A tour of the Scottish Highlands

After nearly four hours on the bus, passing through rolling hills providing beautiful views along the way, I arrived in Inverness, checked into my hostel and found myself a nice place for dinner and a beer. 

The following morning I had an early start, wandering the quaint streets of the city and walking along the banks of the River Ness until I arrived at the Inverness Castle which sits on top of a hill overlooking the city and dominates the city’s skyline. Although I didn’t have time to explore the inside of the castle, it was great to spend some time here and gaze over the views of the city. 

I made my way back into the centre of town where I had a late breakfast, some coffee and then walked over to where my next tour was leaving from. I had booked myself into a Highlands Tour that day which promised to show me some of the sights. The tour was called “Puffin Express” and held a total of 15 persons. 

We started by driving south from Inverness and were soon with sight of Loch Ness where we were hoping to catch a view of the monster known as Nessie. We had a few quick stops along the way, but sadly, Nessie decided not to show herself to us on this occasion. Our tour continued along a scenic road with a beautiful landscape that unfolded before us and soon enough, we came across the Eilean Donan Castle, a historic fortress, on top of a small island between the lakes, or Lochs I guess I should say.

After exploring the castle we continued on our tour, arriving shortly thereafter at the Loch Alsh Viewpoint, where we not only were able to look our over the Loch but also were able to see the Skye Bridge in the distance. We drove across and onto the Isle of Skye where we travelled across the moors and eventually came across the ruins of the Armadale Castle & Gardens which is surrounded by lush greenery and has an amazing spot overlooking the Sound of Sleat.

As the afternoon set in, we started our return trip back to Inverness, again driving through some amazing scenery and on this occasion, opting for the Skye Ferry back to the mainland before driving and stopping at the Bealach Ratagan Viewpoint, sitting high above the tranquil waters of Loch Duich which offered amazing panoramic views with mountains and lush valleys.

I spent that night in Inverness again before returning to Edinburgh the following morning. After spending another full day in Edinburgh, on my last morning I woke early and took the train to Glasgow. Spent a couple of hours exploring the city, including riding the subway all the way around, before getting on the airplane taking me to Sweden. My initial thoughts of Glasgow was that it seems more industrial than Edinburgh and I found very little that captivated me, specially considering the natural beauty that I’ve just been through.

The Scottish Highlands proved to be an amazing experience, sure I didn’t get to see Nessie and didn’t have time on this trip to stop at any distilleries, but I still loved to be able to  experience Scotland’s natural wonders firsthand and know that a return journey would be very welcomed.