Monday, April 13, 2009

Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness

Urquhart Castle sits beside Loch Ness and is one of Scotland's most commonly photographed castles. It was just minutes down the road from where we stayed at Drumnadrochit so was our first stop after breakfast.


Most castles are plainly visible from the roadside, or nearby, without actually paying to visit. They only require payment to go inside.

This castle is different. The road and carpark is above the castle on a hill, as is the ticket office. Significant effort has been made to conceal the castle from the roadside. Trees have been planted along the length of the carpark. A view can be had from a couple of strategic spots but they're not that good for photos.

Once ticketed, we go down to the visitors centre. This is a superb setup. Really geared up for tourists, with the largest gift shop of anywhere we have visited in Scotland so far, yet all done tastefully, not at all tacky.

The tour begins with a short cinema presentation telling (in brief) the history of the castle and the surrounding area. Finally the lights come on, the curtains open, the behold the castle in front of us through large windows, with Loch Ness deep blue and glistening in the morning sun. Most impressive.


We spent perhaps an hour here, it was so lovely and warm in the sun, and peacefully quiet, and the beauty of Loch Ness will stay in our minds forever. I can see why people would want to build a castle here.


We decided against taking a boat tour around the castle, complete with Nessie sonar, content with what we had seen from land.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ha, there's a monster in the first picture!