Strathpeffer to Inverness to Urquhart Castle to Loch Ness, to Sheepdogs Demo-Scottish Isles and Glens

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Urquhart Castle, Inverness Scotland

After a decent night's sleep at the Highland Hotel in Strathpeffer, we're up and heading to Inverness. Fans of the STARZ TV show Outlander, know all about Inverness. Jay and I did Gordon's Taxi Outlander Tour back in 2015 and visited many of the TV shows locations. But today we're just doing a drive through. No visit to Culloden for us this trip.

We're traveling south through the West Highlands to Loch Ness. We also won't be stopping at the Loch Ness Centre-an exhibition/visitor center about Nessie and the loch. But we are visiting Urquhart Castle-we previously just did a quick photo stop looking down on the castle.


The present ruins date from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though built on the site of an early medieval fortification. The first documentary record of Urquhart Castle occurs in 1296 when it was captured by Edward I of England.  Edward's invasion marked the beginning of the Wars of Scottish Independence, which would go on intermittently until 1357. 

Tours are timed so we look around the gift shop and the little museum they have set up.





Following the path out of the visitor's center, the first thing you see after the castle itself is the Trebuchet.  A what? 
It's a catapult, that was used a lot to siege a castle or other building/territory before gunpowder was invented. 



Stone balls could be hurled a great distance with great force to breach stone walls.



We had plenty of time to explore the ruins on our own.
 





Our next adventure on Loch Ness is a cruise. Will we see Nessie? Only if we are extremely lucky (if she exists!).


We get to see Urquhart Castle from the Loch. Very cool. Some nice views of Grant's Tower.




We pass by Dochfour House on the shores of Loch Dochfour

The first house on this spot was burned during the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745 and rebuilt in 1780 in its current form. A family legend says that at the time of the Rebellion, the Baillie owner of the estate hid in a cave in the hill above the house to escape from English troops.

The house is a mix of styles, integrating the original Georgian building with Victorian and Edwardian renovations. The result, Prince Albert who reportedly wrote to Queen Victoria in 1847 was that Dochfour was 'beautiful, the house elegant with a fine garden'.

 
There are remains of a dock that was built for Queen Victoria's visit.

We travel thorough the Caledonian Canal. Sorry but no Nessie sightings today.


 And dock, meeting our coach and driver to head further south. We drive through Inverness.




We make a quick pitstop in Aviemore for lunch. Aviemore is in the Cairngorms National Park. Aviemore became one of the first skiing resorts to be established in Scotland with the opening of the chairlift in 1961. After the ski center opened the population of the village grew. The resort has since grown into Britain's most visited ski resort during the winter months. 

No time to shop we head uptown to find some place to eat. We stumble upon Miele's Gelateria. They have sandwiches and Gelato...yes please!



It's a ski town for sure. Lots of outdoor gear shops.



Our final adventure of the day is a visit with Neil Ross and his amazing sheepdogs (Border Collies RULE!!)

Neil works on a farm just outside of Aviemore in the town of Kincraig.




Voice, whistles and even whispers get these dog to herd the sheep exactly as Neil want them to be moved. One dog is keeping all these sheep in a straight line.


Some of our group even got to try their hand at shearing.




The wool coat on the sheep's belly needs to be removed for the winter so that snow, mud and ice don't build up and cause them to freeze.



Neil does have a website but it's under construction, Working Sheepdogs.

We leave Neil and his dogs behind and head to the Crieff Hydro Hotel, in Perthshire. It's a spa, a hotel, and offers so many activities you could spend a month here and still not do it all. Unfortunately we're only staying one night.

But what a night...our room is HUGE!



They have so many whiskies to choose from...

And dinner was delicious.


I had the mackerel.


The risotto.


And the Eton Mess.



Next up we head to Edinburgh with a morning whisky tasting and a Scottish Evening. Our tour is winding down but there are still a few more adventures to be had. Oh and we get to sleep in, lobby call is at 9:30 a.m.!

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