Scotland

Harry Potter’s Scotland

While many parts of the United Kingdom try to claim that they have influenced the writing of Harry Potter, there is no doubt that Scotland holds an important influence, and indeed homes the actual cafes were pen was put to paper by JK Rowling . As you probably know if you have seen any of our blog, we are big Potterheads. Miss 10 leads the current charge, but her mother is more than happy to follow suit, still being a big fan and remembering her first readings of each book. This year has been a Harry Potter filled year, we saw the exhibition of JK Rowling writing in New York Historical Museum, and we have stayed in London in a Harry Potter themed hotel, and watched the Cursed Child in our Magical weekend. We’ve also previously adventured to Studio Tour outside London, and last year been to Universal Studies for some Harry Potter wonderment! Phew, it has been magical indeed.

Anyway, Scotland holds some wonders in Harry Potter themed adventures that you can take. Here are the highlights for us!

Glencoe and the Scottish Highlands

Exploring the dreamy Scottish Highlands it feels like you could be anywhere in a Harry Potter Movie. Glencoe is just that, Harry Potter’s Scotland. Not only the filming location for Hagrid’s Hut, you may also recognise it as the place where Hermione punches Malfoy and the moment when Xenophilius Lovegood calls the Death Eaters on Harry, Ron, and Hermione in Deathly Hallows Pt. 2. Spellboundingly magical.

Harry Potter Walking Tour Edinburgh

We joined Jonny in the free Harry Potter walking tour around the sights. You book the tickets online for free, then at the end give a donation on what you feel it was worth. All 5 of us enjoyed a hot (for Scotland) afternoon, exploring and listening to Jonny tell us all the magical tales. Starting on the Royal Mile, you can see JK Rowlings handprints in the ground at City Chambers!

Victoria Street

Victoria St in Edinburgh is what inspired Rowling to create Diagon Alley. A claim quite a few streets of the UK have made, including in London and in York. As we stood on the diagonally (get it?) set street up a hill, the rainbow of colours stand out amongst the older traditional Edinburgh landscape. There’s plenty of coffee shops, magic shops and Harry Potter souvenir shops. We enjoyed seeing the joke shop nestled at the end of the street-just like going into the Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. Some happy purchasers enjoyed their shopping adventure.

The Elephant House

We finished our walking tour nearby the ‘birthplace of Harry Potter’ and rested the weary legs with a bun and coffee afterwards. It is claimed that JK Rowling spent most of her time writing her first Harry Potter books in this location and therefore is an essential rite of passage for any Potterhead. It is a bright cafe, full of elephants statues in all shapes and sizes. The food went down well, but the highlight is the bathrooms. Covered from floor to ceiling with graffiti crafted by other Harry Potter fans. Apparently at the start they used to paint over the graffiti, but finally gave it and let it stay. So many quotes and jokes inscribed over every inch of the bathroom, hopefully we’ve not inspired a graffiti phase for these three!

When Rowling needed some peace to finish off the final Harry Potter book, she checked into the Balmoral Hotel, apparently the afternoon tea is worth a trip!

Find Tom Riddle’s grave

Located in the eerie Greyfriars’ Kirkyard is the real grave to Thomas Riddle Esquire. Apparently, JK Rowling used to stroll through the graveyard and gated inspiration for some of her characters from the gravestones. Along with Tom Riddle’s grave, you can find graves of Elizabeth Moodie, William McGonagall, James Potter and the tomb of Peeves the Poltergeist. Happy grave hunting! You can also peek through the gates at George Heriot’s School – a prestigious primary school, that has a certain Hogwarts feel around it?

Now for the big excitement and a bucket list trip for me……..

