Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ACCOMMODATION
Àite Cruinnichidh
3.5 miles west of Tulloch railway
station, just south of A86
T
01397 712315,
W
highland-
hostel.co.uk.
A comfortable wood-lined bunkhouse in a
beautiful setting, with good facilities including family
rooms and a sauna, as well as local advice for walkers and
cyclists. Dorms
£16.50
Station Lodge
At Tulloch Station
T
01397 732333,
W
stationlodge.co.uk
The station building at Tulloch is
now a friendly and well-equipped hostel that can
prov
ide
breakfasts and dinners with advance notice. Dorms
£17
EATING AND DRINKING
Old Pines Hotel and Restaurant
A few hundred yards
northwest of the Commando Memorial, on the B8004
to Gairlochy
T
01397 712324,
W
oldpines.co.uk.
At this
welcoming hotel and restaurant, diners are treated to
locally sourced game and shellfish (the seared scallop
starter is £8.50) as well as home baking, pasta and ice
cream.
Mon & Sun
6.30-9pm, Tues-Sat noon-3pm &
6.30-9pm.
Glen Coe and around
Breathtakingly beautiful
GLEN COE
(literally “Valley of Weeping”), sixteen miles south of Fort
William on the A82, is a spectacular mountain valley between velvety-green conical peaks,
their tops often wreathed in cloud, and their flanks streaked by cascades of rock and scree.
Arriving from the south across the desolate reaches of Rannoch Moor, you're likely to
find the start of the glen - with
Buachaille Etive Mhòr
to the south and
Beinn
a'Chrùlaiste
to the north - little short of forbidding. By the time you've reached the
heart of the glen, with the huge rock buttresses known as the
Three Sisters
on one side
and the Anoach Eagach ridge on the other combining to close up the sky, you'll almost
certainly want to stop. Added to the compelling emotional mix is the story of the
notorious
massacre of Glen Coe
in 1692, nadir of the long-standing enmity between
the clans MacDonald and Campbell.
Beyond the small village of
GLENCOE
at the western end of the glen, the glen itself
(a property of the NTS since the 1930s) is virtually uninhabited, and provides outstanding
climbing and walking. From
Loch Leven
the main road goes west and over the bridge at
Ballachulish en route to Fort William, while at the eastern end of the loch is the slowly
reviving settlement of
Kinlochleven
, site of the world's largest indoor ice-climbing centre
and a waypoint on the West Highland Way long-distance footpath (see box, p.400).
11
Brief history
In 1692 Glen Coe was the site of a notorious massacre, in which the MacDonalds were
victims of an abiding government desire to suppress the clans. Fed up with what they
regarded as unacceptable lawlessness, and a groundswell of Jacobitism and Catholicism,
the government offered a general pardon to all those who signed an oath of allegiance
to William III by January 1, 1692. When clan chief
Alastair MacDonald
missed the
deadline, a plot was hatched to make an example of “that damnable sept”, and
Campbell of Glenlyon
was ordered to billet his soldiers in the homes of the
MacDonalds, who for ten days entertained them with traditional Highland hospitality.
In the early morning of February 13, the soldiers turned on their hosts, slaying around
forty people and causing more than three hundred to flee in a blizzard.
Glencoe Mountain Resort
Half a mile south of the A82 at the foot of the mountain • Jan-Oct Mon-Thurs & Sun 9am-8.30pm, Fri & Sat 9am-10.30pm; Nov & Dec
daily 9am-4.30pm •
T
01855 851226,
W
glencoemountain.co.uk • Chairlift £10; full day's ski/snowboard rental £25
From the
Glencoe Mountain Resort
a chairlift climbs 2400ft to Meall a Bhuiridh, giving
spectacular views over Rannoch Moor and to Ben Nevis. At the base station, there's a
simple but pleasant café. Skiing, snowboarding and mountain biking sessions can all be
arranged at this spectacularly located resort too.
