A long weekend at Inverness and a road trip through some beautiful and scenic route such as the Cairngorms.
2021 is a year of stressful holidays (or no proper holiday at all!) because of the pandemic. I am very glad that by the end of that year I was able to move and start my life here in the United Kingdom. This year, 2022, seems to be going in the right direction with cases of covid dropping and ease of travel restrictions. My husband and I (well mainly my husband Jamie) planned and organised a long weekend trip to Inverness as his family had given him a hotel and restaurant voucher to celebrate his birthday in style. Though I have been to some of the biggest cities in Scotland, I was very ecstatic for the trip as it’ll be my first time to roam around Inverness which is the closest city to the Scottish Highlands. We headed out and left the silver city of Aberdeen by Friday afternoon with the hope that the weather would cooperate and grace us with the presence of the sun (difficult to predict the weather here in Scotland, can’t even trust the weather apps). Jamie was very keen on driving and taking the scenic routes although it’s a longer drive. We have even decided to stop at some places for a little bit of walk and sightseeing.
Dunnideer Castle
First stop is at Insch, Aberdeenshire to see one of the oldest castles in Scotland, The Dunnideer Castle. We walked and climbed a wee hill as the castle is located on top of it. Although it was a bit of a steep hill I won’t say that it’s a difficult one. What makes it difficult though is a very strong and cold cold wind that literally almost blows me away. The view from the top of the hill is beautiful though we thought that it could’ve been better if it’s less foggy.
After that…
Royal Highland Hotel at Inverness
We then continue our drive to Inverness and check-in at the hotel that we will be staying in during our whole weekend. The interior of the hotel is very impressive and we are welcomed with a mix of Victorian style interior and modern art.
Cafe One
We went to Cafe One for our Friday dinner. It is a fancy restaurant in the town of Inverness. To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed with the food and I think that it’s way too expensive but the drinks weren’t too bad. It is still a good date and night for us.
Hootananny Live Music Bar/Pub
After some food, we went to Hootanny to watch a band play some traditional Scottish folk music and to have a bit of a drink.
To end our day we walk around the city before heading to the hotel then get some sleep and get ready for the next day's adventures.
Robertsons The Larder, Farm Shop
After being stuffed with the big breakfast from the hotel, Jamie told me that he had a surprise for me. I am a person who’s not really into surprises so I kept on asking him about it and the plan for that day. I then told him that it’ll be great to see some hairy coo (highland cattle) up-close, he chuckled and that gave away the surprise “We are going to a hairy coo farm!”. The weather was gloomy that day but that didn’t really stop us from going outside the city. We checked the farm shop when we reached the place and I got some hairy coo key chains and some sweeties. The lady at the shop told us about their hairy coos, the black one is Jamie Mackenzie Fraser and the ginger one is Katie-Morag. I was a happy kid when I finally got to see them. They’re massive but really cute!
Road Trip Around Loch Ness
It then started raining but the drive going to Loch Ness was very scenic. Jamie said that it was a difficult drive as it is a one lane road and that you can’t really see if there’s any car coming up the way. Loch Ness is very famous because of the story that it is a home for the monster called Nessie. The monster is often described as large, long necked and with one or more humps protruding from the water. Though I don’t believe that Nessie exists, Loch Ness is still one of the places that you should visit if you are in Scotland.
Craigdarroch Inn
We stumbled across Craigdarroch Inn and decided to stop by for some food at the restaurant of the hotel. When we arrived at the place the sun decided to show up and made the view from where we are sitting more beautiful. I highly recommend the fish platter at that restaurant as it’s very fresh and delicious.
Falls of Foyers
After some food we are back on the road. We then went to Falls of Foyers which is just a 15 minutes drive from Craigdarroch Inn. It’s a bit of a walk to see the waterfall as it’s tucked away from the main road. The waterfall is surrounded by forest with tall trees and is very picturesque.
Scenic Drive (Cairngorms)
Going back to Inverness city we took a longer drive yet a scenic route passing by/through Cairngorms. This is my favourite part of our trip! It’s beautiful beyond words and no pictures can even depict how amazing it is (although Jamie took a great picture). We were blessed with perfect weather and we even spotted two rainbows (how awesome is that). I got a bit emotional because it’s one of those moments when you feel so close to nature and you can’t just describe and believe what’s in front of you. We saw some stags, one even ran in front of the car to jump into the fence. That moment was pure magical, seeing that up close and being so near to the wildlife. I know I can go on and go on trying to find the perfect words to describe it. The Scottish Highlands are really breathtaking!
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Urquhart Castle to stretch our legs but unfortunately it was closed that day.
We were both knackered after all that wandering about and had a nap when we reached the hotel. For dinner, we grabbed some Kebabs and watched one of my favourite Linklater’s movies, Before Sunrise. Before sleeping, Jamie and I talked about how great of a day it was.
Highland Wildlife Park
We checked out of the hotel a bit earlier, and had breakfast at Starbucks that’s on the way to Kincraig. Again, we took a longer and scenic route going to the Highland Wildlife Park. I am not a fan of going to the zoo because I usually feel bad for animals and I strongly believe that they should be in their natural habitat rather than being caged. Highland Wildlife Park is an exception; all the animals were rescued and are being taken care of. They have animals that are almost extinct and the goal of RZSS is to take care of them until they can introduce them back to the wild. They also roam around huge places and the environment isn’t far from their natural home. Highland Wildlife Park raises my standard of how a zoo should be. The whole park is very impressive and it was amazing to see animals that I have never seen before such as Bysons, Arctic Fox, Scottish Wildcat, Elk and so much more!
Jamie and I left the park in the afternoon before it started raining again. Heading back to Aberdeen, we passed by the beautiful scenery of the Snow Roads in Glenlivet and Aberdeenshire.
Here's an 8mm inspired video from our long weekend;
I carried with me back home a further appreciation and interest in nature and wildlife more than I ever did. Having lived in big cities such as Manila and Dubai, I honestly haven’t seen a lot of greenery and nature. I guess wildlife sightseeing and nature walks weren't my thing before because those cities are too metropolitan and don't offer that. I feel very grateful and lucky that I now live in a city wherein you can get a so-called city life yet it dwells on so much nature. It was also great to go on a mini holiday without getting too anxious about the virus. Jamie and I share that beautiful moment at Cairngorms, that peacefulness overlooking the highlands and being so close to nature and wildlife. Here’s to more road trips around the UK!
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