Haggis Adventure Tour

A couple weeks ago, after arriving in Scotland, we decided to take a 3 day Haggis Adventure tour. This was the Skye High tour that took us up from Edinburgh, through Glencoe, Fort Augustus (next to Lochness) and up to Isle of Skye. It is a lot of time spent on a bus, but the route is incredibly scenic. Unless you are able to rent a car yourself, I thoroughly recommend this tour.

Day One

William Wallace Memorial

Glencoe

Commando Memorial

Lochness

Day Two

Sligachan River

Getting Fairy Wishes

Skye Mealt Falls

Quirky Personal Exhibition

Day Three

Culloden Battlefield

Culloden Battlefield

Dunkeld Hermitage Falls

Dunkeld

Day One:
We began our tour by leaving Edinburgh and eventually arriving in Fort Augustus, where we stayed for two nights. We drove up through Fort William, making a stop at the William Wallace memorial. Along the way learning about the true story of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, not the Hollywood, Braveheart version.
Whilst in Fort William we tried true Scottish Whisky at the Ben Nevis distillery and made a stop at Old Inverlochy Castle. Inverlochy Castle was built in 13th Century and is one of the most important castles in Scottish history. As we continued our way up to Fort Augustus we drove through Glencoe, the backdrop to many films such as Harry Potter and James Bond's Skyfall. Truly spectacular and probably my favourite part of what I saw of Scotland. We also made a stop at The Commando Memorial, a memorial dedicated to the men of the original British Commando Forces raised during WWII. It overlooks the training areas of the Commando Training Depot with amazing views of Ben Nevis and Aonach Mor. Finally we arrived in Fort Augustus for the night, home of the infamous Lochnesss Monster. No sightings were seen unfortunately.

Day Two:
Another busy day as we make our way up through The Isle of Skye. On our way we stopped at Eilean Donan Castle. An extremely picturesque Castle situated where 3 Lochs meet: Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh. After being burnt down in a Jacobite rebellion, it has since been restored following plans found in Edinburgh Castle. The Isle of Skye brought us numerous magical stops. The first was Sligachan River, the river of youth and beauty. It is believed that if you dip your face in the river, you will remain young and beautiful. The cold splash of water certainly is refreshing! Fairy Falls was the second stop.Named after the wish you will be granted if you collect water from the falls at the top and spit it onto the special wishing rock at the bottom. Our final magical spot was Mealt Falls. Don't believe the geologists as to how the rocks were formed, they are actually ruins of the Giants Causeway that once connected Scotland and Ireland. I really loved hearing about all these wonderful myths surrounding Scotland and the Isle of Skye. We stopped for lunch in Portree, a quaint town known for it's pastel coloured buildings alongside the harbour. Our final stop before heading home was Macurdies Exhibition. This quirky exhibition gave me a small taste of the Scottish humour. We then arrived back in Fort Augustus for our final night.

Day Three:
Final day, making our way back from Fort Augustus to Edinburgh. We passed through Inverness, and the beautiful weather made for perfect viewing of the famous Culloden Battlefield. This was where the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising took place on 16th April 1746. After the battle, the grounds were used by farmers but have since been restored to look how it would've on that fateful day. Each protruding brick outside the visitor centre represents 10 men who died in the battle. Needless to say the Jacobite casualties were substantially higher. We also stopped in Dunkeld to see the famous Dunkeld Cathedral and the beautiful Hermitage Falls before heading home. The falls reminded me a lot of home in New Zealand. Finally arrived back in Edinburgh late afternoon, thus concluding our 3 day tour. 
It was a busy 3 days where I learnt so much about the rich history of Scotland. If you're in Scotland you must see the Highlands. I'd love to see it again in Summer, the Highlands transform once all the heather blooms.