It's the final day of this 10-day tour of Scotland and Cumbria and a second night of good sleep; maybe it's due to the sea air. So far, we have spent not so much time to notice its limitations. One of those limitations has been the deployment of our mobile kitchen as it were. For breakfast, it's just leftovers with nothing left for the rest of the day. We will have to improvise.
The day starts warm and bright and it's pity we don't have time just relaxing in the bay. The journey home should take an easy 5 hours, but we certainly like to make things difficult and add an attraction on the way. In the first instance we need to head north on the A595 and take on fuel, then join the A66 which will take us to the M6. Along the A66 I get a chance to see one more lake, Bassenthwaite, this time able to park up for free to get some good shots. It's a good start as we continue east. The attraction I have in mind means a short detour as, after passing Keswick, we turn right off the A66 at Troutbeck. I've selected, Aira Force Waterfall as a possible stop, but again am foiled by the the parking fee and a walk to the falls which I don't have time for. However, the main reason to change coure is to see yet another lake. At least the view of Ullswater passing the waterfall is amazing and I can tick one more box, the final one as it happens. We take in the lake views and say goodbye as we head for the M6. We join at Penrith and head south taking in our last mountain views over Shap and head into Lancashire stopping at Lancaster to collect shopping and refreshments.
Continuing on the M6 we tick off the towns and cities as well as the miles, and arrive in the Birmingham area to add more shopping at the Wing Yip Superstore in Nechells Park Rd. It's a later than expected return home at 7.00 pm.

Conclusion. Scotland was chosen to give my partner a new travel experience and to see as much as possible in one week. As an alternative to making multiple stopovers, I chose to stay in one central location and use the facilities of the Holiday Property Bond at Tigh Mor Trossachs. This is an amazing location, but to take in Scotland's main attractions would mean a lot of traveling during unpredictable weather. It was hard work, but we reached Loch Lomond on the Sunday, Glasgow on the Monday, Glenfinnan via Ford William and Glencoe on the Tuesday, Stirling on the Wednesday, Edinburgh on the Thursday, Oban on the Friday and Stirling/Falkirk on the Saturday. All except Glasgow which has limited tourist appeal were most enjoyable. We achieved so much in a week.
We finished up this tour with a drive around the Cumbrian Lakes on a day that was rain affected. It was a Sunday and huge crowds had descended on the district. We drove past many of the popular lakes as well as Keswick, Ambleside and Windemere. While the scenery was great, the general experience was much less so. Unlike the wide open spaces in Scotland there are far fewer place to stop and enjoy the surroundings for free and of course, the traffic was particularly irritating. There are options for hiking and exploring and many folk manage with public transport to get around even in the more remote areas, returning to picturesque villages for a pie and a pint. It was clear that our approach was not practical and given our restrictions, may never be. The highlights of the tour were driving over Honister Pass and visiting Castlerigg Stone Circle.

Source: Visit