Continued from Part 1…
Arrival Date: 2022-09-20
Departure Date: 2022-09-24
Accommodation: Premier Inn, Inverness West
Tuesday
We woke up and went across the road from our Premier Inn in Stirling to a little cafe called Toast for a fancy breakfast. I had French toast with streaky bacon and syrup, Helen had smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. Very tasty, but fairly slow service, especially when it came to getting drinks.
After checking out, we set off towards Inverness. Helen did the first half of the driving up to Kingussie where we stopped off for a spot of lunch. We found a little café called the Sugarbowl and had a panini each, it was delicious. Kingussie’s a nice little village with a lot of schoolkids wandering around for their lunch.
From Kingussie, I drove the rest of the way up to Inverness, finally arriving shortly after 3pm. We checked into our hotel, then headed back into the city to explore. We walked around for an hour or so and found a really nice bookstore called Leakey’s Bookstore that was converted from an old Church, so the architecture inside was interesting. One man was sitting in a pulpit looking over the rest of the store.
After another hour of walking around, we sat down in a restaurant called Prime for a posh meal. Helen had lobster thermador and I had a fillet steak. It was all going well until Helen accidentally knocked over her drink, which drenched me completely! Luckily I had another pair of jeans back at the hotel room, so I don’t have to walk around smelling of cider for the rest of the week! We had a quick pudding across the road at Johnny Foxes, then headed back to the hotel for the night.
Wednesday
On Wednesday morning, we had a quick continental breakfast at the Beefeater, then headed off on an adventure along the Loch Ness.
First stop was Drumnadrochit around a third of the way along the loch. We dropped in at the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition, which was surprisingly good. We learned all about the history of the loch, and the search for Nessie. The place was obviously set up to accommodate dozens of people at the same time, with long winding paths to queue, but there were only a handful of us there, so we got free reign to do what we wanted.
We visited a little roadside café in the village called Café Eighty2 for a slice of cake at elevenses which was delicious, then drove another five minutes down the road to Urquhart Castle.
This is a beautiful castle with a stunning backdrop. Possibly the most picturesque castle and surround that we’ve visited. It began back in the 500s AD as a Pictish fort, evolved into a small stone castle in the 1200s (on the right), and was developed into a medieval fortress in the 1300s. It was used heavily and changed hands regularly for around 150 years, before eventually becoming the residence of the laird of the land – the Grant family.
It was again very busy, one of the busiest castles we’ve visited which we were surprised by since it’s so remote. Obviously a favourite tourist attraction!
At the bottom of the hill, the water gate leads down to the loch’s beach. It was very windy, but the waves were very gentle. It was really serene.
I found a good spot for a photosphere in the castle grounds.
After walking around the castle for an hour or so, we decided to move on and find somewhere for some lunch. We got back in the car and drove further along the loch to Fort Augustus. Fort Augustus was very busy, lots of hikers walking along the side of the road, every shop was pretty busy.
We checked out a few of the shops, then had a panini in Cobbs Café by the Caledonian Locks. With all the canals around it was just like being back at home.
Well-fed and watered, and feeling like we’d sufficiently explored the Loch Ness, we got back in the car and headed back to Inverness and to the hotel, getting there at around 4pm.
We spent about 90 minutes relaxing in the room before heading out for dinner. We fancied Asian food, so found somewhere in Inverness called George’s, which had possibly the best “About” page we’d ever read on TripAdvisor:
we serve very authentic thai food &south indian food also tandoori dishes my tandoori authentic indian , george is the head cheff of this restaurent never get changed the cheff , george is completely dedicated in this restaurent , george is worked as a head cheff in holiday inn bangaloor also goa for 5 to 10 years also sous cheff A in italiyan cruise line costa for 8 years , george been worked before as a second cheff in culloden house hotel also worked as a head cheff in bella italiya inverness , george make amusing thai & south indian food in georges , if you try one’s in georges he will be feel the perfection of the authentic dishes specially masala dosa also tom yum soups lots vegetarian dishes try for the best
George
We couldn’t resist! We ended up having an Indian appetizer, Chinese starter, and Thai main. It was delicious, and great service. Another recommendation. They also sold a delicious cider, Peacock’s Mango and Lime, which even I liked!
Back to the hotel again, and in for the night. More exploring tomorrow.
Excellent time spent in this lovely area even though Helen chucked Cider over you! Are you going to walk up to Inverness Castle? Nice pub there for lunch.
We were going to, but it said it was closed when we checked online. Might have another look later on.
You were so lucky with the weather, makes the beautiful countryside so much more enjoyable. Second time you’ve mentioned slow service, maybe you need to lower your expectations.