Scotland in the Fall

Since I had some free time, I decided to finally visit Scotland. This was not my first time in the United Kingdom, but it was the first time I had been back in well over twenty years. The last time that I was in the UK was in England when I was a senior in high school, and I’ve been out of high school for quite a long time. Therefore, it was definitely time to revisit the UK.

While I wanted to visit Wales during this trip as well, it was not possible due to time constraints, but I was content to spend my time in Scotland. A lot of people are often shocked that I waited this long to visit Scotland considering all of the other places that I have been to in years past, but that is just how it happened.

During my time in Scotland, I was initially torn between staying in Glasgow or Edinburgh. I initially opted for Glasgow since it seemed to be more reasonably priced, but I ultimately decided to base myself in Edinburgh since that was where most of the attractions I wanted to see were located. I ended up staying at a nice place right on the Royal Mile not too far from Holyrood Palace and only a couple minutes from Canongate Kirkyard, which is where Adam Smith, author of “Wealth of Nations” is buried.

I decided to visit Scotland in late September/early October since I wanted to avoid crowds if possible. However, as I have said before in previous posts, I do not think there really is a shoulder season anymore, at least for the UK, since I found Edinburgh to be extremely crowded with other visitors, but that is just my own perspective. Maybe it is even more crowded in the summer, but I am not sure. Either way, it did not really affect my time since I still was able to see everything that I wanted to see in the city without any major issues.

Regarding the weather, I found the weather to shift rapidly. There were some days when it was sunny to the point to where I was sweating then it would be quite chilly, and that could be in the same day. The key is of course to dress in layers. One of my concerns coming during the fall was the issue of rain. However, during my time there, it only rained for a brief amount of time on only a couple days, and it did not really hinder any plans.

I really enjoyed walking Edinburgh especially walking up and down the Royal Mile along with its many side streets. There were tons of treasures everywhere, and some of my particular favorite places were St. Giles Cathedral with the Thistle Chapel and its extremely intricate fan vaulting in the ceiling (Check out the Photo Gallery), Holyrood Palace, Calton Hill, and the National Gallery. If I have to be honest, while I had the opportunity to visit the famed Edinburgh Castle, I think Holyrood Palace was much more interesting since I felt there was a lot more to see in the Palace than the Castle.

I also had the opportunity to visit the Scottish Parliament and sit in on a session of parliament, which was part of Members' Business. For this session, a speech was given on the topic of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. It was an interesting experience since I got to have a chance to see a legislative session from a different country.

While I based myself in Edinburgh, I also made sure to book some tours to see more of what Scotland had to offer. To be honest, one tour I took actually went into northern England to check out Hadrian's Wall, which formed the northern border of the Roman Empire until the construction of the Antonine Wall, which is further north. This was actually really nice, and I can now say that I have the experience of walking along a small part of Hadrian's Wall (Check out the Photo Gallery).

Another site that I really enjoyed was Melrose Abbey. Unfortunately, on the day I went, a good portion of it was under renovation and had a lot of scaffolding. However, I had seen many pictures of it over the years, I am glad that I got to finally see it with my own eyes. I only wish that I had the opportunity to actually go and walk around inside, but that will have to wait for a future trip.

Loch Ness and Urqhuart Castle — Loch Ness from Urqhuart Castle

Of course, while in Scotland, no visit is complete without a trip to Loch Ness. I had an opportunity to take a boat tour of the lake and to Urqhuart Castle. No, I did not see anything unusual, but maybe next time.

However, while all the sites that I had a chance to see were all amazing, my favorite part of the Scotland visit was seeing the Scottish Highlands. The landscape was absolutely beautiful, and I can only imagine how it might look during the summer months.

Ultimately, while I was initially not entirely sure how successful the trip to Scotland would be during the fall, I think it went better than I expected. The weather for the most part was reasonable, there were tons of things to see, and I had the opportunity to check out more of Scotland along with a bit of northern England to see Hadrian's Wall.

I would definitely be willing to return to Scotland in the future, and hopefully I can include Wales next time as well.

Please enjoy the Photo Gallery. All photos were taken by me using an iPhone 16 Pro Max.