🌊 Loch
Loch Ness
📍 Inverness-shire
⏱ Half to full day
🎟️ Free (Loch Urquhart Castle entrance fee)
🚐 Motorhome friendly
Loch Ness is one of the most famous bodies of water in the world, stretching 23 miles through the Great Glen and containing more water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined. At depths of up to 227 metres, it is the largest loch in Scotland by volume — and the legendary home of the Loch Ness Monster, "Nessie", whose first reported sighting dates to 565 AD when St Columba allegedly encountered a water beast in the River Ness. The loch is surrounded by dense forests and dramatic hillsides, with the A82 running along its western shore and offering spectacular views. The atmospheric ruins of Urquhart Castle, perched on a rocky headland jutting into the loch, are the most photographed sight on the water.
Take the A82 south from Inverness. Urquhart Castle is 16 miles from the city centre. Foyers (east shore) is reached via the B852.