My 3-Week Highlands to Alpine Adventure BEGINS

Scotland • England • Switzerland

I’ve officially kicked off my longest adventure away — a three-week journey spanning Scotland, England, and Switzerland. My travel includes 11 days in Scotland, 3 days in England, and 11 days in Switzerland, with two small-group Collette Explorations tours leading the way. I’ll also be visiting friends in England, arriving via a first-class train between the tours.

I’ll be sharing it all as I go. So, if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to travel solo with a blend of guided tours and independent exploring, you’re in the right place.

Getting Started: Departure Day

I began my journey with Collette’s convenient private car pickup service, which made the drive to Baltimore’s BWI Airport a breeze. While I usually fly out of Dulles, this time BWI was the departure hub.

I made my way through security quickly thanks to CLEAR. I have Global Entry and TSA pre-check but nothing will get you through faster than CLEAR. This is a benefit of my Amex Platinum card and it is well worth it. I then headed straight to Club BWI in Concourse D — one of the many perks of having Priority Pass access. Priority Pass is another travel credit card benefit I have from a few cards. With comfortable seating, snacks, drinks, and good Wi-Fi, it was the perfect way to spend a few hours catching up on some emails while listening to an audio book. My British Airways flight departed from Concourse E, so it was about a 10 minutes to walk to the gate.

My first flight was with British Airways to London Heathrow. I couldn’t snag a premium economy seat but as I was checking in at the gate, there was a pause and I was told I had been upgraded! I was so excited. My next flight was to have a few hours layover however from the slight delay and waiting to get through the airport, I made it just in time to the gate for my London to Glasgow flight. Now the adventure begins!

Want more travel recaps, tips, and group tour updates? Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on Instagram @awaywithheidi!