Into The Highlands We Go

The last expedition of our "vacation" took us into the Scottish Highlands and Glencoe. This was the first day of our trip that we were up and moving being 9am, and when our alarm went off at 6:30am we both could have sworn we had been shot. Instantly awake, we quickly assembled ourselves and made our way downtown to George Sqaure, where we checked in with our Discover Scotland tour guide. Seeing as it was a Sunday, none of the cafes were open before the tour bus left, leaving us both under-caffeinated and at risk of nodding off before making our first pit stop in Tyndrum.

 From Glasgow we travelled northwest and followed the western shore of Loch Lomond through the Loch Lomond and Trassachs National Park. The windy road along the lake was hardly wide enough for two vehicles, and if either of us started to doze off, we were jolted back into full consciousness (even in the aisle seat) by buses passing us within inches of our window.

We survived the first leg, and peeled ourselves out of our seats in search of coffee in the small village of Tyndrum. Tyndrum is a popular town due to its position along the West Highland Way, a 154.5km walking trail running from Milganie (north of Glasgow) to Fort William (very very north of Glasgow). Approximately 80,000 people use the path each year, 15,000 of which complete the full trail.

Coffee and snacks in hand, we rejoined everyone on the bus, and continued to make our way towards Glencoe and Glenfinnan. Glencoe is renowned for its beautiful landscapes, and was also a film location for Skyfall and Harry Potter.

A Wee Bit of History

The glen is also the site of the Massacre of Glencoe, which took place place on February 13, 1692, in the aftermath of the Jacobite uprising in 1689. In 1688, the 'Glorious Revolution' saw William of Orange overthrow King James VII (his father-in-law) for the Scottish Throne. Following his ascension, Scotland became a Protestant country; however, episcopacy remained strongly rooted in the northeart, and became the center of the Jacobite resistence. The Jacobite rising of 1689 was the first of a series of risings to take place with the aim of restoring James VII of Scotland to the throne, and later his descendants of the House of Stuart to the crown of Great Britain. 

The Battle of Killiekrankie in 1689 results in a Jacobite victory, but their success was short lived due to the size and strength of the British Army. On August 21, 1689, the Jacobites were defeated at the Battle of Dunkeld. In response to the unwavering Jacobite cause, William II strengthened his garrisons in the Highlands to control the clan chiefs, and Fort William was established. It is said that from here and other fortresses William's forces committed the Massacre of Glencoe in 1692, on the grounds the Clan MacDonald had not been prompt enough in pledging allegiance to the new monarchs. The Jacobite's were eventually dispatched at the Battle of Culloden in 1745, when Bonnie Prince Charlie, the "Young Pretender", took up the Jacobite cause at Glenfinnan and was defeated. The Glenfinnan Monument was erected in 1815 at the head of Loch Shiel in recognition of the Jacobites who fought and died for the cause. 

Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter

Our next stop was at Glenfinnan to take in the incredible scenery, and of course, the Glenfinnan Viaduct - most commonly known for its importance in transporting young witches and wizards to Hogwarts on the Hogwart's Express. 

The viewpoint overlooks the Viaduct, but also Loch Shiel and the Glenfinnan Monument. We made the 5 minute climb just in time to see a rainbow near the train tracks... and, typical of Scotland, before we had the chance to take more than a few pictures, the skies erupted and a heavy downpour sent us huddling underneath a verrr pathetic tree. When the rain finally "subsided", we scurried down the hill to take shelther in the cafe and gift shop. After the short break to stretch our legs and peruse the Harry Potter and Outlander giftware, we boarded the bus once once more. 

We continued on our way, following the winding roads further north to Mallaig, a small village port in Lochaber. The local railway station is the terminus station for the Hogwart's Express West Highland Railway Line. This was the northen most stop of our tour, and we had the opportunity to walk through the town and have lunch before boarding the Hogwart's Express  Jacobite Steam Train that would take us back to Fort William. It took us a few attemtps to find a place to eat, but we eventually found a table at the Fishmarket Restaurant and enjoyed fresh seafood and hot coffee. At 1:45pm, we made our way to the Mallaig train station and boarded the Hogw Steam Train for the trip that would take us back through the Highlands, across the Viaduct, and to the station in Fort William. 

 

The Jacobite Steam Train was an amazing chance to see the Highland landscape from a different persepctive. First class tickets even allow you to enjoy a meal and tea in the privacy of your own carriage compartment. Although we didn't have the chance to partake in such train luxuries, we enjoyed ourselves in our economy seats with our take-away coffee cups. 

The Drovers Inn

Once in Fort William, our tour guide collected everyone and we started our journey back to Glasgow. By this time, the weather had turned and the low cloud cover, accompanied by sheets of rain, hid most of the mountain ranges. The trip back is no less than 108 miles, so a very convenient pit stop was made in Inverarnan at the Drovers Inn, as seen in the Outlander series. The Drovers Inn has welecomed guests for 312 years, and is even said to be haunted. We stopped here to enjoy a pint, warm up by the fire, and take in the extensive collection of taxedermy-ed (?) wildlife. After 45 minutes or so, we were all herded back onto the bus for the last leg of our journey, enjoying the upbeat bagpiping style of the 'Red Hot Chili Pipers" over the van's speakers.

 **All historical facts were derived from Glasgow, A Hisotry by Michael Meighan, Discover Scotland, and wikipedia.