If you want to see the most scenic view of Loch Ness, then you have to head to Urquhart Castle
on the western shore. It's a stunning location with the loch as its backdrop.
In this video, we'll take you on a tour of the castle and show you some of its historic past.
You can get direct services by bus to the castle from Inverness bus station. A day return will
set you back about £15.00. It's a 40 minute trip along the lovely western shore. If you're driving
yourself then you can stop at various points to walk down onto the loch itself, as we did.
So behind me is Loch Ness a sight I have never seen in my life, so very excited to be here just
outside Inverness. It is really windy and there is a real, sort of tidal wave coming across the loch
and we'll be on that tomorrow, we're going on a boat trip which we'll show you later in the video.
It's highly recommended to arrive early at the castle as it's a popular attraction with
day-trippers and tours. You can find out all the information on booking and the latest pricing on
this website. Due to Covid, not all areas were open we couldn't see the exhibition of
the interesting artefacts and the welcome video before you walk down to the castle.
We get our first glimpse of the castle sited on Strone Point surrounded by water on three sides
offering good natural defences, although it can be seen from the higher ground.
The foundations were laid around 1230 by the Durward family
installed by Alexander II to assert his authority in the Highlands.
It saw action that same century when Edward I of England captured it with his invading army.
At the bottom of the hill is a trebuchet, this is a modern reconstruction of the sort of
warfare device that could shoot boulders into the walls of the castle. This one in fact does work
and they tested it firing a boulder 200 yards at 126 miles an hour, not at the castle of course!
Before you head in through the gatehouse take a stroll down to the loch edge
for wonderful views heading back north towards Inverness.
Loch Ness is the second largest Scottish loch by surface area
after Loch Lomond and due to its great depth, it's the largest by volume in the British Isles.
You can see how much calmer the water is down here compared to earlier in the video.
Some believe that from a distance the large wave ripples made by the boats that can run
for miles after the boat has disappeared is what people see from the shore believing that to be
the loch ness monster, that's just one theory. Anyway we didn't see any monsters on our trip
walking back to the castle you pass a stone pit dug into the ground
this was a furnace its purpose was unknown, used in the later years of the castle's history.
From here you get a good look at the ditch cut from solid rock to help defend the castle from
attack on its landside. The causeway connected to the castle still exists
with a fixed bridge that would have been a drawbridge back in the day.
The gatehouse controlled entry to the castle and had lodgings for the constable including
a small prison. If the lord was away the constable controlled day-to-day running
and who was allowed in and out. It would have been heavily protected with the portcullis.
In the 1500s an area of the gatehouse was converted
into a corn drying kiln to assist with the feeding of the residents.
You can see what's left of the kiln here. The diet was mainly porridge, oat bread and rough oatcakes.
In the early 1300s, Uruquart saw action in the Scots struggle for independence.
The castle came under the control of Robert I more famously known as
Robert the Bruce. Urquhart was the only Highland Castle to hold out against the English
in the 14th and 1500s the McDonald Clans thirst for power saw the castle in a number of battles
passing back and forth between the Clan and the Crown. James IV had given the barony of
Urquhart to the Grant family in 1509 requesting they restore the castle and estate. The Grants
built the Grant Tower you see before you, it's a five-story tower house built during the 1500s.
This town would have been used as the main residence in the last century of its life.
There are no detailed records on how the floors were laid out but it would have included one,
possibly two eating halls, bedrooms for the immediate family and on the top floor
more rooms for the minor members. The lower ground floor was a storeroom or cellar.
The great hall overlooking the loch of which only the foundations and cellars remain
was the main public feasting area of the castle between 1300 and 1500. You can get
a great view of how thick the walls are through the defensive openings.
A kitchen was added later attached to the grand chamber.
The Water Gate provides access to the loch and would have been used
when travelling by water was the fastest mode of transport.
Today it's a stunning set of steps to walk down to the loch shoreline.
Just coming into view is the Jacobite Loch Ness cruise tour.
In our next video, we'll be taking the boat out over Loch Ness in search of Nessie,
and sailing here to see the castle from a water perspective. It was an absolutely brilliant
experience so make sure you're subscribed and get notified when that video goes live.
The final years of the castle saw it involved in the Jacobite uprising in 1689.
When government troops left in 1692 they blew up the gatehouse to prevent reoccupation.
From then on the castle decayed and became the stunning romantic ruin, painted and photographed
by visitors to the Highlands. In 1884 the castle came into the control of Caroline
Dowager Countess of Seafield, upon her death she entrusted the castle to the state in 1913.
Reaching the highest point of the castle we are rewarded with near panoramic views
and a good sense of why it was built here on Strone Point.
We really recommend adding this to your itinerary if you're in the area
it was a fascinating and breathtaking place to visit.
Next time join us at Fort Augustus on the Caledonian Canal
and sail with us across Loch Ness back to the castle for some fantastic
water views. Do give us a like if you enjoyed our tour and we'll see you again soon!