Scotland – Day 4 – the upper Highlands and Loch Ness was our final day exploring Scotland. We had to modify plans a bit due to a freak snow storm, we seen snow but it it was gone quickly, although it was the wind and rain that had us change things up a bit. With the changes made we had a great day and enjoyed our final day adventuring around the country. You can see our full itinerary and costs on my Scotland Itinerary post.
We woke up to a bit of snow and were delighted as we haven’t seen much snow during our time in Germany, ironic huh?! So we enjoyed it for a few mins then headed out. We drove literally 2 mins down the road and it was GONE nothing but rain, it was pretty funny. Thankfully we got to enjoy the snow but it didn’t impact our traveling for the day. It was windy and rainy up towards the Black Isle area so we decided to skip that part.
Our first stop of the day was at the Loch Ness Exhibition Center. It took us around 45 minutes to go through the 6 different rooms watching the neat videos in each one explaining the theories and hunt for Nessie. It was £22.50 for the family pass.
Some of the decor was a bit cheesy and it’s set up for black lights but the video and information itself was great about the history of the search for Nessie and the sightings.
Next we headed over to Urquhart Castle to take photos of the outside only, after doing some research and having already visited several castles this wasn’t one I decided was worth paying the admission for.
The Loch Ness itself is not super exciting so I know many people who drive there just for that are underwhelmed, for us it was just on our path for our adventure for the day.
We drove back towards Edinburgh using the the Secret Scotland guide modified from the Skye to Edinburgh from where we were. It took us down the back side of the Loch Ness which was all new scenery for us.
There were lots of great places to pull off and take photos along the way as well. We loved seeing all the sheep scattered all over the hillside, see all the tiny white dots in the photo?
A quick stop to the Commando Memorial for some scenic photos and leg stretching and to pay tribute to the fallen.
Benches for sitting an enjoying the area as well.
We drove through Glen Nevis where Harry Potter was filmed but did not stop to do the hike, we did stop at a grocery store to grab some snacks in the area though.
We used the guide and went to the Loch Leven Seafood Cafe, it’s very popular with only 15 or so tables so reservations may be a good idea if you want to go. They happened to have a table when we arrived. If you like shellfish and eating it cold this is the place for some fresh seafood. There were only a few alternative items so it made eating here a bit tricky for us. It’s also a bit pricy the cold seafood platter for one was £40 and a rib eye meal was £18.95. Our lunch was a bit high at £92.85 for the 4 of us. Mr. B found out that he’s not fond of cold shellfish and the rest of us just ate the alternative items. I’d say it’s only worth the detour if your bit shellfish fans. I forgot to take a pic of the restaurant but this neat stone wall is just down the road from it.
Then we hit the Green Welly Stop Cafe for the free restrooms and to look through the gift shops and cafe, the desserts looked good but we’d just ate lunch so weren’t hungry. We also found some Highland cattle along the way.
A quick detour led us to the views of the Edinample castle so we were able to get some photos.
We checked into James Cottage B&B. Michael the host was super friendly & accommodating, he served a yummy hot cooked breakfast. The room was large and the beds were comfy. The wifi here was the best of the trip and we were able to stream. Its a 10 min walk to restaurants and 5 min walk to the grocery store. Only an hour drive from the Edinburgh airport. We checked out the next morning and headed to the airport for our flight after the yummy breakfast.
We had dinner at a yummy Italian restaurant Avanti, which was a 10 min walk away and only cost us £39.40 for the 4 of us.
This was probably one of the slower sight seeing days of the trip but we still enjoyed it. I cannot say enough great things about the Highlands area, it’s really just one those things you need to go experience! Overall our trip to Scotland was a huge success and I’m so glad we got that done off the Bucket list!
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