| Track length: | 202.2 km |
| Total ascent: | 0 m |
| Total descent: | 0 m |
| Difficulty Level: | 3/5 - Medium |
Inverness is well served with transport links by rail, road and the airport offering direct flights to Inverness with British Airways, KLM, Flybe and Easyjet available to and from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Luton, Amsterdam, Belfast, Bristol, Birmingham, Dublin, Manchester and the Islands, many of which are international airports with global connections, with local transport connections to Inverness are available from outside the airport terminal building, the airport is about 10 minutes from the city centre, making it is easy for visitors from all parts of the globe to get close to Loch Ness one of the iconic global destinations and beyond,
From Inverness follow the route to the A82 tourist route past the river Ness and along Loch Ness, through Dochgarroch, here you will find the Boat company Jacobite Cruises, who take people along Loch Ness to Urquhart castle home to the local celeb Nessy, the lochs on the Caledonian Canal were built by Thomas Telford, they are very wide, built to accommodate steam ships, the route never did gain its intended traffic as by the time of completion the coming of the railways were beginning to render canals redundant, but the canal is a huge benefit to Highlands tourism today finishing at Dochgarroch.
Continue on the A82 through Lairgmore, Lochend, Abriachan, and Drumnadrochit, located at the head of Urquhart Bay on the northern shore of Loch Ness,popular with Loch Ness monster hunters, Drumnadrochit becomes Lewiston, a planned village created in 1769. Not far beyond Lewiston you should watch out for the turning to the car park for the ruin of Urquhart Castle standing on a stubby peninsula projecting a short distance into Loch Ness with its intriguing shape reflecting the irregular out crop of rock on which it was built and turns the corner into Urquhart Bay.
From Urquhart Castle continue on the A82 along the Loch side through Lenie, Bunloit, Balbeg, Alltsigh to the Junction onto the A887 through Invermoriston, Dalchriechart and Levishie situated just above the south end of Loch Ness, in the heart of the Great Glen, with many trails and walks awaiting visitors to this peaceful spot, including part of the 73-mile long walking path The Great Glen Way,
Continue on the A887 to Dundreggan, and Tomchrasky, at the Junction continue onto the A87 past Loch Cluanie, at the south-east end of Glen Shiel a reservoir, contained behind the Cluanie Dam, a large moorland reservoir holds good numbers of pike for bank Fishing by permit only.
Completed in 1957 as part of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board's Glenmoriston project to generate hydroelectricity, water feeds the dam from the west via two flows, from a tunnel from the dammed Loch Loyne and via the River Moriston.
Continue on through Torrlaighseach to Sheil bridge a village on the south east shore of Loch Duich at the foot of Glen Shiel, in the Lochalsh area, the A87 road passes through the village, continuing on along the north coast of Loch Duich, passing Dornie and Eilean Donan a small tidal island where three sea lochs meet, Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh, with a picturesque castle that frequently appears in photographs, film, then through Nostie and Kirkton on to Kyle of Lochalsh.
The western part of Lochalsh is the extensive Balmacara estate owned by the National Trust for Scotland. This landscape has no great towering peaks, but instead it has a mixed crofting landscape with fine natural woodland, this softer landscape contrasts with the majestic mountains further inland.
Kyle of Lochalsh is on the mainland and not actually part of Skye, Kyle, with fantastic public transport links, buses from here go all over Skye and to Inverness, Fort William, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The rail link to Inverness, one of the country’s most beautiful train journeys and a busy harbour and small visitor’s pontoon with fuel and water available.
From Kyle of Lochalsh the A87 continues over the Skye bridge over Loch Alsh, built between 1992 until 1995.
Prior to the opening of the bridge the main route to Skye was by the ferry between the 2 villages Kyle of Lochalsh on the Mainland and Kyleakin on Skye, the ferry service was operated by Caledonian MacBrayne the short route of about 500m and took about 5 minuets.
Once on Skye continue on the A87 all the way to Uigg here you will find as you travel through amazing scenery, History, Castles, villages, munros, beautiful beaches, diverse countryside and miles of stunning roads, the weather is not always great but the ride through this Island will make it well worth it, continuing on the A87 through Ashaig, Skulamus, Harrapool, Broadford, Scalpay HO, Duncan, Luib, Sligachan, Camastianavaig, Drumuie, Brove, Kensaleyre, Eyre, Kingsburgh, Cuidrach, Earlish, to Uig and the ferry terminal to the Isle of Harris, visit the remote areas, stunning back roads and one of the beautiful beaches to find puffin colonies, head out on a boat trip and see basking sharks, minke and killer whales and otter spotting, you can see St Kilda from the west coast, climb An Clisham, the highest peak in the Outer Hebrides, or explore the history of the island's, an inspiring and truly stunning region of ancient landscapes and Beautiful scenery to explore and discover at your own pace.
