A short boat trip to visit the magical island of Inchcailloch just off the eastern shores of Loch Lomond adjacent to Balmaha. A wonderful day trip or even just  for a few hours to walk in the woodlands.   There is a small camp site at the south end of the island which must be booked in advance.  Boat services are available from Balmaha and Luss as well as Lomond Shores in peak season.  Many people visit the island  in their own boats or canoes too.

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Just a short piece of audio to let you know that Passing Places Around Scotland will be back with new episodes as soon as we are re-listed in iTunes.

Our clocks are back to GMT and the long dark days of winter are upon us. Visiting Scotland in the winter though can still be a really positive experience especially if you enjoy your winter sports like skiing and hill walking. Star gazing, renting cozy cottages with open fires, enjoying city breaks for Christmas shopping or celebrating Hogmanay can all be included as good reasons why you might want to visit Scotland this winter.

Motorhome essentials & Scottish hill walking

A conversation with a Passing Places listener Iain Gillepsie all about motorhomes, campervans, hillwaking , munro bagging and long distance footpaths in Scotland.  It was great to catch up with Iain and to share some thoughts on how best to travel around Scotland and suggestions on essential equipment  and places to go in Scotland.  So if you would like to be a guest on the podcast please don't hesitate to get in touch.  Equally if you would like more information on where to go in Scotland or what to do on your Scottish adventure then get in touch with the podcast.

Out geocaching & finally seeing the Northern Lights

This week I'm out rediscovering the very enjoyable pastime of geocaching with Caitlin during the school half term holidays and finally after chasing potential sightings of the Northern Lights all over mainland Scotland and the islands I finally catch up with them in a local field by my home!

Out on the Rob Roy Way

I have enjoyed some great walking over the past week or so not only out on the Rob Roy Way where I had the chance to look at the Corrie Aqueduct, part of the Loch Katrine water supply infrastructure to Glasgow but I also visited the Loup of Fintry waterfall near the village of Fintry next to the Campsie Fells.  It was well worth a visit as the recent rainfall had really swollen the river levels.  We are finally giving up the fantastic weather and Scotland is now moving on and into the Autumn so at least we have the colours of Autumn still to look forward to.

The Rob Roy Way and also the Carron Valley

The past two weeks have been great in terms of the weather and I have been out building up my basic walking fitness every day.  In this weeks episode I have audio from the Carron Valley and the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.  I also spent a weekend at Strathyre and walked along the Rob Roy Way along the side of Loch Lubnaig.  Skid (my Jack Russell) has been picking up ticks on our recent walks so I discuss the Scottish tick, some of the issues and how to remove them.

Hill Walking near Glasgow and visiting Glasgow Parks

Enjoying some late summer sunshine this week as I wander the Kilpatrick hills above Glasgow and then pay a visit to Bellahouston Park, the site of the famous Empire Exhibition in 1938 and now home to the Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed House for an Art Lover which was completed in 1995 from original plans produced by Mackintosh in 1901. Glasgow has a large number of public parks, far more than many cities and the majority of them well worth a visit.

Outdoors in Scotland

Lots of audio clips from Balmaha, Duncryne Hill and around Stirling as I spend a week counting steps in the great outdoors.  I'm using my fitness tracker and local walks to see if I can get back to some form of fitness.  Walking in Scotland especially in fine weather is a real pleasure.  September is a great month as summer comes to end and the first signs of Autumn appear. I spend time tracking down a few memories of Tom Weir as well as tackling some local forest paths.

Another visit to the East Neuk of Fife to one of the coastal fishing villages which is now popular with tourists.  Don't forget to pop into the Fishing Museum.  I stayed at the Silverdyke Caravan Park in Cellardyke and enjoyed the walk into Anstruther through the fishermens cottages past Cellardyke harbour and enjoyed a coffee and some people watching opposite Anstruther harbour.  Would suggest you consider taking a boat trip out to the Isle of May to see the seabirds and seals or take the new boat service over to North Berwick for the day.  All the boat trips are seasonal so check online.