If you
have time, do visit the extraordinary and evocative
Rosslyn Chapel with its unique 15th century carvings - don't miss the angel playing the bagpipes!
The Road to Deeside
Heading over the Forth Road Bridge (passengers can enjoy views
of the famous Rail Bridge of 1890), the motorway takes you
past Loch Leven and the island castle where Mary Queen of
Scots was imprisoned, to Perth. Here you can pause at Scone
Palace, the well-signposted ancient crowning place of
Scottish kings.
But if you
are aiming for Deeside that night you should perhaps be pressing
on to Glamis Castle (below), ancient home of HM Queen Elizabeth
the Queen Mother. Here you are welcomed into a historical
and architectural treasure trove - but not into the sealed
chamber where the Lord of Glamis played cards with the Devil!
From Glamis,
head to the village of Edzell and the beautiful B974 Cairn
o' Mount road over to Deeside. Edzell has a charming castle
of its own with a unique Renaissance garden.
Castles
and Stones
Banchory - and a relaxed country house hotel - is an excellent
place from which to explore Royal Deeside ('royal' as this
area was the summer retreat of Queen Victoria and has been
for all subsequent monarchs). However, long before Queen Victoria
rebuilt Balmoral
Castle, the Earls Marischal of Scotland were building
up their extraordinary fortress at Dunnottar
by Stonehaven, now a noble ruin, full of stories.
And in the
centuries before the early Celtic settlers bronze age tribes
in this area were moving massive monoliths to form enigmatic
stone circles - places like the unpronounceable Easter Aquhorthies.
Above all, though you will enjoy the exuberant architecture
of Deeside castles such as Craigievar (below). Our favourite
is Crathes, with its extraordinary painted ceilings (below
right) inside and the most sumptuous of gardens outside.
Royal
Deeside and over the hills to Inverness
Travelling up Deeside, stop for a few minutes at Ballater
Old Royal Station stepping back briefly to Victorian times.
You may notice a profusion of coats of arms above everyday
shops here - indicating patronage by a member of the Royal
family. Talking of which, you can visit the grounds of Balmoral
Castle except when the Royal Family is in residence. Heading
over to Speyside you'll notice what looks like a toy fort,
alone in a broad landscape: Corgarff is a 16th-century tower
house converted into a barracks for Government troops in 1748.
There are
fine views as you drop into the Spey Valley, then you cross
the Dava Moor where we recommend you divert a little to see
the 13th century island castle of Lochindorb, famously occupied
by Edward 1 of England and later by the 'Wolf of Badenoch'.
Here we recommend
that you stay in Castle Stuart
- an indulgence certainly, but simply unforgettable.
Inverness
Area
Your Inverness day should take in the well known attractions
of Cawdor
Castle and Culloden Battlefield - scene of the last battle to be fought on British soil and the end of the last Jacobite rebellion under 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'. No need to schedule much time for Inverness itself
but do not miss the extraordinary Bronze Age Clava Cairns
(below), just five minutes drive from Culloden.
The
West Coast
Even, perhaps especially, for Scots, there is a magic about
the west coast. Ever changing light on the water, mellowness
and year round beauty. This route takes you by the much-photographed
Urquhart Castle by Loch Ness and through Glenmoriston. Some
maps will mark MacPherson's cairn and the grave of the headless
corpse on the other side of the road three miles east of Cluanie
dam - worth stopping to learn the story.
The
Isle of Skye
You pass the sad and barely noticeable site of a the battle
of Glenshiel, then rounding a bend on the way to Kyle of Lochalsh
and the Skye Bridge, you are confronted by Eilean
Donan Castle, so familiar from the calendars. Enjoy this
wonderful building, which stood like the stump of an old tooth
for two hundred years until its almost magical restoration,
the process overseen by the seventh son of a seventh son.
Now you have
two nights in a restored Victorian inn by a little harbour
in Sleat, a delightful part of Skye, rich in Celtic legend.
But even though Skye is wonderful outside, make time for the Museum
of the Isles at Armadale Castle, really the best presentation
of clanship and Highland history that there is - badly served
by an indifferent leaflet.
Glenfinnan, Glencoe and the Trossachs
Today it's the morning ferry to the mainland. The drive from
Mallaig by Glenfinnan, where Prince Charles Edward raised
his standard, is lovely.
If you turn off to Banavie a little before Fort William,
you come to the Moorings Hotel where you can park and
admire the other end of the Caledonian Canal, which you
first crossed on your way out of Inverness. There are
eight locks here - known as Neptune's staircase - and
as you look at them, Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in
Scotland, is glowering down from the other side of the
valley.
Now cruise
down beside Loch Linnhe to Ballachulish then up to Glencoe
- famous as the place where MacDonalds were massacred by a
company of the British Army led by a Campbell. All the gory
details are at the National Trust for Scotland visitor centre.
Even if there had been no massacre, Glencoe would still impress
as wild and forbidding
Down in the
green fields of Stirlingshire is Callander, famous as the
stamping ground for Rob Roy MacGregor - cattle rustler, and
blackmailer, well played by Liam Neeson in the romanticised
film 'Rob Roy'. There is a Visitor Centre for enthusiasts.
That night
is at a charming hotel in Callander, built in 1625 beside
the meandering River Teith as a hunting lodge for the Dukes
of Perth and its age has not been masked by ill-advised 'improvements'.
Next day you
can visit Stirling
Castle, fortress and Renaissance palace where Mary Queen
of Scots was crowned as an infant and her son was baptised.
The highlight is probably the newly renovated Great Hall with
hammer beam roof, held together with three thousand hand crafted
pegs. Also nearby are the (William) Wallace Monument and Bannockburn
Battlefield.
Thus back down
the motorway to either Edinburgh or Glasgow airport.
The cost for two people staying these nine nights in en suite rooms with bed
and breakfast, including the ferry from Skye and with an automatic Group Three car, would
be GBP 2187.00. (approx USD 3569).
