Loch Lomond and the Lakes District – Scotland

DAY 5 – Mountains and glens greeted us as we drove through dramatic Glencoe. On the “bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond” we boarded a guided cruise on one of Scotland’s most beautiful lochs.  Most people will have heard of this sad ballad, composed by a local Jacobite soldier who was dying far from home.  In the ballad he laments that although he will be returning home before his compatriots, who will travel on the high road, he on the other hand will be doing so on the low road (of death).

Loch Lomond is Britain’s largest freshwater lake.  The Loch is 24 miles long and five miles wide and at its deepest point is some 600 feet deep.  On the Loch there are approximately 38 Islands, some of them inhabited and there is even a hotel on one of them, the Inchmurrin.  It may be beautiful, but it was rather cold as well, as you can see from these photos.

Loch Lomond must be the world’s most famous Loch and much has been written about it, both in song and verse. The area is renowned for its beauty and tranquility and on a clear day offers picture postcard views around every corner.

The Loch is crossed by the Highland Boundary Fault and exhibits the physical characteristics of both Highland and Lowland Scotland. Some 200 species of birds and over 25 percent of Britain’s wild plants have been recorded in the area.

Helen