Day 18 - Loch Ness and the Highlands - Loch Ness, United Kingdom
Loch Ness, United Kingdom
Another early day as we needed to meet up with our Tour Bus near Edinburgh Castle by 7:45 am. We had a quick breakfast in the hotel room and set off. Our tour was with Timberbush Tours and our driver's name was Fred. He was dressed in a kilt and had a great Scottish accent. He surveyed everyone on the bus asking where they were from. There were Brazilians, Cypriots, Egyptians, Chinese, Americans, Germans and of course the Canadians on board. Fred commented that he was happy there were no Englishman on board but I corrected him.
We left Edinburgh to the west, passing Falkirk along the way and the Falkirk Stadium. Next we saw Stirling Castle off in the distance and we caught a quick glimpse of the Wallace Monument, built to commemorate William Wallace. Our first stop for the day was the tiny hamlet of Kilmahog where we had a chance to see some Highland Cows, one of which was called Hamish.
We traveled on through the Rob Roy Country of the famous Clans MacGregor and Campbell. Then over the dramatic landscape of Rannoch Moor and the Black Mount to Glencoe, one of Scotland’s most famous glens (valleys), site of the 1692 massacre of the Clan MacDonald. We stopped here for a photo stop, and to soak up the atmosphere in the haunting glen where alongside the amazing views a Bagpiper was playing.
Continuing on we passed Loch Linnhe and then stopped for lunch in the Fort William area in a little place called Spean Bridge. There was not a lot of choice for lunch and we all opted for the Fish & Chips. Sadly to say, they were some of the worst we have ever tasted and the wee Scottish lady serving them was very rude!
Leaving Spean Bridge, we passed beneath Britain’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis. It was cloudy so it was difficult to get much of a glimpse of the mountain. Up next was the Caledonian Canal, where we saw the locks and boats moving through. Then came the pretty village of Fort Augustus, and all along we got to enjoy spectacular views of Loch Ness, as we drove along the shoreline to Urquhart Castle.
Fred gave us some amazing facts about Loch Ness. It is 24 miles long, over 700 feet deep, and if it stopped raining in Scotland today, the fresh water in the loch would keep Scotland going for 60 years.
Once we arrived at Urquhart Castle we had an hour to look around the ruins before our cruise down the Loch on the Jacobite Warrior. The ruins of the castle date from the 13th to 16th Centuries and it played a role in the Scottish Wars of Independence in the 14th Century. We boarded the Warrior and had a 15-20 minute cruise to meet up with the bus again further down the loch.
We were still heading North up to Inverness, Capital of the Highlands, and we then started our return for home, crossing the Grampian Mountains and the woodland scenery of Perthshire, including the Forest of Atholl. There was an evening refreshment stop at the Victorian resort town of Pitlochry, en route back to Edinburgh. We crossed the Forth Road Bridge back in to Edinburgh and had a great view of the Forth Rail Bridge that was completed in 1890.Supper at Pizza Hut back in Edinburgh, a little different than in Canada but the food was good and after another quick stop off at Sainsbury's we turned in for the night. We had traveled over 650 kilometres round-trip and had seen so much of Scotland's beauty!