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My Scotland Bucket List for 2019!
VisitScotlandAmanda
Member, Administrator, Moderator, VisitScotland Staff ✪
With 2019 freshly underway, I thought it would be a good time to start thinking about where I'd like to go next year and what items are on my bucket list!
1. Go on a road trip to Mull!
Top of my bucket list has to be Mull - the second largest island of the Inner Hebrides and home to many wildlife including whales, dolphins and sea eagles. Mull is easily accessible from Edinburgh by driving through to Oban (3ish hours) and then catching the ferry across. I'd like to pack my hiking boots and a camera and go here for a long weekend of exploring the beautiful scenery and ruins.
2. Ride the Jacobite Steam Train and live my Harry Potter fantasies
Considering how much Harry Potter was a big part of my life growing up, it's amazing I've never made it to the Glenfinnan Viaduct, but I'm going to make it happen in 2019. The journey takes you from Fort William to Mallaig return and runs from mid April until the end of September.
3. Visit the new V&A museum in Dundee
Now that the V&A is open in Dundee, I'd like to take a day trip from Edinburgh and visit it for myself. I'm excited to appreciate the amazing architecture in real life, as well as check out the exhibitions and the city of Dundee itself. With it being only a 90 min train ride from Edinburgh I've really got no excuse!
Those are my three main things I'd like to tick off in 2019!
What's on your list? If you've got some exciting travel plans lined up let me know!
1. Go on a road trip to Mull!
Top of my bucket list has to be Mull - the second largest island of the Inner Hebrides and home to many wildlife including whales, dolphins and sea eagles. Mull is easily accessible from Edinburgh by driving through to Oban (3ish hours) and then catching the ferry across. I'd like to pack my hiking boots and a camera and go here for a long weekend of exploring the beautiful scenery and ruins.
2. Ride the Jacobite Steam Train and live my Harry Potter fantasies
Considering how much Harry Potter was a big part of my life growing up, it's amazing I've never made it to the Glenfinnan Viaduct, but I'm going to make it happen in 2019. The journey takes you from Fort William to Mallaig return and runs from mid April until the end of September.
3. Visit the new V&A museum in Dundee
Now that the V&A is open in Dundee, I'd like to take a day trip from Edinburgh and visit it for myself. I'm excited to appreciate the amazing architecture in real life, as well as check out the exhibitions and the city of Dundee itself. With it being only a 90 min train ride from Edinburgh I've really got no excuse!
Those are my three main things I'd like to tick off in 2019!
What's on your list? If you've got some exciting travel plans lined up let me know!
Kiwi gal, relocated to Scotland.
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Ticking off more castles and stately homes! I've currently highlighted 3 I'd like to visit in 2019 but you can never have enough so any recommendations would be much appreciated
1. Paxton House, Scottish Borders
2. Drumlanrig Castle & Country Estate, Dumfries & Galloway
3. My clan castle, Dunvegan Castle
Fair Isle is another place I'd love to visit. If only for a few days properly getting away from it all and doing a spot of birdwatching.
Facebook: Loch Ness Living
Tours around Loch Ness available on AirBnB Experiences:
Getting to know Loch Ness
Take The High Road in Drumnadrochit
A Woodland Walk to Loch Ness
Mull is one of my favourite places and we have seen some of the most spectacular displays of the aurora borealis whilst there too.
I think I would put re-visiting Shetland on my 2019 list. My last visit was in the darkest depths of January for Up Helly Aa and so I would like to visit in summer.
We would also love to do explore Barra, North and South Uist too.
And finally try and find some cool, small festivals.
If any of that happens, I will be happy as a wee white dug on a beach.
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2018 has seen me make it back to my favourite island Harris, a yearly tradition I hope to continue next year, along with some visits to Barra, Islay and Jura and hopefully Eigg! Mull, as a few of you have said is a beautiful island and I hope to make it back there also in 2019!
Luskentyre, Harris
I have been lucky enough this year to tick off a lot of the Trad festivals I wanted to visit, but I have still a couple left so will be hoping to get to them next festival season.. Tiree Music Festival being the main one I hope to attend!
