I had two main motivators when planning how to get to Inverness:
My budget
One of my bucket list items - to fly with British Airways
Because of this, I took a bit of a roundabout way. If you are looking for more of an adventure, this is a good option - because it was definitely an adventure!
(If a more direct flight is in my budget next time, though... I think I will go with that option 😆)
Flights:
Minneapolis > New York, JFK with Delta Airlines
New York > London, Heathrow with British Airways
London > Edinburgh with British Airways
I managed an upgrade to Premium Economy for my overseas flight. The meal was delicious! Unfortunately, I'm unable to sleep on planes... but British Airways had a lot of good movie options! (I was going to Scotland. Of course I had to watch Harry Potter!)
After a long day of traveling, I stayed the night in an Edinburgh hotel to finally get some sleep (and take a shower...)
There are many convenient hotels near the Edinburgh airport. I stayed at the Hampton by Hilton Edinburgh Airport, which was just a short walk away (and an easy walk to the Tram station).
You'll find that the hotels generously provide some haggis for breakfast, for those like myself who wanted to mark that off their bucket list as well.
If you are flying into Edinburgh, a good option if you want to see more of the country is to travel to Inverness by bus. The bus station is a short walk from the tram station in downtown Edinburgh. It took about 4 hours for us to arrive in Inverness (and it only took me a few minutes to walk to the hotel from there). I loved being able to sit back and preview the country I was soon going to learn about!
Stay healthy!
The month before my trip, I was working summer school as a kindergarten special education teacher. I washed my hands constantly, ate healthy, got enough sleep, and made sure to take Airborne tablets after work.
During my trip, I brought travel-sized hand sanitizer, a couple spare masks as needed (in case I sat next to someone who was sick on the plane), and some vitamin C supplements. The last thing I wanted was to get sick during the trip I worked so hard for.
Luckily, I didn't even get a cold 😊