Editor’s Note: Will Garrett and his father, Edward, sailed on the Scottish Highlander luxury barge operated by European Waterways earlier this month. Will filed daily reports published throughout the barge cruise. His father’s review of the trip appears here.
DAY 6: Fort Augustus
We were to leave for Eilean Donan Castle by 9 a.m., which is one of the most famous castles in Scotland and has been showcased in a multitude of films. We left the barge promptly after breakfast for an hour’s drive to the castle.
Driving through the Scottish highlands is just breathtaking – there are many lochs and rocky rivers, where I took many pictures and videos to share with my friends and family back home. Once arriving at the castle, the scene was right out of “Braveheart”!
A bagpiper played on the old stone bridge which led to the fortress, a landmark for many battles between the Scots and English over the past 600 years.
It was just amazing to think of the history contained here. Of all the castles we saw, this was definitely the largest and from the west end you could gaze upon the Isle of Sky. The inside of the castle still had the old stone staircases and doorways, and the walls were covered with old tapestries and paintings of queens and kings of Scotland.
There were many hidden passages (blocked off by ropes, unfortunately) leading to the depths of the oldest parts of the castle. After an hour of exploring, we took the hour long ride back to the boat for a sardine dinner and another night of scotch tasting before going to sleep and dreaming of the mystery that surrounds the lochs and castles here in Northern Scotland.
Heidi, Editor-In-Chief
