Day Trip: Holy Island, Lindisfarne

Holy Island is the site of the first Viking attack. With a castle, a ruined monastery and several beaches complete with an icecream truck, what more could you want in a day trip? This is one of our favorite places to go for the day.

Fast Facts:

• Distance from Edinburgh: 70 miles but some of it is under water periodically so check your tide schedule carefully when planning this trip!

• Using public transport: 2 hours and 12 minutes

• History: St Aidan established a monastery in 635 AD

• What there is to do: explore the hills surrounding Lindisfarne Castle, stack pebbles on the rocky beach, visit the church and the ruined monastery and imagine the Viking attack!

• Tip: after getting of the train in Berwick-upon-Tweed, coerce all family members especially kids to use the toilet before getting on the bumpy bus to Holy Island!

The church is well worth a visit - and free! This awesome live-size sculpture didn't impress our youngest but we thought it was a fascinating nod to the history.

Do not miss out on the lovely beaches - some sides of the island are all pebbles but near where the monks went out to pray there is a lovely sandy beach.

The toilets are reasonably clean and free at the bus stop. We have never actually gone into the castle, which is of Victorian origins, but it looks beautiful.

Day Trip: Arniston House

Arniston House is a hard-to-find gem tucked away in the wilds along the Border Railway. What is really special is you get a guided tour by the owner so it is a must-see! Full of rich history and everything a historic house should have - amazing artwork, tapestries, painstakingly redone wallpapers. Sir Walter Scott dined here. Much of the stonework which might have been discarded and lost forever from the old Scottish Parliament has been preserved at Arniston. When the new parliament building reopened, Arniston re-gifted stonework.

Fast Facts:

• Distance from Edinburgh:  13 miles
• Using public transport: 1 hour and 20 minutes but quite a lot of this is walking from the train station!
• History: this land originally belonged the Knight Templar and then the Knights of St. John. Their stone keep was knocked down to be replaced with the beautiful house which has been in the Dundas family for 400 years! They were one of the most influential families in Scotland in the 1700's.
• What there is to do: walk the fairytale woodlands, explore the stream, play spot the stonework, admire ancient trees, walk around the outside of the house (the owner has stashed some guided tours on printer paper in the foyer which we read while we walked), and take the tour of the house! The owner and her daughter take turns doing parts of the guided tours which are fascinating and riddled with family lore!

Pros:

• Beautiful gardens and woodlands
• Historic house
• Famous artists
• Convenient benches out front for picnicking
• Clean bathrooms attached to the stableyard
• the owner herself guides the tour

Cons:

• This would not be a good day trip on a rainy day as there is a long hike involved and most of what you can see is outside - you only go inside for the scheduled tours
• Also not good if you are having problems walking long distances. I am sure we must have clocked at least 7 miles between walking from the train station to the house, all around the gardens and house for hours, and then back to the station.
• Tours only take place during summer months on certain days of the week and at certain times - it can be tricky to schedule it in!

Day Trip: Dunfermline

Dunfermline is best on a good day when the leaves are on the trees or just starting to fall. There is nothing more magical than walking through the Glen and seeing the old church loom up through the foliage or stumbling upon Malcolm's tower in the undergrowth. You feel like you can bump into history anywhere and everywhere in Dunfermline. One of the best medieval fairs in Scotland is the Bruce Festival, but it has not been held in several years.

Quick facts:

• Distance from Edinburgh: 45 miles

• Using public transport: 35 minutes minimum including a train ride over the Firth of Forth which small boys will love!

• History: Dunfermline was the royal seat and the capital of Scotland until the 17th century. It is still the 10th largest population cluster in Scotland.

• What there is to do: ramble through the Glen or Pittencrief Park with the foundations of a tower built by Malcolm Canmore, who defeated Macbeth and married St. Margaret. The ruins of the palace and connecting abbey, and the chapel where parts of Robert the Bruce are buried, are well worth a visit.

You can find wobbly rocks

And poke into old churches. Bruce's heart is supposedly buried under the altar part of this one!

The following are from the Bruce Festival, held in Pittencrief Park in August 2009:

this talented horseman is riding two horses at once!

the best 'Children's Army' event ever!

And it was of course an excuse to dress up in costume

Day Trip: Sweetheart Abbey

This ruins is deeply romantic even without the name. On the historic Scotland pass, the abbey is outwith the 'central belt' section of Scotland. We were in Dumfries and Rockcliffe and decided to visit the abbey. I do not know if it is worth making the trek unless you are already in the area but as old church connoisseurs, we enjoyed it.

