Having made the journey up into the highlands of Scotland several times before, this time I had a pretty good idea of what to expect with the weather, and so rain coat and umbrella packed, we headed north for a long weekend in Inverness-shire.
The area around Loch Ness is so well known, and so renowned for its myth and legend that it brings a lot of tourists to its doorstep. But like most places that are frequented by tourists, you only have to go a little bit further off the beaten path to find the really great treats the area has to offer.
Though I had been to the clouded and blue hills of the Inverness-shire highlands before, it has been to do what many tourist do on their trip up - to see Loch Ness and be able to at least go home and say 'No, I didn't see the monster. Got a great shot of the Loch, though!' This time I was looking for a bit more, and with just a little added driving time, it wasn't hard to find.
We left with no real agenda other than to better explore this area of the Scottish highlands and what it had to offer. A large part of our intended trip was originally the city of Inverness itself. However, (and hopefully this will save some other like-minded travellers the time and planning we wasted) we were only in the outskirts of Inverness for a few moments before we realized it was not to be a part of the trip we had scheduled.
I've had several people tell me that Inverness was an inconsequential sort of town, but I had assumed that to mean there was no great night life, or perhaps not a good club scene. Known as the Capitol of the Highlands, I had pictured a rather beautiful little city with lots to see on foot. The reality, however, seemed to be just what people said of it. It's just another city, and not even a good one. So unless you have something specific planned for Inverness, it's worth giving it a miss. The country side and the surrounding towns all along Loch Ness are a much better way of spending your time while visiting the Highlands. We drove into Inverness, and within 5 minutes decided just to eat there and be on our way.
Quick Tips:
As is the case with much of Scotland, the most useful tips I can offer are generally to do with the weather. The highlands in particular are very weather oriented, and as is the case with all travel, if you go knowing what to expect it can make even a less than satisfactory situation a little bit nicer.
So plan for rain. Hope for the best, but assume there will be rain. Take a rain coat and sweater, regardless of the time of year, or how hot it may have been when you left Edinburgh or Glasgow. You may luck out, and if the sun comes out you could have beautiful, blistering sunshine. But even so - you will almost certainly need that rain coat at some point.
And this is certainly not all bad. The highlands is a rugged landscape that benefits greatly in mood and atmosphere from the dark blue low hanging clouds that dip in and out of the hill tops, and the best pictures you are likely to get come from the amazing cloud formations and bits of light that shine through to the truly astonishing colours of heather and grass.
As for avoiding the tourist trail, I discovered on this trip the south side of Loch Ness is the place to go. Most of the tourist route goes north up past Fort Augustus and alongside the Loch towards Inverness. Though there is some nice scenery in this direction (and Ft Augustus a nice town to stop into for lunch) the more rugged and less travelled side of the Loch, the south side, is well worth the added driving time.
Here there are secluded waterfalls, often swollen from the rains, some beautiful winding roads along side the Loch, as well as some far superior photo opportunities than you get on the North side, with far fewer cars and interruptions. Going this way also affords you the chance to hit the famous Scottish Whisky trail and some of the fantastic local distilleries, which are well worth a visit while in Scotland.
If you are in this area, there are some wonderful - and very secluded guest houses on this side of the Loch if scenery and peace and quiet are what you are looking for. And best of all their staff are often very knowledgeable about the area and can be of great assistance to you.
Best Way To Get Around:
There are quite a few choices in transportation in this area; all depending on what it is that you hope to see and get out of you're time in Inverness-shire. Despite the vast open expanses that begin just beyond Stirling where the Highlands begin, actual drive time around the highlands is remarkably short. If you don't stop too often to gape at scenery and take photos you can make it up from Edinburgh or Glasgow in about 3 hours. You can, of course fly into Inverness itself, and then drive south as well - saving you even further time if this is the main place in which you hope to spend your time in Scotland.
Buses are quite good and not too expensive in Scotland, and you can easily get a bus to Inverness or many of the places in-between from either Edinburgh or Glasgow, though that does significantly cut down on your sight seeing capabilities, of which there is much to see. Most of it is simply scenery, but it's highly likely you will want to take it at you're own pace if possible, as the scenery can change so rapid and dramatically within a short space of time.
There are also many tour buses that offer pretty good rates for tours of Loch Ness leaving from the centre of Edinburgh on the Royal Mile and coming back at the end of the day. These trips run from £20-£40 and can be purchased from the many shops that advertise them on Edinburgh's Royal Mile.
The best option is to drive, simply so that you can take the highlands at you're own pace. It is some where that should be seen slowly, with lots of stops at layovers which are well marked and often. Even with the pricey-ness of rentals and fuel in Britain, it's still worth it.
But if you're feeling up to it, walking around Scotland is a bit pass time for locals and visitors alike, and the highlands is ever full of hikers with packs making their way up into the hills. If you feel quite ambitious, you can always head north on foot, or even cycling. If you happen to have or can rent a motorcycle, the highland roads are wonderful for it with their long expanses of near empty road and breathtaking scenery.