A Weekend in the Scottish Highlands - Day One

Some of you may be fairly shocked to find out that up until last weekend, I'd never been to the Scottish Highlands! It's been on my bucket list for quite some time but it's one of those things I'd just never got around to. So, naturally, when a good friend of mine invited me up to their family holiday home near Loch Earn, I couldn't have been more excited. I thought it'd be fun to share my experience in case some of you are planning a visit as well as documenting my first trip for myself to look back on in the future!

Day One

It was lovely to wake up to the smell of a cooked breakfast and a roaring fire (thanks to Claire's lovely dad, John). We started the morning off with a hearty breakfast and left as promptly as possible as we had a bit of a drive to Glen Coe.

On route, we made a stop at the famous Green Welly (which I hadn't heard of before but both Claire and her dad assured me it was a bit of an institution). They have a - slightly overpriced - shop, a place to eat, and a convenience shop. But, it's still a must-visit if you're heading north, plus they have toilets! We picked up some sandwiches and Jelly Babies from the shop, then off we went again. The scenery was so beautiful that despite being in the car for most of the day it wasn't boring at all.

Thanks for the photo Claire (@Scotlandwithfluffywolf)

We made various stops along the way to admire the scenery and snap a few photos but the first proper stop was somewhere I mentioned I'd like to see, the famous Glen Coe scene from Skyfall! I always find it funny visiting the location where a movie has been filmed as it's almost never what you're expecting. The atmospheric scene in the movie was no doubt gorgeous in real life too but I was more enamoured with various other surroundings.

Next stop, we decided to stop by the Glen Coe Mountain Resort for a hot chocolate and eat our sandwiches. If you're on the route, I would highly recommend stopping into the Glen Coe Mountain Resort for a cuppa or a bite to eat as the view from their cafe is breathtaking - they also have a roaring fire in the colder months! Plus, they have decent toilets. Unfortunately, they're not dog-friendly, so as we had Sally with us we enjoyed lunch in the car.

Once we were refuelled, off we went again, to our next stop Buachaille Etive Mòr. Buachaille Etive Mor is one of the best known and loved of all the Munro peaks and tucked below is the often Instagrammed white cottage, Lagangarbh Hut. The hut was originally a crofting home and is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland and has been occupied and maintained by the Club since 1946. It was lovely to get out the car and stretch our legs and plus Sally got a well-deserved run about and drink from the stream.

Thanks for the photo Claire (@Scotlandwithfluffywolf)

From there we headed off to the "Three Sisters" also known as Bidean nam Bian Mountain. Everything so far had been so beautiful that I didn't realise I could be any more in awe, how wrong I was! The Three Sisters are rugged yet utterly magnificent. The fact that it had snowed the night before made it all the more magical. There are two car parks along the road so if you're visiting there's the chance to hop out the car and soak up the views plus take a few photos too.

Our last stop before dinner was to Glen Coe Lochan. The previous week while we walked through Dunkeld forest (I'll pop up a blog post about that lovely day trip soon), Claire's dad mentioned Glen Coe Lochan to me, little did I know I would be walking through it a few days later! The place has an interesting history and I'm eager to share it with you but to avoid getting the story wrong I'm sharing it from Discover Glen Coe.

"The lochan is set in what was the grounds of the home of the Earl of Strathcona who was, for a while, the governor general of Canada.  He brought back with him his Canadian wife who became a little homesick so he landscaped the whole area around the house to look like the Canadian Rockies.  Some visitors have commented that the area around the lochan looks like a miniature Lake Louise in British Columbia."

We had a lovely walk around the Loch, and more importantly, Sally got a chance to roam off-lead and meet some doggie friends. Since it was going to be a fairly long journey back, we decided to stop for dinner at Clachaig Inn. As well as being an inn, the Clachaig has a restaurant attached which is divided into two. The front has beautiful scenic views onto the surrounding mountains and the pub tucked around the back is cosy. Both have the same menu and are dog-friendly too! Being a veggie, there's always a bit of trepidation in case there isn't very much to eat but I was pleasantly surprised to see they had a range of choices. Claire and I opted for their vegetarian bean burger (which was really good in my opinion!), and Claire's dad John settled on their Stornoway black pudding with bacon (which I heard was also really good!).

The Clachaig Inn

That's all for now! Thanks for reading and I'll get to work on "A Weekend in the Scottish Highlands - Day Two" soon and let you know when it's up.