My ultimate romantic road trip around the Scottish Highlands
Taking someone to the Highlands and islands of Scotland, my home, is like introducing them to another family member: what if my partner, Jack, from Shropshire, doesn’t like the scenery or the food or the people? What if the people or the food or the scenery don’t like Jack? When you’re evangelistically proud of where you come from, introducing someone special to it is daunting. Jack had only ever been to Edinburgh — an easy win. Would our 18-month-long great thing be abandoned on the Scottish hills?
So in May we spent a week travelling the mountains and islands, moors and glens — a trip I’m certain would bring anyone’s heart and soul to the places and great people of Scotland. Glasgow was the ideal launchpad — more hipster than Edinburgh, with soul — and a good starting point for those coming by rail or air. We walked along the river, had coffee in the centre, then drove 25 miles northwest to the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.
One of the principles of travelling in Scotland is: “keep driving to the end of the road and you’ll find something spectacular”. That certainly applies here. A breeze creased the surface of the water, the seductive glint of the sun disguising the chilliness of its depths, and the mountains of the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park stood guard like diligent nightclub bouncers. I worried Jack’s smile had been frozen in place by the wind, but as the sunshine broke through it was clear he was just falling in love.
Calum, right, with his partner, Jack
Next was Loch Tay, 40 miles further north. Two pictures of it hang at my family home on the Isle of Lewis above the stove. They show an autumnal, orange-fringed loch; quintessential Perthshire — “Big Tree Country” — with glens and rivers and waterfalls galore.
We crossed the Tummel Bridge and arrived at Loch Rannoch for our first overnight stay, at the Dunalastair Hotel Suites, a Victorian sporting lodge turned modern five star; immaculate, chic and cosy all at once. Hearty yet classy dishes such as salmon with tattie mash and haggis bonbons featured in its Monadh restaurant (mains from £24.95), fuelling hikers who set out into the surrounding peaks.
Advertisement
Beyond Loch Rannoch it felt like the end of the world. We drove through stubbornly endless moorland and were about to turn back when we spotted a sign for the Rannoch Station Tearoom, a stop on the West Highland Railway. Not having had a scone with cream and jam for almost 24 hours, I insisted we stop (it also serves breakfast, toasties and even whisky, and hosts live music and quiz nights — impressive for such a remote location). The arrival of the 12.42 to Glasgow Queen Street set the whole place abuzz as crowds of hikers with human-sized backpacks poured in.
Next, Glen Coe. A massacre of Macdonalds in Jacobite times; James Bond’s route to Skyfall; my auntie’s dentist — this was what I associated with this dramatic glen. The road through it is utterly enchanting, sweeping between cloud-topped mountains including Buachaille Etive Mòr. Despite driving a hired Volvo rather than a classic Aston Martin, we played Adele’s theme music, weaving off down a single track to locate the spot where Bond and M converse in the movie.
There was more location hunting. While staying at the smart Onich Hotel beside Loch Linnhe, we set out to Glenfinnan to see the Jacobite steam train made famous as the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter films (Jack is a huge fan). The onboard experience, taking in the movie locations in style, is booked up months in advance but even a trip to see it pass by is spellbinding (from £57; westcoastrailways.co.uk). We ate lunch in the Glenfinnan Station Museum Dining Car, a converted train carriage that offered Highland hospitality at its best, alongside platters of house-smoked cheese, salmon and duck (from £12.50; glenfinnanstationmuseum.co.uk). When a large tour group arrived it looked like they’d never fit — picture a train at rush hour, but with people eating at the tables, and a very slow turnover of seats — but the gentleman in charge of the kitchen warmly bellowed: “Dinnae worry, we’ll get them fed!”
● Best hotels in the Highlands● The best distillery tours in Scotland[1][2]
Watching the steam train puffing over the Glenfinnan viaduct was one of those moments in life where everything else stops. The beat of the wheels on the tracks, the whistle and the steam, all set against a dreich Highland backdrop — this was what I’d hoped would enchant Jack. Our conversation halted. He smiled. It worked. Only once the train had passed did we realise how many dozens of people had been folded into the hillsides to get a good view. We emerged like trainspotter ants to continue our walk along the Viaduct Trail.
After wandering around Fort William, base station for Ben Nevis and a cruise port, we drove a magnificent route through the Great Glen, skirting lochs Linnhe, Lochy, Oich and Ness, all linked by Thomas Telford’s Caledonian Canal. Our pitstop was Fort Augustus, for a two-hour cruise of Loch Ness (from £19; jacobite.co.uk), during which we got a taste of one of the finest traditions of the Highlands — storytelling, hearing the generations-old tale of Nessie in all its mystical detail.
Torrish, Inverness
Inverness has many things going for it: coastal location, history, heritage and food — and it’s where I spent the first 18 years of my life. I took Jack on Calum’s Childhood Tour, and it gave me great joy to see the logos of the school radio station, which I started, still in the windows.
We stayed at the impeccable Kingsmills (B&B doubles from £73; kingsmillshotel.com), dining at Torrish, the restaurant at its sister hotel Ness Walk, on the banks of the River Ness (two courses £45; nesswalk.com). It was a wonderful night, drinking cocktails and champagne, and enjoying attentive service from staff. We felt so informed and engaged, and I had an ever-present, growing heartwarming sensation that told me I was home.
Advertisement
“As I walk along these shores I am the history within,” sing the Celtic rock band Runrig, capturing the majesty and poetry of being from the Highlands. Nowhere do I feel this more than on the isles of Lewis and Harris, where I came every school holiday and where my parents now live. My dad enthused about his need to see the sea whenever we went away. I only now understand it. Wherever there is sea, there is a route to home, and courses travelled to fish or go to war, to escape or return.
The focus of any visit to the Outer Hebrides should be the beautiful beaches. Ask a local which to visit and they’ll check the wind to tell you which offers the best shelter: on Lewis, Dalmore on the west or Tràigh Mhòr on the east; on Harris, Luskentyre, the beach the Thailand tourist board once used on their promotional material.
In Tarbert we visited the Isle of Harris Distillery, which has been making gin since 2015 and had just announced its first single malt whisky, The Hearach, would be ready in September. When Jack asked our tour guide, Jeanine: “Have you had a taste?” she nodded slowly, welling up as she spoke of the workers’ determination to make their people proud with the revival of whisky-making in the islands. Jack and I exchanged looks. With a tear and a sunburst of pride, Jeanine had brought to him the characteristic warmth of the Highlands and islands.
The distillery in Tarbert
LAURENCE WINRAM
Nothing can prepare you for the affection you’ll feel for this place: wild and fierce but timid and calm; hostile to those who don’t respect it and the safest of warm touches to those who do. The people’s smiles and scones, songs and stories are as warm and alluring as a peat fire’s glow. It is our pride to show Scotland to those we hold most dear, and to welcome the inquisitive traveller too. After all, there’s plenty to go round.
This article contains affiliate links, which can earn us revenue
Calum Macdonald travelled independently. B&B doubles[3] from £145 at the Dunalastair Hotel Suites (dunalastairhotel.com); from £50[4] at the Onich Hotel (onichhotel.co.uk); and from £73[5] at the Kingsmills (kingsmillshotel.com). Calmac ferries run to the isles of Lewis and Harris from Ullapool (calmac.co.uk)
Where’s your favourite place to visit in the Highlands? Let us know in the comments below
Advertisement
Sign up for our Times Travel newsletter and follow us on Instagram and X[6][7]