It's time to move further north. That's why we're leaving Edinburgh for Inverness. We visit the site of the famous Battle of Culloden and the Clava Mound, a replica of which starred in Outlander.
Culloden Battlefield - Old Leanach Cottage
We wake up early in the morning because our bus leaves at 8:00 a.m. We have breakfast, pack up, leave our accommodation for good and walk to the bus station again, where a double decker Citylink bus will take us to Inverness. The journey takes 4 hours, during which time one gets first contact with the green peaks of the Scottish Highlands.
In Inverness we go straight to our new accommodation Cedar Villa Guest House. This is run by two pensioners who rent out rooms in the house they live in. As we are here before check-in, we just leave our bags and head into the city centre.
Inverness - Cedar Villa Guest House
On the way, we come across a bistro. We just look around to see what they offer and suddenly we hear in Slovak: "Come, it's good here". We are recommended the local specialty of roasted potatoes with various types of mayonnaise and vegetable side dishes. We continue on, weighed down by our packed lunches. Specifically, we look for bus stop number 27, which leaves from the Marks and Spencer bus stop, located by the eponymous store. Being unassuming Europeans, we are of course looking for it in the opposite direction to the one it actually goes. Eventually we find the right stop, but as the bus was 15 minutes late, we were still not quite sure until it arrived.
Inverness
Inverness - Speciality of the local bistro
Despite such a long delay, I liked how calm the driver was as the passengers ahead of us struggled with the terminal, adding to the already high delay. Again, as in Baloch, you can pay by card and it is again possible to purchase a return ticket. The journey takes about 20 minutes and the bus takes us in front of the Visitor Centre of that famous battlefield where the last military engagement of the Jacobite Rebellion took place in 1746 between the aforementioned Jacobites and the British government troops. The Jacobites were defeated and with it their entire rebellion. The Battle of Culloden, was also the last land battle in the islands.
Of course, we are not here because Janet is a lover of historical battles. We're here because there is a memorial stone to all the Scottish families who took part in the battle, including the stone of the Frazer family, yes, again known from the Outlender/Chinese series. Even this battle is depicted in that series.
Since we are in Scotland, there must be a piper playing Scottish songs in front of the centre. We listen to him and then we go to see the battlefield and find the aforementioned Fraser family stone, where I have to take about a million pictures of Janet from a million different angles.
Culloden Battlefield
Culloden Battlefield - Fraser family memorial stone
Culloden Battlefield - Battle of Culloden Monument
Let's take a tour of the rest of the battlefield. The lines here are marked with red and blue flags. We'll see the visitor center and leave the battlefield temporarily.
Culloden Battlefield
Culloden Battlefield - Old Leanach Cottage
Culloden Battlefield - Visitor Centre
We walk to the Clava mound, which is about 2 km away from the battlefield. Again we take a bunch of photos and then we go back. On the way back we come across a nice railway viaduct.
Clava Cairn
Clava Cairn
Clava Cairn
Clava Cairn
Culloden Viaduct
We return to the battlefield and wait about 20 minutes for the bus to arrive to take us back to Iverness. We had originally planned to do Loch Ness, but it's getting late and we're due to make an extra short stop there tomorrow, so we're not doing that today. On the way back to our accommodation we will stop at the gift shop to buy a Scottish scarf and some magnets. Then we'll buy some wine for the evening at Tesco. That's the end of the day. Tomorrow we have a tour of the Isle of Skye.
Inverness
Useful links:
Megabus
Citylink
Cedar Villa Guest House
Culloden
More accommodation options in Inverness
Other attractions in Inverness
