Scotland


<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Lucy-Glenalmond.jpg" alt="Lucy Headmistress at Glenalmond" class="wp-image-1303" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Lucy-Glenalmond.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Lucy-Glenalmond-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Lucy-Glenalmond-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Lucy-Glenalmond-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>Executive Head&nbsp;<strong>Lucy Elphinstone</strong>&nbsp;doesn’t do anything by halves. After years at the helm of one of London’s top schools, she’s traded Sloane Square for the Scottish Highlands to lead&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.glenalmondcollege.co.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Glenalmond College</a></strong>&nbsp;– our official Muddy Scotland launch partner and the school her two sons once called home. For Lucy, it’s less a career move than a homecoming. A passionate lover of art, music, books, and mountains, she brings the same energy and curiosity to everything she touches – whether she’s skiing, climbing a Munro, or teaching her pupils to be fearless. For Lucy, life is all about courage, creativity, and a good dose of joy.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-blue-door-walk-angus"><a href="https://visitangus.com/things-to-see-do/attractions/rocks-of-solitude/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Blue Door Walk</a>, Angus</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Blue-Door-Walk-Angus.jpg" alt="The Blue Door Walk, Angus" class="wp-image-1496" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Blue-Door-Walk-Angus.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Blue-Door-Walk-Angus-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Blue-Door-Walk-Angus-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Blue-Door-Walk-Angus-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>I raised my four children in Angus, in the wild northeast of Scotland, so walking in nature is in my bones. My favourite route starts in the village of Edzell. You cross a bridge, slip through a weathered blue door, and suddenly you’re in Narnia. The path winds along the river past the Shakin’ Brig to the Rocks of Solitude, where, if you time it right, you’ll spot salmon hurling themselves up the waterfall – silver flashes of sheer determination. I used to bring my children here to watch them; now they bring theirs. There’s something profoundly moving about it: these fish called back by instinct to where they were born, to spawn and to die.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-munro-bagging-in-perthshire">Munro &#8216;bagging&#8217; in Perthshire</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Night-Owl-Books-Angus-11.jpg" alt="Ben Vrackie Loch" class="wp-image-1575" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Night-Owl-Books-Angus-11.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Night-Owl-Books-Angus-11-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Night-Owl-Books-Angus-11-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Night-Owl-Books-Angus-11-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>When I first moved to Scotland to take on the role at Glenalmond, the very first thing I did was find a Munro [a mountain over 3,000ft] to climb. I wanted to see the land that William Wallace and Robert the Bruce once fought for from above – wild, panoramic, and full of history. I chose&nbsp;<strong>Ben Vrackie</strong>&nbsp;near Pitlochry and climbed it in August, when the heather was blazing purple, the air thick with the scent of gorse, and butterflies danced around me. From the summit, the view swept across Perthshire to Angus, out to the sea and the lowlands beyond – utterly magnificent. In my first week as Head, I climbed&nbsp;<strong>Schiehallion</strong> with a group of pupils who blew me away with their spirit. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-climbing-the-annapurna-circuit-nepal">Climbing the Annapurna Circuit, Nepal</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1920" height="1280" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/annapurnafhs.jpg" alt="Lucy Elphinstone climbing the Annapurna Circuit, Nepal" class="wp-image-1510" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/annapurnafhs.jpg 1920w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/annapurnafhs-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/annapurnafhs-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/annapurnafhs-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/annapurnafhs-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></figure>



<p>Climbing the&nbsp;<strong>Annapurna Circuit</strong>&nbsp;in Nepal was the most extraordinary (and frankly, bonkers) adventure of my life – 180km through the Himalayas, over 5,000m up, gasping for air and wondering what on earth possessed me. I tackled it with my daughter to raise money for a scholarship at Francis Holland, aiming for £180,000 and somehow hitting&nbsp;half a million&nbsp;– enough to fund a pupil with dyslexia or a learning difference all the way through school. The night before the summit, a blizzard hit and we thought we were done for, but at 3am we set off under a full moon, snow glittering like diamonds. It was brutal, beautiful, and completely unforgettable – the kind of experience that leaves you shattered, elated, and just a tiny bit smug.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-night-owl-books-east-linton"><a href="https://nightowlbooks.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Night Owl Books,</a> East Linton</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Night-Owl-Books-Angus.jpg" alt="The Night Owl Bookshop, East Linton" class="wp-image-1498" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Night-Owl-Books-Angus.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Night-Owl-Books-Angus-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Night-Owl-Books-Angus-150x150.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Night-Owl-Books-Angus-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Night-Owl-Books-Angus-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>I love places with a bit of quirk and character – the tucked-away cafés, tiny museums and offbeat bookshops that make you feel like you’ve stumbled on a secret. One of my favourites is&nbsp;<strong>Night Owl Books</strong>&nbsp;in East Linton, near where my daughter Abi (a children’s author) lives. It’s minuscule. Only a handful of people can fit inside, but it’s brilliant: shelves stacked with unusual reads and quirky Scottish treasures, all curated by an owner who clearly&nbsp;lives and breathes&nbsp;books. As an English graduate and lifelong teacher, I’ve always believed reading is transformative – it can lift you, change you, even save you. So skip Amazon, and head to the indies. That’s where the true magic of reading lives.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-mcewan-gallery-ballater"><a href="https://www.mcewangallery.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">McEwan Gallery</a>, Ballater </h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2560" height="1797" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/gallery1-scaled-1.jpg" alt="McEwan Galler, Ballater" class="wp-image-1501" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/gallery1-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/gallery1-scaled-1-300x211.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/gallery1-scaled-1-1024x719.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/gallery1-scaled-1-768x539.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/gallery1-scaled-1-1536x1078.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/gallery1-scaled-1-2048x1438.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></figure>



