind-blowingly beautiful it is just a constant surprise. It’s here we saw huge pine forests that led you between paths of wild raspberry bushes to the crystal-clear turquois waters of the open ocean. Dolphins would breach the waves and inquisitive seals would pop their heads up to look at us sitting on the hot sand. It sounds like make-believe, but this is the reality of what Scotland has to offer.

Having spent two days on the north coast we headed back down the east coast and inland to Banchory. Here we’d arrived at our final stop and one I was so excited for, Glen Dye Cabins.

Glen Dye Cabins is a really special place in Scotland, it’s like something from a fairy-tale and a well-kept secret. This was our second time here and this time around it was even more amazing than the first.

It’s an off-grid location where you’ll only find unique accommodation finished with outstanding finesse. The details here are just miraculous, they have literally thought of everything. The first time we visited we stayed in the Sawmill, which is the ultimate outdoor retreat nestled between the pine forests by the river. This time around we stayed in one of Glen Dye’s newest accomplishments ‘The Bothy’ which is stunningly beautiful.

Finished to the highest of standards The Bothy sleeps two very comfortably and has everything you could ever imagine. I’m talking king sized beds, rainfall showers, a full kitchen fitted with every appliance and cooking instrument you could ever need. Beautifully designed décor, log burning fires, coffee machine and record player, but that’s not all, The Bothy is set within the towering natural forests and boasts both a private front garden and a large area at the back complete with fire pit, dining area and Swedish style fire burning hot tub.

As a guest at Glen Dye, you also have access to everything the site has to offer such as the Glen Dye Arms a BYOB pub and their gift shop. Glen Dye is truly a hidden gem in Scotland, something that should never be missed and absolutely kept a secret, it is undeniably unbeatable.

Without realising, this trip became one of the best holidays we’d ever been on. It opened our eyes for future travel plans as we have so much beauty on our doorstep. The next time you’re thinking of going on holiday I highly recommend you see what’s just around the corner first, as you never know, you might miss something truly spectacular.

Words by Tom Sheard (@tomsheard)

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