Loch Ness, the lake lying in Scotland’s Great Glen which bisects the Highlands, has the largest volume of fresh water in Great Britain. It is 788 feet (240 metres) deep and about 23 miles long, fed by rivers and mountain streams.
What makes Loch Ness so special (apart from its scenic setting) is the fact that it is said to be inhabited by a mysterious monster resembling an extinct marine reptile called a plesiosaur.
The legendary monster, known as “Nessie”, was first allegedly encountered in the sixth century by an Irish monk, Saint Columba, and monster hunters have besieged Loch Ness ever since, many have claimed a sighting and left with a memorable story to take home.
Why not come to Loch Ness and stay at the Clansman Hotel (overlooking Loch Ness), from here you can spend your time exploring the beauty and mysteries of Loch Ness.
Once you have a Loch Ness Title it is entirely appropriate to explore the ruins of the loch’s large castle on the A82 road that runs along the shore near the village of Drumnadrochit.
Urquhart Castle sits proudly on a triangular headland above the loch, dating from the 13th Century, surviving numerous raids by the MacDonald clan while in the hands of Clan Grant.
The on-site Visitor’s Centre reveals the remarkable stories of the castle’s role in some of the most dramatic chapters in Scotland’s history, covering 500 years of power struggles, including the Wars of Independence and the Jacobite Risings in the 1500s, when the castle was blown up.
Enough of the castle remains intact to fuel the imagination, including the Great Hall, the five storey Grant Tower and a dismal prison cell.
The castle is a superb spot for monster spotting – in fact there are local tales about secret caves under the castle where the monster dwells.
The best way to appreciate the beauty and historic heritage of Loch Ness is from the water. Take a trip from Fort Augustus at the southern end of the Loch with its impressive series of five locks which raise the Caledonian Canal up to the level of the loch.
You’ll pass the Fort Augustus Abbey dating from 1730, now turned into holiday apartments, and Cherry Island – the only island in Loch Ness, which is an example of a crannog – a man-made island built around the 15th century as a protection fort.
On the northern shore is the inevitable lighthouse. Bona Lighthouse was designed in 1815 by famed Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford. Look up on the northwestern shore at the Abriachan woods where Donald Fraser, “King of Whisky Smugglers”, once filled coffins with his illicit brew.
Stories, legends and history all melt together to weave a wondrous tapestry of the past around Loch Ness. Who wouldn’t want to own a wee piece of this fabulous territory?