The Hogwarts Express, otherwise known as the Jacobite Steam Train

Miss 10 (and me too if I’m being honest) have dreamt of getting our Hogwarts letter, running through Platform 9 3/4 and taking off on the Hogwarts Express this is the closest any muggle will get. Commencing in the gateway to the Highlands, Fort William, we boarded the Jacobite Steam Train and spent 2 hours through the scenic countryside to Hogwarts, or actually the fishing town of Mallaig. From Mallaig we headed on our wonderful Isle of Skye adventure. The magic of this steam train is that it crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct – from the actual Harry Potter movies. Amazing. On board, when asked if you want anything from the trolley, resist the urge to scream ‘we’ll take the lot’ and content yourself with a Butterbeer Hot Chocolate or chocolate frog. These tickets sell out fast – so book months in advance at West Coast Railways. It was such an adventure. Sad faces to arrive in Mallaig and not Hogwarts , but Haggard’s Alley Shop cheered everyone up once again.

Another recommendation is to see the train cross the Glenfinnan Viaduct.
In our case, we sent the husband on to be our official photographer of us crossing! It’s about a 10 minute hike from the viewing station to get the perfect view, and there’s quite the crowd so get there in good time to get your picture perfect stop!

There you have it, our guide to a wonderful Scottish Harry Potter Adventure. Enjoy!

Isle of Skye is the land of magic, nature and wonder. It has sparked the little imaginations, and we’ve enjoyed learning to hike and explore the countryside more. To the extent, they all want the proper gear, and are ready for their next walking adventure, Irish mountainside here we come. It takes its name from the old Norse sky-a, meaning ‘cloud island’, a reference from the Vikings due to the oft mist covered Cuillin Hills. It’s the second largest of the Scottish Islands, 50 miles in length. Since we met doing Geography degrees, it was the perfect adventure – the children are much preferring the folklore stories regarding the landscape formation than their parents tales!

We enjoyed a 2 night trip to the Island in the Easter Holidays. We were totally spoilt with the weather, it was warm, no need for a coat and we all got a tan! However, be more cautious I do think it is more common to experience some (a lot) rain and wind. These are our top suggestions for an adventure with kids (or indeed without but in that case I’d add some distillery experiences for sure!

You can arrive in Skye by Ferry or by bridge, we did one each way, which brought with it adventure and exploration. Book the ferry in advance from Mallaig with CalMac.

The Fairy Pools

Nestled in the Cuillin Mountain range, and down a long single track windy road, past the numerous breath taking views, and two waterfalls, is the hike to the magical Fairy Pools. It’s about a 30 minute hike (well at our pace) from car park, to the pools, and up some hills. Little legs were tired along the route but as Miss 6 said herself, it was more than worth the hike at the destination. It’s not a difficult at hike, but we saw someone carrying a pram back – not to be recommended at all. Through stream crossings, and over bumpy terrain it was perfect adventuring.

At your destination, there’s crystal clear pools, with some waterfalls and it’s easy to imagine the magic of fairies playing around them all. All three enjoyed dipping their toes in to the freezing cold water and splashing a little. With the sun beating down, the water sparkled blue, and we relaxed taking in the incredible scenery around us. When they were finally plucked away, they running through the gorse back to the valley, before the steepest climb back up to the car. Little tired bunnies by the end, and glad to rest for the drive to our accommodation.

Note there’s no visitor centres, or toilets. It is a very popular spot and you can swim so bring a towel, your swimsuit and water/ snacks that you need for a couple of hours. Enjoy it is pure magic.

Sligachan Bridge

This is a famous bridge with the Cuillin Hills in the backdrop. The Cuillin Hills are Britain’s most spectacular mountain range. There’s an alpine nature in the landscape, with steep knife edged ridges, naked rocks and scree-filled gullies. It is very picturesque and there’s many an instagram photo from the area. We enjoyed exploring through the rocks, and climbing over the stream. It’s a good starting point for more adventurous trip up the mountains , not for us, we are a bit wee yet for such adventures. There’s a hotel right beside it, with a wonderful pub and traditional Scottish restaurant called Seumas Bar – I enjoyed my vegetarian haggis!

