UK Tourist & Leisure Attractions

Here's the man driving the Loch Ness boat and giving us the commentary.  The boat was equipped with underwater cameras, colour sonar, radar and GPS and even with all that lot we still didn't find The Monster!  Ock aye the noo!
 

On day 5 in Scotland we took the steam train from Broomhill to Aviemore on the Strathspey Steam Railway.  This shot shows the fantastic steam train arrived at Aviemore and about to return to Broomhill.  Just look at all that wee steam!

A happy Mike relaxes on the train.  The journey took 35 minutes and cost  £9 for the return trip.  You can check out the Strathspey Steam Railway website on our tourist links page.
 

We had a good look round Aviemore, had a coffee and bought our souvenirs.  Aviemore is the centre of the winter skiing industry in Scotland so it's well geared up for tourists.

We came across this attractive bistro in Aviemore and were tempted in by the carvery.  We ate our packed lunch we'd brought along back at the cottage in the conservatory that evening!
 

The meal was yummy and we followed it with Apple Pie and cream, oh, and another wee pint for Mike and a cider for Belinda.  Much better than a picnic in the cold outside!  Ock aye the noo!

After some four hours in Aviemore we returned to the station for the return journey on the Strathspey Steam Railway to Broomhill.

As we chuffed along we got a good view from the train window of the Cairn Gorm Mountain that we visited just a few days previously.
 

Back at Broomhill and just as we were about to drive back to the cottage the train came chuffing past so Mike was able to get one last picture.

This shot shows us eating our breakfast in the kitchen at the cottage.  There are a selection of holiday cottage rental websites on our links page.
 

On the last day of our holiday in Scotland we had a look round Cawdor Castle.  Unfortunately they didn't allow photos inside, but we took plenty in the gardens.

The gardens at Cawdor Castle were very picturesque and there were a number of nature trails to explore too.  Their website is linked to from our links page.
 

Belinda looks like she's using a really old fashioned mobile phone, in fact it's the audio tour handset at the Dallas Dhu Distillery in Forres.
 

Some of the distillery machinery involved in whisky production at Dallas Dhu, which is not a working distillery any more.

Mike will film anything, even the insides of a still!  Ock aye the noo!  See our highland videos page for some clips.
 

Whisky sampling, well the face says it all really!  A wee dram before viewing the video in the audio-visual theatre.

Mike has a try, hmmm.  Dallas Dhu Distillery doesn't have a website, but see our UK tourist websites page for Scotland's Malt Whisky Trail links.  We had a really great week touring the Highlands of Scotland!

We broke the journey to Scotland each way with an overnight in a Travel Lodge near Sedgefield in County Durham (near Teesside) and found a fantastic pub, The Dun Cow Inn where we enjoyed an excellent meal.