From HebCelt this year
2019, for me, will hopefully be a year of encounters with wildlife! Ever since I was a young lad, I have dreamt of seeing Killer whales in the wild and hopefully this will come to fruition next year.. I have seen that Shetland is a great place to see them, have you had an encounter with in Scotland?
As as I work outside everyday, during the summer I am lucky to see Ospreys on a daily basis... although, I have yet to see one successfully catch a fish! I climb to their nests with work each year, have handled juveniles and put identification tags on them.. but getting a photograph of them successfully hunting still eludes me! I am planning a trip to Aviemore to see this but wondered if you have suggestions on where might be best?
My closest encounter so far with an Osprey
Lastly, I am hoping to get back to the mountains after a year long back injury.. I have many mountains I have yet to summit in Scotland and can’t wait to catch as many sunrise as I can from their summits next year! Have you got a favourite mountain to climb?
Sunrise from Stac Pollaidh
Looking forward to reading what you have planned to tick off from your bucket list in 2019!
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1. Feis Ile 2019
Website: https://www.islayfestival.com/
The Islay festival has been a long time bucketlist item for me and 2019 should be the year I make it happen. It is a week long festival with events galore at the Islay distilleries (with a number of them having open days and exclusive bottlings). But more than the whisky events, I am looking forward to seeing the island come together to celebrate as I had an absolute blast mingling with locals on my own trip to Islay. I'll also spend a bit more time on Jura, if possible and see Campbeltown along the way.
2. See the Northern Lights in Orkney
Although I have been a long time proponent of encouraging folk to see the winter night sky from Scotland, at the very top of my bucketlist remains the elusive dancing fairies ie Northern Lights which are visible a number of times in the winter from Orkney (shot below taken in the last couple of weeks) and Shetland. A tied second is making my way up to Shetland for the Up Helly Aa Festival as someone who has been long fascinated with Norse mythology.
Picture credit for the shot above goes to David Wishart on the Orkney Aurora Facebook Group
3. Drive around the NC 500
This is my official stopping point for being more than a public transport blogger as NC 500 has been desperately out of reach for me due to a very sparse network of buses that service the area. The Bealach Na Ba to Applecross might be a stretch to navigate but having seen just a few bits of Torridon, Shieldaig and Ullapool in prior trips has left me hungry for more.
Best of Scotland in 1 week itinerary (fully by public transport)
My Scotland travels (includes Edinburgh, Skye, Harris, Mull, Arran, Orkney, Loch Lomond, Islay, Oban, Dunoon, Speyside)
Everyone has got such great ideas!
In 2019 I want to make more of an effort to see the amazing places I get to learn about in my day job. For me and my partner next year is going to be focused on saving up the pennies, so weekend breaks around Scotland are going to be perfect for when we're craving a holiday!
Some places I am keen to explore are St Andrews to see Scotland's Secret Bunker, Kilchurn Castle in Argyll. In March i am planning to stay a night in Culross (Fife) as it's such a pretty looking town that i have never had a chance to take a wander round before, but no excuses in 2019!
And DEFINITELY Caerlaverock Castle in Dumfries as I’ve been saving photos of this castle from Instagram for months and need to see it for myself!!
Apart from that i plan on attending more of the festivals that are on in and around Edinburgh, apart from a few fringe shows this isn't something I've taken advantage of before (i don't really know why either!), but i'm keen take my little cousins to the International Science Festival and check out Foodies Festival with some friends
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Tour a castle which is still intact
Tour ruins
Visit standing stones
Eat as much delicious foods as I can
Witness some highland games
Hiking and taking beautiful pictures.
I'm sure I'll add to this list, but this is what I have so far!
The views are awesome and it's important you always carry your Scotland flag
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Lovely to see people are looking at visiting South Scotland. A lot of people bypass the Borders and it has so much to offer. From castles, towers and abbeys, The Eildon Hills, St Cuthberts Way, the breath taking Scotts View to quirky little market towns with cobbled streets. Also during the summer months there are the common ridings and civic weeks held in each town and dates back to the times of the Border Reivers. Some of the ride outs can attract nearly 500 horses, definitely worth witnessing if you have the chance.
For me I want to take a visit to Dunnottar Castle. Love my landscape photography so really desperate to capture this.