Two-day road trip in Scotland? Impossible!

Scotland is one of those marvelous countries that jointly enjoy stunning landscapes, sea cliffs, mountains, and old cities. Therefore, it was a no-brainer for me when I had the opportunity to join my girlfriend on her business trip to Scotland. It certainly doesn’t seem like it, but technically, it was a last moment decision. But once we were in it for real, we started to plan what to do. As time was our enemy since we only had one full weekend to explore the country together, we just had to rent a car. It was quite a challenge to plan an exciting, but manageable road trip just for a few days.

Our way
Below, you will find a map of our travel. The cheapest flight we could find was to Edinburgh. The arrival in an ancient city was around midday. Half a day is not quite enough to really get to know the city, but we did our best. Moreover, our friend was studying there at the time so we could have a quick sightseeing tour around the city center. Lovely small city.

Heading up North
The next day in the morning, we took the train to Glasgow where we rented the car for two days. Already with the car, we headed as fast as we could up north. Once you get outside metropolitan Glasgow, you will find yourself at the foot of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park. And what beauty it is. Loch Lomond is spectacular. The north end of the lake is the first place where we made a stop. Fortunately, An Ceann Mór – the Inveruglas Pyramid is located in the exact same location. The watchtower just enhances the view of the lake. It is also good to know that there is a campsite nearby on the lake shore which also offers privacy and a nice view of the lake.

Once you exit Loch Lomond National Park, you are welcomed by the sign of the Highlands, and also by spectacular views that bring this unique landscape. Peat bogs and lochs under towering mountain faces. The peaks are not the highest in altitude, nevertheless, lowlands are quite low here. Therefore, some of the peaks are almost 1000 meters high from the bottom of the valley. The right time of the day also adds to the drama.

Deep inside the Highlands, the famous Glencoe Natural Reserve opens up for you. It is one of the most astonishing motorways I have ever seen in my life. I didn’t know that, but once we were at Loch Ness, the northernmost point of our road trip and the place where we rested our heads, local people told us that it is, by far, the best way to go up north from Glasgow – at least judged by the spectacularity of the views.

Our accommodation was on the right side of Loch Ness. Not far from our place was the locally famous Falls of Foyers. It was a nice evening hike for us. From the parking lot, you need to follow the signs down the gorge. You can get several nice views of the main waterfall. I highly recommend also taking a small walk to the other side of the valley and exploring the local Squirrel trail.

Return back to the South
View around Loch Tarff on the second day of our road trip. To be honest, we weren’t planning to stop there as we were kind of in a hurry to visit the other side of Loch Ness. But once we were cruising through the countryside and saw those views… it was a no-brainer.

We decided to explore the Loch banks near Drumnadrochit village, near Urquhart Castle, which was our next destination. Loch Ness is big, actually bigger than you think, with approximately 36 km in length. It is also quite deep as the deepest part of the lake drops more than 200 meters below the surface. It was a lovely place to visit before we started our return back to the South.

Being around Loch Ness, it is nearly impossible to miss the magnificent Urquhart Castle. A place that has been inhabited since at least the 6th Century. The castle, currently towering over the lake for centuries, is yet a ruin since 1689 when the English crown blew up the castle in order to avoid its use by Jacobites.

I’m not afraid to call myself a Potterhead. The first movie came out when I was 11, so what would you expect, hey? Since that time, I have seen all the movies more times than I can count, as well as read all the books several times. Therefore, it was great when my girlfriend found out that the famous Glenfinnan viaduct is nearby. We left the car in the upper part of the Glenfinnan village and hiked to the famous train viaduct. The hike itself was surprisingly nice. Once you gain a bit of elevation, stunning views of Loch Shiel will open right in front of your eyes.

If you continue further on the trail, you will soon see the first view of the viaduct. It is quite a sight. A quick check on the internet shows that the famous steam locomotive passes over the bridge just twice a day. So I guess we will have to plan our trip more carefully next time. Nevertheless, even without the famous “Hogwarts Express,” it is still an amazing place. I recommend exploring it a little and trying to find your own angle.

After visiting the viaduct, we were kinda in a hurry to head back to Glasgow to return our car. Nevertheless, the Highlands decided to give us a proper goodbye. As we later found out, we took these beautiful pictures near Glen Etive road and Etive River.

Last, but not least, The Loch Lomond Natural Park
The next day, I also took the train from Glasgow to Balloch, just to enjoy the Scottish nature and Loch Lomond Natural Park a bit more. I hiked a part of the Three Lake Way up to the top of Ben Bouie. Once you reach the top, you can see not only Loch Lomond but also the bay near Helensburgh and Gare Loch.

Although there were a few raindrops falling on my head that day, I did enjoy the hike. Scotland is a really nice place, and you can be certain that I will come back to fully explore its lochs, peaks, and anything else it has to offer me.

I hope my little photo diary from the road trip might serve as an inspiration for your own travels, wherever might your travels take you. We thoroughly enjoyed it with my girlfriend. If you want to see more pictures from our road trip through Scotland & Highlands, check out the whole photo gallery from our trip below. If you are interested to see my other work, take a look at my galleries for Landscape, Nature & Cityscape photography. Thanks for your time and see you with my next blog.

Gallery