We came for a few days, and started wishing straight away that we had four weeks, four months even. Maybe even another 'year off' in the Highlands is on the bucket list now.
Here are a few of our favourite stops along the way ....
Glencoe
A valley of towering mountains and moss covered forests. This is a walkers paradise, and one day we'll return when Elliot is older and able to conquer a few more km's. We managed a gorgeous walk through the forest, around a mirror-like loch, with views of the mountains all around us. A few deer were spotted from the car, and sweet orange breasted robins meandered on the paths around us. Quite the 'Narnia' wonderland experience.
Clava Cairns
It happened so unexpectedly. We were lost on the back roads of Inverness, trying to find our hotel, when I saw the sign to Clava Cairns. I'd read about the ancient burial 'cairns' and stone circles, but seeing them in real life was something else! These amazing structures were placed here some 4000 years ago, and no-one really knows the full extent of their meaning. Some say they are burial tombs, others say they have astronomical significance as on the winter soltice, the sun shines directly down the centre of one of the cairns, illuminating the back wall. How cool is that! There are also those local tales of human sacrifice, time travelling (obviously, inspiration for Outlander) and of course the curse of the cairns, whereby anyone who removes a stone from the grounds will be cursed forevermore.
This was one of those eerie and sacred sights that gives you chills walking around. And just as we were walking back to the car, a ray of sun came shooting through the grounds, lasting a mere moment and adding a touch of sparkle to the icy stones. How many times can I say 'magical' in one post?!
Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle
No trip to the Highlands would be complete without going in search for the Loch Ness Monster. We boarded a cruise for a couple of hours which gave us the most fantastic views of not only the Loch, but of the stunning Urquhart Castle as well.
It was one of those typical Scottish winter days. Dark, rainy and windy, and to top it off, there was an unusual "arctic blast" coming down from Greenland, which made the wind chill factor particularly nasty. Lucky us!
If there ever was a castle that summed up the beauty of this land, the 13th century Eileen Donan Castle is it. It's actually privately owned and a family still lives in one wing of the castle. Imagine that!
Glenfinnan
Possibly one of the most beautiful lochs we saw this week, Loch Sheil, is the location of the monument honouring the men who died for the Jacobite cause. A lone kilted highlander stands above this towering monument, facing the loch, in the very spot that Bonnie Prince Charles called for the Highlanders to rally for the return of the British throne to the Stuarts.
And of more modern times, the railway viaduct made famous by the Harry Potter films, if beautifully placed between snow capped mountains behind the loch.
Arriving late in the afternoon, losing our way and losing the light (again!), I left a sleeping Elliot in the car with Scott and climbed the steep hill to see the viaduct. Just as the few remaining tourists left, the sky miraculously opened up and the sunset beamed through the mountains and over the loch casting the most magnificent glow all around me. It was ... you guessed it ... magical!
Plockton
Ugly name, gorgeous town. A quaint little fishing village sitting in a sheltered bay overlocking Loch Carron. This village was once voted 'Scotand's prettiest village', and even on a cold winters day, we can see why. Not easy to get to, a long drive down single lane roads with hairpin turns and signs warning us of deer, cattle and "feral goats" along the way. The latter we laughed at, until we actually came across four crazy goats fighting on the roadside!
We made it to the village, with its white houses and front yards on the waters edge and headed for lunch at the Plockton Inn, and devoured plates of the freshest and tastiest local seafood. Just perfect.
Ps. for those 90's BBC tv watchers, this was the location of the tv series "Hamish Macbeth"!
A xx
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these pics are A-Mazing!! such a beautiful part of the world. very magical indeed xx
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