The Lazy Gal's Guide to Scotland

FORT WILLIAM: THREE LITTLE GEMS TO SEE…

I absolutely love Fort William. It’s definitely one of my favourite towns in Scotland and I love visiting it. Not just because the views over Loch Linnhe to the Ardnamurchan peninsula are incredible, or the drive through Glencoe which precedes it, but also because usually when we’re staying there it’s a precursor to heading even further up north.

For example, we stayed there a week or two ago overnight as we were headed up to near John O’Groats and although we just stayed in the Travelodge it was still lovely. (I also got to have wine inside a restaurant for the first time since October but that’s besides the point).

We also took the opportunity to visit a couple of places just on the outskirts of the town, and I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight these as places you can visit easily for some nice views without too much of a walk!

First up, we have the shipwreck at Corpach. It’s particularly photogenic as it has Ben Nevis looming up right behind it.

A short walk from the car park at the harbour at Corpach, the wreck has been there since 2011 and is definitely worth a swatch.

Next up, we have my favourite place to take a mirror selfie; it’s a little installation next to Neptune’s Staircase at Banavie. We nearly always make a little stop here for a new pic. It’s called Neptune’s Mirror and has been there for a number of years now.

I should add that I doubt its main purpose is for mirror selfies but it’s an added bonus!

Last up we have the old Inverlochy Castle ruins which are also just on the outskirts of Fort William. I’m always a fan of a good ruin and this ticks all the boxes! It’s also in a lovely setting next to the water.

Do you have a favourite place in Fort William?

LOVELY LOCH ARDINNING…

It’s funny how often you can drive past somewhere before you finally get around to visiting it isn’t it?

We have been based in Clydebank for the last week or so as my boyfriend has a house there he needs to start getting sorted out, and so we have been trying to take advantage of some of the beauty spots not too far a drive from there. Loch Ardinning is near Strathblane and about a 15 minute drive from the fella’s house so we popped over there a couple of nights ago on an unexpectedly sunny evening!

First up, parking. It’s pretty limited from what I can see, probably parking space for about 4-5 cars on either side of the road (depending on how people have parked obviously). Don’t park like a dick outwith the obvious laybys, you’ll be putting other people (and possibly yourself and your car) at risk.

Housekeeping out the way, the loch itself was beautiful, probably about a 5 minute walk direct from the parking area (although there are other paths you can take). We chose to take the direct route to the loch, walked around part of it then branched off uphill to the left where we encountered some lovely views back down to the loch and surrounding countryside, some mini waterfalls, and some – blurgh – bits that were a bit mushy underfoot.

We were actually blessed with how lovely and bright the weather was and the whole area, stunning though it would have been normally, was absolutely gorgeous in the bright evening sunshine. On top of that, I think because it had been raining on and off during the day, not that many folk were actually out and about which meant we had a mostly peaceful walk! Perfect for me, since I hate other people!

In addition, the self appointed lazy gal right here didn’t even start to whine “are we nearly back at the car yet?” until we were nearly back at the car! It wasn’t a particularly difficult walk, a couple of steeper bits but never for long enough to get me annoyed, and the views were fab all the way around.

It took us about an hour in total to do the loop we chose which was approximately 2 and a half miles… a decent walk on a lovely Monday evening all in all!

I’d definitely recommend a trip to Loch Ardinning, just bear in mind it could be busy and try and pick your time and day accordingly to let you park up nicely and not be inundated with crowds of other folk!

Have you visited Loch Ardinning?

LUSS FOR LIFE!

It’s been a bit of a stressful week for me. I had my first covid jag scheduled for Wednesday so, being anxious about needles/side effects etc I’d been a bit riddled with anxiety. By the time it got to Thursday, my anxiety was mostly gone but I had a bit of a dead arm and needed a bit of a distraction! So decided to visit Luss that evening, and it was a decision we did not regret one bit . . . We had a lovely time!

Luss, back in the day, was possibly most famous for being the fictional village Glendarroch, in the now-defunct Scottish soap opera “Take the High Road” (or “High Road” in its later years) but it’s so much more than that.

It’s a beautiful wee village and, because it’s right beside Loch Lomond, the views are incredible! Although, as you may be aware from a previous post of mine, Loch Lomond is my happy place so there may be an element of bias there. 😉

Now, Luss does have a tendency to be hugely popular and can get very busy so going in the evening like we did might be the best option if you want to avoid the crowds. They’re also now asking people to stop parking wily-nily on the teeny streets which has made a bit of a difference!

We wandered to the water to watch the ducks and take in beautiful Lomond, and then along to the lovely village church. After this we went for a walk a little further inland and inadvertently stumbled upon part of the faerie trail.

As you can probably imagine, Instagram fiend that I am (check out my insta here!), I took great pleasure in grabbing a pic with some fairy wings, as well as a unicorn!