Quick facts:

• Distance from Edinburgh:  80 miles
• Using public transport: 2 and a half hours
• History: founded in the 1200's in memory of Lady Dervorgilla's husband, John Balliol, the abbey was named Dulce Cor. An order of Cistercian monks built it and lived there till the Reformation. The abbey is part of Historic Scotland.
• What there is to do: stroll around the inside of the abbey, then go through the gate and walk around the beautiful fields but watch out for the clingy sheep!

the funniest part was that these sheep wouldn't stop following us around

the old wall which the monks built

there were beautiful flowers in the fields around

It is amazingly well preserved for a ruins

Other things in the area

there USED to be the Costume Museum in this lovely old ancestral home - but they closed it in 2011 or so! Luckily you can view a lot of the treasures of historical dress in the National Museum in Edinburgh now - but I do miss this quaint old house

This old mill with a working water wheel

beautiful beaches - do not be put off by names like Rockcliffe!

Holyrood House

Holyrood House is the original Renaissance safe house with an insurance package - the attached abbey where royal exiles could flee for sanctuary. The palace is beautiful and still a residence of the queen so you may not be able to view it particularly in late June or any other time if the royal family is in occupation.

History

Dating to the 1100's for the abbey, there have been many building projects over the years. The current abbey was destroyed during the Reformation by a mob.

Planning your visit

You should allow at least an hour and a half for Holyrood House. We enjoyed the audio tour.

There is parking nearby and the 35 bus goes quite close.

If you get your ticket stamped at the end, it turns into a year pass.

Holyrood House usually has a free day near or on St. Andrew's Day - on that day you cannot turn your ticket into a year pass.

Taking Kids

What could be more fun than going to see the queen's house?

We actually enjoyed the front courtyard most. There were the guard posts.

and the lion sculptures on random walls

The palace has a children's room. There are coloring sheets available.

Also laid out are old fashioned toys and tools.

There are costumes.

What really disgusts me is that the Holyrood House website claims the gardens are wonderful and well worth a visit - but when we visited there were signs everywhere saying to keep off the grass and every path except the main thoroughfare was roped off!

It is a gross lie to say it's a great place for kids to explore when there's nothing to explore! We were done doing the garden path circuit in 5 minutes.

Solo Packing for Transatlantic Trip

On my first solo trip I way over packed - I had a roller case to carry on and checked luggage too. Over the years I have paired down to knowing what is critical to pack and what can easily be left at home.

In an era of skyrocketing baggage charges, it makes sense to limit the amount of luggage on a trip.

There is nothing more embarrassing than coming home with clothes you never wore once on your trip - or worse something really heavy that you never used, like a hairdryer. So to save time, money and traveler's embarrassment, pack light!

Here are the essentials:

• Lots of disposable plastic bags - good for laundry, trash when there's no trash can around, and grocery runs - in the UK there is a law that you have to pay for even the cheapest plastic carrier bags at the supermarkets.
  
• Ziplock bags - sometimes leftovers from one meal can be a sustaining snack or the next meal 
• 
• Tissue 
  
• Face moisturizer/sunscreen - a combo of these is best 
  
• Soap bar or scrap in a zip lock bag, or soapless soap in your liquids
  
  
• Comb 
  
• Face towel 
  
• Brush 
  
  
• Mints 
  
• travel meds/general pain relief medication / chapstick / any medication you usually take - many a trip has been ruined by forgetting prescription medication for example anti-depressants
  
• One set of clothes with an extra set of undies and socks 
  
• One set of nightclothes which could double as backup day clothes 
  
• Laundry liquid to wash clothes in the sink every night 
  
• Hand cream - traveling often involves washing with really hand-destroying soaps - and hand sanitizer or a combo
• 
• Toothpaste 
  
• Toothbrush 
  
• Earbuds - sometimes airlines charge you for earbuds on the plane or give you low quality ones.
  
• Travel sickness bracelets 
  
• Phone and charger - you can use Wifi for free as far as your phone service is concerned; some European coffee shops still expect you to at least buy a drink if you're using their wifi. This should be treated as part of cultural courtesy. 
  
• A pen and a backup pen! 
  
• Water bottle 
  
  
  
• Sun glasses - if going somewhere potentially sunny like France or Italy especially if driving
  
• Camera 
  
• Visa documents and Passports 
  
• Documentation for everything
• frequent flyer numbers
• ticket numbers
• all paperwork and boarding passes from the outward flight

To wear:
Layers and any bulky jackets/coats
All money, passports, visa in inside pocket or hidden travel pouch
Easy on and off shoes for going through security

And that's it! All you need to breeze through security whilst everyone else on your flight lurks in baggage reclaim for ages.

Also see my what not to pick list and what I am telling my little sister about traveling in Europe alone!