Traipsing Through the Trossachs.

The A82 passing through Glencoe.
(Photo by Stuart MacInnes. Licensed under CC BY 2.0) 

We will be picking up our rental car at the airport and Glasgow and for the next 2.5 weeks will be driving around Scotland, including a route that will take us to the highlands and via a loop through the Outer and Inner Hebrides will bring us back to the highlands and then Glasgow.

Scotland's City of Art and Architecture. Glasgow.

Shadow Hand Puppets, Cowcaddens Underpass. Street Mural by Rogue One (aka Bobby McNamara) in collaboration with Art Pistol.
(Photo from the City Centre Mural Trail website.)

We will arrive into Glasgow by train from Aberdeen after spending a week in Shetland and Orkney.  I started researching Glasgow by looking for Airbnb apartments for us to stay in and noticed that there weren't all that many tourist sites to see that were not either castles or palaces or gardens.  Not that I don't like castles, palaces or gardens but Scotland is so full of these that coming to Glasgow to just see more did not thrill me one bit. 

Scotland! The Shetland and Orkney Islands.

St. Ninian's Isle and the tombolo connecting it to the mainland, Shetland Islands
(Photo by ThomWi. Licensed under Public Domain)

When I first started giving thought to the itinerary for this trip, I turned to the country's official tourism website for ideas.  By the way, that website is so informative that that is pretty much the primary website I used to plan this trip.  Another very useful website is Historic Environment Scotland which provides a lot of information on historic sites (there are lots!) throughout Scotland.

Scotland! Edinburgh.

The Royal Mile, Edinburgh
(Photo by Kim Traynor. Licensed under CC by SA 3.0)

From the Faroe Islands, we will return to Edinburgh for a few days.  August is festival month in Edinburgh and Pat and I will be taking in as much as we can in the 2 short days that we will be in Edinburgh.  Pat and both love the theatre and so our time in the city will focus on going to see performances of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, seeing works of art on display as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival and for one night, attending the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo which I am certifiably obsessed over thanks to the countless YouTube videos that I have seen of the annual event.