We woke to another beautiful day for the second leg of our trip around Scotland. From the deck of our Bed and Breakfast we had a beautiful view across to the hamlet of Port Ramsay on the Isle of Lismore and to the mountains beyond.
After a huge breakfast we started to make our way north along the coast towards Fort William. After driving just a short distance around the inlet, we caught our first proper view of Castle Stalker, perched on a small island in the bay.
The four-storey castle was build in the 1440’s and was fully restored in the mid 1960’s. Other than the scenic location, the castle is also known for having appeared in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
According to the guide books it is possible to get to Castle Stalker by foot at low tide, but even although the tide was low when we visited we didn’t fancy having to try and find a way across to the castle.
We continued to make our way north towards Fort William, skirting along the shore of Loch Linnhe. Once we reached the town of Fort William we started heading east back through the mountains towards the opposite coast.
Just outside Fort William we passed by Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles at 1,345 metres (4,411 feet) above sea level. With the clouds just lifting from the top of the mountain we decided to take a spontaneous trip on the cable car to the top of the ski resort.
We did a short hike around the base of the ski area and had great views out over Fort William, Loch Linnhe and Loch Eli as well as back towards the Nevis Range.
Heading back down the mountain, we got back in the car and stopped briefly to take in one last view of the Nevis Range before we turned more sharply east towards the Cairngorms National Park.
We stopped for a late lunch just outside the town of Aviemore before heading out towards Loch Morlich. We went for a quick walk around the lake enjoying the afternoon sunshine before getting back on the road to finish our day near St Andrews on the east coast of Scotland.