Our Grand Tour of Scotland: 2010 - Part 4: Morar and Mallaig

With a scorcher of a day promised, we packed up all our camera gear, a picnic, swimming trunks and towels, then headed off for Fort William and the Road to the Isles.  Last year we took the same route on the steam train, but this time Bev wanted to drive it so that we could savour the delights of scenery and take lots of photographs.   And what a gorgeous day it was - blue skies, plenty of sunshine, warm weather with a fresh breeze off the sea!  Bliss!

We drove to Fort William and then headed out on the brand new road to Mallaig - previously, this road had been a rather busy and tortuous single-track road, with tourist traffic and fish lorries from Mallaig fighting to overtake using the narrow passing places.  Bev had driven the road once before and said it was Hell and far too busy to appreciate the scenery!  Now the road is a smart new dual carriageway, which meant the drive was a doddle.

First up was Glenfinnan, with its monument to Bonnie Prince Charlie and the raising of the standard at the start of the 1745 rebellion.  We stopped to have a quick look at the Glenfinnan viaduct (from the Harry Potter movies) but headed off again as we still had a long way to go.

Beyond Glenfinnan was a much wilder and less touristy place, with stunning scenery of mountains and lochs.

We stopped in a pretty bay to have lunch and look out over the stunning sea loch, Loch nan Uamh, where Bonnie Prince Charlie was rescued by a French frigate and taken back to France after the failed '45 rebellion.

Next up was Morar and its silver sands, which looks like the Bahamas or the Mediterranean, even if the water temperature is only just above freezing!  We took our shoes off and walked along the beach in our bare / bear feet, then sat on the beach savouring the stunning views.

We drove further along the road to Mallaig, and stopped to take in the absolutely amazing views out over the Isles - from a viewpoint we could clearly see Rhum, Eigg, Cana and the Cuillins of Skye.  Here is a view of Eigg from near Mallaig.

 

We visited Mallaig but didn't stay long, then drove back via the single-track road to Arisaig and reluctantly headed  back to Fort William.  With the light fading and the old codgers in Stirling finishing their cocoa and getting ready to partake of the big zeds, we really did have to leave.  Sadly, we drove back through Glencoe, which was bathed in soft evening light.

Today was definitely a highlight of our Scottish holiday!

Our Grand Tour of Scotland: 2010 - Part 1: Glen Etive & Glencoe

Unfortunately, the start of our grand tour was rather wet, but we weren't daunted by rain, mist or midges!  We headed off towards Glencoe, one of Bev's favourite locations and drove down Glen Etive to where the road ends at the side of Loch Etive.  It was a beautiful drive through an area of lush green vegetation, wild rivers swollen by the heavy rain, impressive waterfalls on the mountains and deer peeking curiously at us from under the cover of trees!

Here is Buachaille Etive Mòr, taken from the road to Glen Etive.
Bev got rather wet taking this photograph, not helped by the fact that she slipped and fell, but luckily the peat is soft and bouncy, so she and the camera weren't injured :-)