The Royal Scotsman Classic Tour 2: Scotland's Classic Splendours

Aboard The Royal Scotsman

As we were piped aboard, everyone was offered a glass of Champagne and our coats were taken and hung away in the lobby: with so few passengers only one entrance and exit was needed for this train. We were shown through into the Observation Car which is fitted out like a lounge with armchairs and sofas with a small bar at one end and on open observation deck, like a small balcony, at the other. The observation deck was limited in usefulness for the first couple of days because the locomotive was coupled to it, but once the train was reversed it really came into its own in the scenic sections of the route. I did stand on it to cross the Forth Bridge a few minutes after departure, though, with a close view of our locomotive, Class 66 number 743, a GB RailFreight engine painted and lettered in Royal Scotsman livery to match the train.

Meanwhile our luggage had been taken to our cabins (cruise terminology is used on this train - sometimes even "staterooms" appears) and as the train left Edinburgh we were taken one cabin at a time to our accommodation. We had gained by someone else's misfortune and were changed from the twin cabin originally booked to a double one, having asked from the start if we could have a double cabin if there should happen to be a cancellation which left one free, and someone had cancelled just the night before, just as we were celebrating our negative Covid test. We were now in the very farthest cabin from the Observation Car, with just the service coach and staff quarters beyond us: we should have more exercise than any other passenger! After unpacking our clothes and hanging them in the ample wardrobe we made our way back to the other end of the train where there were drinks and canapés before an "informal" dinner as the train made its way along the east coast through Arbroath and Aberdeen to Keith, where it stabled overnight in a siding. Although a sleeper train, The Royal Scotsman does not travel at night, so no scenery is missed and no sleep is disturbed by movement. The informal dinners on this train are still fairly formal: jackets and collared shirts are recommended and the waiting staff are just as attentive as at the formal dinners. By now, three glasses of Champagne in, I began declining top-ups of wine during the meal.

Like some of the other travellers we went for a stroll around Keith as darkness fell, and we discovered Keith Town station on the "Whisky Line," a heritage railway from there to Dufftown. There was also a distillery. We were to see a lot of distilleries and could be sure that most of them would be pointed out by Les and we passed them on the train ... And so to bed at the end of the beginning.

On Tuesday morning the train reversed out of the siding in which it had spend the night and made its way during breakfast to Elgin where we were met by the Royal Scotsman road coach and our driver for the week, Andrew. We were taken by coach to visit Cawdor Castle which has been in the same family for many generations and is still home to Lady Cawdor as well as an interesting castle in a beautiful garden. Lady Cawdor greeted us over a glass of sparkling wine before we had lunch in reserved area of the public restaurant. It was a warm and sunny day and we had a great time exploring the garden before Andrew drove us to Inverness where the train had been taken to wait for us. Again there was a refreshing drink as we rejoined the train and we sat with others in the Observation Car as we departed towards the north, turning west at Dingwall onto the line to the Kyle of Lochalsh. This route is reputed to be one of the most scenic in Europe and was the reason why this particular tour was chosen from those offered by Belmond on The Royal Scotsman. We had already travelled on all the other routes out of Inverness as well as the West Highland Line to Fort William and Mallaig, so a tour that included Kyle of Lochalsh would take us on a scenic line we had yet to travel as well as taking us to places we had never been.

Odd jobs that needed doing had to be completed on the first part of this stage because we needed to be in the Observation Car through the mountains and lochs of the west. The scenery was stunning but I took few photographs because the low evening sun made effective landscape photography very difficult and I though that in the morning, with the sun from the east, I would be able to take much better pictures. As you'll see, that did not quite work out. Once arrived at the terminus and former ferry interchange at Kyle of Lochalsh we returned to our cabin to shower and change for dinner, and the locomotive was uncoupled from the Observation Car and run round to the other end of the train, giving us a splendid view of fishing vessels in the port as we enjoyed pre-dinner drinks. Dinner on the second evening was formal and I put on the requested dinner suit and bow tie along with most other men on the tour, while the ladies wore suitable cocktail dresses. It was all rather splendid, and the food and drinks were up to the standard we were beginning by now to expect. We went for a brief stroll after dinner but could not go far because it was dark. It would have been nice to walk to, or even over, the Skye Bridge which has supplanted the ferry to the Isle of Skye, but we did not have enough time for that and would not have seen much anyway. However, this may not be our last visit to this part of Scotland, so a visit to the island is still a possibility one day.

The Royal Scotsman departed from the Kyle of Lochalsh very early on the Wednesday morning, retracing our route back to Inverness. I spent much of the most scenic sections of the route standing on the open observation deck, now unencumbered by the locomotive, but photography was now hampered by the mist and low cloud that hung over land, sea and loch alike. It looked wonderful as it was, but the mountains were invisible much of the time. This was quite a long trip in one go and breakfast was served later than usual to give those who wanted a lazy start the opportunity to have one - although it was unfortunate that lunch had to be served early that day in order to fit in the afternoon's activities.

During the morning (at what would normally be coffee time in my world), Les, assisted by Sylwia, the train's own whisky-specialist, invited us to a whisky tasting in the Observation Car and introduced passengers to the world of Scotch malt whisky. Some already knew more than others, but I think we all learnt something - I know I did. The biggest lesson was the enormous difference it makes to drink whiskies from a glass that holds in the aroma rather than the conventional tumbler. So much so that we bought a pair of whisky tasting glasses from the on-board shop before we came home! The train continued through Inverness while we had lunch and then south towards the Cairngorm mountains.

