Spending a Whole Day Around Loch Ness
A day by car, from Loch Ness Viewpoint to Dores Beach.
Written by Graeme Johncock
Loch Ness is one of the most iconic locations in all of Scotland. From the monster hiding in its depths to the ruined castle jutting out into the water, it’s high on most visitors’ priorities. However, while the main road on the north side sees most of the traffic, there’s plenty to see on the quieter south shore of Scotland’s largest loch!
The route
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
As early as you can for summer: tickets often sell out far in advance, and once they have sold out online none are sold at the castle.
Loch Ness Viewpoint
An attraction
Leaving busy Inverness behind, it doesn’t take long to reach a large lay-by with great views down Loch Ness. From here, it feels like you can see the entire length of the poker straight loch, all 23 miles of it. Incredibly, there’s more water in Loch Ness than all the lakes and rivers in England and Wales combined! That’s a lot of space for something to hide in, so no wonder legends have grown of a monster hiding in there, nicknamed Nessie!
About 35 min by car
The Loch Ness Experience
An attraction
Inside the old Drumnadrochit Hotel, the Loch Ness Centre is the best way to learn about the Loch Ness Monster and the hunts for her over the years. It takes around an hour, presenting both the facts and the fiction from the first mention of a monster in Loch Ness by St Columba in 563AD, right up to the most recent sightings! Look in at the Great Glen Distillery on your way out for some delicious gin tasting!
More about The Loch Ness ExperienceAbout 5 min by car
Urquhart Castle
An attraction
Not only is Urquhart Castle one of the most important castles in Scottish history, it’s also one of the most beautiful. Its site dates back over 1500 years, and it guards passage through the Great Glen against any threat trying to sail up Loch Ness. Fought over in the Wars of Independence, Urquhart was later given to Clan Grant to defend against regular MacDonald raids. That didn’t go well and in 1545 the MacDonalds made off with 8000 livestock, along with anything else that would fit in their ships!
About 20 min by car
Invermoriston Falls
An attraction
Take a stroll through the woods to the old Summer House for the best views of the Invermoriston Falls. It’s a stunning spot above the tumbling waterfalls, with the Old Bridge just visible beyond the modern road crossing.
About 10 min by car
Fort Augustus
An attraction
A settlement once called Cille Chuimein stands at the far end of Loch Ness, but you might know it better as Fort Augustus. When the British military built a defensive fort here in the early 1700s, it was renamed after Prince William Augustus, the man who would later gain the nickname Butcher Cumberland due to his actions after the Battle of Culloden! There’s only one tiny corner of that fort left, but the village is a lovely place for a wander. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch a boat navigating the locks of the Caledonian Canal to descend from Loch Oich into Loch Ness! There are plenty of places to sit in for lunch around Fort Augustus, but if the weather is nice, grab a baguette from Delightfulness and go sit down beside the water!
About 10 min by car
Suidhe Viewpoint
An attraction
Everything feels just a little bit wilder as you turn onto the quieter side of Loch Ness and begin to climb higher. Soon, you’ll reach the Suidhe Viewpoint and get an incredible panorama of mountains and moorland. The road that stretches away from you is the old Military Road, built to try and control Scotland during the Jacobite Risings and once one of the most important in the Highlands!
About 15 min by car
Falls of Foyers
An attraction
If you didn’t know better, you might be tempted to drive straight through Foyers. As well as popping into Foyers Stores for local produce or a coffee, make sure to head across the road and follow the track to the Falls of Foyers. The poet Robert Burns described it as a “horrid cauldron”, but he must have just been in a bad mood. While the water level can fluctuate, if you get the falls on a good day, the crashing water can be an incredible thing to witness!
Boleskine Burial Ground
An attraction
There’s more than nature to find on the south side of Loch Ness and Boleskine Burial Ground is the perfect example of its long habitation. This was once Clan Fraser territory and many with that name are buried here near Boleskine House. Hunt down the headstone of Donald Fraser from 1730 and look for three musket ball holes. Legend says they were made by government soldiers, after a starving boy stole some bread from a wagon in the weeks after the Battle of Culloden!
More about Boleskine Burial GroundAbout 25 min by car
Dores Beach
An attraction
End the day in a similar way to how you started, by taking in the view of the vast Loch Ness from one of its best vantage points – Dores Beach. It’s a beautiful view and you may well bump into legendary Nessie Hunter Steve Feltham. This is one of the few places that you can easily get down to the water, but be careful if you do, there could be a monster just hiding beneath the surface!
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Photographs by Ornella Baumeler, The Loch Ness Experience, yishay merari, Gleb Wierziłow, Shannon McCluskey, Gloei Boerke and Tomasz Francuz via Google; connormollison