Category: Other travels

In the middle of the dark winter and non stop binge reading of the entire Outlander book sets, I convinced the hubby of a vacation to the Scottish Highlands.

Inverness is only just over an hour flight from Amsterdam. I booked our tickets and selected a week in June. I did a google map search of B&B locations that were located outside of town. I wanted quiet living. Found a place that seemed to be perfect on a small Scottish road. Only minutes from the Culloden Battlefield.

After reading reviews on their website and on Trip Advisor I booked the Daviot Mews self catering apartment. The apartment is only available from Saturday to Saturday and you must rent for the entire time.  The price was what I felt was very reasonable for seven days at 450 pounds.

When we landed in Inverness last week our accommodations did not disappoint.  The views from the apartment were wonderful Scottish landscape in all directions.

This 80 acre location was once part of a larger 400 acre farm that the owners decided to downsize. When they moved to the current location it was to improve/modernize the accommodations of the B&B to offer more comfort for those who visit. Their five star rating is reflective of the quality of service and the special things they do while you are staying at this country get a way.

We were welcomed to our self catering loft apartment by a wonderful welcome basket. It contained a bottle of wine, some chocolate, and strawberry preserves.  The refrigerator was stocked with a small container of milk, a loaf of bread and a tub of butter.  Enough to get started if we haven’t had made a trip by the local grocery before we checked in.  It was a wonderful surprise.

Being a country location it had all the things that come with country living. This is not a place if you are not keen on the country noises of pheasants, birds, wind, or sheep bleating in the distance.   The occasional lawn mower or farm tractor being used around the facility could also disturb an afternoon nap, just so that you know before you book.

If you are use to clean air your lungs will be at home in this location. You can enjoy all the clean air you want from your private deck overlooking a pasture of green.

We slept like rocks each night only to suffer from the extended time available to us as the days in Scotland in June are long.  We hardly saw darkness.  Waking at 0430 to the sun-shining in the window thinking we needed to be up, coffee, and out the door only to realize it was only 0430 and not 0700! So we took our time, slowly drank our coffee, made our breakfast, sucked in all the fresh morning air over a second cup of coffee as we watched the pheasant sit on the fence next to the deck.

We adjusted through the week to this new normal.  A slower pace, longer days means more time to just relax, let the day develop into something special.  We returned to The Netherlands refreshed.

In upcoming blogs I will go through our week of adventure and share some incredible finds. Others, we may keep secret as we don’t want them spoiled by the tour bus gangs.  Scotland is incredible, magical, green, and harbors unexpected treasures.

 

Have you visited?  What areas? What did you find most breathtaking? Please share your experience in our comment section.

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