Our big outing in Inverness was to visit Loch Ness. Gene booked a boat tour that took us across the loch to Urquhart Castle.
We looked for Nessie, but all we found was a statue!
Getting ready for the ride
The boat was really crowded, but we managed to find seats and enjoyed the quick 30-minute ride over to Urquhart.
The ruins of Urquhart Castle date from the 13th to 16th centuries, though there were fortifications on the site much earlier than that.
It was really crowded when we visited, but the castle ruins were beautiful.
Playing by the loch
Lunch overlooking Loch Ness
In the afternoon, we headed east of Inverness to the Culloden Battlefield, where the 1745 Jacobite uprising ended when the Jacobite forces supporting Bonnie Prince Charlie were defeated on April 16, 1746.
Burial site of the Clan Maclean
The battlefield is beautiful, but the exhibits bring the battle to life and you can imagine the horrors that took place here.
After a full day of sightseeing, we were all happy to return to our AirBnb for a simple homemade dinner and a good night's rest before our last full day of vacation.
On our last day in Scotland, we made our way from Inverness back down to Edinburgh. We said goodbye to our lovely Inverness AirBnb, which was tiny but cozy. (The boys made elaborate plans to buy the place and move in!)
On our way to Edinburgh, we headed straight through Cairngorms National Park, so our first stop was the visitor's center at Aviemore. The guide directed us to Glenmore Forest Park, which had numerous short trails, and also suggested that we pick up a picnic lunch at the grocery store across the street. This turned out to be excellent advice all the way around, and we enjoyed a lovely morning hiking the Pine Knoll Trail.
Picnic time
Back in the car, we drove on to the quaint town of Dunkeld.
We picked up a map and headed to Birnam Wood, which is featured in Macbeth.
"Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him." -- the witches' prophecy, Act IV, Scene 1, Macbeth
Today, the Birnam Oak is the oldest tree in the woods.
Unfortunately, Henry was bitten by a black fly while standing in the tree, and the bite swelled up and made a huge, painful blister on his skin. Poor kiddo!
On the River Tay
To continue our literary adventure, we visited the Beatrix Potter Garden in Birnam. As a youth, Potter spent summers here, and this area inspired her to write her Peter Rabbit stories.
And with that, we headed back to Edinburgh, checked in to our hotel at the airport, returned the rental car, and got ready to head back home. We enjoyed one last dinner in Scotland, topped off with a sticky toffee pudding.
All of our vacations are wonderful and memorable, but Scotland definitely tops the list of one of our all-time best trips. The boys would have eagerly stayed another two weeks if we'd let them -- or just purchased one of the AirBnb homes we stayed in and moved there permanently!
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