Loch Ness, Highlands (and the Higland Coo), Scotland

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Today was our day trip to Loch Ness and the Highlands. We set out at 7am this morning and walked the mile and a half to our tour departure point on the Royal Mile. We got there early so we sat at Starbucks across the street and had breakfast while we waited. It was kind of cool to see the Royal Mile so empty. It certainly didn’t look that way when we were there yesterday!

At 8:15am our tour departed toward the Highlands. It was a long day spent mostly in a van, but we got to see more of Scotland than we ever would any other way (unless we had rented a car, which I’d like to do if/when I ever come back).

Our first stop was in Troussachs in the Highlands. It was here that I got to see (and feed!) a Highland coo (cow). This will definitely end up being one of the highlights of my trip as I’d been hoping to see one while we were here. His name is Hamish and apparently he is quite a local celebrity. We were lucky to get there when he was hungry and standing close to the gate. We saw several other Highland cows throughout the day, but none quite as impressive as Hamish.

We passed through Glen Ogle and then stopped at Glencoe to stretch a bit and take pictures. Glencoe is where the movies “Highlander”, “Braveheart”, “Rob Roy”, and “Harry Potter” were filmed. We also made a short stop at Glencoe Village, a very tiny town with lots of charm but not a whole lot to see or do (beautiful scenery though!).

Our next stop was Lochaber to see the Commando WWII Memorial. Of the three men depicted in the statue, only one of them came back alive from the war. There are also tiny memorials lined up at the base of statue and along a wall nearby.

Our main stop for the day was at Fort Augustus, home of Loch Ness and Nessie, the infamous Loch Ness monster. We decided against doing the optional boat cruise and instead walked along the shores of the lock and around the town. We did some shopping and stopped for lunch at The Moorings, where I had a veggie burger and chips and my first Scottish soda, Irn Bru (a popular hangover cure here!).

We spent about an hour and a half by Loch Ness and then headed out again, passing through Cairngorn National Park and then stopping once more at Pitlochney where we had ice cream and wandered around the charming little town before setting out back to Edinburgh.

On the way back we passed Blair Castle (owned by the Duke of Atholl, one of the richest men in Europe) and the old railway bridge.

We arrived back in Edinburgh at about 7:30pm and walked back to our hotel from Waverly Bridge. We stopped at a shop on the walk back and sampled a wee dram of Benromach single malt Scotch whisky (which I did not like al ALL…40% alcohol and VERY strong…yuck). Apparently this is a popular choice though…I’m just not a whisky drinker I guess.

We stopped at a market on the way back for some beers and crisps and then headed back to our hotel for the night. Tomorrow we take a train to the Lake District. Back to England!

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Comments

[Michael]

That's a long day of adventuring! And that is a very impressive coo. Irn Bru is made in Scotland from girders. What did you think to it? Very unusual taste I think.