Loch Ness, Haunting Glencoe & The Highlands

As we climb into the Highlands the landscape changes dramatically. The desolate Rannoch Moor gives way to spectacular Glencoe, setting to one of the most shameful episodes in Scottish history – the Glencoe Massacre. There’s an opportunity to stop here, stretch your legs and take in the breath-taking majesty of the Glen.

Spean Bridge, close to the Highland resort town of Fort William, and Ben Nevis (Great Britain’s highest peak) is the perfect place to stop for lunch before heading north into the Great Glen where we take in the stunning beauty of the Caledonian Canal, considered by many to be one of the world’s great waterways.

Enjoy the superb scenery as we hug the shoreline of Loch Ness to Urquhart Castle (ruins). It sits close to the deepest part of Loch Ness and is the place to spot the Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie as we like to call her. With just a little under 2 hours to spend at Loch Ness there is the option for you to explore Urquhart Castle & Visitor Centre and/or take the superb Loch Ness by Jacobite Cruise.

On our route down through the Cairngorms National Park and Grampian mountains keep a look out for Ruthven Barracks. On the day after the Battle of Culloden approximately 3,000 Jacobites gathered here under Lord George Murray with the intention of continuing the fight. The message however, from Bonnie Prince Charlie, was that every man should save himself the best he could. The Jacobites set fire to the barracks and dispersed to escape a Government now set on finally finishing off, not only the Jacobites but the Highland way of life once and for all. What you see today is pretty much how it was left after the Jacobites fled in 1746.

On our return to Glasgow our final stop for refreshments is in the Victorian town of Pitlochry before we head past Stirling Castle, the Wallace Monument and Stirling Bridge - scene of William Wallace’s great victory.