Our 4-Day West Scotland Family Staycation

When my husband asked me where I would like to go this summer I was conflicted. Usually I love the idea of exploring a new country. Especially if it meant beautiful sunshine and sandy beaches. However this year my feelings were different. So many times I have neglected to take advantage of the country I lived in and properly get to know them. I have lived in Australia, Switzerland, and France and failed to explore any of them.  So I decided that it was about time I look at what was on my doorstep and discover Scotland. This is our beautiful 4-Day West Scotland Family Staycation.

Killin

After a weekend in Glasgow we headed to a small town not far from Loch Lomond called Killin. It is a town rich in history, beautiful scenery and friendly down to earth people. Being a big fan of the series Outlander, what attracted me to Killin was the prospect of seeing an ancient stone circle ( while taking pictures pretending to travel through them much to my husbands dismay) as well as visiting a clan burial site. However when we arrived we were both pleasantly surprised despite the fact that my husband doesn’t care much about history nor Outlander.

The scenery was beautiful with the Falls of Dochart running through the town and the hospitality we received was very warming. This was our first little holiday with our son Gabriel and the staff at The Courie Inn made us all feel very welcome. Not to mention the food in their restaurant was delicious!

Confidently Kylie’s Top Things to do

• Visit the Stone Circle
• Enjoy the peaceful views of the Falls of Dochart
• Visit the Clan burial ground
• Climb up the small hill near the city centre for spectacular views.
• Stay at the Courie Inn and have dinner in their lovely restaurant.

Isle of Mull

We arrived in Tobermory after a quick overnight stop in Oban and it felt like we were on a Mediterranean Island. The weather was perfect and the colourful seaside buildings and calm ocean painted a beautiful picture.  We spent our day hunting for otters and enjoying a wild life boat trip in the sun. The boat ride was nice but not really great for a 2 year old. He quickly got bored and I was thanking my lucky stars that we had packed his kindle. Be aware though that at night a lot of the restaurants do not accommodate children. We tried a few and were turned away. Luckily we found Macgochan’s pub with good priced food and a good kids menu.

Top things to do

• Stroll around the beautiful city centre of Tobermory and look at all the small boutiques
• Go Otter hunting
• Take a boat ride to see the wild life

Glencoe

We set off in the direction of Glencoe and stopped off at the famous Sanna Beach. As beautiful as the beach was unfortunately for us the weather turned and it was raining heavily. This kinda ruined the experience a little nevertheless we took Gabriel along the rock pools to look for crabs which ended up being one of his highlights of the whole trip.

My highlight of the trip however was visiting the Glenfinnan Viaduct also known as the Hogwarts Train. Being a huge Harry Potter fan it was great to see the famous bridge and we were lucky enough to see the steam train travel on it. The hike up was lovely despite the rain however the only downside was the midgies! The Glenfinnan Dining Car, which is an old train car turned café is perfect for lunch before the hike and Gabriel loved sitting in the train.

Unfortunately the rain in Glencoe thwarted ours plans of going on long nature walks so we decided to visit Fort William instead and have a little city break. We took Gabriel to a great soft play at the Nevis Centre to let him burn off some energy as well as visited the West Highland Museum. The Museum is great if you love history and love stories about Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites.

However one major issue we had while staying in Glencoe was finding places to eat in the evenings. We were staying in a small B&B in the middle of a residential area where restaurants were scarce. The first night we arrived it took us 3 failed attempts while driving for miles before we found a restaurant that had places available. Luckily the place we found was one of the best fish restaurants we have ever been to. The food and views of the lake were amazing and we all thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

Things to do

• Fort William – Visit The Soft play at the Nevis Centre or learn about Scottish History at the West Highland Museum
• Glenfinnan Viaduct : Start by having lunch at The Glenfinnan Dining Car, before hiking up to see the viaduct. Don’t forget the midge spray.
• Lochleven Seafood Cafe : This is a must! Have the langoustines as a starter!

We had a great little family staycation in the West of Scotland. I cannot wait to explore this beautiful country some more in the future.

Want more travel posts? Check out my post on our Barbados and St Lucia holiday.