Day 5 - Inverness to Glasgow

Day 5 was a monster day of driving. We left Inverness and headed southwest along Loch Ness.

We managed to get a drive-by of one of the tourist boats on the way there, and caught it again a bit further along when we were alongside the Loch itself.

We managed to get some pictures of the ruins of Castle Urquhart with the Loch in the background, while the weather held out. Unfortunately, no sight of Nessie :(

We continued along the A82 around Loch Oich.

Further southwest we passed around the south of Loch Lochy.

Moving on we went through Fort William and past Loch Linnhe. Time for a diversion, which we took along the B863 around Loch Leven - yet another fantastic road. We took a break for some sandwiches at Kinlochleven.

From there we came back to Glencoe to rejoin the A82. More ski areas with no snow in sight, but you can easily imagine this in the depth of winter.

This sign gets the "No-s***, Sherlock" award for stating the bleedin' obvious:

Due to a slight mis-reading of the map, we decided to take the B8074 from Bridge of Orchy along Glen Orchy to Inverlochy. I say "slight mis-reading", it was more a case of expecting it to be of a B-road standard, instead of a single track with passing places, but we were rewarded for tiptoeing along it with some stunning scenery.

From Inverlochy we went west and then took the A819 Glen Aray road, again a great drive, to Inverary. This little village was a gem - perched on the banks of Loch Shira, the immaculate houses were really photogenic, and we took the opportunity to grab a tea and cake from the coffee shop on the boat, Arctic Penguin.

From Inverary we headed east on the A83 past Inverary Castle (which I managed to do a drive-by on as we crossed the bridge over the river).

The A83 then took us around Loch Fyne, via Cairndow, to Loch Long and the A815. From here the target was Garelochhead and the A817 Glen Fruin road to Loch Lomond. All I can say about this road is WOW - to the point where we turned round and drove it again in the other direction. It's not about hairpin bends, but it's about 7 miles of wide, smooth tarmac taking sweeping turns through the valleys and climbs along Glen Fruin. If you're ever anywhere near this part of Scotland it would be a crime not to drive it and enjoy it.

We then took a leisurely pootle down the Gare Loch:

Then along the Firth of Clyde into Glasgow to meet up with Beverley; a long but thoroughly rewarding day of driving with some stunning views along the Lochs to boot.