The Highlands

The north of Scotland is seldom visited but definitely worth a visit (despite the distances involved and the difficulty of getting there). The northern region is comprised of three areas: Caithness on the extreme north east, Sutherland south of Caithness and Ross and Cromarty just to the north of Inverness.

Travel in the north of Scotland is a bit tricky with single-track roads being the norm (where you have to pull over to let any on-coming traffic pass) – It is worth it to see the spectacular scenery and experience true Scottish hospitality. While there is local transport and even the occasion train really a car is the best bet.

Most of the larger towns have Scottish Tourist Board offices where the staff are able (for a small fee) to book local (or national) accommodation. I found this the simplest method as sometimes I did not know far enough in advance where I would be from day to day so ended up using the tourist offices to book “on the fly”.

There is some stunning scenery in this area but there is also a lot of tourism as it is easily accessed from glasgow and edinburgh.

Ben Nevis is the tallest peak in Scotland with the reputation of claiming many a visitor that attempts the easily accessible path. In the winter there is skiing but in the summer lower parts of the mountain are accessible via the ski lift from the lower car park (with a mountain bike path down the side of the mountain).

The pretty Bridge of Oich is at the northern tip of Loch Oich (on the A82). It is closed to traffic but you can walk over it and it accesses local walking trails. There are a couple of parking spots (gravel) nearby on the canal.

The A82 passes over the adjacent “Aberchalder Swing Bridge”, a (relatively) modern swing bridge that is in active use allowing boat traffic to travel to/from the lake.

Quite a touristy small town at the southernmost tip of Loch Ness with a set of five lochs connecting Loch Ness to the Caledonian Canal. There are several tour companies that operate loch boat trips out of here as well.

I wanted to include a picture of Urquhart Castle (now run by the National Trust of Scotland). Home of the Chisholm clan (of which I am a member). Be aware that this is a REAL tourist location with massive amounts of them all about. There is a charge for visiting the ruins that are maintained by “Historic Environment Scotland” (see https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/urquhart-castle/ for details) which is accessed by a car park just off the main road (though it can also be seen on boat trips in Loch Ness). Urquhart is just south of Inverness on the Loch and is definitely worth a visit and really spectacular when seen from either the water or the surrounding roads.

For further information, please see:

• Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board