On this trip: Four Fords... me and the wife and our 21 year old daughter and 25 year old son.
Now for the very long version.
We flew into Manchester, arriving on the morning of the 26th of December, aka, Boxing Day. We stayed in Manchester that day and walked most of the city center.
Out of the four UK cities we spent any time in, it was our least favorite. We did visit the Old Wellington which is their oldest pub. Nice place, but in the two times we tried to eat there they had issues both times and closed the kitchen early. We did enjoy some caskbeers though.
The next morning we left for Liverpool. It was an easy drive, coming in just under an hour. We did rent a car for our trip and it worked well for what we wanted to do.
Liverpool is a fun city. We did a Beatles bus tour, which was just ok.... I tried to book one of the smaller tours with just a driver and the four of us, but those were all reserved already.
Liverpool has a more fun city center to walk around than Manchester. Way more pubs. Liverpool has to be one of the cheapest places to drink in the modern world. Almost every pub had a great selection of cask or lagers on tap. We ate some good food, but only one really great meal there, which was a Sunday Roast, which is a thing around Liverpool.
Honestly, you know someone getting married and want to have an amazing bachelors/guys trip.... go to Liverpool.. stay in the city center....you'll save enough on drinks to pay for your flight... maybe....
Now Liverpool was the dirtiest city we visited.... but not like it was repulsive.... just more trash on the streets and things like that... but to be fair... people party pretty hard there... or they did while we were there... I'm guessing that is a regular occurrence.
I did get to tour Goodison Park in its last season of use for Everton. We also attended the game against Nottingham Forest. Sold out and the fans were fantastic. Every game there feels like a playoff game. Fans are ready to move on from Sean Dyche. The new stadium looks great and we will go back for a game there in two or three years. Also, amazing how much cheaper food and drinks are at the game... a Carling pint and Steak Pie combo was 6 pounds! Of course the pint has to stay in the concourse. No taking it into the stands.
The city was crowded because we were there over the holidays. It didn't feel nearly as crowded as Edinburgh would later....
After three nights there we drove up to Glasgow. It was about a four hour drive or so.... easy... highway all the way.... with mostly 70mph speed limits.
Glasgow was where we based for our Scotland portion of the trip. We were there Monday through Friday. So we arrived about 2pm on December 30th. We stayed in a nice hotel in the city center called the Social Hub. Modern stylings.
Glasgow has plenty of great architecture.... lots of great bars... our two favorites were the Piper Whisky Bar and the Pot Still. The bartenders at the Pot Still were fantastic. They walked me through all types of questions on Scotch..... pour prices at both places were also very good.... and both had solidbeer choices.
The Amsterdam had great food and drink. My wife and daughter loved their Tea Time at the Butterfly and Pig..... I went back to the Pot Still while they were there.
On the 31st we had an appointment at Glengoyne Distillery for a tour at 10am. It was really good. Took about 45 minutes. Tasted their basic 10 and 15 year...my wife hates whisky but liked the 15.... a first.... then went to the shop and tasted some cask strength and their special Teapot dram and 21 Year.... I bought the Cask edition 10 and Teapot bottles to bring home. Those aren't available in the states. The 10, 12 and 15 can be found regularly here.
They are right on the border of the lowlands and highlands.... their Distillary is technically in the highlands and across the street, their barrel storage is in the lowlands. They are non peated.... so sweet with a bit of spice depending on the barrels used. Mostly sherry, but also bourbon barrels.... which are much cheaper to get for them.
Afterwords we drove to a castle called Mugdock Castle.... a great park is built around it... which housed a zoo for a few years in the late 1940s.... we enjoyed walking the trails and seeing the castle remains. There were lots of locals there walking their dogs through the park. We love dogs, so we enjoyed getting to greet and meet many of them.
This is a short drive from Glasgow... I know you can get to the distillery by bus, not sure about the castle... if driving you do end up on some small two to one lane roads, so that was fun. I enjoyed the countryside.
We went back to Glasgow for Hogminay/New Years Eve.... events in Edinburgh had all been cancelled because of possible bad weather, though it turned out to be pretty mild. Temps were right at freezing. We went to ShilingBrewCo for a party... it was fun... then we hit up Innis and Gunn for the ringing of the bells. They had a great three piece acoustic female group playing and singing.... acoustic guitar, violin and accordion. Fun times.
Lots of things were closed on January 1st, but Stirling Castle was open. So we got up fairly early, had breakfast and coffee and drove to Stirling. It was busy, but not as busy as it can get according to the workers. We did the audio tour.... and it was worth it. Lots of history and it helps guide you around the place in an orderly manner. We spent a good four hours there but it felt like less time.
Unfortunately, the William Wallace monument was closed. We saw it from a distance, but didn't make the hike up to it. When we go back this will be on our must list.
