Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The castle is 8 miles east of Nairn. Stagecoach (
Click here
)
bus 10A or 11 from In-
verness to Elgin stops at Brodie (35 minutes, hourly Monday to Saturday).
West of Inverness
BEAULY
POP 1160
Mary, Queen of Scots, is said to have given this village its name in 1564 when she ex-
claimed, in French: '
Quel beau lieu!'
(What a beautiful place!). Founded in 1230, the
red-sandstone
Beauly Priory
is now an impressive ruin; a small information kiosk next
door has information on the history of the priory.
The central
Priory Hotel
(
01463-782309;
www.priory-hotel.com
;
The Square; s/d
£65/110; )
has bright, modern rooms and serves good bar meals. However, the best
place for lunch is across the street at the
Corner on the Square
(
www.corneronthesquare.co.uk
;
1 High St; mains £5-7; 9am-5.30pm Mon-Sat,
11am-4.30pm Sun)
, a superb little delicatessen and cafe that serves breakfast (till
11.30am), daily lunch specials (noon to 4.30pm) and excellent coffee.
Buses 28 and 28A from Inverness run to Beauly (45 minutes, hourly Monday to
Saturday, five on Sunday), and the town lies on the Inverness-Thurso railway line.
STRATHGLASS & GLEN AFFRIC
The broad valley of Strathglass extends about 18 miles inland from Beauly, followed by
the A831 to
Cannich
(the only village in the area), where there's a grocery store and a
post office.
Glen Affric, one of the most beautiful glens in Scotland, extends deep into the hills bey-
ond Cannich. The upper reaches of the glen, now designated as
Glen Affric National
Nature Reserve
(
www.glenaffric.org
)
, is a scenic wonderland of shimmering lochs,
rugged mountains and native Scots pine, home to pine marten, wildcat, otter, red squirrel
and golden eagle.
About 4 miles southwest of Cannich is
Dog Falls
, a scenic spot where the River Affric
squeezes through a narrow, rocky gorge. A waymarked walking trail leads there easily
from Dog Falls car park.
The road continues beyond Dog Falls to a parking area and picnic site at the eastern end
of
Loch Affric
where there are several short walks along the river and the loch shore. The
