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Let’s talk about traveling through Scotland… With Scotland being the relatively small country that it is, one can really get from one place to another in no time at all. (That coming from two native Oregonians who drive the length of Oregon in four hours.) I know, some people reading this think four hours?! That’s a long drive, but not for us.. We are still baffled by the fact that you can get from one side of the country to the other in four hours.
However, driving four hours straight to get from point A to point B, in this case Skye to Aberdeen, did not sound appealing, so we decided to stop at anything that looked interesting along the way. This turned our four-hour drive into a whole day affair – which we loved. Starting from Eilean Donan Castle, we made our way across A87 to Loch Ness. (No, unfortunately, we didn’t see Nessie). The views on this drive are amazing! People we’re telling you.. Scotland has some amazing scenery!
Like we said above, our trip consisted of stopping at whatever looked interesting, and literally everything that we went to was due to us just seeing it and stopping as we were driving along. As we were rounding the corner of Lock Duich, the water was so glass like, and the reflection of the mountains and anchored ships so picturesque, we had to stop! This meant driving until we found a safe spot to turn around, then heading back about a mile to the anchored boats. Totally worth it!!!
On the road again we were, for a wee bit anyway. As we were crossing the Invermoriston Bridge, we looked to our right and saw an old bridge that we had to investigate. We hung a right, parked in some bushes, and jumped out to get a closer look!
{Traveler’s Tip.. There’s a parking area on the corner of the A887 and A82 junction. Park here then enjoy an easy walk to the bridge.. much better than parking in the bushes!}
Back on the road, we were driving along Loch Laggan when we noticed a killer castle across the water. Luckily, there was pull out straight away, and we were able to get out and go down to the water and enjoy the view of this gorgeous castle.
{Traveler’s Tip… Look for the Ardverikie Castle on the opposite side of Loch Laggan than the road. The views from across the lake are breathtaking- as the castle is huge!}
We hit the road again ecstatic about the treasures we found so early on the road. Although these were great, our next treasure was jackpot! As we were heading towards Cairngorms National Park (where we planned on camping that night), we began seeing distillery signs and found out that Dalwhinnie Distillery was on our route!
Remember back here where we signed up for the free Friends of the Classic Malts and we got free tours to 12 different distilleries, yeah, you guessed it, this one was included! We had to stop! The tour was great! We ended up being the only two on our tour (not sure how that happened seeing how the tour after us had 10 + people), but man was it awesome. It was so personal, we learned so much more about the art of creating a great whisky, got to taste two whiskies, have a night piece of chocolate, and got dram glasses to take home! Major jackpot winners over here
{Traveler’s Tip.. We said this in our last post here, but we will say it again… Join Friends of the Classic Malts! It’s free to sign up, and you get to go to 12 different distillery tours for free. The distilleries are scattered all across Scotland, and once you hit them all you get a special gift! Totally worth the free sign up, it’s free whisky tours and samples, what’s not to love?}
{Traveler’s Tip.. We said this in our last post, but we will say it again… Join Friends of the Classic Malts! It’s free to sign up, and you get to go to 12 different distillery tours for free. The distilleries are scattered all across Scotland, and once you hit them all you get a special gift! Totally worth the free sign up, it’s free whisky tours and samples, what’s not to love?}
Lunch and a walk around the distillery were both much needed after having a few samples. Once we were ready to hit the road again, we drove for about 20 miles when we pulled off again. This time, we read in our guidebook Scotland the Best about a short hike to a waterfall.
We were super confused when we stopped, as the Falls of Bruar are right behind a big shopping center. We made our way through the huge parking lot and crowds of people, to have the forested trail basically all to ourselves.
{Traveler’s Tip.. This well maintained trail can be found just behind all the shopping buildings. It’s quite an easy walk up to the first falls, and then gets a bit steeper as you approach the upper falls. Weather you’re shopping or just there to hike, it’s definitely worth the visit!}
Exiting the Falls of Bruar parking area, there was a sign to Blair Castle. This ended up being our final surprise stop of the trip. We got into the castle grounds just as they were closing, and although we couldn’t go in the castle, we were able to walk the grounds. We especially enjoyed the deer area, where we marveled at a buck playing with a stick for nearly 10 minutes!
{Traveler’s Tip.. This castle is monstrous and has lots to explore. You could spend an entire day here exploring the different walks, the animal park, and the castle itself. The town Blair Castle sits in, Blair Atholl, is a perfect town for biking around or enjoying a relaxing stroll through the quaint streets.}
Leaving Blair Castle we hit the road, stopping for a quick dinner in a parking lot, and then, made our way all the way to Aberdeen! This day was the perfect end to a great inaugural run in Isobel!
Want another route between Aberdeen and Skye? Look here… –>> Aberdeen to Skye <<–
Find out all about Skye
–>> Western Side of Skye — Northern Loop of Skye <<–
