Scotland Trip - Loch Ness, Ullapool and Loch Inver

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Sunday, June 25 2006

Sarah and I began our day with a nice morning run.  From the village there was a nice smooth bike path alongside the main road that we were able to use the entire way.  Lots of horses grazing as we ran.

Our B&B, Bridgend, in Drumnadrochit was incredible!  The house is on the village green.  It's run by a woman called Ros and her spaniel, Molly.  This place is a must stay if you are in the Loch Ness area.  We spent a long time at breakfast talking to Ros.  She told us a few stories - it's too bad we got in late last night, she probably would have sat with us talking for ages.  Bridgend is exactly the type of B&B that makes people love to stay in a B&B.

Bridgend House, Drumnadrochit, Scotland

Our room at Bridgend, Drumnadrochit

From the house we went to Castle Urquhart on the shores of Loch Ness.  The visitor's center here is pretty good.  The English blew up parts of the castle in 1689 to prevent the Jacobites from capturing it.  It's too bad, it would have been even more incredible if it was in tact!

Castle Urquhart

The bridge to the front gate

Loch Ness (no monster)

No monster here either

Castle Urquhart and Loch Ness

After we finished poking around, we made our way from Loch Ness west into the Highlands.  The Glens along the road to Ullapool were striking, especially along Loch Glascornoch and Loch Broom.  We pulled the car over for a moment to check our map and discovered this ridiculous view out of our windows...

Ullapool

We continued on and stopped in Ullapool
for some Ice Cream.  The weather has been perfect so far, 14°-18° and sunny.  It was a beautiful day in this coastal town.  I was able to go to a book shop across the street from the Ice Cream shop.  This trip was necessary because even though the gift shop at Stirling Castle was selling a book I had been trying to find for a couple of years (Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie), I decided not to buy it.  I'm not sure why, but I didn't.  I was immediately sorry, so I was thrilled to find it at this shop.

Enjoying the sun in Ullapool

View from the bridge in Loch Inver

After our Ice Cream, we proceeded to Loch Inver after a brief stop at Ardvrek Castle. We had to split up in Loch Inver (we couldn't find a B&B that could house all four of us together since we hadn't booked ahead).  Sarah and I stayed at a B&B named Tigh Guithais, run by Rachel and Graham.  The house was built in the 1860s, but they've added on the back.  It's a more homelike feel than many B&Bs - it used to be their holiday home - but Sarah and I really liked it.  For dinner, we walked into the village (a major fishing port) and ate at the seafood restaurant you can see to the left - The Lochinver Larder.

Tigh Guithais, Loch Inver, Scotland

Our room at Tigh Guithais

Scotland Trip - Stirling Castle, Doune Castle and Glencoe

An updated version of this site can be found here

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Charlie The Tour Guide - get in his group!

We began the day with a tour of Stirling Castle.  Stirling Castle was once the residence of the monarch of Scotland.  The tour was outstanding!  We had a tour guide named Charlie - he was absolutely fantastic.

The oldest part of the standing structure dates to the 14th century.  You can see the Stirling Bridge from anywhere on the castle wall.   Stirling Bridge is known as the gateway to the Highlands and the famous battle that took place here is considered to be William Wallace's masterpiece.

In one of the buildings (the King's former home) is a museum run by and devoted to the Argyle and Sutherland Highland regiments which were stationed here (as recently as the 1960s).  The museum was really good, it's too bad that we had to leave in such a rush to catch the beginning of our guided tour (which begin at the top of each hour).

Stirling Castle as seen from the road below

We ate lunch at the Unicorn Cafe in the castle and it wasn't bad at all.  We then had a decision to make...

It was a little past 1 PM and we wanted to see Argyll's Lodgings (his townhouse near the castle that is restored as it was in 1680) and Doune Castle which was built by Robert Stewart (Robert the Bruce's grandson) and used in the film,  Monty Python and The Holy Grail.  We were also expecting a two hour drive to our B&B in Drumnadrochit on Loch Ness.


I really wanted to see Doune Castle, so we skipped Argyll's Lodging.  Doune is 7 miles out of Stirling and we got there in no time.  When you approach the castle, it looks exactly like it did in the film.  More recently the castle has been used as the castle of the MacKenzies in the television program "Outlander".

The front entrance of Doune Castle

There was no guided tour, but the castle in still in tact and hasn't had any major alterations since the Middle Ages.  This castle is perhaps the best I've seen in terms of actual access.  You are permitted to roam around at will - except for some portions of the roof.  There was a wedding going on in the Great Hall, but it ended while we were there and we got to see the Great Hall as well.

The view from the courtyard of Doune Castle

The Great Hall was breathtaking with the wedding decorations

Me storming the Castle

One of the interior chambers

Entering Glencoe

We then got started towards Loch Ness at about 4 PM.  We ended up stuck behind a car going 30 mph and didn't arrive until 8:30!  Passing through Glencoe was really special - it reminds me of the Glengesh pass in Donegal except there are no houses and no animals here.  The weather has been great so far!  Bring it on Loch Ness.