London, England (August 13-14th)
Claire and Erin arrived at LHR bright and early on August 13th after a red eye flight from JFK. To kick off the trip, we visited some of the main touristy spots (Big Ben, the London Eye, Trafalgar Square) and went on a tour of Buckingham Palace, which C&C did together and thoroughly enjoyed in 2024. For Claire, the first two days of this trip were a girls’ trip doubling as a highlight reel of the best of our 2024 London trip, whereas this was Erin’s first trip to London. However, one key difference is the heat wave currently in southern England – it was 95 degrees (Fahrenheit), extremely humid, the grass was brown, and we even got a national emergency alert on our phones for wildfire risk after weeks of hot, dry weather. Oh, and there’s not much air conditioning in the U.K. compared to what we have in the United States. So, it was a long day of two sleep deprived and dehydrated girls wandering the city – but don’t worry, we still had a blast. On August 14th, we added a tour of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater (another favorite of C&C’s from 2024, shoutout to Gerard who was our tour guide both times!) and Afternoon Tea at The Rubens at the Palace Hotel. Afterward, we explored Tower Bridge, walked around the Tower of London, and later meandered through The Regent’s Park (lovely lake and nearby gardens) and over to Little Venice which is named due to the large canals on which colorful houseboats can travel many kilometers via canal networks throughout England. Unsurprisingly, we really needed some pizza after that!
Westminster – Elizabeth Tower (which houses Big Ben, the bell), and the London Eye in the background! 
Trafalgar Square (some may recall this as the location of Cameron dancing the macarena in 2024) 
Buckingham Palace, unfortunately no photos from inside are allowed during the tour. 
St. Paul’s Cathedral, as seen from Millennial Bridge 
Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, London 
Claire and Erin enjoying Afternoon Tea at the Rubens at the Palace Hotel 
Tower Bridge, captured from the walking path entrance 
The Regent’s Park lake, London 
Little Venice, London
Dover, England (August 15th)
Cameron arrived on his red eye flight at LHR early on Saturday morning to meet up with Claire and Erin. We took a day trip to Dover, England on the southeast shore, along the Strait of Dover (English Channel, a short stretch of water separating England from France by about 21 miles). Dover is famous for two landmarks: the White Cliffs and Dover Castle. The White Cliffs of Dover are composed of a chalk that formed from microscopic algae shells on the ocean floor, and are almost entirely pure calcium carbonate. Dover Castle was founded in the 11th century and is known for its defensive significance throughout history, dating back as far as ~1200, and most recently in WWII. We spent the day exploring these two sites on foot (final step count for the day was just under 30,000, approximately 12.5 miles) before taking a train back to London to rest before an early morning train to Glasgow.
Glasgow, Scotland (August 16th)
We took a train from London to Glasgow, our first stop in Scotland on our way to the highlands. Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and is filled with beautiful Victorian and Gothic architecture. As we had only Sunday evening to see the city and many places were not open, we missed a few landmarks but did make it to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens (established in the early 1800s) and otherwise had a nice stroll around Buchanan Street in the central part of the city.
Glasgow Botanic Gardens 
Red Hot Cat’s Tail – Claire’s favorite plant in the Glasgow Botanic Gardens 
Many cacti in the Glasgow Botanic Gardens! 
Cameron always finding a dog statue to pose with in the U.K. 
Met a dog in the Glasgow Botanic Gardens who fetches her ball out of the creek repeatedly! 
Buchanan Street in Glasgow, Scotland 
Princes Square in Glasgow, Scotland
Fort William/Glencoe, Scotland (August 17-18th)
After taking a 4 hour train through the West Highlands from Glasgow, we arrived in Fort William during a heavy rainstorm on August 17th. Fort William is the second-largest town in the Scottish Highlands (Inverness is the largest) and has a rainy but mild climate due to its west coast location. Regardless of the rainy weather, we stubbornly walked around the adorable Fort William downtown (which is basically just one street about 5 blocks long) and ate some pizza at one of the pubs. We attempted a short stroll to catch some scenic mountain views, promptly got drenched, and went back to our hotel to warm up. On the 18th, we fueled up at a phenomenal vegan restaurant (shoutout to Wildcat in Fort William) and took a 30 minute bus ride to the nearby Glencoe National Nature Reserve and hiked to a scenic viewpoint of the nearby landscape. Glencoe is a stunning volcanic valley and mountain region formed by ancient volcanoes and glaciers. We got super lucky to see it as our ascending hike was rainy, windy, and foggy – we could not initially see the views at all – but about 10 minutes after we reached the top, the rain stopped, fog cleared, and the sun even came out! And to tell you the truth, these were our all time hardest photos to edit because they don’t look real; the scenery and colors look dreamy, otherworldy, imaginary. We bussed back to Fort William and finished off the day at a pub named after the tallest mountain in the U.K. (Ben Nevis) which is only about 2 miles from Fort William (we’ll save that hike for the next trip).
High Street in Fort William, Scotland 
Glencoe National Nature Reserve in Scotland 
An 11/10 bench in Glencoe 
Glencoe National Nature Reserve in Scotland 
Glencoe National Nature Reserve in Scotland 
Glencoe National Nature Reserve in Scotland 
Claire would like everyone to know that she took this photo through a window while on a moving bus coming back from Glencoe!
Edinburgh, Scotland (August 19-21st)
On the afternoon of August 19th, we took trains back from Fort William to Edinburgh, which is a city on the eastern coast of Scotland that was built on an ancient volcanic mound (imagine our shock at the literal climb required to get from the train station to our hotel). The sheer beauty and picturesqueness of this city was so magical. We were greeted with another super heavy rainstorm about an hour after we arrived – you may have seen some videos about the city flooding online – but it cleared up shortly thereafter. We finished the night with a Scotch tasting and tour of the Diageo Claive Vidiz Scotch Whiskey Collection, the world’s largest collection of Scotch, followed by a meandering around the city to acquaint ourselves. On the morning of the 20th, we went for a hike to Arthur’s Seat, a short but strenuous hike to a lookout point for aerial views of the city which did not disappoint. The remainder of our day consisted of activities relating to the two overlapping traditions held each year in August in Edinburgh: 1) the Festival Fringe, the world’s largest performing arts festival; 2) the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which is a show of traditional music and dance performed by the British Armed Forces and other international military bands at the Edinburgh Castle (in this context, “tattoo” derives from a 17th-century Dutch phrase doe den tap toe (“turn off the tap”) a signal to tavern owners each night – basically this is just a ceremonial song performed in the evening by military bands). We explored the West End Fair, went on a city walking tour (new town), toured the Edinburgh Castle, and went to a performance of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. On August 20th, we attended another city walking tour (predominantly old town), and then made an afternoon day trip by train to the nearby Stirling Castle, about an hour northwest of Edinburgh.
Edinburgh old town in an evening rainstorm, photographed from North Bridge 
The Diageo Claive Vidiz Scotch Whiskey Collection, the world’s largest collection of Scotch 
We made it to Arthur’s Seat! 
Dean Village in Edinburgh 
View of Edinburgh Castle, photographed from Princes Street 
Edinburgh Castle, shortly before the start of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 
Performance of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 
Grassmarket in Edinburgh 
Stirling Castle, located in the town of Stirling, approximately 1 hour northwest of Edinburgh by train 
Edinburgh old town views during golden hour
Beb-ventures 