Eight Days in Scotland - Day 6 Mallaig to Stirling

Nearing the end of our week, it was time to turn around from our pretty much northward route and head back southeast toward Edinburgh.  Our goal was Stirling, 150 miles away.

About an hour east from Arisaig, we stopped at Old Inverlochy Castle, in Fort William, a really old castle from 1200 and there's not much left.  New Inverlochy Castle is a pretty fancy looking castle hotel.

The terrain changes dramatically in Fort William and the clouds parted and we had some great views of the mountains to the east.  The drive from Fort William to Glencoe is along Loch Linnhe and then turns inland to Glencoe.

In Glencoe, there's a little lake, Glencoe Lochan where we stopped for a short hike with some great views.

From Glencoe, the views got quite dramatic with waterfalls and mountains on all sides.  

Finally we descended out of the mountains along Loch Lomond and east into Stirling.  We arrived at the very conveniently located Stirling SYH with free parking right in front.  And shortly headed up the hill to Stirling Castle.  We were fortunate to catch the last tour of the day.

The tour was great and highlighted some things I might not have noticed, like the cannonball holes in the walls, the kitchens and the carved heads on the ceiling.  It wasn't too long and then we had a chance to explore a bit more.

And then dinnertime!  We were very excited to have some new options and Maharaja hit the spot after a week of fish and chips.