Scotland, United Kingdom

Par Social Travel
Sep 27, 2022
6 min read

I recently returned from what any golf fan would consider a bucket list trip. Actually, a pretty unthinkable bucket list trip. I received an e-mail spring of last year to enter the ticket lottery for The Open tickets at The Old Course in St. Andrews. Not thinking being selected would be in the realm of possibility (I enter for all major tickets throughout the year). A few months later a congratulatory e-mail popped up in my inbox stating my ticket ballot was successful and I was able to purchase tickets for four days to The Open Championship at "The Home of Golf."

The tournament tickets were purchased and the trip planning commenced. We right away booked accommodations for the days of The Open, flights, through our preferred airline, Delta and a rental car. The next several months we chose our routes for the days we would not be attending the tournament and booked accommodations. We ended up cancelling some accommodations and relocated as some of our destinations were spur of the moment location changes.

EDINBURGH

With only one major setback, hello missing luggage, both sets of clubs and my husband's bag arrived, we arrived in Edinburgh. After gathering bit and bobs I needed for what I assumed would be a few days, we set out to explore the city.

Our first night we stayed in Edinburgh at Edinburgh Nine, located on the West End. We loved our stay here. It is in close proximity to Grassmarket, New Town and The Royal Mile. It would be my top choice when returning to Edinburgh. It was cozy and had every amenity we could find useful.

Edinburgh is a city I could spend days in exploring, shopping and dining. The architecture alone was my dream, castles, a palace, quaint shops and lively restaurants.

We finished off our evening with woodfired pizza and limoncello at Franca Manaca.

CRAIL

After getting more confident with our manual rental car and roundabouts, we ventured to Crail for a round of golf. Crail Golfing Society was one of the most recommended courses we played in Scotland. It was fantastic. The course depicted exactly what you think of when you think of golf in Scotland. The double greens, the windy weather and the scenic views of the Scottish coast.

ST. ANDREWS

Our next stop was St. Andrews for The Open. We found ourselves driving through the center of St. Andrews to find our accommodations. Maybe it was the history of The Open we were witnessing or the quaint historic town but St. Andrews was my favorite stop on our trip.

Our accommodations in St. Andrews were not as cushy as others on our trip but were definitely the most memorable. We stayed at The Open Camping Village. The village is located within steps of the tournament entrance and has hundreds of erected tents, including glamping tents if that is more of your preference. You are supplied with a tent, lantern and sleeping pads. We purchased sleeping bags and pillows upon our arrival to Edinburgh.

The camping village had a large tepee with a bar and nightly entertainment. Televisions lined the walls, streaming tournament play and news. Just outside the tent were food trucks serving different cuisines for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The Old Course was even better than you can imagine. The undulation in person is astounding. The compact course is wildly different to anything we see in the States. I have been to many professional golf tournaments and sat in stands but being able to sit in the stands and watch 4-5 different groups at a given time was spectacular.

We were able to explore St. Andrews for a bit during our stay there including St. Andrew's Castle and St. Andrews Cathedral. We enjoyed a gin and tonic at The Central Bar, which just tastes better in Scotland.

Sitting in the grandstand behind the 18th green on Sunday at the 150th Open Championship and watching Cam Smith win the claret jug was something we will not forget anytime soon.

If you think the above would be the most memorable, no doubt it was up there, my favorite memory was sitting on number 1 fairway and watching Tiger Woods, the goat himself, walk over the bridge on number 18 on Friday tipping his hat in appreciation to the crowd. It is a moment that will go down in history and to experience it first hand was amazing.

PERTH

Perth was a stop over for us. We stayed at Leonardo Boutique Huntingtower. This boutique hotel gave us our first taste of Scotland's traditional accommodations. It was a welcome treat to have a cozy bed after several nights of sleeping in a tent.

INVERNESS

We made our way to Inverness the following morning. Prior to arriving in Inverness we stopped and took a hike to the Hermitage Waterfall. It was a perfect excursion for anyone who is not a huge hiker like me.

Upon arriving in Inverness, we walked around town visiting shops and finding additional clothing for me. We ate lunch at Blackfriar's in town. Following our meal we made our way to our next accommodations, Inverness Lochardil House. Lochardil has a main house where most of the rooms are located. We got placed in a separate building steps from the main house. Lochardil rooms were comfortable and large. After a bit of relaxation we decided to explore on foot. We had a bit of a walk back into town next to River Ness. After our river walk we enjoyed dinner at The White House. We walked to Hootananny and enjoyed live music and Guinness on tap.

In the morning, we enjoyed breakfast looking out at the beautiful garden. Following our breakfast we drove to Culloden Battlefield and were enlightened on the history of The Jacobite's vs. British through our stroll of the battlefield.

Our next tee time was at Castle Stuart Golf Links. Castle Stuart is the most amazing course I have ever played. While it is not the most traditional Scottish course the course conditions were immaculate. The views were outstanding. We enjoyed an early dinner in the restaurant following play.

The next morning we returned to town and ate breakfast at XOKO Bakehouse. It was cute and delicious. We then drove to Clansman Harbor, where we took a cruise on the Loch Ness. Prior to our boat's departure my life long dream was fulfilled of seeing a real life Highland Cow. They are even better than I imagined. We booked our cruise with Jacobite Cruises. We learned all about the history of the loch and the mystery of the loch ness monster. Our cruise sailed by the beautiful Urquhart Castle.

STIRLING

We ventured back down south following the Loch Ness cruise through the spectacular Highland views. We had a long day of travel and unfortunately missed entry to Stirling Castle. It in a place I definitely want to go back and visit. Stirling is also home to the Wallace Monument.

RETURN TO EDINBURGH

After our brief visit in Stirling we made it back to Edinburgh, passing the Kelpies on the way. We chose to return to Edinburgh as my luggage debacle resulted in us not being able to see as many sites during the first part of our trip.

We rested our heads at Hotel Novotel Edinburgh Center to finish out our trip. It was a fantastic location. All the major sites were walkable from this hotel. We were upgraded to a room with a view of Edinburgh Castle.

We dined and drank at Amarone , Brewhemia, Rose Street Brewery and the Festival village in Edinburgh. I would recommend all of these establishments.

We visiting the following back in Edinburgh:

Edinburgh Castle: Edinburgh Castle overlooks the entire city. The castle has museums with Scottish history, you get to see various rooms, including a great hall and crown room among others.

Holyrood Place: I must admit we did not buy entry into Holyrood Palace. It is something I regret and would plan on doing during my next visit. We did visit the gift shop where my royal interest was fulfilled with purchases of a tea towel and tea commemorative of the Queen.

Royal Mile: The Royal Mile are streets located in Old Town and the most historic part of the city. While walking you can see Parliament Square and St. Giles' Cathedral among others.

Victoria Street: My love of Harry Potter drove me here. It was just as dreamy as I imagined.

If interested in getting more information for your own trip to Scotland, guided or non-guided, reach out the Par Social Travel.

Links to our accommodations, golf courses and eating establishments:

Accommodations:

Edinburgh Nine - http://www.edinburghnine.com/

The Open Camping Village - https://www.stayattheopen.com/

Leonardo Boutique Huntingtower Perth - https://www.jurysinns.com/hotels/perth/leonardo-huntingtower

Inverness Lochardil House - https://lochardil.co.uk/

Hotel Novotel Edinburgh Center - https://all.accor.com/hotel/3271/index.en.shtml

Golf:

Crail Golfing Society - Balcomie Links - https://crailgolfingsociety.co.uk/

Castle Stuart Golf Links - https://www.castlestuartgolf.com/