Scotland Travel Blog January 2025

”Our Highlights of 2024” 

If you follow our Blog, you might recall that our travels in 2023 involved lots of Island hopping with visits to the Outer Hebrides and Orkney Islands. 2024 also had an Island theme to it, but our focus last year was on the Southern Hebrides (Colonsay, Oronsay, Gigha) and Inner Hebrides (Coll and Lismore). This brought Junior’s island bagging total up to 37. At 13 years old he’s been to more Scottish islands than the majority of Scots will manage in their entire lives.

We also explored the Scottish mainland with research trips to Galloway, The Borders, Royal Deeside, Moray and Aberdeenshire. And, we ticked a few more Munro’s off the list, but not as many as Aury wanted us to do.

Once again, we have to give thanks to CalMac for the great service we received during the 15 (maybe more) ferry crossings that we took. They’ve been getting a lot of bad press in the Scottish media, but they never let us down.

But let's get into the detail with our list of our favourite things from 2024.

Best beach:

After our visit to Barra and Uist in 2023, we thought that the beaches of the Outer Hebrides would be tough to beat. But Colonsay and Coll delivered some gems that are up there with Scotland’s best.

The beach that stands out on Colonsay is Traigh Ban at the north end of the island. It sits in the sheltered Kiloran Bay and is a safe place for swimming. The only thing you have to watch out for is the cattle that freely roam on the beach leaving little “presents”.

We have a theory that a beach instantly becomes more appealing to Instagram followers if it has a gate. You’ve probably seen pics of the beach on Vatersay with the rickety gate that leads through the sand dunes to the seashore. Well, Traigh Ban can throw in a photogenic gate too.

It also boasts a well that’s claimed to have healing powers. This isn’t so easy to find, but if you walk to the far end of the beach and then pick up the farm track that heads north, you will come to a side path that drops down through a small grassy ravine to a natural spring that is partially covered by a crudely made stone shelter. This spring is called “St Columba’s Well” because St Columba is said to have stopped here on his way to Iona. We wouldn’t recommend trying to drink the water as it looked more likely to give you cholera than a cure.

Picking a favourite beach on Coll is more of a challenge as it has so many great contenders and we didn’t manage to see them all, but we gave it a good try and you can see some of the beaches we visited in our July 2024 Vlog. And I’ve pictured a few of our favourites below:

All lovely beaches, but we have to pick a winner so we are opting for the beach that the locals call “Wee Torastan”. We liked this beach as it was nicely sheltered and you don’t have to wade too far out to get into water that’s deep enough for a swim. But the thing that clinches this beach the top spot is the lovely way it frames the view towards the Isles of Eigg and Rum.

Best New Experience:

This year’s winner is the island of Colonsay. This was our first visit to this little island which is so small it only has ~130 inhabitants.

It’s 10 miles long and 2 miles wide, but we were pleasantly surprised at how much variety of scenery is packed into such a small area. 

We expected Colonsay to have a similar feel to Tiree, which has a treeless and relatively homogenous landscape. But Colonsay is much more varied with a mix of wooded hollows, little lochans, sheltered bays, fertile machair, and some lovely beaches.

So the “feel” of Colonsay varies without travelling very far, and this makes it feel like a bigger island than it actually is.

It’s also home to a couple of Gin distilleries, a smokehouse, a small bookshop, a lovely hotel and some good cafes. We especially liked the cafe at Colonsay House.

We spent 4 days on Colonsay, but left knowing that we had more to discover and would be going back soon.

Best Historial site:

Oronsay Priory is the winner of this title, but it could also have won the “Best New Find” category as it was a place that we’d never heard anything about until we started to do research for our 2024 island hopping trip.

Part of the reason that it has never appeared on our radar before now is down to the fact that Oronsay is an island that very few people visit. Indeed, most folk we know haven’t even heard of Oronsay, so it’s not surprising the priory is a bit of a secret.

It’s not the easiest of islands to visit either. There’s no direct ferry to Oronsay, so you have to first sail to Colonsay and then wait for the tide to go out, so you can walk the 1 mile distance across a sandy flat (called “The Strand”) that divides Colonsay and Oronsay into two separate islands.

Any trip to Oronsay needs to be timed around the tides and you don’t want to get caught out on Oronsay as there is nothing much here other than the ruins of the priory, a farmhouse (that isn’t always occupied) and a few small holiday rental homes.

We found Oronsay Priory interesting because it’s much how we imagine Iona Abbey would have been before it was renovated in the 1900’s. Like Iona, Oronsay has a cloistered courtyard and there is an extensive complex of buildings with a chapel, chapter house, Monk’s living quarters and a relatively intact Prior’s House.

The majority of the priory dates from 14th century, but the reason that it was built here dates back to 563 AD and a brief visit by St Columba. According to legend, St Columba stopped on Oronsay looking for a place to set up his monastic mission. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stay as he had been banned from Ireland with the condition that he had to go far enough away that he could no longer see Ireland. If you climb to Oronsay’s highest point, Ireland is still visible on the horizon. So Columba had to pack up and sail onto Iona, and the rest is history.

The priory has a spectacular carved cross that stands 12 feet high. It is carved in the style of the “Iona School” and is one of the most beautiful crosses of its kind. The focal point of the cross is a depiction of the crucifixion, but the whole shaft of the cross is carved with an incredibly intricate series of interweaving patterns.