After lunch we left the train at Aviemore to visit Ballindalloch Castle, shown round by Guy Macpherson-Grant the current owner of the castle which, again, had been in the same family for many centuries. The castle is still at heart a farmhouse and the centre of thriving business interests, as it has to be in order to keep going: the present owner's parents did a lot to make it the place it is now, with beautiful gardens for the public to visit. We were also shown around the interior and although some places were closed off owing to work being done to improve the heating system (important in that part of the UK!) we were given a glimpse into the life of the family as well as the history of the aristocracy in Scotland. Fortified dwellings are no longer needed to defend land holdings against enemies and are simply beautiful buildings which are great to see. Quite different from castles in England, the appearance of Scottish castles resembles those in Germany and Austria, with projecting round corner turrets with conical roofs, for example. Just in case we were too hungry to wait for dinner we were treated to tea in the castle's visitors' tea room and then we tried to walk off some of that around the grounds before it was time to move on.

The Royal Scotsman coach took us back to the train which had moved on to the station at Boat of Garten on the preserved Strathspey Railway, our own locomotive having been replaced by a restored Class 31 diesel, one of my favourite locomotives which I can remember from childhood and some of which are still going strong sixty years later. As usual we were welcomed back to the train with drinks on the platform and then before dinner we went for a short stroll around the village, and then canapés in the Observation Car were followed by an informal, but still excellent, dinner in the two Dining Cars at the platform at Boat of Garten. After dinner we were entertained with songs by Davy Holt, who also gave us a brief history of Highland life and was amusing as well as informative and quite moving even for those of us who had heard much of the story already.

In many respects the Thursday was the most exciting day of the tour with activity from the start. After breakfast we left the train at Boat of Garten and were driven by coach to the Rothemurchus Estate where a variety of country pursuits had been lined up for us. Some went for a country walk (which I gather was more of a saunter than a hike), some for a drive around the countryside, some fishing and some, including me, clay pigeon shooting. I had never fired a shotgun, although I had grown up in the countryside where many members of my family had them - fairly essential in agriculture - and I thought this would be a great thing to try. 

We were divided into two parties between two instructors and taken to the firing range where we were given a selection of moving targets to try to hit. I found the least difficult to be the one that was coming towards me; concentration on the job in hand, as ever, was key to doing a good job, and that was quite hard with a lot of new stuff to remember. I can imagine that this sport could easily take over ones life - I am sure that if I tried again I'd hit the target a bit more often and then keep trying to improve, and then maybe try air rifle target shooting and before you know where you are I'd never be at home ... so it is as well that I live hundreds of miles away and am unaware of anything more local (although I am sure there must be lots but don't tell me about them!).

Back at the house we reconvened by log fires with those who'd undertaken the other pursuits and we met our host family and enjoyed some coffee and their home-made cakes (mercifully small pieces, for one is not exactly ravenous after a Royal Scotsman breakfast) and the coach returned us to the train now waiting for us at Kingussie station on the Highland Main Line. 

Lunch was served on the train as we made our way south through Blair Atholl and Pitlochry to Dunkeld. At Dunkeld we left the train again and Andrew picked us up in the coach for one last time to take us to the largest castle of the week, Glamis Castle, childhood home of the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and probably the most beautiful castle I have ever seen. The way this visit was arranged was particularly good: we drove up the main driveway with the castle ahead of us, looking like a fairy-tale; the coach took us to the front door, not the usual tourist entrance, where we were met by a piper who piped us into the castle where we all stood with a glass of whisky to toast the piper with the traditional Scots toast, "Slàinte Mhath" (pronounced "slanje-va"), we each took a sip, the piper took a gulp! During the tour we heard much about the supposed haunting of the castle by several ghosts but saw and heard nothing of them ... There was time to explore the grounds after we said farewell to our guide (this time we did not meet the current owner of the castle for he was away), and then the coach took us to the ancient capital city of Perth where our train was waiting for us by a side entrance. 

The finale of the final day was the formal dinner followed by more musical entertainment as the train moved on to Dundee. As ever, drinks and canapés were served before dinner and this time I swapped the endless round of Champagne and whisky for a vodka martini - I sometimes make these at home and wanted to see how a professional version compared - and could not believe it when I was asked if I wanted is shaken or stirred! I asked for shaken, of course ... I am not sure I believe in the "bruising" theory of shaken vodka and anyway when you're standing there in evening wear it just sort of seems to fit!

We woke in Dundee on the Friday morning and moved off at breakfast on the short final leg of our tour, the highlights this morning being the crossing of the Tay and Forth bridges.

From the outside platform of the Observation Car the crossing of the Forth Bridge was a whole new experience, and soon after this we were passing through Princes Street Gardens and rolling into Edinburgh. Some people stayed with the train for the next tour, some headed to hotels in Edinburgh for a few more days and some, like us, caught trains home. We had our luggage taken to the Balmoral and had a coffee break at the Scottish Royal Academy café overlooking the Gardens and then collected our luggage and waited in the First Class Lounge at Waverley for our train home to be prepared. The journey back by LNER was up to the usual standard, comfortable and on time with a light lunch from the Deli menu being served, and we made a connection to Stamford which I had not dared to hope we might make. The train to Stamford was amazingly busy; we had no seat reservations for I had reserved them on the next train thinking we wouldn't get this one, and space for holiday luggage was tight, so we stood in vestibule for the short ride to Stamford.

