Top Things to do in Scottish Highlands
Top Hotels in Scottish Highlands
- 1. The Onich Hotel
- 2. Premier Inn Inverness Centre River Ness
- 3. Travelodge Inverness Fairways
- 4. The Garrison Hotel
- 5. Best Western Inverness Palace Hotel & Spa
- 6. Ness Walk Hotel
- 7. The Morar Hotel
- 8. Craigmonie Hotel Inverness by Compass Hospitality
- 9. Premier Inn Inverness East hotel
- 10. Premier Inn Thurso hotel
Things to do in Scottish Highlands, Scotland: The Best Mountains
The moody, romantic Scottish Highlands start at Loch Lomond just north of Glasgow. Comprising a slew of mountain ranges, this sparsely populated land is best seen by train on the West Highland Line. Mountains, lochs, bright heather and rhododendrons give way to white sand beaches and rugged coves as the train nears Mallaig. For a more active take on the region, hike the West Highland Way or visit the Trossachs National Park. Ben Nevis, a popular climbing spot, looms over the town of Fort William.
Restaurants in Scottish Highlands
1. Glen Torridon
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 92 reviews
Reviewed By rlkempharper - Great Malvern, United Kingdom
Torridon is on my regular tour of the west coast of Scotland. Coming up from Plockton, and via Applecross the scenery with mighty Monroe mountains coming down to the shore is spectacular. Stay at the Torridon Inn, or book a cheaper B & B, but try to book a very posh meal at the Torridon Hotel. You will be very well looked after, but it is very expensive. Visit the Tourist Centre at the top of the loch. Useful info here. There is a single track road along the north shore, but it is very long, slow and hard work. When leaving you will carry on to Kinlochewe. The glen is delightful, with a stream rushing over its rocky course. The mountains tower above you and their size staggers the senses. Geologists will have a field au considering the complexity of the landscape. For example, the compressed sandstone from times when this part of the world was nearer the equator. Visit the Ben Eighe info centre on the road just outside Kinlochewe on the way to the coast. Don't take the sat nav route to Ullapool. You will miss all the delights of Gairloch, Poolewe and Gruinard Bay.
2. Fuar Tholl
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 2 reviews
The bleak crags of Fuar Tholl at 2,979 feet attract walkers and climbers who want to experience the dramatic beauty of the Northern Highlands.
3. Sgorr Ruadh
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
Sgorr Ruadh or big gray hill rises to a height of 3,156 feet and presents a steep and rocky climb to its summit.
4. The Pap of Glencoe
5. Ben Stack
6. Stac Pollaidh Mountain
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 110 reviews
Reviewed By MarshallC954 - Shrewsbury, United Kingdom
Easy road access and a short sharp uphill walk on mostly good paths to the fabulous saddle of Stac Pollaid (though the actual summit is for experienced climbers). Stunning views, weather permitting, of the Assynt wilderness and Suilven.
7. Grampian Mountains
8. Beinn Liath Mhor
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 3 reviews
This mountain rises to a height of 3,038 feet and is located south of Torridon in the Coulin Forest.
9. Beinn Alligin
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 7 reviews
Beinn Alligin, or the "Jeweled Mountain," is aptly named because of its shimmering presence when viewed across Lock Torridon, and is a fine introduction to the pleasures of Torridonian hill-walking.
10. Ben Nevis
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,460 reviews
Fondly called "Ben" by the locals, Britain's highest mountain towers 4,406 feet above the town of Fort William.
Reviewed By Scotlandmac - Glasgow, United Kingdom
5 stars for the brilliant path, nice and wide,which takes even the least experienced of walkers safely to the top. Best path I've ever used on any Scottish mountain and we climb these regularly.Also, as Scotland is my home, I cannot bring myself to demote Ben Nevis to less than 5 stars.It has my respect.Unfortunately most people on this route never see its true grandeur , it's North Face, where it's then obvious that this is the remains of an ancient volcano once twice as high.Climbing Carn Mor Dearg or the Aonachs nearby, give the best views of The Ben's real grandeur. It's certainly not a wilderness experience as such, this route - in August there must have been 3,000 other people plodding up the mountain! Good views , not fabulous but nice, until we got part way up and entered the mist. It's a strenuous walk though - anything is that is 1345m high and with a sea level start.But it wasn't anywhere near as hard as we thought it might be.Just LONG. We are in our 60s and it took us 3hr 10 min to the top, including a 10 min break beyond the Red Burn.But we are regular hillwalkers and reasonably fit. The climb can divided into 4 sections IMO.I found this helped pace out the day/progress.Our time is given for each stage but it is approximate.Younger people who are fit passed us. 1st Stage: Visitor Car Park to The Corner - 45 mins. The path climbs steadily above Glen Nevis, then over a bridge where it turns sharply left.I call this The Corner as the climb is now more open with the open hillside and the burn to your right and below. We were now 390m above the glen. 2nd Stage: The Corner to the Red Burn crossing. 40mins. This section passes the lovely Lochan which is NOT the halfway stage despite its name in some publications.Nice flat section for a short bit. The lochan is only at around 560m and the mountain summit is 1345m. 3rd Stage: The Red Burn to the End of the Zig Zags: 1hr 15mins including a 10 min stop. Now the path turned much more rough and bouldery in places but still excellent.This upper part of the mountain is a boulderfield and turns quarry like nearer the top.The zig zags go up at a very pleasant angle of ascent, though still feel VERY long.At the end of this section , we were now at 1190m - less than 200m to go with the back of the climb broken. Final Stage: End of zig zags to Summit Cairn:30 mins. This bit seemed to go on forever too mainly because we were now in thick cloud/mizzly rain and couldn't see that far ahead.I thought this was a flattish bit but the path is still climbing. The appearance of large marker cairns on the right confirm the end is in sight.They are set well away from the various gullies on the left which the path is fairly close to.These have been the scene of fatalities in the past, in whiteout conditions, with the path under snow or not clear due to very poor visibility. We then had a 10 min wait in a queue to climb the summit cairn for a photo! Crazy! We only had views from the zig zags downwards.But it was still well worth the climb. The crowds are nuts - I've never seen anything like it on any other Scottish mountain(which often have much better, more dramatic views too.) A lot of people couldn't stay long at the top because they had barely more than t-shirt and shorts on.Their clothes looked sweaty and very damp from the effort and mist.You cool down mega quickly at that height and in those conditions and in damp clothes. It's a LONG strenuous hike made much easier by the great path but if someone is not very fit - well, I saw some young women crying on the 1st stage of the path. We arrived at the visitor centre car park before 9am on a Sunday in August and could hardly get parked.It costs £6 to park - machines were not working so paid in the Visitor Centre.Toilets were (unhelpfully) closed when we returned at 4.45pm. No toilet facilities on the hill as you would expect and it's not easy to find a place to go without other people being around. The summit is swarming with people and it would be difficult to find a spot even in the various ruined buildings as people are EVERYWHERE. Fantastic sense of achievement once we were down (it felt VERY long coming down - it took us slightly longer to do so as the path was very busy with lots of people still going up and also us catching up with people going down and having to wait or give way.) Everyone was very polite on the hill and were - mostly - smiling and seemed happy. Always great to climb the highest mountain of any country you visit, if safe to do so that is for the 'ordinary walker' and to be honest, even on the kind of low mist day we had too.
