SKYE
and
the GREAT GLEN

Suggested duration of trip: 10 hours

Price - see Private Tours for a general guide to prices for private trips, apply to us with time of year you wish to travel for an exact quotation.


Click on thumbnail, above, for a more
detailed map of this and other itineraries.
The dark blue line is the outward journey of
Skye/Great Glen, the green line - SGG - is the return leg

  • A completely circular tour, including both sides of Loch Ness and the traditional Skye-Mallaig ferry crossing
  • 2 hours on Skye
  • Short stop at Eilean Donan Castle
  • Tales of the 1745 Jacobite rebellion and other episodes of Highland history
  • Follow the route of the "Hogwarts Express"!
  • See the world-famous Commando Memorial (below)
  • Views of the Cuillin mountains, Knoydart, the Small Isles, and Ben Nevis - highest mountain in the British Isles
  • Return to Inverness by the less-visited - and more beautiful! - east (or south) side of Loch Ness

    This tour takes you by some of the most dramatic scenery in the British Isles, including the Cuillin Mountains in Skye and most of the length of the Great Glen.

    ITINERARY
    We proceed southwest by Loch Ness, passing Castle Urquhart and other features. At Invermoriston we turn west by Glen Moriston and Glen Shiel, passing the small cairn commemorating Roderick Mackenzie, slain in 1746 after the Battle of Culloden; according to the most dramatic accounts of this episode, Mackenzie - who bore some resemblance to 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' - deliberately drew government troops in his pursuit to give the Prince more chance to escape.

    We come in sight of the sea at Loch Duich, and stop briefly at Eilean Donan Castle (above), enough time for coffee and photographs. The tidal island has been the site of castles for centuries, maybe millennia. Alexander II built a strong castle here in the 13th century to repel the Vikings. The present structure was much damaged in the 1719 rebellion (see Rob Roy) and restored last century. There is a café and shop. (If you decide to visit the castle, there is an entrance fee of £ 3.40.)
    After Eilean Donan we continue west and cross to Skye by the bridge from Kyle of Lochalsh to Kyleakin, then driving north, west and south to the Sleat peninsula where we take the winding road to Ord, Tokavaig, and Tarskavaig on the north side of the peninsula.


    Blaven, viewed from Tokavaig, a bay where you always have at least half-an-hour to go beach-combing. The arch (in silhouette) leads to a ruined castle where, allegedly, the Celtic hero Cú Chulainn left the Queen of Skye, weeping and with child [Conlaoch], while he returned to Ireland to fulfil his heroic destiny. Plus ça change...

    We return to the east side of Sleat and make our way to Armadale to connect with the ferry at 1430hrs. This is a pleasant spot to picnic or get something at the little café at the pier.
    We return to mainland Inverness-shire by Caledonian MacBrayne ferry, the journey taking 20 minutes. During the crossing we usually get fine views of Rum, Canna, and Eigg in the Small Isles and Loch Nevis.
    Leaving Mallaig we drive east by the "Road to the Isles" - in this case, from the Isles! - passing many locales associated with the 1745 rebellion, including Glenfinnan, scene of the famous raising of the Jacobite standard. Our route closely follows the West Highland Railway line, parts of which were used for the Hogwarts Express scenes in Harry Potter movies.
    A little west of Fort William we turn north by the minor road which gives the best views of Ben Nevis (4,406' - 1344m), highest mountain in the British Isles. From this road we may also get glimpses of the castle where Jefferson Davis came to rest and, no doubt, reflect after the American Civil War.
    We stop at the Commando Memorial (left), one of the most famous war memorials in Britain. A little north of here the Well of the Seven Heads Memorial tells - in English, French, Gaelic or Latin! - about a grim episode of Highland history - click on picture to right for a close-up of the heads and the fist holding them with its knife.
    We pass Invergarry where Englishman Thomas Rawlinson is supposed to have invented the kilt in its present form. At the south end of Loch Ness we cross to the east [south] side of the Great Glen, from where we usually get splendid views up Loch Ness.

    View north-east up Loch Ness from near Fort Augustus

    We continue north-east following in the footsteps of many famous visitors, including (in 1773) Dr Samuel Johnson and his biographer, James Boswell.
    Fine views of the loch and stops near its shore - there are no touristic exhibitions on this side! If we've time we'll stop at Boleskine Burial Ground and visit the stone with three deep indentations, allegedly from musket balls fired at a Highlander who had angered Hanoverian soldiers. Just above this graveyard we get glimpses of Boleskine House (right), where a century ago Aleister Crowley practised 'magick'. More recently the house was owned by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.
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