Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle

After two nights in Inverness, we headed toward the West Coast of Scotland. On our way, we got to see one of the most iconic sites in Scotland . . . Loch Ness. We didn't have to go far from Inverness since that city sits right on the banks of the River Ness -- we just headed up river about 20 miles. As we had learned earlier in the trip, 'Loch' is the Scottish word for lake. We also learned that there are freshwater Lochs and seawater Lochs throughout the north of Scotland. Loch Ness is a fresh water lake and is quite large at 27 miles long and pretty narrow as can be seen in this photo below. We were, of course, hoping to see "Nessie," the Loch Ness Monster, but no such luck. Maybe next time.

There is an ancient castle on the shores of Loch Ness called Urquhart Castle (pronounced 'Ur-kut').  This castle was built in the 13th century and, like many other castles we saw, was destroyed and rebuilt many many times. It played a role during the 14th century in the Wars of Scottish Independence. Frankly, we are having a hard time keeping Scottish history straight as there have been so many different wars, not only with England, but among the Clans as well.

View of Urquhart Castle with Loch Ness in background

From here we went on to to Glencoe and finally to Oban, a picturesque town on the West Coast. More on both of these soon . . . .