The Fairy Glen – near Uig

Nearby where we were staying was the Magical Fairy Glen. It is situated on the Trotternish Peninsula, but for some reason not that many people venture there. I’m really not sure why, as I think this ranks as one of my top things to do in Skye. There’s lots of fun hills, and valleys to explore, and lots of little stone circles – the kids were enthralled. I was mightily impressed by the just married couple, who where up the top of the rock in full wedding dress (plus hiking boots) getting their photos taken. It was a lovely day, they are going to get some great footage from the drone they had flying overhead!

Quiraing – is situated close by on the way across to the Staffin area. It is a fascinating basalt formation. There’s a 4.5 mile hike to get up close to the cliffs, that is recommended – unfortunately it was a bit much for us this time with all the other things we were doing. Something for next time!

Portree

The main town of Isle of Skye – with the postcard picture along the seafront, we visited for a few hours to get some supplies in the shops, enjoy a fish and chips on the shore, and purchase some lovely artwork for our house! As we enjoyed our fish and chips, a man pointed out the Golden Eagle circling above our heads- amazing!

Old Man of Storr

A short drive from Portree is the picture postcard iconic view of the Isle of Skye, with the spiky pinnacles of rock set up against rolling green hills. We didn’t get to hike up to it, but it is a strong recommendation for a visit if you can manage it.

Kilt Rock, Mealt Falls and Brother’s Point

On further from Old Man of Storr towards Staffin there’s some spectacular coastal scenery. From the viewpoint, if you look north to see Mealt Falls and Kilt Rock, then look south, the scenery is almost as beautiful and you can see Rubha nam Brathairean (Brother’s Point) off in the distance – there’s another interesting easy hike to Brother’s Point.

Staffin Dinosaur Museum

Nearly by Staffin, there’s a really interesting little museum- Staffin Dinosaur Museum. The kids were fascinated with the fossils and history of the dinosaurs of old in Skye. They even have tours to find the often difficult to find dinosaur footprints in Staffin Bay. It is an excellent collection well worth a stop.

Claigan Coral Beach

This beach is another contender for my favourite location on Skye. A short hike (of around 1 mile) and through the now typical Skye coastline and you come across this beauty. It’s not really coral being in Scotland after all, it just looks like it! Fascinatingly it is made from crushed bleached skeletons of Red Coraline seaweed. It makes the water look tropical blue when the sun shines and has a finely crushed white beach. Full of wonderful shells and on a low tide day you can cross over to Lampay island on a causeway! Pure magic!

Dunvegan Castle

On the way to the coral beach you can find Dunvegan Castle and Gardens. There are good reviews about it, due to the gorse fire, we didn’t have enough time to spend to justify the cost! However, would be a good rainy day activity if you need inside for a while.

Also in this general direct is Neist Point – thanks to the fire we didn’t make it this far, but it is recommended as a nice place to visit if you are in the area.

Accommodation in Skye

We stayed near Uig in the wonderful Clouds B&B which has a perfect space for a family room. The details were incredible, it was comfortable, with a delicious simple start breakfast of cereal, yoghurt, breads, cheese, fruits, juice and coffee, and spectacular views especially of the epic sunsets. The little details like toys in the bedrooms, a record player, outside swing and slide set, and comfy blankets made us feel perfectly at home. The family were welcoming and informative. An excellent find – do check it out.

In terms of planning your route, coming from the boat from Mallaig, towards Uig, Sligachan Bridge, and the Fairy Pools are close by each other, and the Fairy Glen is nearby Uig. Dunvegan Caste, Claigan Coral Beach, and Neist Point are the same side of the Island. From Portree the Old Man of Storr is en route to the Staffin area which has Mealt Falls, Brothers Point, Kilt Rock and the Dinosaur Museum. Out of the whole Skye trip, we didn’t pay anything other than £5 for the Staffin Dinosaur Museum.

We ended up with an unscheduled change in our plans when we came across a road closed due to an ongoing gorse fire! It was significant, and there was considerable smoke in the area. Some panic from some nameless little people, the adults were very interested in the whole situation. The next day you could see vast areas scorched. A common problem in summer but apparently this was early on in the season for one!