Where Spirits Roam: The Scottish Highlands

After travelling through the sparsely populated lowlands you will enter the high country near Sterling. The wooded hills of the Trossachs and Ben More, the highest point in the Crianlarich Hills, lie along the route. A panoramic stretch around the edges of Loch Awe and Loch Etive begins at Dalmally.

The drive from Oban to Mallaig is one of the most scenic stretches in Great Britain. You will pass Ben Nevis, the highest mountain on the British Isles, then Loch Shiel, at the northern end of which a monument commemorates the Scottish clansmen who fought the English in 1745 to restore the exiled Stuarts to the throne. The ferry to Skye leaves from Mallaig. The island can also be reached via a toll-free bridge near Kyle of Lochalsh.

You will leave the island via the bridge to Kyle of Lochalsh and travel on narrower and narrower roads to more and more remote regions of Scotland. A detour through Wester Ross is definitely worthwhile: side roads lead to enchanting Loch Maree. The breathtaking beauty of that lake is equalled - if not surpassed - by nearby Inverewe Gardens. The park containing subtropical plants was created by a Scottish aristocrat in the late 19th century. The landscape turns flat and relatively barren after Inverness.

The route largely follows the Malt Whisky Trail. The Glen Grant Distillery near Rothes offers tours. Several other distilleries near Dufftown are also open to the public for tours and purchases. The route then joins the Castle Trail, which leads past several imposing structures built over a period of 700 years.

Several Victorian palaces and medieval castles are located along the stretch between Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Some of the most interesting of these are Dunotar Castle near Stonehaven, the House of Dun near the Monrose Basin Nature Reserve and Scone Palace in Perth.