‘Twas the night before Scotland…

Actually, our first stop is Dublin. As my 50th year draws to a close, Julia and I are headed for our first cruise, to be followed by adventures in Edinburgh.

We will begin by sailing from Dublin, Ireland to Edinburgh, Scotland on this yacht:

Our cruise itinerary is as follows:

Day	Description	Arrive	Depart
Mon	July 4, 2016 – Dublin, Ireland		6PM
Tue	July 5, 2016 – Douglas, Isle of Man	8AM	4PM
Wed	July 6, 2016 – Portrush, Northern Ireland	8AM	9PM
Thu	July 7, 2016 – Tobermory, UK	8AM	4PM
Fri	July 8, 2016 – Stornoway, UK	8AM	4PM
Sat	July 9, 2016 – Kirkwall, UK	9AM	6PM
Sun	July 10, 2016 – Invergordon, Scotland	8AM	9PM
Mon	July 11, 2016 – At Sea
Tue	July 12, 2016 – Edinburgh/Leith, Scotland

After arriving in Edinburgh, we will stay for an additional week, exploring the city and taking day trips, including a full-day tour of Outlander sites.

The Outlander tour itinerary:

We will start our journey in the Royal and Ancient Burgh of Linlithgow. We will see Linlithgow Palace, birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots, and Outlander filming site for Wentworth Prison.

During the drive to our next destination, Doune, we will pass the Kelpies, Scotland’s latest tourist attraction. Doune is home of the 14^th Century castle used in as the Outlander filming site for Castle Leoch, the home of The MacKenzie Clan.

From here we go on to Falkland, where we can see where Jamie’s ghost appeared and see Mrs Baird’s B&B too. We will stop for lunch here just near where Claire looked at that blue vase.

On to Culross, a perfectly preserved example of a 17^th century town. This is the setting for the fictional town of Cranesmuir. Many of the buildings are featured in the show: the witch trial takes place at the Mercat Cross, and Claire’s herb garden is the beautiful stepped garden behind Culross Palace.

We will visit Lallybroch, also known as Midhope Castle.

Our final stop, Blackness Castle is a formidable fortress sitting on the banks of the River Forth and is the filming site for Fort William, the stronghold of the infamous Black Jack Randall.