Having heavier luggage than usual we tried the system for crossing the line at Stamford using the barrow crossing instead of the footbridge and it worked very well: we lifted the telephone handset and spoke to a signaller who let us through the gate and across the track as soon as it was safe, and then we called back as soon as we were over to let him know that we were safely across. It had been a brilliant holiday and no other train will ever be quite the same as The Royal Scotsman. It was definitely not fast and it didn't take many passengers so the fare was definitely not low budget, but it was the opposite of "no frills"! Frills was what it was all about, ideal for the celebration of last year's ruby wedding anniversary.

Update:

My photographs are now available on Flickr for those who wish to see them!

Further Update:

This holiday is now summarised on YouTube at https://youtu.be/W5U9cOBTd40?si=RE8gf7Sdxlc1muCm. Do take a look, and maybe subscribe to the channel?

The Royal Scotsman Classic Tour 1: getting there

Weekend in Edinburgh by train, take 2

Last year we celebrated our Ruby Wedding Anniversary. Among other things we planned a tour of the Scottish Highlands on the Belmond Royal Scotsman but unfortunately that fell victim to the pandemic (specifically to the impossibility of the foreign tourists, who had taken all the other places on the tour, being able to get here), so that holiday was truncated to (a very splendid) weekend in Edinburgh and a similar highland tour booked for this August instead, again with a weekend in Edinburgh to start it off.

The Royal Scotsman check-in is done at The Balmoral Hotel and last year I booked a couple of nights there in a special room in order to begin our special celebratory holiday in style, but this year we thought we'd try somewhere else so that we were not trying to emulate the wonderful time we'd had at The Balmoral last year, so I booked a couple of nights at the Hilton Edinburgh Carlton, just round the corner: it would still be a great room in a great hotel but would not just be a repeat of what we had already done. 

Like so many other trips this summer, booking the train tickets was a bit protracted as I waited for Advance tickets for the various sections of the journey to become available, but in the end all was booked and we just had to wait for the time to come. Fortunately we had our south coast holiday and our short break in London to enjoy so that we were not just pacing the room waiting for Scotland. Nevertheless, there were preparations to be made! Two of the dinners on the Royal Scotsman were to be formal and required traditional evening wear, so I had to check that my dinner suits were clean and pressed, ditto the dress shirts, and for the informal dinners on the other two evenings a jacket ("with or without a tie") was still needed, so I had to ensure that something suitable was also available for those. Then in Scotland in August it is anyone'e guess what the weather will be doing so a wide selection of daywear would be required to cope with anything from hot sun to pouring rain and cold: while we'd had cold, wet weather in England this August, it was not so in parts of Scotland. Thus our usual size of suitcase would be inadequate, especially for Alison's evening dresses. Before we went to London for the short break we had our larger cases out on the spare bed, the cases usually reserved for long European tours, and prepared most of the outfits we'd need, because we would be home for just one complete day before leaving for Edinburgh, so there would be little time to prepare and pack between the trips.

Two days before our trip began a freight train had collided with a tractor on an occupation crossing near March (which had disrupted our journey home from London), and the recovery and track repairs were still going on, but fortunately Cross Country Trains had managed to get the timetable back to normal between Stamford and Peterborough so our outward journey was not affected. Connections between our local trains and services to Edinburgh are a bit too tight for comfort and we were not in a hurry so I built in some slack with an extra hour in Peterborough: LNER had resumed their offer of free coffee and cake at the Great Northern Hotel for passengers with First Class tickets so it was easy to while away the time there with The Times Quick Cryptic crossword puzzle before going to platform 4 to await the LNER Azuma train to Edinburgh, the first time we had headed north since last year's shortened trip.

As ever, the ride with LNER in First Class was comfortable and the staff were attentive and helpful. We did not have the coffee, having had that at the Great Northern Hotel, but had fruit juice and biscuits in the morning and then sandwiches and wine for lunch when the time came, north of York. By the time we came to the best scenery, in Northumberland, the weather was not great but the mist and rain did clear for us to have a good view of Lindisfarne and of Berwick-upon-Tweed. One more cup of tea and the Scottish capital was almost upon us, a very light drizzle awaiting us (this was August 2021, after all) as we left the train.

Leaving Waverley station on the south side was simple enough (using the lift to the footbridge because of our larger-than-usual suitcases), but the closure of the stairs up to North Bridge meant a bit of a detour with even more steps up, but even so we were very soon at our hotel and were checked in. I had booked a "King Executive Room" which sounded more comfortable than most, and it was. It also included, and I did not take this in until check-in, access to the "Executive Lounge", of which more later. I had asked for a street view and we got one, but it was not the main street, North Bridge, but Market Street, where we had just walked with our luggage, with the glass roof of Waverley station beyond.

After checking in and unpacking enough for two nights (and our best clothes to reduce the creasing!) we strode off to The Balmoral: one thing I had booked the same as last year was our Afternoon Tea in the Palm Court at The Balmoral. This time we did not have the Champagne but we did drink quite a lot more tea. The meal is a fixed price and is for up to two hours - I booked 5pm, the latest time that allows the full two hours and late enough for it to count as our evening meal - and unlimited tea and/or coffee is included in the price. It is hard to imagine anyone requiring any more food than is provided, or needing another meal after it. It is simply wonderful, even without the Champagne, and highly recommended (advance booking recommended, too) if you find yourself in Edinburgh. The surroundings of the Palm Court and the attentive staff add to the experience - you may have seen them all on the TV series broadcast by Channel 5 earlier this year.

A little walk after tea and then it was time to write the start of this blog post and get ready for bed, catching up with such reading as had not been done on the train. 

