(9-18-2019) Wednesday Day 10 Scottish Highlands – Pitlochry – St. Andrews – Edinburgh (2 Nights) 62 high 49 low 46% rain
Marriott Hotel Edinburgh 111 Glassglow Rd EH12 8NF, Edinburgh, UK Phone 44 870 400 7293 4* Pool and gym. Reviews = away from center city, near buses and trams, decent breakfast, great staff, food and drinks are good, clean, fire alarm goes off several times a week, (take the Airport Express to get to city center 30-40 minutes away?), some areas are in need of refurbishing, Phone says 14,223 steps, 6 miles, and 9 fights climbed.
NOT Original Hotel = Leonardo Royal Haymarket (Full Breakfast)
NOT Original Hotel = Leonardo Royal Haymarket (Full Breakfast)
West End. coffee/tea maker, noisy, not clean, poor food for dinner. 10-20 minutes to walk to city center or Hotel = Leonardo Royal Haymarket 1 Morrison St Link Haymarket Edinburgh EH3 8DN Scotland.4 * More good reviews than bad. Clean, attentive staff, breakfast is outstanding. Refrig. Traffic noise could be heard on the 3rd floor. Good transport links to the city. In the heart of the Edinburgh historic district.
TOUR INFO "Heading back to the lowlands of Scotland, we stop in Pitlochry before heading to the historic home of golf, St. Andrews. Here, the first games were played during the 1400s. See its famous 18th hole before crossing the Firth of Forth to Scotland's enchanting capital, Edinburgh."
MY INFO Hop on Hop Off tours and admission to Palace of Holyroodhouse, Royal Yacht Britannia and fast-track to Edinburgh Castle Admission. More information on the post for 9/19/2019, Edinburgh.
MY INFO Hop on Hop Off tours and admission to Palace of Holyroodhouse, Royal Yacht Britannia and fast-track to Edinburgh Castle Admission. More information on the post for 9/19/2019, Edinburgh.
Free options National Museum, Botanic Garden, National Galleries and churches. Free sightseeing bus transports between various National Galleries.
Pitlochry is a Victorian burgh on the River Tummel in Scotland and developed into a tourist resort because of a visit by Queen Victoria. It is a popular hiking destination. There are many stone Victorian buildings and a cast-iron canopy over one side of the main street. Popular things to do include Queen's View, Edradour and Blair Athol Distilleries, Pitlochry Dam Power Station and Fish Ladder. I enjoyed walking around this town for 90 minutes as I skipped the paid excursion to a "castle". I went to the dam and fish ladder then walked along the river and along the Main Street. There were many lovely flowers and buildings.
Upriver from the dam.
The fish ladder.
Lots of stonehouses and flowers.
St. Andrews is thought to be the oldest golf course in the world. The first games were played in the 15th century. The Old Course influenced today's game when it evolved to have 18 holes, down from 22 holes. The Swilcan Bridge is one of golf's most iconic attractions. Only the 1st, 9th, 17th, and 18th holes have their own greens. There are 112 bunkers each with their own name, unique story, and history. The Old Course has one of the world's most famous holes called The Road Hole, the 17th hole. It is thought to be the hardest hole in golf. I took pictures of the beach where the men ran in the movie “Chariots of Fire”. Then I headed over the the golf course. My final stop was soup for lunch in a quaint little restaurant. We were there for about 75 minutes.
The Clubhouse!
The Fairways. 
Two miles of beach and the opening of “Chariots of Fire” was shot here.
Firth of Forth is an estuary where several rivers meet the North Sea. Fife is to the north and Lothian is to the South. Many towns, petrochemical facilities, docks, oil rig construction yards, and industrial areas line the shores. The firth is an important nature conservation area and is home to more than 90,000 breeding seabirds every year.
Two miles of beach and the opening of “Chariots of Fire” was shot here.
Firth of Forth is an estuary where several rivers meet the North Sea. Fife is to the north and Lothian is to the South. Many towns, petrochemical facilities, docks, oil rig construction yards, and industrial areas line the shores. The firth is an important nature conservation area and is home to more than 90,000 breeding seabirds every year.
On our way into Edinburgh we stopped in Queensbury to take pictures of three bridges for 10 minutes around 4:30.
I took a bus to downtown Edinburgh 30 minutes away with a young girl from Australia who really is frustrated on this trip. She is very independent, as she is traveling to Italy and France before going home. We parted ways downtown. I walked and enjoyed the architecture. It was great to get some exercise and have time to enjoy this city. I skipped the meal tonight which would have meant three more hours of sitting and was an additional expense. I am really tired of sitting. We left at 8:45 this morning and got to the hotel at 5:00. They were leaving for dinner at 6:00. This was a relatively short day. I was off the bus for about 3 hours of my eight hour day on the bus.
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