Sightseeing in the Highlands of Scotland

By Graeme Knights

The Scottish highlands are a beautiful place to visit. The scenery is spectacular, and there are so many things to do. Scotland's highlands offer mountains, castles, distilleries, and an unforgettable coastline. You will find everything from hiking and fishing to shopping and dining to keep you busy. Or you might enjoy a chance to sit back and relax while taking in the wonderful surroundings.

A popular destination in the Scottish highlands is Loch Ness. This area has become famous worldwide for the sightings of their mystical creature, the Loch Ness Monster. He or she is known as Nessie to the groups of people who have made a sport out of trying to catch a glimpse of this mythical sea animal.

Putting the legends aside, Loch Ness is a beautiful area. The Loch is 20 miles long and 700 feet deep. The city of Loch Ness and Inverness have excellent lodging. You can find bed and breakfasts, hotels, and cottages to stay in. They even have a few castles you can rent for weddings and large parties. Loch Ness is perfect for water sports. You can go canoeing or sailing on your own. Boat cruises are available to give tours around the water. A lot of people come for the fishing. Trout, sea trout, salmon, and pike can all be found here. The Great Glen Way has several walking trails. They have long distance trails and hillside trails. They also offer easier trails that are perfect for families to enjoy together. For those looking for a bigger challenge, Loch Ness is great for wind surfing, paragliding, mountain biking, and skiing.

Another good place to see while in the highlands is Whisky Country. Speyside's Whisky Trail takes you along a beautiful tour of the country. It includes seven distilleries and a cooperage. Half of the distilleries in Scotland are in this area. Benromach is one in Forres. It is marked by a tall red brick chimney among small white buildings. This one is the smallest distillery. Dallas Dhu shows you the art of making malt whisky. They have been making their whisky since 1898. Glen Grant still uses a copper still and old fashioned wooden vats. Here you can enjoy a tasting pavilion under a heather-thatched roof, surrounded by Victorian gardens. Don't forget a stop at the cooperage. Coopers here can be seen making oak casks.

No sightseeing trip to Scotland would be complete without driving along the Highland Coast. You will find 7,000 miles of amazing beaches and cliffs. This is a wonderful area to see Scotland's wildlife. Bike trips and self guided car trips can be arranged ahead of time. You are sure to leave Scotland wanting to come back again.

So whether you are driving yourself across the border, or looking for coach breaks to the highlands, give it a go, there is something special just waiting to be discovered.....maybe Nessie!

Graeme supplies his wizardry to http://oneagency.co, an SEO Agency - writing on behalf of Grand UK Coach Tour Holidays.

Touring Through Invermoriston, Highlands, Scotland

By Simon Haughtone

Touring through Invermoriston, Highlands, Scotland offers a fine opportunity to see Loch Ness - rumored to be home to the legendary sea monster - and the surrounding region. The areas around the village, and Invermoriston itself, are a noted tourist destination for many traveling in the Highland local government area. This is because of its history and wild natural beauty.

Invermoriston sits on the western shore of Loch Ness, and life today mainly centers on the tourism industry, though this wasn't always so. As in many areas of Highland, the population once relied on forestry-type activities. Evidence of this is shown in the fact that there once was an active local sawmill, first established around 1640.

It is not surprising, though, that tourism supplanted forestry in Highland, because there are certainly plenty of things to see and do in a region famous for the scenic nature of its geography and natural resources. Exploring is made all the easier due to the fact of Invermoriston's location near the A82 motorway and it only being around 26 miles from Inverness, the capital of Highland.

The village also offers a good base camp from which to start out on a hike along the Great Glen Way, a 73 mile long hiking trail. Most tourists travel along the trail in a west-to-east direction, owing to the strong winds which blow in from the nearby North Sea. Invermoriston also boasts a couple of items of interest, including a well supposedly rid of demons by Columba, a Catholic saint of the 6th century.

The village also resides in Highland, the local government area of Scotland responsible for this part of the country. It's also the largest government area in not only Scotland but also the whole United Kingdom. It has a population of around 218,000 people. Highland is the result of reorganization in structure of government areas which first began in 1973, leading to its own reclassification in 1975. The village of Invermoriston and Highland make fine examples of what typical Scottish living can be.