City Girl Travel Diary: Scotland (ft. Ben Nevis)
Fancy exploring more of the UK without the need of a car? I’ve got you covered. A trip to Scotland is quick, simple, and accessible from most mainland England airports. I started my journey from Bristol.
Here’s how you can do it too.
Overall Transport:
-Flight from Bristol to Glasgow
-Coach from Glasgow to Fort William
Day 1: Glasgow
I had originally planned to travel to Edinburgh, but due to a cancelled flight, I booked the next flight going to Scotland which happened to be Glasgow. This change didn’t impact the trip and I got to see an extra city!
Glasgow is fairly small, and I got to check out a few local sights even though I only had a few hours in the city. Here’s some things I’d recommend:
Visit the GoMA museum – you might recognise the infamous equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington outside with the cone on top. The museum itself had some cool modern artwork inside too.
Visit Glasgow Central – This train station originally opened in 1879, and has beautiful renaissance architecture.
Try some fried food! – Scotland is known for the deep-fried mars bar, but I also tried a pizza and hamburger (I’d recommend the mars bar the most)From Glasgow I caught the coach to Fort William using Citylink. I bought the tickets a month in advance and roughly cost £30 each way.
Upon arriving in Fort William, I checked into the Ossain’s hotel, which I’d recommend. They have a free cereal breakfast bar every morning from 8am and are super friendly.
Day 2: Ben Nevis
This was the day I was looking forward to the most, the reason for the whole trip: to finally climb Ben Nevis. But that would be too straight forward, right? So, I made it a little more challenging…
Route taken: Carn Mor Dearg Ridge route
Duration: c7hrs up and 2hrs down Ben Nevis
I walked for around an hour until I reached the very edge of Fort William, near Torlundy. I headed up the North Face route until I could see both Carn Mor Dearg and Ben Nevis, before proceeding with the climb. If you want to make the most of your Ben Nevis trip, I’d strongly recommend this route but strictly with previous hiking experience. Despite loving a hike, I’m not the most fit, so it took a few hours to reach the top of Carn Mor Dearg before heading across the ridge to Ben Nevis.
The ridge itself is tough at parts. It’s listed as a grade 1 scramble on many online tourist boards so be prepared to use your hands and feet carefully. It’s worth it for the view but be prepared to be quite literally on-edge. Once you’re across the ridge, it doesn’t take long to get to the Ben Nevis summit, and the view there is incredible.
By this point you can envision me crawling my way back to Fort William. Luckily upon return I came across a lovely restaurant on the high street called The Ben Nevis Bar which I’d 100% recommend. There’s a roof terrace out the back, the pints taste fab, and the food is glorious - what more could you want!
Day 3: To Edinburgh I go!
I had around 3 hours before my coach to Edinburgh, so I opted for a tour along the loch which was lovely. The operator showed us some key landmarks, as well as salmon and mussel farms and eventually lots of seals! (I booked this one: https://cruiselochlinnhe.co.uk/)
The only thing I missed off this trip due to timings was visiting the Glenfinnan Viaduct, made famous by Harry Potter.
I used the same company (CityLink) to catch the coach back which involves a change at Glasgow (c40min wait there). I was so happy to finally be in Edinburgh, my legs ached more than they ever had before, but wow, the city was bursting with beautiful architecture and all-round positive vibes.
I checked into Kick Ass GreyFriars hostel, which was great for a night’s stay, nothing special but it felt safe, and everyone I met was friendly. It was the night of the Euros final, so you can imagine who Scotland was supporting…
I headed to a local bar to try some Haggis, Neaps and Tatties (I’m glad I tried it, but never again) before heading back and crashing for the evening.
Day 4: Edinburgh
On the final day of the tripI started with a nice breakfast at St Giles Café. I tried veggie haggis this time within a cooked breakfast open sandwich.
I then proceeded on a ‘Bobbys’ walking tour. Booking a walking tour when visiting Edinburgh is priceless because there’s so many hidden gems. We walked around The Royal Mile, learnt about the famous Bobby and his owner John Gray, and some of the history Edinburgh has to offer.
The Royal Mile is a great place to start as there’s so many sights off this, and it’s nice both day and night.
During my visit, I was lucky enough to hear 2 incredible bagpipe performances, so well worth walking around to hunt them out!
Here’s a few of the places I’d recommend visiting in Edinburgh:
St Giles Cathedral – Exterior and Interior worth seeing!
Arthurs Seat – If you’re a ‘one day’ fan, this is a must, this is near the new Scottish parliament building (not exactly a must-see but something you might want to tick off the list)
Edinburgh Castle – I didn’t go in but seeing it from the outside was enough for me
Cockburn Street – probably the most insta-famous road in Edinburgh, colourful independent shops
Natural Museum of Scotland – it’s not just about Scotland, it covers a wide range of tech advancements which I found particularly interesting, nice view from the top of Edinburgh
Palace of Holyroodhouse – I didn’t go in as you needed a ticket, but you could clearly see the building exterior through the gate so it was worth a photo.
Despite the original delays and flight cancellation, I definitely made the most of this trip and I’d recommend visiting Scotland. For what is a short journey away, there’s truly magnificent landscapes and gorgeous historical buildings.
Written by Tamara Lawrence, Photography by Tamara Lawrence