We drove around the city of Stirling a bit after that, then headed to Falkirk for dinner and to see the Kelpies. Dinner was great. Had steak pie with Yorkshire pudding, mash and green beans.... and a local lager. It was great.
Then we drove to the Kelpies... giant metal horse sculptures... they light them up at night... we went there not expecting much and left there in awe... fantastic place to see some incredible modern art. I didn't expect them to be so gigantic. Worth a trip for sure if you are staying in Glasgow or Edinburgh. Falkirk is an easy drive from either... or bus ride.
On January 2nd we left really early and went to Edinburgh. We walked all around the city. It was crowded though. It is a touristy place with people doing touristy things.
They do have amazing architecture..... lots of shopping and restaurants and of course a giant old castle on a hill. We skipped the castle as we had just done Stirling... and we wanted to see all of the city.
We did go to the Johny Walker Experience on Prince Street. They have a bar on the sixth or seventh floor that gives you great view of the city and the castle. I recommend going up there. I'm not sure if children are allowed up there. I think it is 18 and up only. Bartenders were great. They do have beer and other whiskys, but of course Walker pours or cocktails from their blends are the mainstays.
The best thing we did though was buy tickets to see Hearts play at their stadium, Tynecastle, for a 3pm game. I bought the tickets before the trip. We were second row just off to the side of one of the goals. Fantastic seats. Stadium seats 20 thousand and was sold out. Our tickets... all four... were 78 pounds. Crazy good deal. Hearts played a great game and won 1-0 over Motherwell. That same day Rangers were playing Celtic in Glasgow... those tickets were much more expensive, ha... and I wasn't going to get in the middle of that match with fans having a huge brawl just a couple of weeks prior when they played a cup game against each other... (many bars around Gladsgow put up signs that say, No Football Colours Allowed, to limit fighting between the fans of the two teams)
The fans around us were fantastic and we are now Heart of Midlothian fans. Interestingly there is no bier sold at Scottish Premier league games. I'm guessing the fighting stuff....
We finished the night at the Edinburgh Christmas market which was very fun.
Overall it was a great trip. I really want to venture into some of the smaller towns of England and Scotland. We certainly want to tour all of the Highlands and some of the isles....
.. and we haven't even been to Ireland yet... so much travelling still to do.... need more money and time!
We took a trip to the UK. We visited Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Stirling, Falkirk and Edinburgh. We had a great time. We liked Glasgow the most, then Liverpool, then Edinburgh and lastly Manchester. Stirling Castle is a great visit. Glengoyne Distillery is also great. Go see castles, old buildings, soccer/football and fantastic pubs and bars
Now for the very long version.
We flew into Manchester, arriving on the morning of the 26th of December, aka, Boxing Day. We stayed in Manchester that day and walked most of the city center.
Out of the four UK cities we spent any time in, it was our least favorite. We did visit the Old Wellington which is their oldest pub. Nice place, but in the two times we tried to eat there they had issues both times and closed the kitchen early. We did enjoy some caskbeers though.
The next morning we left for Liverpool. It was an easy drive, coming in just under an hour. We did rent a car for our trip and it worked well for what we wanted to do.
Liverpool is a fun city. We did a Beatles bus tour, which was just ok.... I tried to book one of the smaller tours with just a driver and the four of us, but those were all reserved already.
Liverpool has a more fun city center to walk around than Manchester. Way more pubs. Liverpool has to be one of the cheapest places to drink in the modern world. Almost every pub had a great selection of cask or lagers on tap. We ate some good food, but only one really great meal there, which was a Sunday Roast, which is a thing around Liverpool.
Honestly, you know someone getting married and want to have an amazing bachelors/guys trip.... go to Liverpool.. stay in the city center....you'll save enough on drinks to pay for your flight... maybe....
Now Liverpool was the dirtiest city we visited.... but not like it was repulsive.... just more trash on the streets and things like that... but to be fair... people party pretty hard there... or they did while we were there... I'm guessing that is a regular occurrence.
I did get to tour Goodison Park in its last season of use for Everton. We also attended the game against Nottingham Forest. Sold out and the fans were fantastic. Every game there feels like a playoff game. Fans are ready to move on from Sean Dyche. The new stadium looks great and we will go back for a game there in two or three years. Also, amazing how much cheaper food and drinks are at the game... a Carling pint and Steak Pie combo was 6 pounds! Of course the pint has to stay in the concourse. No taking it into the stands.
The city was crowded because we were there over the holidays. It didn't feel nearly as crowded as Edinburgh would later....
After three nights there we drove up to Glasgow. It was about a four hour drive or so.... easy... highway all the way.... with mostly 70mph speed limits.
Glasgow was where we based for our Scotland portion of the trip. We were there Monday through Friday. So we arrived about 2pm on December 30th. We stayed in a nice hotel in the city center called the Social Hub. Modern stylings.
