One of my favourite mornings in Scotland was while I was on a tour of the Highlands with my mother. In the itinerary it said that we would be visiting Urquhart Castle, which I took to heart, but the day we started the tour they didn’t mention anything about it. I soon asked our guide and he said that if I really wanted to he would drop me off at the castle one of the mornings that the rest of the group wasn’t doing anything else. I still don’t understand why people didn’t want to come along, but my mother, her friend and I gladly took the lift up to the castle on that sunny morning.
We woke early and our guide dropped us off at the castle after a hearty breakfast. It was about 9am and the castle opened its doors at 9:30, so it gave us plenty of time to take pictures of the surroundings before heading in once it opened. There was no one else! If you know me you know I don’t like crowds, and touristic sites are always full, so this was paradise! A bus of seniors soon arrived but we headed directly to the castle while most of the newly arrived visitors stayed behind in the castle shop.
Not only was it a glorious morning with sun, but the backdrop was absolutely breathtaking as Urquhart lies in the Highlands right by the famous Loch Ness. You add that to the fact that there was absolutely no one …amazing! I can tell you it was a striking feeling to enter the castle by myself. Arriving early really made a difference! I got to enjoy the castle in the peace and quiet the site deserved and most of my pictures are amazingly people-free!
There was also this awesome guide present at the entrance of the castle and we talked to him for a while. When he heard we were from Quebec he could not let us go. He was very kind and super knowledgeable. He even taught us some stuff in Gaelic! He is another reason to go there!
..and finally a sneaky picture my mom captured of me during our visit. I highly recommend checking out this castle if you are in the Highlands and I also recommend arriving early and beating the crowd to go walk by yourself in this amazing site. xx