After a good night's sleep in the king bed we went for the included breakfast in the hotel's dining room, a Marco Pierre White restaurant like one we'd visited for afternoon tea once in London (only more spacious) where the full buffet breakfast was on offer, the first we'd come across since the stat of the pandemic. It seemed really weird sharing serving spoons etc and we sanitised our hands before and after helping ourselves to our breakfast elements - we were very much aware of the necessity of keeping clear of infection, in spite of our vaccinations, because we had to have a negative Covid test to board the Royal Scotsman, and we had our test kit ready for use later in the day - it had to be within 24 hours of check-in for the train. It was a delicious breakfast and the staff were really helpful. Had to have haggis, of course, with the cooked course.

Last year we had been unable to visit the National Museum of Scotland but now advance booking was not only available but required and I had booked our admission long ago to ensure that the Sunday would be the museum day. We spent some time there and caught up on things we had not seen when we visited the city a few years earlier, plus the temporary gallery on the Galloway Hoard of Viking age treasure which was absolutely fascinating.

We returned briefly to our room and then set off again to the National Trust for Scotland's Georgian House which we'd seen before, many years ago, and had booked in advance to visit again this time. memories fade and exhibits are updated, so sometimes a revisit is worthwhile especially as National Trust members because we can visit as often as we wish at no cost. There was some commotion in the street outside because the official residence of the First Minister of the Scottish Government is next door and a couple of dozen people were holding some sort of anti-mask protest. I do not know whether she was at home but for her sake I hope she was able to get some peace on a Sunday afternoon in her own home. The Georgian House gives a wonderful glimpse into the world of Georgian society and the history of "new town" Edinburgh, "the Athens of the North", and was to us especially redolent of Georgian houses we have lived in at various times. Knowing that there was a gastronomic experience to come during the week, our "dinner" that evening consisted of the included refreshment offering at the Executive Lounge at the hotel. This was really rather good, the sort of thing that used to be on offer in First Class on East Coast trains a few years ago: a light hot meal with snacks and drinks (including wine), at no extra cost.

It was a relief to do the required Covid19 tests and get a negative result, but then there was still a difficulty sleeping because, two years after planning this trip and one year after we were supposed to have done it, we finally looked like we would be on our way in the morning! But we did sleep and after another good breakfast we made our way to the Royal Scotsman check-in at The Balmoral Hotel where our luggage was taken away and we met our tour manager Gerry and one or two other passengers including Les, an "ambassador" from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society who on the tour with two society members visiting distilleries while the rest of us were doing the classic Royal Scotsman tour and who would teach the rest of us all we wanted to know about whisky. In due course we were taken with the other passengers (about two dozen) to the platform at Waverley station where a piper was waiting to pipe us to the waiting train. At last, two years after first booking this trip it was about to begin!

Update: This holiday is now summarised on YouTube at https://youtu.be/W5U9cOBTd40?si=RE8gf7Sdxlc1muCm. Do take a look, and maybe subscribe to the channel?

Back in Time for a Break in Edinburgh

A Rail-Hotel Package Holiday in 1984

Our train Edinburgh Waverley

I started these "adventures" in 2011, as I tell in my first blog post the following year, but if I think back I have really been doing them for very much longer, having hankered after them longer still but not having the resources to fund them until the early eighties.

In 1984 I took a short holiday in Edinburgh with my wife and young son, then my only child, a baby. The previous year when we were a couple expecting our first baby we had been to York and thought we'd venture farther this time. We went in the autumn half-term holiday because my wife was a teacher, and we booked the package by telephone with British Rail's Superbreak package holiday scheme, rail travel and British Transport Hotel booked together at a reasonable price. For a small extra sum we could travel First Class: we had done it the previous year to give my pregnant wife the space and the reclining seat, but although that was no longer needed we thought it was such a good deal we did it anyway. In those days the long-distance HSTs, branded Inter-City 125, had a buffet car and a restaurant car and we decided to travel over lunch time and treat ourselves to a meal on the train, too.

The original Mk3 First Class seating: very 1970s!
The MaxPax coffee was also very 1970s and has
thankfully been long abandoned now.

We lived in Grantham at the time, so we had through trains to Edinburgh from our local station. After all this time I do not remember a great deal about the journey apart from it being very comfortable and comprising the usual great views from the train, especially north of York. As ever when travelling with a young child we were kept busy. We had a pushchair which folded flat and fitted reasonably well on the luggage stack, a shared suitcase (no wheels in those days: I carried the luggage!) and a shoulder bag which contained all the baby care equipment with the changing mat rolled round it as the outer cover. All very neat and compact.

Waiting for lunch

Lunch in the restaurant car was north of Newcastle as we travelled along the gorgeously scenic Northumberland coast, and the restaurant car staff were very attentive and loved that we had our little boy us. The only other passenger I remember being there at the time (there could have been others, but I only remember this one!) was a man travelling - or at least lunching - alone, and from his accent he was clearly from North America and was enthusing loudly about having been recommended to see the 'Fifth of Fourth" while in Scotland ...  The ticket inspector came along and he refused to show his tickets until after he had finished his meal, and while I understand that one may not want a meal disturbed, it was not difficult for me to reach into my pocket and show our tickets when our turn came, and to show them on demand is part of the conditions of carriage, but the inspector was not going to argue and resolved to ask him again on his way back through the train.

