This castle is definitely worth checking out if doing a hiking trip around nearby Fort William and Ben Nevis in the highlands. Now, I am writing about the ruins of Inverlochy castle which has stood here since the thirteenth century and not the nineteenth century baronial mansion that was later converted into a hotel. (Please don’t mix them up). These ruins are worth a stop off and will take about thirty minutes to explore. The ruins are located north of Fort William, north-west of the Ben Nevis mountain and slightly east of the River Lochy which connects Loch Lochy and Loch Eil.
The castle at Inverlochy has stood here since the thirteenth century but before that there was another fortification. However, according to a historian Hector Boece (who lived from 1465-1536) wrote that there was a city here which was destroyed by Vikings. How the hell did he know that? One wonders. The castle was built around 1270 and 1280 by the Comyn Clan who were a very influential family in Scotland around this time. They were also best pals with King John Balliol which didn’t please Robert the Bruce, who really wanted to be King of Scotland at the time (he did eventually become king in 1306). The Comyn Clan lived here very happily until Robert the Bruce became king and had his heart on destroying the clan. Robert the Bruce’ army stripped the place bear and also murdered the clan leader, John Comyn.
The history of the castle is one of terror and unhappiness in the region. The term I would use is chaotic. There was a Battle of Inverlochy in 1431 when the clansmen of Alexander MacDonald defeated the army of King James the First who had a much bigger army. Then in 1505 King James IV of Scotland gifted the castle to Alexander Gordon who was the Third Earl of Huntly, however he was instructed by King James IV to repair the castle for use as a royal garrison as a condition. Then in 1645 more chaos followed with the Battle of Inverlochy which was one of the battle grounds in the Scottish Civil War at the time. Peace eventually came and Queen Victoria even made a visit in the 1870s. However it was short and sweet. It is actually quite funny. The owner of the castle during this period was Mr William Scarlett who had spent weeks trying to make the castle look nice by repairing the stonework and adding battlements. Queen Victoria came and then promptly departed as she claimed there was little left to see of the castle.
Olga and I enjoyed our visit to Inverlochy Castle. Despite it lying in ruins, it is well preserved and the backdrop of the scenery is beautiful. I love the view looking out towards Ben Nevis. It is worth stopping off here.
More information about opening times, directions and over useful bits and bobs on Inverlochy Castle can be found by Historic Scotland.
Essential information on Inverlochy Castle
How to get to Inverlochy: By plane, the nearest international airports are Glasgow and Edinburgh. There are great connections from both airports to the city centre by public transport to connect to rail services to get around the rest of the country. The first place I would go to find airline tickets to the city is using (I would recommend) Skyscanner to find flights as that is my first point of call. Then if necessary use the airlines directly to find a good deal. I sometimes use Momondo as well to compare prices before booking.
By train, from Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverly, it takes about three hours and thirty minutes to four hours and only a few a day run. Check www.scotrail.co.uk for rail times and ticket prices.
By car, coming the Glasgow direction, take the M8 westbound all the way to Junction 30 and take M898 (a short motorway) to the end, and then head West on the A82 (signposted - Crianlarich). Follow the A82 for quite some time (passing through Crianlarich, Glencoe and Fort William). Go through the town of Inverlochy and before the ESSO garage on the right, there is a left turn with a brown signpost stating ‘Old Inverlochy castle’. This is the most straightforward route from Glasgow to Inverlochy and takes about two and a half hours. If coming from Edinburgh, take the A9 passing Perth and then take the A889 which goes through Dalwhinne and then at the T-Junction, turn left (signposted Fort William). Head into Inverlochy and turn right (once passing the Esso garage and before the roundabout) to the road with a brown signpost stating ‘Old Inverlochy castle’.
Car Rentals - as I do a lot of road trips around the world, I use Rentalcars.com which is very reliable for booking car hire in advance. I also use Turo (the airbnb of car rentals) and never had a problem with them. The cars are insured, owners vetted and never had an issue.
Accommodation: There are a lot of accommodation options and a lot of websites which can do some great deals. My first point of call is always Booking.com and can offer a range of hostels, hotels, campsites, apartments, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts.. After that I always have a look through AirBnb and Vrbo for great deals on apartments and other lodgings especially when traveling as a family.
Currency: Scotland uses the British Pound Sterling currency and also has their own bank notes from the Bank of Scotland which is also legal tender anywhere else in the United Kingdom. Currency can be exchanged at the airports and train stations (for a huge fee) so I would recommend either going to a currency exchange place downtown, to a bank (if they have good rates) or if you got a good bank account with fantastic exchange rates, then use an ATM machine (may incur a small fee but I always do this option as I got good bank accounts). A great website I use to compare currency exchange rates is XE, which gives people up to date information.
Language: Scotland uses English but they also have their own language in the highlands and western isles (mainly) called Gaelic. Although speakers of the Scottish language were persecuted over the centuries, Gaelic is still spoken today by around 60,000 Scots. Endowed with a rich heritage of music, folklore and cultural ecology, Gaelic in Scotland is thriving and enjoying a revival!
Travel insurance: This is essential to anywhere you go in the world. I always carry travel insurance. Having travel insurance will cover you from theft, illness and those annoying cancellations which can happen on the road. Safety Wing offers coverage for a lot of adventure activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and so forth.
Need a visa for the UK? Always check if you need a visa when coming to the United
Kingdom. Since leaving the European Union because of BrExit in January 2020, visa rules apply for those coming from the European Union
.
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