On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Litlebritdifrnt
The drive from Edinburgh to Loch Ness is utterly spectacular. You go from the Lowlands of Edinburgh into the Highlands (for those interested mainly up the A9). We stayed at the Highland Club, a wonderful former Monastery on the edge of the Loch in the Village of Fort Augustus, which is full of pubs, restaurants, shops and where the Loch meets the Caledonia Canal, which has a swinging bridge which leads to a series of Locks leading up the hill into the Canal which of course leads to another Loch further up north.
The Monastery was converted into a School in the 1960s and then in the 1990s when it was abandoned by the Monks it was bought and turned into tourist accommodation. It is quite delightful, with tennis courts, croquet lawn, cricket pitch, swimming pool (in the Chapel!) and all sorts of wildlife in the grounds.
The scale of the Locks (notice the change in spelling) fascinated my Husband. While we were there, there were a constant stream of vessels waiting their turn, either to come from the Canal into the Loch, or from the Loch into the canal. The main entry to the canal (and/or to the Loch) is a swinging road bridge, which of course holds up traffic on the road, dozens of times a day. The engineering which created this entire thing is still quite unbelievable.
We booked a cruise on the Loch as obviously it is the best way to see it. The staff on board are an absolutely stellar bunch of Scots lads who have an effortless charm and a wicked sense of humour. On board you get a wonderful view of the sonar of the boat and tales of the things they have spotted. (There is still an “unknown” beastie that was scanned on the sonar that, according to the Marine Biologists that they submitted it to, was at least 12 meters long, was moving, and was unidentifed).
Ooooooh Look! Of course, this is a clever ruse. On the boat, there are stickers placed on the windows, whereby you can stand, point your camera down against the window and get this shot. It is great fun!
Fascinating place. When I visited when I served in Scotland back in the late 80s, early 90s, there was nothing but the ruins. You would simply park your car and scramble down the edge of the Loch to paddle in the water. These days it is a large visitor centre, with walkways and all sorts of informational signs it is quite strange when I remember the old way.
As always our days ended with an evening in the pub. Either here at The Lock Inn or The Bothy. Good food, good wine and beer, and then a pleasant walk back to the clubto watch the ducks on the loch and the rabbits on the cricket field. Next stop Gretna!
NeenerNeener
My grandmother was born and raised in Aberdeen, and was a firm believer in Nessie until the day she died.
Benw
Very cool. I want Nessie window stickers on the ferry across Long Island sound!
Chris T.
@Benw: Someone should come up with different “monsters” for each ferry in each area. We could have some sort of totem-pole-ish monster here in the Pacific NorthWet (which has a rather extensive ferry system on Puget Sound).
Raven
So cool! I’m sitting on a canal watching a guy rig up his fishing boat while the California guys sleep!
Amir Khalid
@Benw:
You could also get the Loch Ness FC team shirt.
Benw
@Chris T.: excellent idea!
@Amir Khalid: awesome!
eclare
Great photos!
twbrandt (formerly tom)
I had the bad timing of visiting Loch Ness on a Monday, which it turns out is Nessie’s day off. But it’s a gorgeous place to visit. Urquhart Castle is fascinating!
Thanks for sharing, Litlebritdifrnt!
Yutsano
@Amir Khalid: I have a mighty need…
Miss Bianca
Oh, wow, you are taking me back. I visited Scotland in the late 80s, and yeah…Urquhart Castle was a pretty spartan set-up, as I recall. Landed first in Jedburgh, to visit some of my ancestral haunts, then the Highlands. Loch Ness, Glamis Castle, Edinburgh, Inverness, the Outer Hebrides, Skye…it’s never left me. Was hoping to make the trip with one of my sisters before she died – she loved Scotland too.
Thanks for the photos! Somewhere in my personal jackdaw’s nest of belongings I have some old Scottish photos from that European Grand Tour I was on (including a very rainy, gloomy trip to Culloden Field, way before Outlander madness had occurred, when my bf and I were the only ones there besides the ghosts), hope I can find them again someday.
sab
Off to Gretna? I thought you two were already married.
Elizabelle
I want to stay at the Highland Club. And I do believe in Nessie, whether she be a window decal or something mysterious from the deep.
louc
My husband and I traveled from Edinburgh to Stirling and then through Speyside and down the east coast. We stopped in the little village that was the setting for “Local Hero,” one of the greatest movies ever.
Then the DH also traveled Loch Ness and Caledonia Canal by renting a houseboat with a couple of friends and it’s a trip I want him to reprise with me. They met so many amazing people, got invited to a wedding party, docked outside Urquhart castle at night with spooky black-faced sheep staring at them in the dark, and had other wonderful adventures.
way2blue
@Miss Bianca: The fiddle player Alasdair Fraser, is of the Fraser clann. And he has a great story about being home in Scotland and seeing busloads of Outlander fans driving by… (His wing of the clann were groundskeepers, not landed gentry. )
Tehanu
@louc: @way2blue:
I’m a fan of both Local Hero and Alasdair Fraser, and of Scotland in general. Urquhart Castle is one of the most beautiful places on Earth and Scotland in August is my idea of Heaven.