We stayed at the North British Hotel, immediately adjacent to the station at Edinburgh, then with an entrance directly off the station. We had a cot in an alcove in the room but our little one after such an exciting day found it hard to sleep. I transferred him back to his pushchair, reclined flat and tried pushing him round the hotel to lull him to sleep - the North British is built in a square around its palm court so I could walk him round and round while his mother tried to rest. I cannot remember now how the story ended but I do know we all had a reasonable night's sleep in the end! We have since returned to this hotel, now called The Balmoral, and it is a very different place, but one can still walk around the square!

It was in Princes Street Gardens on this holiday that our son had his first ride on a playground swing, and we walked up to the Palace of Holyroodhouse and visited The Georgian House in New Town, a National Trust for Scotland museum. We have lived in a couple of Georgian houses and thought it would be interesting to see what we could learn here - and it was amazing how similar this place was to the house in which we were living at the time, and even more so to the house in which I had lived with my parents before my marriage.

On one morning I went off on my own to explore, and I decided to take a local train to North Queensferry, which would take me across the Forth Bridge, giving me a great view of the famous Firth of Forth which had been extolled by our transatlantic travelling companion on the way there. In those days it was possible to see through the driver's cab at the front and rear of diesel multiple units and so I saw not only the Firth but also a fantastic view of the Forth Bridge now only available to train crew. Two bonuses on this little trip were (1) the presence of a submarine in the Firth, and (2) an airliner landing at the airport as I passed the end of the runway.

I don't remember the ride home at all, so presumably it was all fine. There were more of these trips to come over the next two or three years until we moved to Cirencester and lost our connection to the railway for a while. I'll have to see if I can dig up more photographs and more memories!

Some photographs of my trip over the Forth Bridge and back 

Just Don't Call It a "Staycation": Holidaying in the UK

Taking the Train for Your Holiday

To read the newspapers in Britain at the moment you would think that holidays in the UK were a new idea. Perhaps they are for London-based journalists! But for various good reasons around the pandemic and the travel uncertainty arising from it, there are likely to be many more of us in Britain taking our holidays in Britain this year, and the newspapers are full of "advice" about "staycations" - although how many journalists are qualified to give this advice, considering they feel the need to call them something other than a holiday, I am not sure. So, having taken lots of these holidays in the recent past (and the distant past, too, come to that!), I thought I'd write some advice myself. I hope my readers find it helpful. You can find some ideas for destinations on my page, "UK Holidays".

Traffic

Now at first it is easy to think that the greater number of British people holidaying in Britain will be balanced by the far fewer numbers of foreign visitors holidaying here, but I am not so sure about that. First, a lot of foreign visitors visit London (it is the most popular tourist destination in the world), and I suspect that few of us will take our main holiday there: we shall go the coast or to the lakes or forests, moorlands, etc.. Second, foreigners will tend not to bring their cars (some, from Europe, will, of course, and some will hire them when they get here), whereas most British people will tend to drive. Putting all this together, I predict that roads to the coast and rural resorts will be more than busy: it was already bad enough four years ago for me to declare that we were never going to Devon or Cornwall by car ever again, and if more are heading that way this year then I hope they have a LOT of patience. That is why I would recommend travelling by rail for UK holidays, and the advice I am offering concerns making the arrangements for train travel.

Booking

Cross Country's retro ad a few years
ago isnpired me to book a seaside
summer holiday by train!

One thing the newspapers have been hot on is the need to book in good time, because everyone else will be doing the same. Anticipating this, I have already booked hotels for our summer breaks, one in England, one in Scotland, so you can't get in front of me how ever soon you book: but you may need to hurry to get in front of each other! Look for hotel and B&B bookings that allow free cancellation so that if circumstances change and you need to back out for a reason not covered by your travel insurance (yes, you do need it for holidays in the UK unless you are happy to take all the risk yourself) your costs will be minimised.

Train Travel

While I have booked accommodation for my summer holidays, I have not yet booked travel, because even in normal times train tickets with seat reservations are not usually available until three months before the travel date, and in the current changing circumstances the train companies can have no idea what trains they will be running by the summer holiday season, so it is not worth even thinking about tickets just yet. But what I have done, and what I recommend for anyone thinking of travelling on holiday by train, is set up on the relevant companies' websites an advance ticket alert which will cause them to send me an email message to tell me when Advance tickets are available for my chosen dates. I could probably book open tickets now but (a) they are relatively expensive, (b) the trains I eventually choose may be too busy for me to get a seat and (c) in the current pandemic-dominated world it is anyone's guess what trains will be running.

One advantage of buying Advance tickets early in their availability is that First Class travel is usually available at a really good price - like London to the Isle of Wight, including ferry, for under £20 First Class one way - and on most lines Advance tickets come with seat reservations so you know you will get on the train you have chosen. They can only be used on a specific train, so some planning is needed, but then if you usually fly abroad you will be used to having to catch a specific flight. But rail travel is much less faff than flying: you don't have to be there ages before departure; you keep your luggage with you so when you arrive you're free to go; you can take food and drink with you and you can see things out of the window all the way!

I have written articles elsewhere on this website about Luggage and about Changing Trains, and if you are not used to rail travel, then please take a look at both of these pages. Which brings me to the question of planning ...

Planning and Preparation

Inverness: hotel next to station

Planning the travel needs to be part of the early planning of the whole holiday. I usually start with an idea of whereabouts I want to go in the country and then look at accommodation and train route together so that I do not end up needing to hire a car or taxi to get from the station to the hotel, as if I were on one of those inconvenient holidays by air! Sometimes we stay right next to the station, usually within reasonable walking distance, and now-and-again we use a bus or a boat (!) to complete the trip - it is all part of the adventure of travel. Take this summer's planned trip to the Isle of Wight: we are booked at a hotel right beside Yarmouth Castle, about a minute walk from the ferry terminal, and our train will take us right to the ferry - it is an official connection and the train tickets will be booked to Yarmouth. We did the same trip two years ago and it worked like a dream. When we went to South Wales a few years ago we soon found that our options were very limited: unlike North Wales, few of the southern resorts are on a railway route, but we did have a great time in Tenby!

