
Today, after a little bit of Scottish city sightseeing, I made it back to England and after a drive of 238 miles I’ve arrived in Preston, Lancashire, to grab a few hours rest before I drive to work.
After breakfast at the hotel I set off for Scone Palace – the Crowning Palace of Scottish Kings. As well as visiting the castle itself, the grounds are open to the public to walk around.



As I left Scone Palace I joked in a WhatsApp group that I was ‘going to find a traffic jam going South‘. Spoke too soon. The M90 was a nightmare through the roadworks which forced 2 lanes of traffic in to one. I crawled through the roadworks at about 2mph.
For reasons only known to my phone, before I got to the traffic jam the sat nav took me from the castle on to the M90, then off the motorway at the next junction…and then back on again at the next one!
But otherwise, not a bad drive from Perth, through Fife and in to Edinburgh where I stopped to check out Scotland’s capital city. I parked in the multi-storey only a few minutes from Edinburgh Castle.


My 2hr 6min stop in Edinburgh was nowhere near enough to see and do everything, so I think Edinburgh’s one to come back and do properly another time (along with the Highlands).
As I walked along the Royal Mile before returning to the car the sound of bagpipes could be heard. The bagpipes made my day – I love bagpipes!

By this time it ws after 5 and with many miles to cover I needed to make a move. On the way to Preston from Edinburgh I ticked off the Scottish council areas (which is what Scotland has now instead of traditional counties).
Whereas yesterday my drive covered only the Highland Council area and Perth & Kinross, today I drove through: Perth & Kinross, Fife, City of Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire and Dumfries & Galloway – before reaching the English border to drive through Cumbria and Lancashire. Ticking off the counties as I get closer to Gloucestershire.
After leaving Edinburgh I stopped just twice – once at Gretna Services on the A74(M), about a mile from the border, and then again at Tebay Services on the M6.
An early night is calling now as I’ve got to be up for the long drive to work tomorrow…
Soraidh, Alba!
(Gaelic for farewell/goodbye/see you later, Scotland).
FH.