I joined this tour with Haggis Adventures, which started in Edinburgh and took us up into the Highlands, across to the Isle of Skye, and back down over the course of 6 days. They call it their "Compass Buster" tour. (They have an 8-day tour I wanted to go on that takes you up into the Shetland islands and Orkney, but I didn't have enough vacation days. Maybe next year.) There were 29 of us total, and I was the only American. Rock!

I got to see some silly touristy stuff, like the filming sites for Braveheart, Monty Python, Highlander and Harry Potter; some interesting historical sites, like the William Wallace and Robert the Bruce monuments, Culloden battlefield, and Clava Cairns; and some intensely cool places, like Glencoe, Loch Ness and Carbisdale Castle.

I was really looking forward to our stay in Carbisdale Castle. It's supposedly very haunted, but sadly I didn't see any ghosts, only a spectre, a sylph or two, and one very lost leprechaun.

My favorite parts of the tour were the many hikes we went on. Of these, Glencoe was probably the best. Even though it was rainy that day, the scenery and landscape were so beautiful it didn't matter. Also, many of the historical sites were fascinating, especially the battlefield of Culloden. I talk more about it in this entry in my travelogue.

I had 3 days to kill in Edinburgh before and after the tour. I liked the city, but I only got to see the very touristy areas: the Royal Mile and Princes Street, mostly. Arthur's Seat and the Salisbury Crags were great, though, and most of my time there was blessed with wonderful weather that let me spend a lot of time outside.