View from our bus on board the ferry at Poole

While I would encourage anyone not to be afraid of changing trains to reach their destination (the Tenby trip involved several changes), sometimes it is more convenient to minimise changes at the cost of taking a little longer, especially if changing stations in London can be avoided, no matter how convenient the Underground makes this. From our home in Stamford, Lincolnshire, we often travel via Birmingham (which is on a direct line from Stamford) when travelling to the south-west, or sometimes even to the south coast in Dorset or Hampshire, which takes longer than going via London but just needs the one change at Birmingham New Street, the hub of the inter-city rail network. We did this last year when we went to Studland Bay.

Unless you do go, as we often have, to a resort with the station right there, then the trip will probably be completed by bus or some other means. This used to work when I was a toddler with my parents going to Margate (everyone went on holiday in Britain and by train in those days, unless they were very rich, and even they probably went by train!) and it still works now but needs a tad more planning. The Studland Bay trip last year was brilliant for this, with a bus right from Bournemouth station taking us to the door of the hotel, and it was an open-top tour bus, too, with some wonderful views along the way, including the ferry across Poole Harbour! When we have been to Dartmouth, which we have done twice, the last leg of the trip was by steam train to Kingswear and then ferry across the River Dart. All part of the adventure.

Adventure

I don't buy the "door-to-door convenience" angle of car travel, especially for holidays. Yes, I have a car, and it is a good car and it has its uses (it is questionable whether those uses are frankly a good enough reason to spend all those thousands of pounds buying and maintaining it, but that is a whole other discussion!), but unless one is mobility-impaired there is no need to travel between doors, and for us when we go by train the adventure starts when we walk out of the door and trundle our cases to the station, pockets full of tickets. We know our train times and our meal arrangements and we look forward to what we shall watch going by our windows. We can drink wine and/or beer if we like, the loo is a short walk down the carriage, and if we are held up someone else will sort it out, but hold-ups are rare. We get exercise on our walks to and from the stations, and we do not have to park the car. Some will say the they need the car when they get to their destination, and I know that those who fly abroad often hire one when they get there, but although we are open to hiring a car we have never yet done so, always having found that bus services are more than adequate for our needs - but then for us walking is an important part of our holiday. In the autumn, just before the second UK lockdown, we revisited Studland Bay by car. We parked it at the hotel and never used it again until we left - all our local travel was on foot, boat and bus, and on the way back we were held up by a serious accident on the M1 ... train delays are nothing compared with this.

I think we have great holidays, not in spite of leaving the car at home but partly BECAUSE we leave the car at home. We see, hear and smell our surroundings, we actually LIVE in the places we visit and are not sealed off from them; travelling on the same buses as shoppers and business people in the towns we visit, and walking through the countryside, experiencing nature - people pay for safari holidays in remote places, but with our network of public footpaths you can do your own British safari all on your own - and get the bus back to your hotel.

Don't be misled by the newspapers' put-down of UK holidays as an inferior thing called a "staycation" as if it were not a real holiday. I do have holidays abroad (although usually still by train!) and have two booked for later this year, but they are not superior to the English, Welsh and Scottish ones, they just need a passport as well as a ticket, and different money, and different language. But all are great fun, wherever they are, and I reckon more fun without the car.

Do have a browse through the summer holidays I have blogged on this website: they are all my own experiences, paid for out of my own pocket and completely unfettered by allegiance to any company or product. and do ask questions in the comments, here or on any other page, and I shall try to answer.

A Very Special Weekend!

 By train to a fantastic weekend in Edinburgh

Sharing a bathroom with film stars!

This year makes a special milestone in my marriage, and a year ago my wife and I planned a very special holiday to mark it. We booked short tour of the Scottish Highlands on the Belmond Royal Scotsman, a luxury "cruise" train, to visit the one line out of Inverness which was still on our "to do" list. The tour started in Edinburgh on the day after our anniversary, so we also booked two nights at The Balmoral hotel to ensure that the day itself would be special and that we would be sure to be there for the start of the tour with no last-minute rush. There was so much to look forward to in the Royal Scotsman tour that I had given very little thought to the weekend in Edinburgh that was to precede it, but all that was to change when I came to pay the balance of the fare to Belmond - and I shall come to that shortly. First I really must tell you about the booking of the hotel for the weekend!

The Balmoral is not just any old hotel. It was originally the railway hotel for the North British Railway, later part of the LNER and then British Rail, of course (see Update in footnote). The railway hotels were sold off in the 1980s and this one was bought and refurbished to an exceptionally high standard by Rocco Forte Hotels and is now a very high-end hotel and bookings are made though Grand Luxury Hotels who appoint a Guest Experience Manager to look after guests prior to arrival. Our weekend was to be special so we wanted a room overlooking the castle, and we wanted a good room, and ... the weekend was during the Edinburgh Festival, so, taking all this together, it was not cheap! They asked if a room was sufficient or if we'd prefer a suite: I opted for a room since we did not intend to live in it, just sleep. After my Guest Experience Manager had been appointed I received an email message asking what time my flight was due to arrive and which class of Mercedes I would prefer for my transfer from the airport ... and all this at a railway hotel! I might have known that odd things would happen when the person taking the booking pronounced the city's name "Eedinburrow": it was plain that she had never been there and had no idea how things worked in the UK. I wrote back explaining that the hotel was above one of Britain's most important rail stations and that it would probably take me longer to fly there from Stamford than to go by train. (And even if I had flown, I think the tram from the airport would have been fine by me!)

