Visit Loch Ness in Autumn – Scotland

Loch Ness is probably one of the most visited tourist attractions from Scotland which is located in Inverness. Almost every travelers put this Loch Ness in their bucket list once they’ve made a mind to visit Scotland. This lake is famous for its mythical monster known as Nessie (Loch Ness Monster). This massive lake is the second largest lake in Scotland by surface area. Since Loch Ness is very deep, it made the lake as the largest lake in the British island by volume. Surface area of the lake is 56 square kilometer, whereas the deepest part of the lake is 230 meter. The visibility of the water in lake is very low due to the presence of peat in soil.

We have had a chance to visit the Loch Ness as a part of our day tour around the Scottish highlands. It was around 1:00pm of the day when we’ve reached near the Loch Ness. There is a cruise ship set for sail to explore few portion from the lake with plenty of tourists as passenger. We had our tickets booked through the tour operator. So we took our lunch pack from them and jumped inside the cruise ship (although not that much big). It was very windy and extremely cold. Also it was raining incessantly since yesterday night due to the approaching Hurricane Ophelia. If you believe in Loch Ness monster then it was probably a worst time to visit such a place! kidding.

Most of the people went to the upper deck of the ship to enjoy the beauty of the lake from the top. But we went inside the ship as we didn’t want to be in rush with others. Also we were hungry too. So we’ve enjoyed our lunch and kept eyes in windows. And the jolly guide from the cruise ship was trying to cheer up the tourists. It was not bad at all inside. When we’ve finished our lunch people started coming inside the lower deck of the ship. So we’ve decided to go outside.

But it was very very cold outside and was very tough to stay on upper deck. That’s why all the exuberant people left the upper deck and gone inside. So instead of going up we’ve stayed at the back side of the ship where the wind was blocked by the back wall. And it was less cold there. That place was something is better than nothing from where we could able to see the around.

View of river Oich that is falling into the Loch Ness.

The Loch ness is very long, like any big river from my country. One side of the lake is having small mountain or hills. The trees on that mountain got color of the autumn. So it was yellowish in color there. I think I would not like the green surrounding that much compare to the autumn. The water in lake was very restless due to the wind and other cruise ships. It was almost like an ocean. The color of the water was kind of reddish which could scare anyone easily. Even if it was a warm day I believe there would be very few people who dare to jump in Loch ness water from a boat for fun.

Our cruise lasted for around 1 hour or less. For first half it kept going and after that it came back through the same route. The other side of lake is having small villages where people have built nice houses. I think few of them were guest houses for the tourists. From my experience, both sides of the lake are equally beautiful. I would love to explore more of the Loch Ness, and would love to go more deep. But due to time we couldn’t do that. May be one day I’d stay in some guest houses nearby the Loch.

Where to stay in Edinburgh

Where to stay in Edinburgh.

If you go with the 3-7 days of trip with the tour guides then they would provide the beds for you. I guess that is the best option to explore the highlands of Scotland (if you do not know driving). Also, if you like to do a day trip, then staying in Edinburgh city would be an option for you. There are plenty of hotels around the city as lot of tourists use to visit this city. Look here for list of hotels from Edinburgh. I’ve stayed at the Ibis budget hotel for the first night, and Leonardo hotel for the next two nights.

Where to eat:

Plenty of restaurants around the city serving different different cuisines for different mouths. My tongue always craves for the South asian cuisines. So I’ve gone to the restaurants Tikka Mahal and Mosque kitchen. Both are very nice and with affordable prices. I’ve tried the Biriyani there and it was delicious. From my opinion it was slightly better than the Biriyani that we have in Dublin.