Urquhart Castle, Scotland {Loch Ness}

No, I did not see the monster.
Yes, of course I looked.
No, I was not driving.
Yes, I spent the whole time looking out the window, spotting castles and new little lambs and sheepy sheep and fuzzy cows.

But the castles. That was it for me. I loves me some Castle. Big ones, hidden ones, ones in ruins, ones still inhabited, forest castles, cliff castles, sequestered castles. O castle, I heart ye.

Urquhart Castle was perhaps the first we saw. I recognized it from having seen a number of amazing shots through kayaking sites. Those people get the best views, I must say.

For the full walk-through of Urquhart Castle, feel free to check out what I've placed on Flickr.

This castle has the best location. It sits right at the edge of Loch Ness, has an amazing view of a body of water as far as the eye can focus, and, as you can see, I saw Scotland in full sun for four days! For which I am most grateful. If you have an in with the Scottish Gods be sure to thank them for me.

The other Scotland photo sets thus far ~
Isle of Skye: Northeast, North, Northwest
Portree, Isle of Skye. Harbor Boats
Faerie Pools, Isle of Skye - Scotland
Scotland, North West
Duisdale House Hotel Isle of Skye, Scotland
Dun Telve Broch, Glenelg near Kyle of Lochalsh
Westernmost Point of Skye, Scotland

Comments

[Jeremy]

I always go to castles whenever I visit my sister and brother in-law in Switzerland. Lovely pictures, did you eat Haggis?

Jeremy! No, I *missed* haggis. *Maybe* next time. (or not). ~ Shuna

[Noshzilla Kat]

I was here once. Sitting in the fog...letting the earth, water, and air flow through me. Magical

[kudzu]

I loved walking through/around Urquhart. My ex and I had it to ourselves on a mild afternoon and it was peaceful, in such an incredible setting. Thanks for posting the photo!

I hadn't thought much about castles until I got to spend the day at one with the Urquhart family -- their castle is Craigston. It was amazing to be allowed free rein of the place, to go up and down secret back stairways and to have time in the delicious-smelling library (all those leatherbound books!)at the very top of the castle, overlooking all their lands.

Scotland is magical. That's the only word.

[kelsie]

We rented a cottage near there a few year back with Mel's parents. was rather splendid. especially as there were no midges. one of my favourite ruins is Slains Castle in the North East.

Undiscovered Scotland has a great page on Slains Castle in the Aberdeen area.

p.s. and of course Dunnottar Castle is amazing and well worth a visit if yer ever in the North East.

Thanks Kelsie of all things Scottish! I have consolidated your 3 comments and imbedded your links. URLs must be imbedded into comments in order to show up as such. If you want to know how to do this, check out How To create Links in Your Comments which I wrote as soon as I learned the lesson myself. ~ Shuna

[Rene]

Hi Shuna,

Nice blog posting! I've added a link to your blog from our blog. Hope that's ok?

Enjoy the rest of your stay in Scotland!

[Andy]

On one of my lecture tours the fire service set me up in a medieval castle built 1160AD. I stayed in the haunted bedroom, I stayed up all night waiting for a ghost that never showed? Probably a good thing. Had she arrived I probably would have been charged double occupancy.

The dungeon of the castle is now a bar...you drink and it makes you think...looking at the iron shackles still fixed to the wall...

Castles are awesome !!

[Aran]

oh how i wish i was there shuna... scotland is like a dream!

[EB]

If that isn't Macbethy I don't know what is?!

[Sophie]

Hello, I have been there a few years ago!! I love Scotland & especially the Highlands!

[David Carroll]

One of the more interesting blogs, though I have not read a lot. May I post the hyperlink on my own blog to remind me of all these castles?