The second time I visited the Highlands was in 2010. The first time I visited, I travelled from Glasgow up to Glencoe and we passed by Inveraray which was back in 2007. In 2010, I went from Edinburgh to Isle of Skye along the West Coast and back to Edinburgh along the East Coast. All in two days. I’ll describe the stops along the way in this blog post.

Day 1

Inveraray Castle
When I visited Inveraray in 2007, I didn’t visit the castle. The second time around I did. I don’t think you can enter the castle, but the outside itself is definitely worth a visit. I didn’t take any good pictures of the Highland Coos, but around the castle there are some fields with the iconic coos just chilling on the grass.

Fort William
Just a few kilometres from Glencoe there is a big town called Fort William. It’s the second biggest town in the Highlands (only Inverness is bigger) I didn’t give myself enough time to properly explore but I did visit the main stree, the museum and the church.

The museum is call The West Highland Museum and contains historically relevant items from the region. Items to do with Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites. Between writing this post and visiting the museum and I actually forgot whether I liked it, but it’s one of the main tourist sights, so when you’re in Fort William you might as well check it out.

Commando Memorial
Driving north from Fort William takes you past the Commando Memorial on a parking spot.

Eilean Donan Castle
When you continue driving from Fort William to the north, you will see Eilean Donan Castle, one of the most beautiful castles in the Highlands, situated on an island. I just stopped for a photo moment, I didn’t go inside to explore the interior of the castle.

Isle of Skye: The Storr
The goal of this particular trip was to reach Isle of Skye. My friend and I only spent a few hours of the two day weekend on Isle of Skye, so we only had time to go to The Storr. The Storr is a rocky hill, which stands in contrast to all the green hills that surround it. I went up a small hill for a one to two hour hike, but unfortunately the weather conditions weren’t great so I didn’t get to see any of the real prettiness.

Isle of Skye: Portree
I have no pictures of Portree, but that’s where I spent the night. I think it’s one of the main towns on Isle of Skye.

Day 2

Isle of Skye: Armadale
The next day I made a stop in Armadale, which is home to the Clan Donald Skye Visitor Centre, which basically looks like a gorgeous castle.

Urquhart Castle
When you go sightseeing in the Highlands, even if it’s only for two days, you will see so many sights. It’s impossible to drive by them and not to stop.

From Isle of Skye to East Coast, you’ll bump into Urquhart Castle, which overlooks Loch Ness. The castle was originally built in 13th century. Since then it has seen quite some wars, for example the War on Independence in the 14th century and it was destroyed so that the Jacobites couldn’t settle there in the 17th century.

This is one of the biggest castles you can visit in Scotland.

Culloden Battlefield
Right next to Inverness, you’ll find Culloden Battlefield. In the 18th century a battle took place there. The quick and bloody battle on Culloden Moor was over in less than an hour when after an unsuccessful Highland charge against the government lines, the Jacobites were routed and driven from the field. Between 1,500 and 2,000 Jacobites were killed or wounded in the brief battle. Government losses were lighter with 50 dead and 259 wounded. Now, it’s just a field laden with memories.

Stirling
The last stop on the loop around the Highlands was Stirling. This was the one I was most looking forward to, because I wanted to visit the National Wallace Monument. I’m a big fan of the movie Braveheart so of course I had to make a stop here.

The monument offers a great view over Stirling.

How to travel the Highlands?

There are two ways to travel the Highlands.

The first is the one I opted for. You can rent a car, and create your own itinerary. The second option is to book a tour. I quite like the look of the tours that Get Your Guide offers. Another company I quite like the look of is Haggis Adventures, they offer backpacker road trips through Scotland.

Conclusion

I don’t think I can repeat this enough, but the Highlands are one of the most beautiful places on the earth. The grass is so green, I’ve never seen that shade of green anywhere. You cannot count on good weather when you visit, and that’s OK because even in the rain the whole place looks magical. I will never stop visiting the Highlands and there are so many more places I would love to go. This year (2015) I bought my first DSLR camera and I can’t wait to test it in the Highlands.