Home -> Europe -> Scotland -> Travelogue 2004 -> Friday 26 March

Glen Lyon and through the Trossachs

We have come to Kinloch Rannoch since we discovered last year that this area is another part of Scotland worth of some more exploration. Also there were some people who emailed us that the region is worthwhile visiting.
Glen Lyon Glen Lyon First we drive southwards to the entrance of Glen Lyon, one of the longest glens with a length over 50 kilometers. The day start a bit grey, but we know from experience how fast the clouds can disappear, especially the thin clouds hanging on the mountains.
It is a special glen since it is fairly narrow; all around us we see snowy mountain tops while most valleys are much broader. When the sun breaks through the clouds the view becomes really amazing, but with our camera's we can only record a small piece. It feels good, like ral freedom, to drive around here and be able to get out when we want, as if we are travelling through a painting. The adventurer Rob Roy and his family came originally from this glen.
A real Highlander Cows on the road At the end of the valley we come across Scottish Highlanders and other cows on the road, beautiful animals as long as they don't get agressive.
Our map shows us that the road is a dead end, but last year we got an email from someone telling that an existing, but private road, now has been made accessible for public and we can indeed travel over the mountains to the next valley, Glen Lochay.
Deep gorges cut through this valley, although we can't see much of it from the road. A very nice route which we can recommend everybody. We notice that the roads here are less well maintained than the ones in the Highlands, but considering the many roadworks this situation will probably improve quickly.
Loch Lubnaig From Glen Lochay we arrive at the village Killin and take the road to Strathyre where we have lunch at the hotel Ben Sheann. We have spend a few nights there over the last years and it is nice to be back for a while, although the owners aren't in. Meanwhile, the temperature has gone up to 15 degrees Celsius!
Falls of Leny It is nice in the sun Time to take of our jumper when we walk to the Falls of Leny. A nice waterfall which we have often passed without realising it was there, only a few minutes walk away from the road! This year we see a lot of new things in areas where we have been before and also lots of new areas.
Loch Achray Just before Callander we drive into the Trossachs, another area we haven't been to before. Narrow roads take us along splendid lochs and beautiful views. We have said it before and will probably say it again: this landscape can make us feel drunk, we can't get enough of it and never have a hangover!
An Tigh Mor, Trossach According to our castle map there are no castles in this region, but we think this is a real castle, don't you think? A wedding party just leaves when we drive by and it is indeed a nice place to have a party.
Loch Drunkie Loch Katrine The pictures here show only a part of the scenery. One has to drive through the landscape to experience how magnificient it really is, almost impossible to describe in words. The combination of mountains, woods, heather fields, desolate plains and lochs, and also the cute villages, the game and the lonely roads, make this country into a unique phenomenon. There may be places with much more beauty and impressive nature (like Norway, for example), but in Scotland all these things can be found on just a small area.
Inversnaid Via a narrow road, where we meet several huge tourist busses, we arrive eventually at Loch Lomond, one of the best known recreation lochs of Scotland. Obviously, a hotel has been build here, and we feel, like often in this country, a bit jealous of the people who live or work on such fantastic places. But it doesn't matter that much, we enjoy it anyway, maybe even more since we don't have time to get too used to all this splendour.
Trossachs Loch Tay After a long trip we leave this region, the Trossachs, and along Loch Tay we drive back to the hotel. The temperature is still above 10 degrees when we return at half past six. The first (and later it appears the only) day without one raindrop and almost no wind! Scotland without rain is not really Scotland, we are often told, but we know from experience that this is not true at all. In all the years before we have had only a few days with a little rain.
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