Everything was booked, then, about a year in advance, but then like everything else in 2020 it all started to unravel with the advent of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Most of this year's outings in the spring and summer were cancelled and refunded early, but the August ones we hoped might happen. Unfortunately although the Royal Scotsman could run with only 20 passengers, just over half of its normal load, the other 18 still booked on it were American and could not get to Scotland, so that part of the holiday was cancelled. The Balmoral hotel, however, had just reopened and our booking still stood, so as soon as I could get train tickets the holiday, at one-third of its planned length, was still on, and it did cover the date of the wedding anniversary, which was great. Now the "supporting act" became the main attraction and we started to replan the trip around The Balmoral.

Booking the train tickets turned out to be a little more interesting than usual because the outbound ones, on a Saturday, were not released until a couple of weeks before departure, so I had to invest in the return part in the hope we could get there! Otherwise it would have had to be a long drive in the car and an application for  refund for the return train trip. But it all came out all right in the end, although the reduced frequency of trains between Stamford and Peterborough meant that we started this luxury holiday on a bus to Peterborough. But Delaine's buses are very good and all worked well.

Just as with the Cross Country trains the previous weekend, the catering was minimal, so we took a packed lunch for the journey. we were supplied with coffee, biscuits, crisps and water with our First Class booking, but not the usual hot lunch that we had hoped to enjoy before the pandemic changed everyone's plans. This was by far our longest trip so far on LNER's "Azuma" Intercity Express Train and we thoroughly enjoyed the ride in spite of having to wear face-coverings and forego the usual standard of luncheon. We were required to sit in the seats reserved for us, chosen by LNER to ensure social distancing, although this had to be changed by our train manager because someone else had "stolen" our seats: she could check which ones were available and ensured we would not be disturbed again. This ride up the East Coast Main Line is one of my favourites, with a fast, comfortable train and some incomparable views, especially of the Northumberland coast but also including Durham, the Tyne at Newcastle, Berwick-upon-Tweed and some magnificent stations, too, at York and Newcastle.

We arrived at Edinburgh within a minute or two of the advertised time and made our way up to Princes Street to the hotel, at number 1 Princes Street. As we approached the front door with our cases, a concierge approached and asked if we were checking in - we must have looked like Balmoral guests ... we checked in and went to our room, the cases having been taken away to be brought up to us. We had booked one of the better rooms in the hotel but were given a free upgrade to a better one still. As I mentioned, this had been going to be Edinburgh Festival week but, of course, that was cancelled and so presumably the hotel had many spare rooms available. They knew we were there for a special anniversary because when I had called to book a table for dinner on the Sunday they had asked if it was for a special occasion, so it was very good of them to let us have an even better room. When we opened the door we were amazed by the room which was not only spacious and well-equipped but was right at the top of the building in one of the corner turrets with the most fantastic view long Princes Street as well as up the the castle. I could not have asked for a better room.

We unpacked and made our way down to the Palm Court where we had booked (everything has to be booked now) afternoon tea; just as we were leaving our room a basket of fruit was delivered by the house staff - all part of the service here! We had booked the tea as a substitute for dinner and went for a fairly late tie for tea, at 5pm. We were welcomed into the Palm Court and shown to a suitable table in the typically pleasant atmosphere of traditional palm court within the atrium of this hotel built on a square plan. Elsewhere in the hotel is a poster from inter-war days showing the Palm Court as it was then, and it is quite recognisable today. There was a choice of tea and an option to begin with a glass of Champagne,

which, naturally, we did.  We each had our own choice of tea, poured from a great height into personal teapots so that it was cool enough to drink immediately, and a plate of savouries which included a haggis tart, the first of several haggis-based dishes we would have over these two days. Two hours was allowed for afternoon tea and we used most of that, consuming two pots of tea each in spite of also having Champagne and water. Although each item in the meal seemed to be small, there was plenty to eat and we were well-filled. We did not even need to start on the basket of fruit in our room before bed-time! At the end of the meal we were given a small tin of tea and a couple of chocolates each to take away. The chocolates survived until the train home on Monday, and we started the tea at our first tea-time at home on Tuesday - having run out of our St Pancras Blend tea it was good to have something special again.

We went for a long walk after tea, to the other end of Princes Street, back around the castle and along The Royal Mile to Holyrood and then back to the hotel.

On the Sunday we had originally had nothing planned, but before we left home had managed to book a visit to the Scottish National Gallery for the late morning, all attempts to get tickets for the National Museum of Scotland having failed. These venues were both free-of-charge but needed booking for space reasons during the pandemic. We started the day with a great breakfast at the hotel - again booked in advance by completing a form left in our room at turn-down - and then made our way via a shop or two to the art gallery just along Princes Street. It is a small gallery but with a wide selection of styles and artists, including the universally-known Monarch of the Glen by Sir Edwin Landseer which was amazing to see for oneself rather than printed on a biscuit tin!

