The Itinerary

Since I haven't actually started my adventure yet, and this blog is therefore pretty lonely without stories and pictures to share, I thought I'd just start off with a description of what this trip is going to entail. I haven't planned it down to the minute, of course, because it wouldn't be an adventure if I'd done that! Still, I have a general idea of what I'll be doing, and some highlights that I definitely intend to include, so I'm able to give you a little outline.

May 6 - Departure

I take off from home at 8:05pm on May 6, and the flight lasts six and a half hours. When I arrive in London, though, it will be 7:30am on May 7! I can only hope that jet lag won't sink its claws into me.

May 7 - Arrival and First Day in London

My first day in London will mostly involve getting out of the airport and checking into my small hotel in Hammersmith, West London. It's about an hour's Tube ride from London Heathrow airport to London itself. Time and weather permitting, I intend to take a stroll through Hyde Park and maybe check out Kensington Gardens after I've gotten settled. If I have plenty of time, I might also pop by the V&A or the Natural History Museum, which are close to Hyde Park, to see what's there and plan what I might like to see on a longer visit later in the week.

May 8-11 - Exploring London

London's a big, bustling city with a great public transit system, and I intend to see a lot of it! Hopefully, I'll be a pro Tube rider by the end of the week I'm spending here. I've tried not to structure my time here too much, so that I can have the freedom to spend more time on the things that interest me and less on the things that don't turn out to be quite as captivating. However, I do have some idea of the things I might like to see...

- The Royal Parks

- Kensington Palace

- Westminster Abbey

- Big Ben

- Tower of London

- Natural History Museum

- National Gallery

- National Portrait Gallery

- V&A

- British Museum

- Saint Paul's Cathedral

- London Zoo (especially the reptile house, essential for a Harry Potter fan)

- Platform 9 3/4 (also a Harry Potter necessity)

- Fancy streets where rich people go shopping (and I go window shopping)

May 12 - Day Trip to Oxford

May 12 marks the first day of my eight-day adventure on the rails! The ride from London to Oxford takes one to two hours. I'll be enjoying first class on this train thanks to my 8-Day First Class BritRail Pass, so here's hoping for good weather, lots of leg room and a nice big window for photographing the landscape! Visiting Oxford has always been a dream of mine, so my whole day will be spent wandering the college grounds and appreciating the old buildings, as well as, hopefully, getting to see some Harry Potter filming locations, like the Bodleian library and various locations at Christ Church College, pictured to the right. I'm not really sure they're going to be able to make me leave! What a beautiful place, so rich in history and beautiful architecture.

May 13 - The Long Haul to Fort William

The morning and afternoon of May 13 will be spent packing up, checking out, leaving my luggage safely at the train station, and then doing a last bit of sightseeing in London before I wave goodbye to it for a bit more than five days and start the Scottish part of my adventure. The night of May 13 is one of the highlights of my trip, and the part I'm really excited about: at 8:30pm, I'll board the famous Caledonian Sleeper train, and, at 9:15pm, we set off on a thirteen-hour, 500-mile ride up to Fort William, in the Highlands.

I'll have sole occupancy of a standard class twin berth like the one pictured on the left, and, hopefully, the journey will include samples of haggis and Glenfiddich whisky, as well as a nice hearty breakfast in the morning. The berth is equipped with a wash basin (covered by the blue countertop in the picture) and nice fluffy pillows, so I should be pretty comfortable! Travelling a long distance on a sleeper train has been a longtime dream of mine, and so I can't wait to fall asleep to the sounds of the train, to look out that window early in the morning and see the beautiful Scottish countryside rolling by. On the train, they sell a book called The Iron Roads to the Isles, which describes each station on the line and points out when to expect the most scenic sections. In that book, you learn that the West Highland Line, on which the Sleeper runs, is considered one of the most beautiful rail journeys in the world. I can't wait to see it in person, but, until then, here is a nice sampler of what the journey is like. This video really inspired me to make the Sleeper journey.

May 14 - Fort William and Mallaig

I'll arrive in Fort William on the Caledonian Sleeper around 10:00am on May 14, and proceed to check into my hotel and offload the bulk of my luggage. With that done, it's back to the train station to hop on a train around noon and make the 1.5-hour journey to Mallaig. There's not much to see in Mallaig, as far as I can tell, so why would I want to go there? Well, the answer is twofold. Firstly, the trip from Fort William to Mallaig represents the end of the beautiful West Highland Line, and why wouldn't I want to see it through the to end, having come so far? Secondly, and most importantly, a picture is worth a thousand words:

That's right, folks; the route from Fort William to Mallaig crosses the gorgeous Glenfinnan Viaduct, which you may recognize from the film version of  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. In this picture, we see the Jacobite steam train (otherwise known as the Hogwarts Express), which leaves Fort William twice a day. Unfortunately, my arrival time doesn't coincide with the Jacobite's schedule, so I won't be able to ride the train itself, but that's all right; riding a normal train will save me some money (it's included in my BritRail pass) while still allowing me to see the beautiful scenery.

May 15 - Fort William to Edinburgh

I'll spend the night of May 14 in Fort William before getting an early start on May 15 and catching the noon train to Edinburgh. It's about a five-hour journey, assuming I don't take a little break at Glasgow Queen Street on the way there, so it will pretty much take up the whole day. From then on, I'll be using Edinburgh as my base city for day trips to other parts of Scotland, as well as exploring Edinburgh itself on May 16.

Two of the things I'm really looking forward to seeing in Edinburgh are the famous Arthur's Seat, from which you can get a lovely view of the city, and Greyfriars Kirkyard, a beautiful old cemetery featured on one of my favourite shows, Ghost Adventures.

Greyfriars Kirkyard is pictured at left here, looking much less creepy in the daytime on a sunny day! However, it's got lots of scary stories associated with it. I'd also like to do a haunted walk in Edinburgh, which has plenty of creepy places to explore in the evening by lantern light, but I'll have to take into account how late the walk ends--safety first!

Of course, I'll also want to visit the Palace of Holyroodhouse while I'm in Edinburgh. I'll be busy!

May 17 - Glasgow

Even on a Sunday, there's regular train service from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and the ride takes about an hour. In Glasgow, I'll be visiting the University of Glasgow, among other places. There are so many beautiful universities in the UK, aren't there?

May 18 - Aberdeen

It's about two and a half hours from Edinburgh to Aberdeen. Like Glasgow, Aberdeen has a beautiful university to visit, as well as many historic cathedrals, and, believe it or not, a popular beach.

May 19 - Edinburgh to London

My journey will be winding down as I pack up and check out of Edinburgh, hopping on a train back to London, where I'll stay for one more night before departing for home at 2:10pm on May 20. The journey from Edinburgh to London takes about five hours, and I should be enjoying first class again on this lengthy ride, so it will give me some time to relax after spending a busy few days in Scotland.

Depending on when I arrive in London, I might do a last bit of sighseeing or just get something to eat and relax in my room for the evening, resting up for the plane ride the next day.

May 20 - The End of the Adventure

May 20 will be spent getting through the airport and onto my plane home! After leaving London at 2:10pm, I'll spend another six and a half hours on the plane, only to arrive back home at 4:25pm! That will definitely be weird, and I'll probably be heading straight for a nap in my own bed. It'll be good to be home, and, hopefully, I'll have lots of pictures to show and stories to tell about my UK adventure!