Last month we made our way to Eastside Cottages in the heart of the Pentland Hills. Less than 30 minutes from Edinburgh city centre, Eastside is made up of 4 self catering cottages located on a working farm. We opted to stay in the Westside Woodshed, a beautiful rustic cottage for two with a Scandi vibe.

We arrived late on Friday night to freshly baked scones with lashings of cream and jam, fresh milk and a teapot just waiting to be filled. It was the perfect welcome for a couple of weary city-dwellers. The next morning we laced up our boots and headed out the door, past wary sheep and straight into the hills. We were armed with sausage rolls, apples, cheese, a flask of tea and a sneaky heather infused beer to celebrate a milestone birthday. The Pentlands is made up of many hills and over 100km of way marked paths. From the tops, there are fantastic sweeping views over Edinburgh city and beyond. Walking through the springy heather we made our way up to the summit of Scald Law, the highest point in the Pentlands. Having taken in a few summits we retreated to a knoll on the side of West Kip and nestled into the hillside to enjoy our picnic. Food always tastes better outdoors especially after a good stretch of the legs. The heather swayed in the breeze and as the sun began to dip, the hills turned amber oozing a rich early autumn glow.

We returned to the warm cottage, with ruddy cheeks and windswept hair, gathered up some wood and kindling and lit the wood burning stove. As it crackled in the background, we peeled and cut vegetables for soup, supped on red wine and watched chickens scuttle by the large panoramic windows. There was time to think, to be present, to watch the landscape embrace the changing seasons.

The next day we headed out for more walking. Distraction free and with nowhere to be at a certain time we took the time to just take in everything around us. The sheep baa’d as they were herded into their pen, a buzzard swooped down low over the hillside and distant chimneys expelled curls of smoke into the frost nipped air. We returned to an already prepared wood fired hot tub courtesy of our lovely hosts. A beautiful red harvest moon rose in the sky, the stars twinkled and sparkled above us and we tried to recall as many of the constellations as we could from memory.

This is the perfect base for slowing down and notwithstanding the fact that farming is a hard, relentless and sometimes unforgiving job, it’s hard not to feel envious of our hosts and the life they have carved out for themselves here. The only thing we wished for was more time.

This post is NOT sponsored. Just taking time to write up my thoughts and publicise a fantastic retreat in Scotland. We can’t wait to go back.