Eastern Scotland Trip Recap

The Scottish highlands of the mind’s eye are full of lonely, rearing mountains, mist-swathed glens, and stark facades draped in waterfalls plunging to the sea. This romantic, undeniably beautiful landscape exists in Scotland, but the highlands are far more varied than this mental crutch would suggest. The eastern highlands, the focus of the trip from which I’ve just returned, are a good example.

Angus and Aberdeenshire run east from the Cairngorms and Perthshire to the North Sea. This is Scotland’s bread and fruit basket. Countless hectares of rolling, fertile farmland descend from the Mounth over an ancient landscape that yet bears the remnants of ancient civilization incongruously left in the corners of farms or hidden in half-forgotten clefts. The old farm roads spiderwebbing between the plots have become single-track roads that are maze-like even with GPS or SatNav help. This is the gentler side of the highlands and the tine of the northward fork least traveled.

I have traveled through these regions on several previous occasions, but it had been awhile since I’d focused on the east and dug in to explore and find the little magical spaces. I was richly rewarded for these efforts, which will have a large impact on how I think about and design itineraries for travelers to Scotland in the future. For the first time I chose not to write posts from the road, and while that may have left things a bit cold here on the site it allowed me to crystallize my impressions.

So read on for a heaping handful of my biggest takeaways from three weeks in eastern Scotland.

There’s a viable third route north into the highlands. Most travelers leaving Edinburgh and Glasgow head north through the center of Scotland on the A9 or travel up the west side to Fort William and beyond. These are good, well-traveled routes with much to see and do along the way, but also lots of other travelers just like you. The third option is to take the A90 to Dundee and Angus from Perth and follow this sweep north into Aberdeenshire, Royal Deeside, and Speyside and the Moray coast. I wouldn’t recommend this unless I felt Angus was a good place to base yourself for a few nights, and it is! The Angus glens, small towns like Edzell, and beach-pocked coastline enamored me.

The Angus glens are flying under the radar. The Angus glens, a series of north-south glens running out of the Cairngorms mountains into the fertile Angus countryside, remain largely off the tourist trail. Many are familiar with Glenshee, which holds the A93 old military road running between Perthshire and Braemar, but this isn’t technically one of the Angus glens. The Angus glens are Glenisla, Glen Prosen, Glen Clova, Glen Lethnot, and Glenesk, and all of them dead-end at the feet of the Cairngorms. It’s this situation that keeps tourism traffic down, but these glens are incredibly beautiful and provide a different way to access the Cairngorms National Park that is far less busy than other sides of the park. The glens are home to Angus’s most impressive scenery and are perfect for those looking to hike, get into nature, and get away from it all.

Dundee is on the cusp. Dundee has long been saddled with the image of a city down-at-heel and down on its luck, but that’s steadily changing. There are several legitimately interesting sights in the city, from the RSS Discovery to Dundee Law to the V&A Museum which is scheduled to open September 15. Once that happens Dundee will be solidly on the map as a cultural destination in the UK, and it would make a great base from which to explore Fife, Perthshire, the Angus countryside. The food and drink sector feels like its lagging behind, and the city could use better transportation options for visitors, but these are coming. Keep your eye on Dundee, which has a vibe that sits squarely between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The Banff and Buchan coast is impressive. The strip of coastline from Portknockie to Fraserburgh really shocked me with its beauty. The landscape folds down sharply into the sea where little villages like Pennan and Crovie exist as narrow strips of houses. Empty beaches, windblown headlands overlooking the sea, and crumbling ruins can all be found along this stretch of quiet coastline. Until the North East 250 really takes off this is an ideal place to hunker down and soak in the beautiful solitude.

Aberdeenshire is an ancient wonderland. Amongst the bright yellow oilseed fields and waving barley stand dozens of ancient standing stones and stone circles. From South Ythsie and East Aquhorthies to the Maiden Stone and Aikey Brae stone circle, the Aberdeenshire countryside is a wonderful place to hunt standing stones. Some of these are from the Dark Ages, and some are from the Stone Age. The depth of history is incredible, and while none know how many such monuments were torn down in the past it’s encouraging to see that many that still remain.

Speyside has gotten very busy. I closed out my trip with a bevy of nights in Speyside to coincide with distillery visits and whisky tastings, and I was surprised by the tourism volume. This is definitely not the place to wing it on accommodations or restaurant reservations. You need all of these things ahead of time. Make sure you reserve a restaurant the day before, and the same goes for distillery visits. It used to be that only Balvenie required advance reservation, but now Aberlour and many others do too. Demand is high and space is limited.

Glasgow doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Glasgow is the Scottish city for city lovers. The culture is rich here with loads of museums, music venues, and exhibits. Do note that the wonderful Burrell Collection is Pollock Park is closed for refurbishment until 2020. Beyond this you’ll find tons of great bars, restaurants, and cafes. The icing on the cake is the huge, beautiful Kelvingrove Park and nearby Botanic Gardens which add a further dimension.

I hope this brief report on my most recent trip gives you some ideas for your own trip to Scotland. I’ll be writing plenty more about these places in the coming months!