Whisky is one of the things Scotland is famous for. If you have never tried it do it here.
Mostly Scottish whiskies are divided by six regions: Speyside
Lowlands
Highlands Islands Campeltown Islay
Lowland and Speyside whiskies are usually quite smooth the further north you go the smokier the palette will become and westwards you get ‘peatiness’, especially on Islay. Islay being an island of only 25 miles length but with eight whisky distilleries: true whisky lovers heaven!
We have divided our whisky tours by whisky region and added on a Fife Tour due to the fact that Starfish Travel is based in St Andrews, Fife- the Kingdom of Fife to be precise.
Fife traditionally had a high number of distilleries, most of them did not survive. Currently, there are a number of new distilleries, some of which I would like to specially name:
Daftmill Distillery close to Cupar, founded by two farming brothers and so exquisite that so far it has been almost impossible to buy their first proper Whisky.
Lindores Distillery only started whisky production in 2017 but after a break of 523 years. The first record of distilling was in 1494!!!
There is also Kingsbarns Distillery founded in 2014 and now owned by the Wemyss family but brain child of of a local caddie Douglas Clement. The Wemyss also moved the production of their famous “Darnley’s View” gin from London to Kingsbarns. The name referring to the second husband of Queen Mary of the Scots. She allegedly laid eyes on him for the first time at the family’s home in Wemyss.
With the shorter days in winter taking lengthy drives into the heartland of the highlands become less joyful. Whereas in summer the sky literally is your limit (17.30 hrs daylight) by end of October we have 9 hour day demonising to only 7 hours in December.
However, that should not stop you from visiting the amazing landscapes and people of Scotland.
We have therefore created some examples of a winter tour which will allow you to enjoy sunrise and sunset at equally amazing locations:
Take an hours drive within stunning settings to Glamis Castle and explore the Royal family links to this impressive castle. Have lunch here or somewhere on the way (your driver can advise on locations and book tables accordingly).
Enjoy a scenic drive along the costal route to Edinburgh centre and visit the Christmas Market, take a leisurely walk across the city centre, exploring Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh Castle, The Royal Mile and New Town.
Enjoy a delightful lunch or dinner in one of Edinburgh’s many exquisite restaurants and return comfortably to St Andrews.
Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh,Holyrood Park & King Arthur’s SeatRoyal Mile EdinburghEdinburgh Castle
Some of you will remember this estate as Sandringham’s home in the series Outlander (and indeed it was this film location). In real life however this amazing house containing in the excess of 100 rooms -47 of them bedrooms- is still the family home of the Hope family who back in their heydays owned pretty much anything from Cupar to Haddington.
I volunteer once a week for a few hours at Kellie Castle which is owned and maintained by the National Trust Scotland. Once a year all volunteers are invited to a day out at another property, which this year was Hopetoun House .
Hopetoun House ready for Christmas
Hopetoun House is open to the public during the summer and because it is run by a private trust it prospers on many other activities, such as weddings, carriage driving or as film location. When we arrived it was just getting ready for the filming of a winter scene:
Winter scene at Hopetoun House
In summer you can follow the foot steps of Jamie and Claire from the series of Outlander when visiting the property.
We as NTS volunteers had the amazing opportunity of an extended tour through the house and some very educational insights into restoring tapestries.
The original Hopetoun House (which is still there but has been extended excessively) was build by an architect of the name Sir William Bruce, who also built Holyrood Palace (one of the current Queen’s residencies in Scotland). The construction took two years and was concluded in 1701. Only twenty years later William Adam was assigned to extend the house to what is now. It took him until he dies in 1748.
So let me share some of the less common knowledge items of Hopetoun:
The Riding House
Above you see the ballroom of today’s Hopetoun House which is frequently used for weddings and business functions. However its original purpose was a covered area for training Hopetoun horses. Opposite you can still see the stables which now serve as tea room – amidst those building is a water tower. The horses had running water before the humans did. Hopetoun also was one of the first properties to have electricity back in 1890
Marble selecting table
The above table was originally intended to give you a flavour of different types of marble you could choose from. However they were so much liked that they ended up being furniture in their own right.
Marquis of Hopetoun House
If you look at crowns in a property you can count balls, five and the owner is a Marquis, three if it is an Earl and a Duke did not have any balls
Does Hopetoun House have the oldest dictionary?
If you love books you could possible spend days if not weeks here.
A Dutch Clock with a mind of its ownOriginal paintings rediscovered
The above paintings were covered with several coats of white paint for many, many years. Meanwhile in the 1960ties another artist repainting the tower of which these are a ceiling and not knowing of the ceiling paintings he did keep the style…and theme
The most uncomfortable bed
This bed was created in case the king decided to visit. Unfortunately it dates back to a time when people slept in a seated position because they feared the devil would snap up their soul should the lie down…
Tapestry
Finally a picture of one of the many tapestries of Hopetoun House.
Apart from the house, the amazing grounds and views the estate also contains Midhope Castle which is a ruin and was in Outlander Lallybroch.
D
