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Walking Land's End to John o'Groats with Mark Moxon

Alltsigh to Drumnadrochit

Loch Ness
Loch Ness

Apart from some stunning viewpoints over Loch Ness towards the start of the day, the walk from Loch Ness Youth Hostel to Drumnadrochit is pretty forgettable. Luckily those views more than make up for the rest of it; Loch Ness is best appreciated from high up, and up high is exactly where the Great Glen Way goes from Alltsigh.

Beauty and the Beast

Urquhart Castle
Urquhart Castle

It didn't take long to walk into Drumnadrochit; most of this stage of the Way is along enclosed forest tracks and boring minor roads, and it doesn't exactly encourage exploration. Drumnadrochit itself is a pretty village, centred round a village green with the busy A82 slicing through it, but although it proved a pleasant spot for lunch, I'd set my sights on a point two miles from town, back on the loch shore. Perched on the edge of Loch Ness and conveniently close to the thundering main road sits Urquhart Castle, and it has to be one of the most wonderful ruined castles in Scotland.

Urquhart Castle
Urquhart Castle
Loch Ness from Urquhart Castle
Loch Ness from Urquhart Castle
Urquhart Castle
Urquhart Castle

Benleva Hotel

Urquhart Castle
Urquhart Castle

Back in Drumnadrochit I couldn't believe my luck when I spotted a sign for the Benleva Hotel, which was apparently voted CAMRA's Highland Pub of the Year for 2003. And did I go there for a few pints of the Cairngorm Brewery's Trade Winds and a fantastic meal? Oh, did I ever. Getting over food poisoning has never felt so good, and I'm happy to report that I'm back on fighting form after the sullen reporting of the last week or so.