A more morbid feature of the priory is a human skeleton that has been buried in a cavity in a wall. There’s no warning about the skeleton, so it comes as a bit of a surprise when you realise what you are seeing. The remains are buried in a small alcove in a wall and protected behind a sheet of perspex. We didn’t take a picture as it somehow felt disrespectful.

Best New Find:

This is not really a “New” find. I’ve known of, and been intrigued by Edin Hall’s Broch for a long time. I’ve just not had the opportunity to visit as it is surprisingly difficult to get to.

Edin’s Hall Broch is a bit of an enigma as it is built in a part of Scotland where there are very few other brochs. Most of Scotland’s brochs are found much further north, and no other broch was built on the same scale as this one.

To put the scale into perspective, the most intact example of this type of structure is the Broch of Mousa in Shetland. This broch has a diameter of 50 feet at its base. Edin Hall’s Broch has a diameter of 72 feet. Unfortunately, it’s hard to convey the size of the structure without an aerial view and I don’t have a drone.

The size of this broch poses all sorts of questions about how it would have looked when intact. This has led archaeologists to speculate that its walls were maybe not as high as “Highland” brochs which were typically around 40 - 50 feet high.

To get to the Broch, you first need to head to Duns and then drive north to a tiny village with the lovely name of Abbey St Bathans. You can park your car near a ford on the Whiteadder Water, and then pick up a clearly signposted path that leads through fields to the hilltop where this Iron Age fort has a commanding view over the valley below.

We visited in the height of summer and there wasn’t anyone else in view. Feeling isolated and detached from the modern world always makes ancient places feel more spiritual, but I think a return visit to Edin Hall’s Broch on a winter day with snow blanketing the hills would heighten this sense of connection with the past.

Best Hike:

It would be easier to pick a worst hike. By unanimous decision, our most unpleasant hike in 2024 was Beinn Challum. A hill that we soon grew to hate as the path felt like one long slog in a bog.

Our misery was further compounded by freezing winds and visibility of less than 30 feet at the summit. Aury was determined to press on and tried to motivate us by asking “What else would you be doing on a day as miserable as this?”. Sitting in a warm pub drinking beer would have been my reply if I hadn't been so out of breath struggling up the hill.

But, on a positive note, Aurelia did have a great experience in July when she took part in the “Glencoe Challenge”. A 26-mile competition hike that starts near Glencoe village, climbs up through Glen Coe to join the route of the West Highland Way on the “Devil’s Staircase”, and then follows the West Highland Way to the finishing line in Glen Nevis.

It's a spectacular hiking route through Scotland's most famous Glen, and the early race start (7:30 am) meant that the glen was shrouded in low-lying clouds which added to its moody atmosphere.

Having hiked the West Highland Way twice before, Aurelia was in pretty good shape for the competition and completed the gruelling course in under 10 hours.

Favourite Picnic Spot:

We’re not fans of the monarchy, but we have to agree with Queen Victoria when it comes to nominating the Linn o’Quoich on the Mar Estate as our favourite picnic spot.

We didn’t have picnic weather during our visit in September, but the woodland setting beside the River Quoich is so beautiful that we have already planned a week in this area in 2025. We plan to go hunting for wild swimming spots in Glen Quoich and already have a few spots in mind for a dip.

Queen Victoria loved this spot so much that her Grandaughter had a small cottage built so that her “Grannie” could have some shelter when she visited. The cottage has recently undergone a major restoration and will be open to visitors in the Summer of 2025.

Best Wildlife Spot:

The problem with wildlife is that it’s wild, so getting it to sit still whilst you fumble for your camera is never easy. For this reason, you’ll just have to trust us when we tell you that this is a photo of a Red Squirrel that we took in the woodlands above Braemar.

Before I managed to get the camera out, this cute little fella was striking lots of lovely poses on a fence post just a few feet from me. But as soon as the camera was primed, he went all bashful.

It slightly compensated that the following day we were hiking on the Mar Estate and stumbled across a large herd of Red Deer (20+ Hinds with Fawns and one large “12 pointer” Stag).

It’s not unusual to see herds of Red Deer in Scotland. But they usually sense your approach and move off before you get this close. By good luck, we must have been downwind so weren’t detected.

Best Meal:

We tried out some great new places in 2024 and it was hard to pick a favourite, but the Old Inn at Appin takes the prize as it has so much charm and individuality. It also has a car park with one of the best views of any car park in Scotland.

The Old Inn is housed in a barn that dates from the 1700’s and it still looks like a barn with exposed stone walls, a mish mash of old wooden chairs, sturdy tables and dim lighting. It reminded me of some of the old bothies I used to stay in when doing conservation projects in the Highlands.

The speciality of the OId Inn is steaks. Big juicy steaks from local suppliers, that are served to you on slabs of wood with a side portion of chips and a leafy salad.

There are other options on the menu, but you come here for the steaks and they won’t disappoint. But please be sure to pre-book a table as the Old Inn’s reputation is spreading and you do need to make a reservation to avoid disappointment.

Best Cafe:

I’ve already sung the praises of this cafe in my June 2024 Blog about places to visit in Galloway, but the Hungry Crow cafe deserves another plug.

This is a vegetarian cafe that serves up food that will also appeal to non-vegetarians as it has some hearty dishes with bold flavours. As you would expect, the salads are beautiful and come with lovely dressings. They also do home-baked pizzas, generous bowls of potato wedges smothered in delicious sauces, and desserts that are practically a meal in their own right.