SCOTLAND's GREAT GLEN best budget accommodation
Scotland is so full of beautiful areas that many get overlooked. The Great Glen, also known as Glen Albyn or Glen More, is one of these, and many people will speed along its straight course to Inverness with barely a look at the adjacent hills under the frequently dull skies. But when the weather is fine? It's remarkably pretty, and the valley of Glengarry is exquisite. And if you want to avoid climbing hills while still seeing them in all their glory, take a walk or cycle along the Great Glen -- 80 km of flat country!
The Great Glen is an antique version of the San Andreas fault. Millions of years ago the northwest of Scotland slid southward relative to the southeast. The fault is no longer active, but you can't mistake it -- a dead straight line from Fort William to Inverness, cutting the highlands in half, with a string of lochs along it including the most famous of all -- Loch Ness. This area is scenic but has a sombre feel about it when the cloud lies low and cuts off the tops of the hills. It may even feel a little eerie, just as if a monster is about to jump out of the loch....
Buses run along the Great Glen from Fort William to Inverness every day including Sundays.
Hostels
There is a cluster of hostels at Fort William in the Ben Nevis area. Then there is a sequence of hostels along the Great Glen, ranging from good to excellent.Starting from Fort William, the road to Inverness first deviates from the Great Glen to Spean Bridge, then returns and runs along the shore of Loch Lochy which, like all the lochs in the Great Glen, is long and narrow. Just past the Loch, and about 30km from Fort William, the Great Glen hostel stands by the roadside:
Address: South Laggan
Tel: 01809-501430
Email: bookings + AT + greatglenhostel.com
Facilities: Resident managers, close to main road along Great Glen. Excellent kitchen, large dining room, sitting area with TV adjoining. Partitioned dorms. Free internet in dining room and dorms. Staff friendly & very helpful..
UK Trail opinions: This former SYHA hostel is now independently run with enthusiasm by the managers. It retains an excellent kitchen and dining room. Free internet service in dorms too! Intercity buses will stop nearby, there's a shop 2 km away, and a small village at 5 km. Reviewers say: Quiet, staff friendly and helpful, improved from SYHA days, well equipped, very clean, rather far from Loch Ness but in pleasant area..
A further 5km brings you to the small village of Invergarry. This lies at the foot of Glengarry, along which a dead-end single-track road runs along an absurdly beautiful glen along lochs and over wide-open moorland to an inlet of the Atlantic, all the way surrounded by mountains. On foot, there are forest and mountain walks direct from Invergarry. Just before you reach the village, Invergarry Lodge lies 200m off the road:
Address: Mandally Rd
Tel: 01809-501412
Email: mail + AT + invergarrylodge.co.uk
Facilities: Owner-run, 26 beds. Excellent well-equipped kitchen, large dining room. Large lounge w TV in corner, piano and other music instruments; other spacious sitting area. Staff very friendly & helpful. Small village nearby, intercity buses stop there.
UK Trail opinions: You will like this hostel.The only shop is 2km away, and there's a pub within walking distance. It's on the bus route up the Great Glen, but bring all the food you need. Good Forest and hill walks from hostel. Good place to stop on way to Skye or N Scotland..
Reviewers' comments: All reviewers are complimentary: very friendly & helpful staff, cosy, very clean & spacious. The only negative: a bit far from towns & villages.
A further 10km along loch and river brings you to Fort Augustus, a larger village with facilities. At the far end of the village, a short steep hill on your left brings you to Morag's Lodge:
Address: Bunnoich Brae
Tel: 01320-366289
Email: info + AT + moragslodge.com
Facilities: 85 beds; several cosy and sociable lounge areas in reception; lg dining room; equipped kitchen; book swap; internet; bar with good sitting area, TV and music; picnic tables outside. Drying room, cycle storage. 500m from village with shops and pubs, lying at the head of Loch Ness..
UK Trail opinions: A casual and well-used feel, with social areas well laid out. Ideal for the Haggis Tours that they host, but other guests including individuals will fit in just as well..
Reviewers' comments: Most reviewers are very enthusiastic, calling it relaxed, friendly & clean, staff helpful and friendly. But there are a few complaints: 2 said some breakfast foods not available after 0830h, one found the expected buffet and bar not available because only 7 people staying, one or two guests complained of noise into the night. One found the kitchen very small and not well maintained. Many found it a good base for travel around Scotland..
Loch Ness is 36km long. The next hostel, a third of the way along, is Loch Ness SYHA:
Address: Glenmoriston
Tel: 01320-351274
Reviewers' comments: One said: In the middle of nowhere, just in front of the lake, without TV, it's great!.
Loch Ness -- peaceful on a fine day
A further 14km brings you to the impressive Urquart castle overlooking the Loch. Just beyond is Drumnadrochit, a village with an inordinate amount of tacky nessie-related stuff but with a bus service to Inverness and Cannich. The Loch Ness Backpackers is a good hostel 300m off the road:
Address: Coilte Farmhouse, E Lewiston
Tel: 01456-450807
Email: hostel + AT + lochness-backpackers.com
Facilities: Owner-run, 2 good kitchens, eating room, patio tables, cosy lounge, TV room, sociable.
UK Trail opinions: Has a casual and agreeable feel. Reviews are nearly all favourable..
Several km away towards the hills, the Bearnock Country Centre houses an HI-Associate hostel which looks luxurious:
After this, the last stage of Loch Ness and the River Ness takes you smoothly into Inverness.
On the other side of Loch Ness (3 buses a day from Inverness) is Foyers:
Tel: 01456-486623
