Scotland: Glen Coe, Inverness & The Highlands

Renting a car in Scotland turned out of be one of the best decisions we made. Originally we were planning to hop around our various destinations by bus, but we quickly learned that our little car would actually be a better deal than the bus prices (even if gas was $9 a gallon), and we’d have the freedom to see so much more! Because of this, we ended up keeping the car for our last four days as we headed north to the Scottish Highlands.

We were set to stay in Inverness for our last leg in Scotland- the capitol city of the Highlands up in the northeast, near the famous Loch Ness. With the help of our airbnb host we mapped out a scenic road trip that would have us to Inverness by nightfall:

Starting at Stirling and heading northwest through northern tip of Loch Lomond, through the rocky peaks of Glen Coe, past Fort William and the highest mountain peak in Scotland (Ben Nevis), across the rolling hills and lochs of the Central Highlands, to Urquhart Castle Loch Ness (and its elusive monster), finally arriving at Inverness.

It was an incredible drive, with so many highlights along the way that it was overwhelming! The weather was at it again- it was incredibly windy and stormy but it added an eeriness and extra beauty along the drive, with rainbows and crazy low hanging cloud formations perched everywhere we looked.

The Glen Coe area was my favorite. In Scottish Gaelic, a ‘glen’ is known as a deep and narrow valley- and that it was. The glen held such harsh and rugged beauty as we drove through the winding road that cut right through the mountains. There were low hanging clouds, with a constant mist as we drive through, but the jagged cliffs of former volcanoes were breathtaking. It is said that Glen Coe is “Scotland’s most famous glen- it is the grandest and –in bad weather- the grimmest.” As we went through it, it definitely felt like both. Because of the grim weather, we didn’t attempt any hiking, but we were awestruck as we drove through.

Once north of Glen Coe we drove through Fort William, known as the ‘Outdoor Capital of the UK’. The town sits between Loch Linnhe, which opens up to the Atlantic Ocean and the dramatic Ben Nevis Mountain on its other side. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Britain (4409 ft). It was incredibly beautiful driving through this stretch, although the clouds were so low that we could only see tiny parts of Ben Nevis.

The drive from Fort William up to Inverness is known as the ‘Great Glen Way.’ It was very wooded had little sign of civilization, the road following what felt like one long string of lochs (lakes) until we got to Loch Ness.

We wouldn’t be in the Highlands if we didn’t stop at a castle, so we went to see Urquhart Castle, one of the most visited castles in Scotland, dates back to the 1200’s and has a prime location overlooking Loch Ness.

Urquhart is incredibly picturesque and sits up on a hill right on the edge of the Loch. It was built on the site of a medieval fortification in the 13^th century and played a role in the Scottish Independence in the 14^th century. Made originally as a royal castle, it was granted to Clan Grant in the 1500s, though the MacDonald clans repeatedly raided and tried to take over the castle. It ended up being partially destroyed in 1692 to prevent the use of it by Jacobite forces who wanted to restore the throne to Bonnie Price Charlie. The castle looked pretty decayed due to the intentional destruction, but was really cool to see nonetheless.

We arrived at Inverness as it was getting dark, and were surprised to see that it was actually a pretty big and busy town. We saw traffic for the first time since driving on the left and had a hard time finding a place to park overnight nearby our hostel. We ended up finding a spot, but for the next few days we had to play the fun game of checking the city signs and continuously move the car around so it didn’t get towed.

The Outlander series of books (that my family and I all read) takes place in Inverness (and nearby) for much of the first couple books, and so I had built up an impression of what it would be like there and was surprised at the size. It wasn’t a huge metro city, but I thought it would just be a bunch of B&B’s along a river with a few small pubs and restaurants…it had much more going on than I thought it would!

Loch Ness was pretty much what I expected of it though. It was a massive body of water, and stretched for miles along the roads, with hardly any boats or water activities interrupting its stillness amidst the yellow, orange and red leaves next to it. There were a lot of fun little Loch Ness Monster signs, promos, and boat rides in the nearby villages, and a museum where you could learn more about it. Really it was the only cheesy or touristy part of the whole area, but it was kind of fun to see. I know this is probably hard to believe, but I’m sad to say Josh and I had no monster sightings of ‘Nessie’ in Loch Ness… darnit!

Our first full day in the Highlands we decided we had to partake in one of the things it’s most famous for- Whisky!

There are distilleries everywhere in the Speyside area just east of Inverness, so much so that there is even a ‘Malt Whisky Trail’ you can follow to find distilleries of all shapes and sizes. We decided we wanted to try a big, well known name, along with a smaller more local one, so off we went!

