Between Highlands, Harry Potter and whisky: eight days in Scotland

The one-hour flight goes from Amsterdam – you save where you can – with Easyjet, Britain's Ryanair. After landing, the holiday starts right away with a rental car upgrade. Lucky, because the Fiat 500 we'd booked wouldn't have survived the eight-day tour on the narrow roads unscathed. So the holiday begins on the wrong side straight away. For our first time driving on the left, though, we do pretty well. Some initial trouble at the petrol station is smoothed over with a laugh from the attendant – we'd apparently tried to fill up an already full car and wondered why we could only put in a few cents' worth. Thanks to the upgrade there's not just heated seats but also a lane-keeping and a blind-spot assistant – actually pretty useful on these roads.

A truly tiny house in Glasgow

Our first destination is a tiny house in Glasgow. The ceiling height is an estimated one metre, so in a stylishly furnished house we get to sleep in the garden hut. A spiral staircase leads up to the roof, where an attached dome with a mattress on the floor is waiting – you can just about stand in the middle of the room. The chairs are only about 50 cm tall too; the optical illusion of the photos definitely tricked us. The door isn't fully sealed, the windows fog up at an outside temperature of about 1 degree, and with the mattress on the floor the whole thing feels more like a camping trip. Just before that, though, we discover the mattress has a heated blanket – so we promptly upgrade the night to glamping and snuggle in.

We don't see much of Glasgow, since the accommodation is a good bit outside the city, but earlier in the evening there's a magnificent Neapolitan pizza.

A panoramic drive into the Highlands

After breakfast it's time to drive into the Highlands. The way there is one long panoramic drive; we take turns driving so one of us can enjoy the scenery. There's also a little hiking stop, where I learn: it's better not to get too close to wild Scottish cows.

Our base for the next few days: a small garden cabin in Fort William, this time with the upgrade of a normal ceiling height. There's a heated blanket here too – I need one of those at home! A little kitchen and two cosy armchairs invite a relaxed evening with wine and a film. At the Scottish Lidl we stock up on a few survival snacks. Fort William is the perfect starting point for our trips, which are of course influenced by one or two Harry Potter filming locations. From here everything is about an hour away, and usually there's just a single road running through the valley past the long lochs.

The Hogwarts Express at the Glenfinnan Viaduct

The Silver Sands of Morar are a string of white, silvery-shimmering sandy beaches on the west coast, around the mouth of the River Morar. That feeling of being at the sea and in the Highlands at the same time is impressive. Cool, but with brilliant sunshine – the white beaches actually call for sunglasses.

Nearby lies Mallaig, where the journey of the legendary Hogwarts Express ends – or at least of the train used for filming. The most famous spot, though, is the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which the red steam train crosses. It would be impressive on its own, but of course I float straight into early-2000s nostalgia. We check the timetable and decide to come back the next morning to actually see the steam train run.

Together with a huge crowd of people – all Harry Potter fans, presumably – we climb the small rise next to the viaduct for the best view. A light drizzle sets in, but we're armed with rain jackets after all. At 10:50 the old steam train creeps past. Does it go extra slow so all the tourists get their photos? Either way, we made it – another tick off the bucket list. Further up you're supposed to have a wonderful view of Loch Shiel; this is said to be where all the aerial shots of Hogwarts were filmed. With a bit of imagination we can picture the castle, but for Muggles it's simply not visible. At the end of a small hiking path we're rewarded with a tiny railway station in the middle of the Highlands, where a conductor explains the old points system to us.

But that's still not enough for us: with our estate car, which we've christened Alfonso, we drive along the Road to the Isles, stopping at a little island in Loch Eilt. Those in the know will recognise the scene: this is where Dumbledore's grave was filmed. We fight our way through the muddy ground for the – admittedly rather gloomy – view of the island.

Waterfalls, Nessie and a steep descent

Since the evening before we'd watched "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", the backdrop of the first task of the Triwizard Tournament can't be missing either: Ben Nevis and the Steall Falls, one of the most beautiful hiking trails I've ever walked. From afar the waterfall looks small, but down below the masses of water almost make for a raging river. Given the many kilometres we've already walked, we head back with heavy hearts – the suggested Komoot route would even have included a complete crossing of Scotland's highest mountain. Maybe not a great idea to start at 5 pm in my New Balance.

The next morning, freezing cold but sunny, we head to the monster of Loch Ness. Spoiler: Nessie stays invisible, and the largest freshwater lake in the Great Glen doesn't really win us over. Apart from overpriced merch and expensive boat trips, there isn't much to see here. For our 10,000 steps we visit Urquhart Castle instead, an old ruin with a surprisingly high entrance fee.

For sunset we head up Cow Hill. The way up is signposted, the way down a Komoot shortcut of the finest kind: we practically scramble straight down the mountain, but the view of the little town is dreamlike. I'm still laughing about the fact that the route was marked as an "easy hike, for all fitness levels" when really you should have brought a climbing rope.

One last castle and farewell to the Highlands

Over a picnic with a view of Castle Stalker, which sits on a small tidal islet in Loch Laich and can only be reached on foot at low tide, we polish off the last of the pasta salad. Since it's low tide, we walk a stretch along the rocky beach, but for the final bit up to the castle you'd have needed a good pair of wellies. With wine and bruschetta in our TV armchairs, it's time to enjoy the last evening in the Highlands.

Potions and whisky in Edinburgh

Alfonso handed back, we move into our Airbnb, which again we share with three or four others. Shared bathroom and kitchen included. Room and location are top, the bathroom leaves something to be desired in terms of cleanliness, but we're used to worse and think back with a shudder to the hostel in New York.

And we're already off exploring the city: beautiful, mystical and completely underrated. Every alley with old cobblestones looks fantastic, and from Calton Hill you have a wonderful view over the elevated old town. We refuel with a street-food burger, set off for the first bar for the first pint of beer and enjoy live music with guitar and accordion in almost every pub. The evening ends perfectly in a potions bar where you mix your own magic potion – it feels more like chemistry class, but we manage to produce smoke. My drink tastes dreadful; no idea what I brewed together there.

The next morning we walk along the Water of Leith and then take the bus half an hour to the sea in Leith, the perfect starting point for a stroll. In between there's shopping, pad thai, and in the cool breeze I layer two jumpers on top of each other. A classic Scottish whisky can't be missing in the evening, even if it stays at just the one tasting. In case you didn't know: J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books in various Edinburgh cafés, among them "The Elephant House". The "birthplace" of Harry Potter was closed, though, so instead we stroll along Victoria Street, said to be the inspiration for Diagon Alley. As on the first evening, we say goodbye to Scotland with a pizza.

What the trip cost

Over the eight days we tracked all our spending – flights aren't included here:

My verdict

Our time in Edinburgh was definitely too short, and we certainly haven't seen everything the Highlands have to offer either – but Scotland is only an hour's flight away. Between steam trains, potions and wild cows, this trip was the perfect mix of nostalgia, nature and a few too many metres of elevation for my New Balance.