Page 278 - Lonely Planet Europe’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

magnificent centuries-old
sycamore tree.
DETOUR: Corner on the Square
GLEN AFFRIC (p277) makes a good
place to break your
Start: 7 Drumnadrochit (p275) journey.
Glen Affric (www.glenaffric.org), one of the
most beautiful glens in Scotland, extends deep 5 p277
into the hills beyond Cannich, halfway between The Drive » Drive east on the
Drumnadrochit and Beauly. The upper reaches of A862 for 12 miles to Inverness.
the glen, now designated as Glen Affric Nature
Reserve, is a scenic wonderland of shimmering
lochs, rugged mountains and native Scots pine 9 Inverness
forest, home to pine martens, wildcats, otters, red Inverness has a great loca-
squirrels and golden eagles. tion astride the River Ness
A narrow, dead-end road leads southwest from
Cannich; about 4 miles along is Dog Falls, a scenic at the northern end of the
Great Glen. In summer
spot where the River Affric squeezes through a it overflows with visitors
narrow, rocky gorge. A circular walking trail (red intent on monster hunting
waymarks) leads from Dog Falls car park to a at nearby Loch Ness, but
footbridge below the falls and back on the far side of
GREAT BRITAIN 20 GREAT GLEN
the river (2 miles, allow one hour). it’s worth a visit in its own
right for a stroll along the
The road continues beyond Dog Falls to a parking
area and picnic site at the eastern end of Loch picturesque River Ness, a
cruise on Loch Ness, and
Affric, where there are several short walks along the
river and the loch shore. The circuit of Loch Affric a meal in one of the city’s
(10 miles, allow five hours walking, two hours by excellent restaurants.
mountain bike) follows good paths right around the The main attraction
loch and takes you deep into the heart of some very in Inverness is a leisurely
wild scenery. stroll along the river to
the Ness Islands. Planted
with mature Scots pine,
illusions, as well as beech and sycamore, and
learning a lot about the 8 Beauly linked to the river banks
ecology of Loch Ness – is Mary, Queen of Scots is and each other by elegant
there enough food in said to have given this Victorian footbridges, the
the loch to support even village its name in 1564 islands make an appealing
one ‘monster’, let alone a when she visited, exclaim- spot. They’re a 20-minute
breeding population? walk south of the castle –
ing in French: ‘Quel beau head upstream on either
The Drive » Head west on the lieu!’ (What a beautiful side of the river (the start
A831 which leads to the village place!). Founded in 1230, of the Great Glen Way),
of Cannich – jumping-off point the red-sandstone Beauty and return on the oppo-
for the Glen Affric detour – Priory is now an impres-
before turning north along lovely sive ruin, haunted by the site bank.
Strathglass to reach Beauly cries of rooks nesting in a 4 p277
(30 miles).

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