Loch Ness and Scottish Highlands

I am not one for organised tours but I found this tour of Scotland which incorporates a few spots I wanted to explore. I do not have a car for this trip and doing all possible by rail or bus. Timberbush Loch Ness Glencoe and Highlands tour is 12 hours in a coach and I got to see some of the famed scenery of this beautiful country, with the best tour bus driver guide, Jamie, and a very reasonable $100AuD (£55). Jamie had a music playlist which included music that matched the emotion of the stories and places we passed through. Lots of photo stops with great commentary. We passed the Kelpies in Falkirk. 30 metre stainless steel sculptures. Read about Duke and Baron

Passed by Doune Castle the setting for Outlander, Game of Thrones and Monty Python and Stirling Castle childhood home of Mary Queen of Scots.

So much to see but cannot do it all. Our first stop was Kilmahog, known as the gateway to the highlands to meet a couple of famous Highland Coos, Hamish and Honey.

We passed through the areas of the children of the mist from the Macgregor Clan, the cemetery with Rob Roy, then to Crieff, the birthplace of Ewan Macgregor. The highlands are very popular for hikers.

Glencoe is in scenes from Harry Potter and James Bond, Skyfall. There is so much history and so many sad stories such as the massacre of Glencoe. There is so much beauty also in this wild craggy land. Lochs are lakes and Bens are mountains. We stopped at Fort William at the base of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland, and part of the Three Sisters. (not to be confused with the Three Sisters of the Blue Mountains of Australia).

Fort Augustus is the gateway to Loch Ness.

And then we were on a boat on Loch Ness looking for “Nessie”. The boat was a good way to travel on the Loch and get some photos of the Urquhart Castle ruins.

We found this crazy Dutchman, going for a swim, looking for Nessie. The water temperature was 5C 41F. It was the closest we got to the Loch Ness monster.

Drove through Inverness

Our final stop for the day was the cute town of Pitlochry.

It was a very enjoyable trip, although long, well worth doing. Left Edinburgh at 8am and arrived back at 8:30pm. I ended the day with a lovely minestrone at Vittoria on the Bridge.

Walked to Princes Square to get a bus back to my hotel and cannot walk without taking some snaps.