bestboatingholidays

Taking a boating holiday in Scotland along the Caledonian canal is both relaxing and interesting. If you start your vacation at Inverness, which is the most northerly point on the canal, you can easily spend a day exploring the city. The town of Inverness, with 70,000 inhabitants, changed to city status in 2001, and is in the top five places to life in Britain with regards to quality of life.  It is also the fastest growing city, with new technologies replacing traditional whisky distilling as employment changes.

Places of interest include Inverness Castle, which overlooks to city. Dating back centuries, the present building was designed by William Burn and built in 1836. It has served as a jail in the past but now houses the Sheriff Courts.  There is a link to Bonnie Prince Charlie, with a statue of the girl who helped him, Flora MacDonald and her dog outside the court buildings.

If you hirer a Cabin Cruiser from Caley Cruisers in Inverness, you are well equipped to set off down Loch Ness to see other interesting places. The boat hirer provides all the necessary gear you need for your holiday cruise. Their boats are not your usual canal boats but are designed for open waters with short waves and wind that you might encounter on Loch Ness and the other lochs in the Great Glen.Once you leave the narrow stretch of the canal you are out into the wide loch heading south. If you keep to the right hand side (west side) you can moor up at the marina near the Clansman Hotel. Not only can you enjoy the food and entertainment here but also visit the Loch Ness Monster Exhibition to learn all about Nessie! This is a really interesting exhibition which uses lasers, digital projection and loads of special effects to bring you the history of the loch. Well worth a visit!

As you move along the loch on board your cabin cruiser, you see scenery of hillsides covered in woodland, mountains with their tips topped with snow, in the spring and a wonderful range of colours. Every now an then you spot ruined castles. One of these castles is Urquhart Castle which is well known as a regular haunt of the loch ness monster! A visitors centre has been built with a cafe, shop and display of how the castle used to look before it was blown up in the late 1600s. You could easily spend a few hours wandering around the interesting ruins.

Directly across Loch Ness is Drumnadrochit with moorings and access to restaurants, shops and pony trekking. This will provide an oportunity to leave the boat and trek through the wonderful hillsides, then return back to a warm welcome in the village, before sleeping on board your boat for a restful night.

Next morning you could travel down to Foyers and see the hydro-electric scheme which used the power from waterfalls to generate power, originally.  The waterfalls around this part are still well worth a visit, as well as shops and the hotel. When travelling along the loch you should try your hand at fishing. The boat hirer may have rods onboard or you can buy some locally. Fresh water trout, sea trout and salmon can all be caught in the loch.

At the south end of Loch Ness is Fort Augustus and the Inchnacardoch Hotel, with moorings to allow you to tie up for the night. Here you will find loads of interesting places to visit.  Fort Augustus itself was built as a result of the Jacobite uprising in 1715 and named after the king’s son. The son, later called the Duke of Cumberland, became infamous as the slayer of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s men at Culloden in 1745. A very good heritage centre tells you all about that time and how the clans lived around this area. It is well worth a visit as is a wander around the well kept houses of the village. The canal goes right through linking Loch Ness to another, Loch Oich which provides a great place to view all the sights.

If you would like to find out more about hiring a boat to cruise along the Caledonian canal then go here.

We recently joined some friends on their boating holiday along the Caledonian canal. The car journey was very scenic up to Fort William, at the start of this canal which passes through the Great Glen. The canal links several lochs from Inverness down to Fort William, so at times you are on quiet an expanse of water, especially Loch Ness.

The boat hire company, Connoisseur, is part of the Le Boat group which have 11 boats based on the Caledonian canal. Our friends met us at Connoisseur Laggan, at Laggan on Loch Oich. After a tour of the boat and equipment, and a short instructional lesson on the workings of the vessel, we were ready for the off! 

Our first task is to pass through the swing bridge which carries traffic across the canal. Once clear of this we were out into Loch Oich. As the loch opens up we decide to keep to the western side so to pass Invergarry Castle quite close. As we approach the castle we notice moorings close by for visiting boats.  The castle also has shops etc. around about the area. It was burnt down in 1746 because Bonnie Prince Charlie visited it during the Jacobite uprising of 1745. The Jacobites were defeated when the army under the Duke of Cumberland caught up with them at Culloden Moor on the 16th April 1746. However, quite a bit of the castle has survived and upon approach it looks impressive!

The first night aboard proves very comfortable. The boat is well equipped with all modern conveniences. We wake to the sound of birds and water gently lapping the sides of the boat. Once up on deck the stunning scenery is breathtaking with the green mountains disappearing into the waters of the loch. As we set off further north we notice many inlets with small groups of houses, all very picturesque.

Although we did not visit, there is a water park – the Great Glen Water Park at Laggan which offers plenty for you and the family to do and enjoy. Everything from white water rafting to abseiling, so if you are looking for an activity based holiday in tantem with your boating experience then why not visit the park?

As we reach the top of the loch, there comes into view Cullochy lock. All the locks on the Caledonian canal are operated by Lock keepers, so as we approach they open as if by magic! Once through these locks we pass along the canal to Kytra lock then we have four more locks to negotiate at Fort Augustus. We moor up for the day and visit the town and Abbey. Very enjoyable and interesting.

We have to leave our friends here and return home, but they plan to journey further north along Loch Ness stopping at Castle Urquhart, which is often photographed for Scottish calendars. From there they will visit Drumnadrochit, which has the Loch Ness Monster Museum, and then Foyers to see the wonderful waterfalls.

If you are inspired by our short holiday break, then why not enquire about booking a boat. Although dates maybe limited for Spring and early Summer, I am told September onwards is still relatively free.