I was up early, packed and ready to go! Waiting! And waiting! Our driver had slept in – but I couldn’t complain as unfortunately, due to a mix up with the car hire firm, he was the sole driver on our trip.
We were headed to a cottage in Dornie, a small village near the iconic Eilean Donan Castle but first we needed to check out Urquhart Castle on the shores of Loch Ness.
Despite the late start we set off in high spirits and it wasn’t long before the calm, deep waters of the Loch came into view – sort of! Although the road followed the shoreline, trees almost obliterated the view of the loch.
Thankfully there were places to stop so we took advantage of each and every one, all the while keeping an eye out for the Loch Ness Monster.
Despite looking hard at the grey waters for ripples and humps we didn’t see the legendary lizard, but we did stop at the Nessie Shop where he/she appeared on the shelves in every way imaginable. Like every other self-respecting tourist we indulged ourselves and purchased various Nessie souvenirs to carry home. Then it was back on the road!
It wasn’t long before Urquhart Castle came into view and it was an impressive sight. Perched on a promontory overlooking Loch Ness its troubled history spans hundreds of years.
Trivia: In 580AD St Columba was said to have visited on his way from Iona to Inverness. When he arrived, the owner, a nobleman called Emchath, was said to have been close to death whereupon Columba baptised him and his household. Did he survive? Who knows!
In 1296 Edward 1 of England captured the castle when he invaded Scotland and from that time it passed from English hands to Scottish then back to English. It then came under the control of Robert the Bruce and eventually was passed back and forth between clans and the crown until, in 1692, government soldiers blew it up as they vacated the premises.
Today it stands as a very beautiful ruin in magnificent scenery, one which is well worth a visit. We’d planned to have a quick look but ended up staying over 2 hours so if you’ve got Urquhart Castle on your itinerary don’t plan to leave in a hurry!
Lunch – a quick sandwich at the castle and we were on our way again
I’d planned our journey to travel northwest away from Loch Ness through Beauly and Garve before heading south alongside Lochcarron to Dornie, however, as the road appeared to be narrow, winding and much longer we decided to follow Loch Ness to the turn off at Invermoriston and head straight for Kyle of Lochalsh and Dornie.
One of the advantages of travelling independently is you have the ability to change your plans whenever you feel like it! It’s something I’ve always appreciated, in fact sometimes I’ve actually travelled without a definite itinerary and loved it!
The scenery was once again magnificent! Mountains with steep sides and rounded peaks, snow still lying in gullies, clear, bubbling streams which ran alongside the road before flowing into broad expanses of water.
We made a quick stop at a cairn on the side of the road which proved to be the spot where Roderick MacKenzie died when he bluffed the Duke of Cumberland’s soldiers into believing he was Bonnie Prince Charlie. The Prince was fleeing from the disaster at the Culloden Battlefield and Roderick’s heroism gave the Prince time to reach safety.
It’s hard to find words to describe the countryside as none of them seem adequate. We’d left Loch Ness behind and followed the River Moriston until we came to Loch Cluanie then followed the shore making frequent stops where we could. The sky was a mess of scattered clouds with the odd patch of blue sky creating an almost foreboding atmosphere. The glassy surface of the water produced lovely clear reflections of the mountains. It was a truly magical drive!
We passed another cairn at the River Sheil unaware of its significance at the time but it was the location of another major battle in Scottish history which took place in 1719. It was fought between the British Government and an alliance between Spaniards and the Jacobites with the British claiming victory.
We walked across the river to the road but elected not to go right back to the cairn as by that time we were anxious to reach our destination.
Eventually, after driving on and off for 6 hours and stopping many times to admire the scenery and take photos Eilean Donan Castle came into view and we cruised into Dornie where we were due to spend 3 nights in what turned out to be a delightful, spacious, well-equipped cottage. One which had a bathroom which wouldn’t have looked out of place in a very posh hotel! The name of the cottage was Eilean Donan View, and it definitely lived up to its name, and much to our delight it was next to a pub, “The Clachan”, where we were able to rest, recuperate and dwell on the magnificent Scottish countryside we’d just driven through.
Eilean Donan View is the green cottage next to the pub, unfortunately I didn’t get photos of the bathroom, I was too busy enjoying its opulence to think of it!
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