Today started with a one hour circular tour of Loch Lomond’s south basin with Sweeney Cruse Co. We started out sitting on the upper deck, but it was terribly cold… well, I was cold. The boys said they weren’t, but I think they were just being stubborn! After 20 minutes, we moved inside where there was a little café which sold coffee and shortbread (yum). The boat had an audio guide. We saw stately homes, castles and even our hotel as we headed along the shoreline. The boat then ventured out toward Inchmurrin Island, the largest of Loch Lomond's 33 islands, home to the ancient remains of Lennox Castle. We learnt that the castle sheltered Robert the Bruce in the 14th century (when he was a fugitive), before he became the King of Scotland.
Back on dry land we headed off in our hire car along the A82 scenic drive aiming to get from Loch Lomond to Glen Coe today. The A82 is said to be “bucket list” worthy. It’s apparently one of the most scenic drives in the world, passing mountains, waterfalls, Lochs and stunning natural scenery. It didn’t disappoint.
We stopped off at several viewpoints along the way to stretch our legs and take photos. My favourites were the Three Sisters carpark (where there is a fantastic view of three mountains) and the valley where they filmed Skyfall (which I’m sure has a real name, but it’s since been replaced with “Skyfall filming location” on Google Maps).
Our hotel in Glencoe is The Glencoe Inn which is sheltered by the Pap of Gelncoe on the banks of Loch Levan. It is apparently a 5 star Inn but we are wondering how they managed to get that rating (It’s definitely not 5 star and it might better be described as “Faulty Towers”). To its credit, it does have two restaurants, a bar and a sauna/sun garden.
After checking in we had lunch in the “dirty boots” restaurant which is open to hotel guests and members of the public (mostly hikers walking the West Highland Way). The food was average, and the kitchen staff seemed very stressed.
We went for a short walk around Glencoe Village, over the bridge and into the forest then back to the banks of Loch Leven. Glencoe is relatively small but very picturesque. Phil missed most of the views as he trailed behind us on the phone, sorting out his dad’s computer issues.
As we had a free afternoon, we thought we’d pop back to one of the viewpoints we didn’t get to stop at but unfortunately, we got stuck in traffic because of an accident. After 10 minutes of waiting with the engine turned off and no discernible movement we performed a u-turn and headed back to the hotel. The A82 is a single-lane carriageway so you can imagine the havoc accidents must cause.
In the evening, we played cards in the bar, and we ate in the “clean shoes” restaurant. The service was incredibly slow and clearly the hotel is understaffed. We felt quite sorry for the waitress (who also served us at lunch time and in the bar earlier in evening) who was barely holding it together.