This morning we were off on a 3 day tour of Scotland. We only had to drag our bags a block up the royal mile to the tour office where there was a line out the door of people checking in- the haggis backpacker tours also left from here. Despite the hoards of people we boarded our 29 seated bus on time & were introduced to our guide Dave who wasn't wearing a kilt but did have a big ginger beard & long hair. We headed out of Edinburgh past the red industrial forth road bridge & onto Dunkeld for a morning break & wander around. Of course it had an obligatory Cathedral to check out, this one sitting amongst shaded trees along the river. Back on the bus it was next stop Fort Augustus for lunch & some Nessie spotting. Unfortunately after lunch at the pub we spotted a lot more locks than we did Loch Ness Monsters. There were a lot of boats making their way through the tiered sections of the Locks of the Caledonian Canal. Despite not making our fortune spotting Nessie the shores of Loch Ness did share some beautiful views with the mountains rising on each side & the edge of the Loch barely giving off a ripple. Back on the bus our next stop was Eilean Donan Castle looking foreboding perched on the edge of the water. By now there was a constant drizzle of rain so we opted for a quick photo opportunity & chocolate bar before return to the dry bus. Next was our final destination for the day- The Isle of Skye. Crossing the Skye Bridge it was about 30 mins to Portree along winding roads with crystal clear bays on one side & raw, barren hills on the other. We were dropped off at our B&B, of course the furtherest from town but luckily only 7 mins walk downhill & the room was nicely decorated with a clean ensuite. By now the rain had stopped but just in case we put on our rain jackets & went for a wander around the quaint little town. It was definitely high season as after a drink at The Bosville Hotel at the top of town we walked down to the harbour only to find nowhere had a free table for dinner! Granted most of the 6 pubs only had a handful of tables. Third time lucky we got a table at the Tongadale Hotel. The dining room was pretty dated & the food so so but at least we didn't go hungry! From here we dropped into the bar at the Portree Hotel which was down the side of the building & seemed to be the local youth bar with not much furniture & only unrefined drinks at the bar. Surprisingly there was an old local guy propping up the bar with his whiskey with beer chaser & we got chatting to him for a while. Being born on Skye he had spent 20 years in the army before returning so he had some interesting tales & insights. Finally we squeezed into the Isles Inn, which although looking authentic had only been a pub for 10 years. It was very crowded with tourists so we soon headed back up hill to the B&B for the night.