Glasgow has plenty of great architecture.... lots of great bars... our two favorites were the Piper Whisky Bar and the Pot Still. The bartenders at the Pot Still were fantastic. They walked me through all types of questions on Scotch..... pour prices at both places were also very good.... and both had solidbeer choices.
The Amsterdam had great food and drink. My wife and daughter loved their Tea Time at the Butterfly and Pig..... I went back to the Pot Still while they were there.
On the 31st we had an appointment at Glengoyne Distillery for a tour at 10am. It was really good. Took about 45 minutes. Tasted their basic 10 and 15 year...my wife hates whisky but liked the 15.... a first.... then went to the shop and tasted some cask strength and their special Teapot dram and 21 Year.... I bought the Cask edition 10 and Teapot bottles to bring home. Those aren't available in the states. The 10, 12 and 15 can be found regularly here.
They are right on the border of the lowlands and highlands.... their Distillary is technically in the highlands and across the street, their barrel storage is in the lowlands. They are non peated.... so sweet with a bit of spice depending on the barrels used. Mostly sherry, but also bourbon barrels.... which are much cheaper to get for them.
Afterwords we drove to a castle called Mugdock Castle.... a great park is built around it... which housed a zoo for a few years in the late 1940s.... we enjoyed walking the trails and seeing the castle remains. There were lots of locals there walking their dogs through the park. We love dogs, so we enjoyed getting to greet and meet many of them.
This is a short drive from Glasgow... I know you can get to the distillery by bus, not sure about the castle... if driving you do end up on some small two to one lane roads, so that was fun. I enjoyed the countryside.
We went back to Glasgow for Hogminay/New Years Eve.... events in Edinburgh had all been cancelled because of possible bad weather, though it turned out to be pretty mild. Temps were right at freezing. We went to ShilingBrewCo for a party... it was fun... then we hit up Innis and Gunn for the ringing of the bells. They had a great three piece acoustic female group playing and singing.... acoustic guitar, violin and accordion. Fun times.
Lots of things were closed on January 1st, but Stirling Castle was open. So we got up fairly early, had breakfast and coffee and drove to Stirling. It was busy, but not as busy as it can get according to the workers. We did the audio tour.... and it was worth it. Lots of history and it helps guide you around the place in an orderly manner. We spent a good four hours there but it felt like less time.
Unfortunately, the William Wallace monument was closed. We saw it from a distance, but didn't make the hike up to it. When we go back this will be on our must list.
We drove around the city of Stirling a bit after that, then headed to Falkirk for dinner and to see the Kelpies. Dinner was great. Had steak pie with Yorkshire pudding, mash and green beans.... and a local lager. It was great.
Then we drove to the Kelpies... giant metal horse sculptures... they light them up at night... we went there not expecting much and left there in awe... fantastic place to see some incredible modern art. I didn't expect them to be so gigantic. Worth a trip for sure if you are staying in Glasgow or Edinburgh. Falkirk is an easy drive from either... or bus ride.
On January 2nd we left really early and went to Edinburgh. We walked all around the city. It was crowded though. It is a touristy place with people doing touristy things.
They do have amazing architecture..... lots of shopping and restaurants and of course a giant old castle on a hill. We skipped the castle as we had just done Stirling... and we wanted to see all of the city.
We did go to the Johny Walker Experience on Prince Street. They have a bar on the sixth or seventh floor that gives you great view of the city and the castle. I recommend going up there. I'm not sure if children are allowed up there. I think it is 18 and up only. Bartenders were great. They do have beer and other whiskys, but of course Walker pours or cocktails from their blends are the mainstays.
The best thing we did though was buy tickets to see Hearts play at their stadium, Tynecastle, for a 3pm game. I bought the tickets before the trip. We were second row just off to the side of one of the goals. Fantastic seats. Stadium seats 20 thousand and was sold out. Our tickets... all four... were 78 pounds. Crazy good deal. Hearts played a great game and won 1-0 over Motherwell. That same day Rangers were playing Celtic in Glasgow... those tickets were much more expensive, ha... and I wasn't going to get in the middle of that match with fans having a huge brawl just a couple of weeks prior when they played a cup game against each other... (many bars around Gladsgow put up signs that say, No Football Colours Allowed, to limit fighting between the fans of the two teams)
The fans around us were fantastic and we are now Heart of Midlothian fans. Interestingly there is no bier sold at Scottish Premier league games. I'm guessing the fighting stuff....
We finished the night at the Edinburgh Christmas market which was very fun.
Overall it was a great trip. I really want to venture into some of the smaller towns of England and Scotland. We certainly want to tour all of the Highlands and some of the isles....
.. and we haven't even been to Ireland yet... so much travelling still to do.... need more money and time!