The breakfast was intended to last all day until the special dinner booked for the evening, so after our time at the art gallery we went straight on to our next activity, booked the day before, a visit to the Royal Botanic Garden. It was drizzling all the way there, about a half-hour walk, but dried up as we arrived. There was an occasional shower during our visit but nothing to spoil it. We were there to enjoy the gardens rather than study botany, and of all the botanic gardens we have visited, this is the best for that, for the layout and landscaping is superb. Do visit here is you're in Edinburgh, but try to choose better weather than we had! It is hard to do it justice in a photograph: you have to be there.

The third course, Orkney Scallop

We returned to the hotel via Harvey Nichols, for there was something we needed that we had been unable to source anywhere else, and it is not every day that we are in a city with a branch of that particular emporium. Showering after the day's weather and dressing for dinner we made our way down to another of the hotel's restaurants, named "Number One" after the hotel's street address, for the seven-course table d'hôte tasting menu that we had booked before leaving home. This would be our special meal for our anniversary.

We had done these tasting menus before: lots of small courses which can be accompanied by matching wines, but we opted on this occasion simply to start with a single glass of Champagne and then have a bottle of a light red wine which would go reasonably well with the whole meal. A glass for each course has always left us feeling that we've had too much alcohol before we have finished the meal.

Before the seven courses started we were brought "something to nibble," an amuse-bouche, and some bread and butter (both bread and butter the chef's own recipe and made to order - nothing from a factory here) as well as a glass of water, and the bread and water were topped up as the meal went on.

Three fish courses and a single large ravioli brought us eventually to the beef which was served with three vegetables and potato, but these were unrecognisable as they were presented, each of them delicious and, amazingly, filling. The beef, Highland, of course, was superb.

We opted not to have the optional cheese course and went straight to the two desserts, again, small, delicious and plenty. Espresso coffee rounded off the meal nicely and we retired to our room well-satisfied.

On the final day we were not due to leave until the 16:00 train, so we arranged to check out at 15:00 and had a final attempt, unsuccessful, to obtain admission to the National Museum and decided to go on a bus tour of the city instead, having been plied with a leaflet by Bright Bus on our first evening. It has a stop opposite the museum and runs every fifteen minutes so we went to the stop and waited for just a few moments. With our senior discount the fare was just £9 each for hop-on, hop-off travel on the tour bus all day. The rain held off and the open-top bus took us round a lot of the city with an informative commentary, and it interesting to see from a higher vantage point some of the places we had walked on the first evening. We left the bus near the castle and walked down through Princes Street Gardens, which had been closed for the previous two days, always a great place to be, and then made our way back, checked out and walked round the corner to the station for our train home.

Again we had a great ride along the Northumberland Coast and were plied with coffee, tea, biscuits and crisps from the First Class host at the end of the train (no trolley services anywhere during the pandemic) and took our own salad dinner bought from Mark & Spencer earlier in the day. Things went slightly awry at Newcastle Central when some passengers had to be refused boarding because they refused to wear face coverings, currently a legal requirement, and we left there five minutes late. This was slightly troublesome because we had a very tight connection to our train home at Peterborough. Some of the time was clawed back, however, and although we were a touch late getting into Peterborough it was easy enough to get over to platform 7 and board our train home. Unbelievably some people near us on the train south of York all claimed to be exempt from the face covering rule and although the train manager had to give them the benefit of such doubt as there was, he did check their tickets and ordered them to leave as they were not in their booked seats - indeed they were travelling First Class on standard tickets.

All in all we had had a wonderful time. Not as wonderful as we had expected when we first booked it a year ago but wonderful anyway. It was just a weekend but it was a great weekend. It had been expensive but we had what we paid for and felt we'd had excellent value. The hotel and the art gallery had only been open a matter of days after closure because of the coronavirus pandemic and yet we were served brilliantly by capable and dedicated staff, and at the hotel in particular felt like valued customers - which we probably were, given the number who must have cancelled. No foreign guests, no Festival. We were fortunate that The Balmoral was still trading. 

We shall try to take our Royal Scotsman trip next year, and we hope we can stay at The Balmoral again before we take that train.

Update:

I have now posted a brief description of our previous stay at the then North British Hotel in 1984: you can see it at Back in Time for a Break in Edinburgh! It was all very different then.

Exciting Trip for Next Summer

Edinburgh

Scotland again, but by a very special train this time

I have just taken the plunge and booked a trip through the Scottish Highlands on Belmond's Royal Scotsman, a very special trip to celebrate a special wedding anniversary next summer. I have also booked a couple of night's at the Balmoral Hotel (formerly the North British) adjacent to Edinburgh Waverley from which the tour departs, and our actual anniversary will be spent there, leaving on the Royal Scotsman the day after.

The trip takes in the Kyle of Lochalsh line, the only line out of Inverness that we have yet to travel, so it all fits in nicely. I look forward tremendously to the experience, and to writing about it afterwards.

Meanwhile there will be other journeys and experiences, of course, beginning later this month with another visit to Bath for a session at the Thermae Bath Spa and just to take life easy at the Royal Hotel. We are taking up a special offer of inclusive dinner with wine at no more than the usual bed-and-breakfast rate - and in all our trips to Bath we have never actually had dinner at the hotel before, so that, too, will be a new experience and will make the trip more relaxing, although less adventurous. It is a measure of how popular the hotel restaurant is that I had trouble booking a table several weeks in advance! Also adding to the relaxing feel of the trip is that I have been able to book reasonably-priced First Class seats with Cross Country as far as Bristol. The whole three days will feel like pampering, but at a budget price! I'll write it up as soon as I get the chance.

In December I have the group outing to Canterbury, too, which should be a grand day out.

Nothing is sorted out for next spring yet, and no beach holiday for the summer, so there is some planning yet to do.