<p><strong><a href="https://www.mcewangallery.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">McEwan Art Gallery</a></strong>&nbsp;in Ballater is another hidden gem – part gallery, part time capsule. Set up by an art academic in his own characterful Scottish home, it’s crammed with Scottish and European works from the 17th century onwards – paintings, tapestries, and sculptures tucked into every nook. Everything’s for sale, but this isn’t your standard white-walled gallery; it’s art as it’s meant to be seen, in rooms steeped in history and charm. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-innerpeffray-library-crieff"><a href="https://innerpeffraylibrary.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Innerpeffray Library</a>, Crieff</h2>



<p>Just a short hop from Glenalmond College sits&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://innerpeffraylibrary.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Innerpeffray Library</a></strong>&nbsp;– Scotland’s oldest lending library and pure magic for book lovers. In the 18th century, David Drummond, the third Lord of Madertie, donated his entire collection so locals could &#8216;borrow these books, become literate, and explore the world&#8217;. His descendant later built the beautiful stone library beside St Mary’s Chapel, where it still stands today. Inside, you’ll find volumes dating back to the 1400s, love letters tucked between the pages, and a borrower’s register from 1747. Curl up in a corner overlooking the glen, hold a 400-year-old book in your hands, and you can almost feel the lives and loves of those who turned its pages before you. It’s exquisite – a portal straight through time.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-beaverbrook-townhouse-chelsea-london"><a href="https://beaverbrooktownhouse.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Beaverbrook Townhouse</a>, Chelsea, London</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="563" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Beaverbrook_Townhouse6.jpg" alt="Beaverbrook Townhouse " class="wp-image-1506" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Beaverbrook_Townhouse6.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Beaverbrook_Townhouse6-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/Beaverbrook_Townhouse6-768x432.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Whenever I’m in London, I make a beeline for an art gallery — and after a full day of culture, you need a seriously good cocktail. My go-to? The&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://beaverbrooktownhouse.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Beaverbrook Townhouse</a></strong>&nbsp;on Upper Sloane Street. It’s chic, intimate, and beautifully designed – the perfect spot to meet a friend, debrief on life, and sip something spectacular. The cocktails are a delight, all named after London theatres and vintage aircraft from the World Wars (the&nbsp;<strong>Spitfire</strong>&nbsp;is my favourite). It’s my little London hideaway — a place to exhale, reconnect, and recharge in style.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-house-of-bruar-perthshire"><a href="https://www.houseofbruar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">House of Bruar</a>, Perthshire</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1920" height="1080" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/house-of-bruar.jpg" alt="House of Bruar" class="wp-image-1508" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/house-of-bruar.jpg 1920w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/house-of-bruar-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/house-of-bruar-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/house-of-bruar-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/house-of-bruar-1536x864.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /></figure>



<p>I’m a shameless bargain hunter and can’t resist a good rummage through vintage or second-hand shops. My London favourite is the&nbsp;<strong>Oxfam just off the King’s Road</strong>, where Chelsea cast-offs mean designer labels galore – half the time the clothes still have the tags on. Up in Scotland, it has to be the&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.houseofbruar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">House of Bruar</a></strong>&nbsp;– basically&nbsp;<em>Harrods in the Highlands</em>. It’s a glorious treasure trove of cashmere, tweed, and Fair Isle, with a food hall that’s pure heaven for Scottish produce lovers. Yes, it’s eye-wateringly pricey, but utterly irresistible – if you weren’t already in love with Scotland, a trip there will seal the deal.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-skiing-in-geilo-norway">Skiing in Geilo, Norway </h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="768" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/5f079566-dec0-452b-8462-239b8d31ced0-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1572" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/5f079566-dec0-452b-8462-239b8d31ced0-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/5f079566-dec0-452b-8462-239b8d31ced0-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/5f079566-dec0-452b-8462-239b8d31ced0-768x576.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/5f079566-dec0-452b-8462-239b8d31ced0-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/scotland/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2025/10/5f079566-dec0-452b-8462-239b8d31ced0.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p>Skiing is my great passion, and last year my family and I discovered the dreamiest little resort in Norway called&nbsp;<strong>Geilo</strong>. I had the absolute joy of teaching my tiny grandchildren to ski for the first time – pure magic when you’re supposedly ancient like me. We went husky sledding and glided across frozen lakes in horse-drawn sleighs, straight out of a snow-globe. Husky sledding, by the way, is wild – six dogs, a sled lined with reindeer hide, and you steering just by shifting your weight as they race over the ice, yelping into the crystalline air. The snow there is like powdered sugar, light and luminous. The whole place a fairytale brought to life.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.glenalmondcollege.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Glenalmond College</em></a><em>, Glenalmond, Perth, Perthshire, PH1 3RY. Tel: 01738 842000. You can read our <a href="https://scotland.muddystilettos.co.uk/school-reviews/glenalmond-college-perth-perthshire/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">review</a> here. </em></p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-in-the-mood-for-more">IN THE MOOD FOR MORE?</h2>



<ul>
<li><a href="https://scotland.muddystilettos.co.uk/school-reviews/glenalmond-college-perth-perthshire/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Review: Glenalmond College, Perth, Perthshire</a></li>



<li><a href="https://scotland.muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/arts-culture/autumn-culture-guide-scotland/">The culture hit list: What to see, hear and book this autumn in Scotland</a></li>



<li><a href="https://scotland.muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/walks-near-me/things-to-do-walks-autumn-colour/">12 beautiful autumn walks near you – from fiery forests to folly views</a></li>
</ul>


From Munros to martinis: Lucy Elphinstone’s favourite places

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