Last Day — Fort Augustus & Glen Etive

The last day of our Scotland road trip started in Fort Augustus. It is a very small town that feels very touristy, mostly because it is located on Loch Ness and has Caledonian Canal going through it.

We did not want to stay for long, but we had to linger a little when we saw that a small boat was about to go through Caledonian Canal’s locks. It turned out to be mostly a manual procedure. The owners of the boat had to wear harnesses and drag the boat along the canal.

We did not have a lot of time that day because we had to return to “civilization,” i.e. get closer to Glasgow. However, we just had to see one last place in Glencoe: Glen Etive.

The reason for visiting was, of course, to see the place where the Skyfall was filmed :), but it turned out that Glen Etive was amazing by itself. Even though the road through the glen is only 12 miles long, it took us more than an hour one way.

We knew the exact location of the Skyfall scene, thanks to OpenStreet maps (I believe Google maps now also shows the correct location). Most people, though, were stopping at wrong locations, which we really liked because there was no one at the right spot.

However, we were not alone for long. Another couple came and started to look around. They quickly figured out that that was the right place. Because, duh, they had a picture with the Skyfall scene on their phone. They were even more excited to see someone else there so that someone (us) could take their picture that would look the same as in the movie. They even rented a white car just for that purpose. After I took a picture of them, they offered to take one of us… and here it is.

The rest of the road through Glen Etive is just as beautiful and enjoyable. I wish I could visit this place again, during a different season, like the autumn.

Close to the end of the road, we saw some farm animals: horses and chicken. I tried to take a good picture of a horse, but it would not cooperate. A rooster, on the other hand, was parading in front of us fearlessly.

The road ends at Loch Etive. Apparently, it is a popular spot among the locals, as we saw several large parties and families having picnics on the shores of the loch.

This is where our journey through Scotland ended. We drove back south and stayed a night at Balloch village on Loch Lomond. Then a short drive to the Glasgow airport the following morning, and we were flying back to the world of driving on the right.