https://www.sqtalk.com/forum/ The good, the bad, the ugly during your travels en Fri, 10 Jul 2026 07:18:47 GMT vBulletin 60 images/misc/rss.png https://www.sqtalk.com/forum/ https://www.sqtalk.com/forum/forum/general/trip-reports/361119-planes-trains-automobiles-lufthansa-747-400-upper-deck-a-drive-around-scotland Sun, 28 Jun 2026 09:48:26 GMT Hello everyone! Just back in Singapore after 3 weeks in the UK, where Mrs yflyer, Miss yflyer no.2, and I explored Scotland by car (and ferry) as...
Just back in Singapore after 3 weeks in the UK, where Mrs yflyer, Miss yflyer no.2, and I explored Scotland by car (and ferry) as well as a side-trip to London via train.

We flew to and from Edinburgh on Lufthansa's 747-400 service via Frankfurt, in Business Class, on the Upper Deck of the "Queen of the Skies".



Flying on a 747 was at least part of the reason for the trip. There are few opportunities to fly on a Boeing 747 these days, and I was determined not to let this one slip by. The last time we flew LH to Frankfurt, the service was operated by a 747-8, the newest and final version of this aircraft type. These days, it is operated by the venerable 747-400, which in the recent past used to be the long haul workhorse of many major airlines. I was pleasantly surprised to find my recent Lufthansa 744 upper deck experience to be even better than my previous flight on their 748.

2026 is Lufthansa's 100th Anniversary Year, and they've pulled out all the stops to celebrate it, whether it's lounge decor or new amenity kits and F&B...



...as well as commemorative "XXL crane" livery.



We flew SIN-FRA-EDI. Our first stop was Glasgow, where we spent a few days before heading off on a driving trip around the Scottish Isles. The first thing that caught the eye about Glasgow: Why were there traffic cones on the statues? These were not just in Glasgow, but Edinburgh as well, as we would find out later in trip.



From Glasgow, we headed to Islay, a sparsely populated and stunningly beautiful island, home to several iconic whisky distilleries...



...and then to Oban, a picturesque coastal town.



From Oban, we took a boat tour of 3 Scottish Islands, which included the Isles of Mull and Iona. On this tour, we also visited the Isle of Staffa, to see Fingal's Cave. This stunning rock formation inspired the composer Felix Mendelssohn to write his Hebrides Overture. Seeing this amazing island up close, we could better understand why Mendelssohn found such deep inspiration.



Our next stop was Inverlochy Castle, near Fort William and Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles.



What does one do in a castle? Apart from walking the grounds and exploring the nearby hills and mountains, there was also an excellent restaurant there, with a menu overseen by Michel Roux Jr, and also activities such as falconry, archery and clay pigeon shooting that one could try one's hand at (with varying degrees of success).



As we travelled, we were awe-struck by the natural beauty of the Hebrides, whether it was the lochs or the rolling hills. The weather changed by the minute. One moment cloudy and wet, the next moment the sun was out. And when the sun was out, the scenes before us were stunning.



From there, our next stop was London, via the Caledonian Sleeper train. On this 12 hour overnight journey from Fort William to London Euston Station, we slept in private cabins equipped with double decker bunk beds and an ensuite shower/toilet.

London was busy as usual. It was unusually warm and sunny while we were there. Outside London Liverpool Street Station on a Thursday evening, with the sun still out and the sky a deep shade of blue, the sidewalks outside the pubs were overflowing with the after-work crowd.



While we in Singapore seek out shade wherever possible, Londoners seem to do the opposite.

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While Mrs yflyer and Miss yflyer no.2 spent a day in London sightseeing, I headed out of London, to the Imperial War Museum (IWM) Duxford for a look around. Apart from being an aviation museum with an awe-inspiring collection of both civilian and military aircraft types, this was a working aerodrome, with many vintage aircraft types including Spitfires, P-51 Mustangs and even a B-17 in airworthy condition.



Our last stop was Edinburgh. Once again, we got very lucky with the weather. When we left London, a heatwave was just around the corner. In Edinburgh, the sun was out, and the weather never went above the low to mid 20's C. What a beautiful city Edinburgh was!



While in Edinburgh, we headed to Leith to dine at The Kitchin. Our lunch there was one of the culinary highlights of our trip.



Edinburgh was our final stop before returning to Singapore. When I first booked my air tickets, I wondered if I should have booked an open jaw ticket and departed for Singapore from LHR instead of heading back north to EDI for our flights home. But it turned out that doing an itinerary that started and ended in Scotland worked really well.

Our itinerary was Glasgow --> Islay --> Oban --> Fort William --> London --> Edinburgh. The big city frenetic pace of London was a huge contrast to the warmth and charm of Edinburgh and Scotland, so it was nice to end our trip back where we started, in beautiful Edinburgh.

We flew home from EDI, via FRA, first on an LH A320neo to FRA, then on an LH 747-400 on the FRA-SIN sector, once again in Business Class on the Upper Deck.

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