Our only goal of the day was to get from Ullapool to Fort William and we, honestly, weren't sure what we were going to do in the intervening time. The drive was scheduled to be about 2 1/2 hours long but we had learned by this point that we could easily stretch that to four or five hours depending on the numbers of stops that we made.
I had hoped to see Urquhart Castle so we set out with that destination in mind. As we neared the location, we noticed long lines of people. We arrived at the parking lot only to find that it was full. It was 11:00 a.m. I did some quick searches online to find out that parking must be reserved in advance and that those fine people standing on the road had, likely, walked in from the nearest town and were waiting for a bus to take them to the castle. So friends, if you want to see Urquhart Castle, plan ahead!
We continued on to Fort Augustus and arrived around noon. After having spent so many days in the far north on deserted beaches and in quiet pubs I nearly hyperventilated when we turned into the public parking lot and encountered 20 tour buses and very few parking spots.
We followed the masses into town and up to a series of locks on the Caledonian Canal. The restaurants and shops were heaving with people so we walked toward the end of the lock where it empties into Loch Ness. There, we found the lovely Boathouse Restaurant. We enjoyed a quiet lunch of toasties (I love a toastie!) and pints of beer. By this time, I had fallen in love with Tennent's pilsner and I'm pretty sure that I drank my weight in it while we were in Scotland. After lunch we spent a few moments admiring Loch Ness and then walked back to the car.
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| Loch Ness |
Since we missed Urquhart earlier in the day, we set our sites on
Invergarry Castle. The castle is not mentioned on road signs and we only found it because I was following on Google Maps. It appears to be on the property of the Invergarry Castle Hotel and signs
only mention the hotel. The castle has a safety fence around it and visitors are urged not to cross it due to safety concerns but I have to admit that I was incredibly tempted. The lush greenery surrounding the fence and the plants growing inside what would have been the "keep" lent an otherworldly feeling to the moment. It felt like time might be trying to pull us backward. Ok, I felt that. I'm pretty sure that Drew didn't.
A few miles down the road we saw a sign for the
Commando Memorial. The memorial was unveiled in 1952 and it was built to honor the commandos who answered the call to service in World War II and joined together to create an elite fighting force. The commandos trained in the area near the memorial and 1,700 of them lost their lives during the war. The site faces
Ben Nevis which is the highest point in in the British Isles and the tallest of the
Munros.
Ben Nevis as seen from the Commando Memorial
We arrived in Fort William around 6:00 p.m., having successfully turned another three-hour drive into an eight-hour day. If there is one thing we're good at when we're traveling, it's side quests! We checked into our hotel,
the Cruachan, and then headed into Fort William for dinner.
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| Cruachan Hotel |
Fort William, located on the shores of Loch Linnhe, is known as the "Outdoor Capital of the UK." It is the starting point of the
Great Glen Way and the
West Highland Way and a hub for through hikers on their own adventures. Despite having a bit of PTSD from the large crowds earlier in the day, it was really fun to walk down High Street and see the hikers coming in from their day's travels. We had a great meal at
Ben Nevis Bar where I made a hard right turn toward American food and ordered macaroni and cheese (NOT mac and cheese). It was delicious!
After dinner we walked back toward the hotel and took a brief stroll alongside Loch Linnhe and then sat for awhile by the water's edge. Eventually, the siren call of the local whisky drew us back to the hotel where we had a dram (or two) and then headed to the room for some sleep.
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| Man enjoying the views of Loch Linnhe |
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