We were on a quest to get answers to some pretty important stuff:

How is whisky made? What is a single malt? What’s the difference between Scotch and American whisky? What makes it Scotch? And most importantly- what does a good Scotch taste like?

Yum.

We drove through the countryside that was lined with farms, rivers, and distilleries, and due to our not detailed enough map, we couldn’t find the smaller one we had looked up to go to (I blame the map!). Somewhere on the single lane road we managed to drive right past it, and we never found out where it was because we stumbled instead upon The Glenlivet Distillery, and in we went!

Not being a typical consumer of single malts, I didn’t realize that Glenlivet is actually huge- apparently it’s is the biggest selling single malt whisky in the US, and second largest globally. Its claim to fame is that it’s the ‘Whisky that started it all’ because it is the oldest legal distillery in the parish of Glenlivet (1824) and the production place of the Scottish whisky of the same name.

It wasn’t crowded at all along the Whisky Trail or inside Glenlivet, and we were able to go on a free tour of the production floor to see and learn how it is made. They took us through each step in the process and it ended in the tasting room, where you could taste their 3 main type of whiskey, aged 12, 15, or 18 years.

Never drink whisky without water, Never drink water without whisky.

Next we drove through Dufftown, a really small, quaint village known for its distilleries. The saying goes “Rome was built on seven hills, Dufftown stands on seven stills.” Apparently Dufftown raises more capital for the government per head than any place in the UK. The biggest distillery is a very famous name I’m sure you’ve heard of- Glenfiddich (yes- yet another ‘glen’).

We definitely wanted to go to Glenfiddich, as it was one we’ve both had before and heard of, and it did not disappoint. Glenfiddich is an innovative family owned and operated distillery, started in 1887 that was the first to actively sell its product in the UK as a single malt (as apposed to blended whisky).

It was also the first to open its doors to visitors like us, 40 years ago. So we took another free tour through the production process, similar to Glenlivet, which also ended in another tasting at the end, which was really great. They too, had aged bottles of 12, 15, and 18 years that we tried, and it reminded me of wine tasting in Napa… they described each of the fruit and spice nodes associated with each whiskey, and how each is completed to make them unique. They were quite tasty!

One really interesting fact that I couldn’t believe was the taxes on whisky in Scotland. The distilleries are taxed somewhere around 90% per each bottle sold in Scotland! We noticed that even though you were in the whisky capital, it was much more expensive than in the States, and this is why. Totally mindboggling that they are able to stay in business, but I guess that’s why they export abroad.

Our last day in Inverness we needed a little break from all the driving around, so we changed some plans and kept it local, hanging out in Inverness most of the day. It was really nice outside so we went for a run along the River Ness. We learned that the River Ness (which runs from Loch Ness all the way to the ocean) has tons of little islands in the middle of the river that are all connected by running trails & pathways. It was a lot of fun exploring the area, although we did have a little scare! Josh and I were running together and we decided to stop and stretch toward the end. Josh got ambitious and decided to head to a soccer field at the park next to the trail to do some pushups, and I decided not get any more of a sweat and just stretch by the river… somehow we ended up not being able to find each other, which led to us both frantically running around the trail for MUCH longer than planned in desperate search. I was freaking out, but trying not to freak out, and running around like a lost puppy trying to spot his red shirt in the park. I kept thinking over and over how I didn’t have ID or a key to our place or ANYTHING, so I had to find him! Finally we found each other- he had run back to the hostel to see if I was there and I eventually ran back thinking he had to be there too since his red shirt was nowhere to be found in the park or trails- it was basically the biggest relief ever to see Josh sprinting towards me!! It felt like being a kid again, before everyone had a cell phones attached to their hip at all times (since we don’t have a working phone). Good thing it was shortlived!

We stayed at a small hostel in Inverness, which was in a great location by the river and had a nice kitchen. After trying some Scottish food in Edinburgh we didn’t feel we’d be missing much to cut that part out in the Highlands, so we cooked dinners and made our own food to keep out costs down.

We did however see some great authentic Scottish music our last night in town. It was a blast hearing all the traditional songs and watching people impromptu Scottish dance, similar to in Ireland.

The Highlands are special, as is Scotland. Though we didn’t see everything on this trip, I feel we got a good taste of the country and were really blessed to be able to experience the culture, music, history, legends, whisky, and people. And above all, the great outdoors…the crags, bens, lochs, and glens, that make Scotland what it is today.