Loch Ness and the Highlands

The Scottish Highlands are the mountains, glens and lochs of the north and west, cut from south-west to north-east by the Great Glen fault and its chain of lochs. The best known is Loch Ness, about 37 km long and nearly 230 metres deep, holding more water than all the lakes of England and Wales combined.

On its northern shore stand the ruins of Urquhart Castle, with more than 1,000 years of history, and cruises leave from Inverness, Drumnadrochit and Fort Augustus. The legend of Nessie still draws visitors, though no proof has ever been found.

To the south-west lies Glencoe, among Scotland's finest roads, then Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain, where the Jacobite steam train sets off over the Glenfinnan Viaduct to Mallaig.