As you’ll have seen if you follow me on Instagram, me and my partner David headed up to Carnoustie a couple of weeks ago for a night away. A nice little stop-gap before our holiday to Lanzarote. We were given a Red Letter Days experience voucher as a present, so we decided to use it to visit this golfing hotspot.

We had a lovely train trip up – the Aberdeen train goes straight to Carnoustie from Glasgow Queen Street. We only just made it as we had been held up viewing flats. Once you arrive at Carnoustie, the Carnoustie Golf Hotel and Spa, and indeed the Carnoustie Links golf course, is just a few minutes walk away. Driving in Scotland is just beautiful, however, so if you have a car, i’d urge you to do it that way.The Red Letter Days experience voucher we had was their Charming Hotel Escape with Dinner for Two (£149 from Red Letter Days). We got one night’s stay, a £50 credit to spend in the hotel’s Calder’s Bistro (this is enough for three courses each, excluding drinks), and a full breakfast in the morning.We had a lovely time, as there is no-one in the world that I would rather spend my time with. We had dinner watching the sun set, wandered on the golf course, took some photos at the beach and visited the pro golf shop for David to buy a souvenir.The food at Calder’s Bistro is amazing quality. I had Chicken & Chorizo Terrine with Oatcakes, followed by a Cheeseburgee & Chunky Chips, then Sticky Toffee Pudding (the best dessert i’ve had in a while)! David had Haggis Bon Bons, Cod & Crayfish Risotto, then Chocolate Profiteroles with Drambuie Sauce.Our room was really nice, but we would have preferred one with a view of the golf course instead of the car park. This didn’t impact us as we were only there for one night, but if it had been a longer stay, I’d have found it quite depressing.

This was such a lovely present that we received – we’d much rather get gifts of quality time than material things. So if you are struggling with what to buy someone for Christmas, a Red Letter Days experience voucher like this would be perfect.

You can see more of what i’m loving, and what i’m doing, over on my Instagram.