We also spotted some lambs not long out of the packet, who came closer for a wee pose for us. I absolutely loved them, wee gems.

All in all it was a lovely wee night and I would thoroughly recommend an evening trip there, especially if you’ve had a hard day or week! It’s a real tonic. 💙

Have you visited Luss?

KILLIN: WATERFALLS, CASTLE RUINS, AND MY FIRST OUTDOOR DRINK IN MONTHS!

Travel has only been open again for a couple of weeks, and we’ve already been making the most of it. (Partly because of being stuck in Glasgow for so long, and partly because we’re now permanently worried we’ll be locked down again in Scotland so need to escape while we can!) Two nights away in Aberdeen came first and then last weekend it was the turn of a wee night in Killin.

Killin is definitely up there in my top five list of villages in Scotland (now, I don’t officially *have* a top 5 list of Scottish villages sorted out, and maybe one day I will sit down and work this out, but Killin would definitely feature in it). We’ve stayed there now five times and I’ve loved it every time. It’s a gorgeous wee place surrounded by mountains and water, and my favourite part is the beautiful Falls of Dochart which pretty much runs right through the middle of it, with an incredibly instagrammable bridge spanning the width of the falls.

There’s many walks you can do in the area, and you also have Ben Lawers just a short drive outside the village too, as well as a good few places to eat and drink, so there is plenty to occupy your time here. But on Saturday afternoon we settled for a walk from where we were staying at Killin Hotel, up to the falls and back, followed by our first outside alcoholic drink in an AGE outside our hotel (mostly in the rain)! We could even order our drink via our phone which made it the whole process even easier!

First outdoor drink in a while outside the Killin Hotel

On Sunday, as we didn’t have much time we decided to pop along for a quick visit to Finlarig Castle, which is on a road off to the right when you’re just about to leave Killin to head towards Kenmore.

Finlarig Castle ruins, complete with the beheading pit

Finlarig is castle ruins and while I find ruined castles far more interesting than the fancy well maintained type, it’s also a pretty . . . dark place to visit. Right next to the castle, for example, is a beheading pit. I remember seeing that for the first time and just thinking “oh my god!”

This time I wandered around, taking some photos and videos so I could do an Instagram reel, while the boyfriend disappeared off into the wood behind. Only at this point did I become how quiet it was and alone it felt next to these eerie ruins. Two seconds later, I heard a rustle in the trees near where the boyfriend had disappeared into and what I am pretty sure must have been a mountain hare came bounding out, about twenty feet away from me, and got the heck out of there. It was pretty cool, but I’m just glad I wasn’t in its path.

One wee note: when I say the castle is in ruins, I’m not exaggerating. While nothing is stopping you from visiting, a sign does warn that the castle is dangerous, so you may wish to take your pictures and explore from afar, and not get too close. Better safe than sorry after all!

I would definitely recommend a visit to Killin, you don’t have to be an avid hill-walker to enjoy it, even lazy gals like me love it!

Have you visited?

DRAMATIC DUNNOTTAR CASTLE…

I love a good ruined castle.

A good ruined castle in a dramatic setting is a definite bonus. And Dunnottar Castle in Aberdeenshire ticks both of those boxes.

We visited yesterday as we’re currently up in Aberdeen for the Bank Holiday weekend. Now you can’t just rock up to the castle at the moment and buy a ticket; after all we are still mid-pandemic, social distancing is still a thing etc.

Instead you need to book a slot and pay for a ticket online at their website. There were three slots for us to choose from; we went for the 3pm slot. This allowed us to enter the castle between 3 and 3.45 and we had until 5.15 to explore if we wanted. The tickets can be scanned from your phone so no need to worry if you don’t have a printer. It cost us eight pounds each for a ticket.

The walk to the castle from the car park is pretty dramatic and features a lot of steps which both short-arse moi and my much taller boyfriend found to be awkward heights. So be careful walking on them. Walking back up afterwards was exhausting, not helped by having people close behind me and a woman standing right at the top of the stairs with a tripod and camera pointed at me the whole time. (Given I was puffing and panting like I’d just completed a 1k – yeah, I know what I said, I can’t run okay? – it was probably a stupid move blocking the top of the stairs like that given the aforementioned pandemic!)

Inside the castle itself was cool and there was loads of nooks and crannies to explore as well as great views from the castle. Because of the whole booking in advance stuff probably as well as the pretty inclement weather, there was not too many folk there either which made the experience more pleasant than some castle visits we have had in the past.

However my favourite view had to be from the viewpoint before you reach the castle itself. There’s a wee path and a small bridge over to the right before you walk down the killer stairs; I’d definitely recommend catching the view from there!

You can book tickets on Dunnottar’s own website, right here.

Have you visited Dunnottar?