Loch Ness and Historic Urquhart Castle Private Tour with English speaking driver

Beauly is a town in the Kilmorack Parish of the Scottish County of Inverness, on the River Beauly, 10 miles west of Inverness by the Far North railway line. The land around Beauly is fertile - historically corn was grown extensively and more recently fruit has successfully been farmed.

Invergordon is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland It lies in the parish of Rosskeen. A major cruise liner port on the North-East coast of Scotland. Close to the magnificent Loch Ness, and its famous monster "Nessie". Invergordon is the Gateway to the Scottish Highlands and has many tourist attractions located close by, within reach of a half or whole day shore excursion. Attractions include Urquhart Castle at Loch Ness, Culloden Battlefield, Cawdor Castle, and Dunrobin Castle. Activities include dolphin spotting, river fishing, and bird watching. Many tours take in places such as whiskey distilleries, Inverewe Gardens, Dornoch Cathedral, Fort George, Culloden Battlefield, Strathspey Steam Railway, Highland Wildlife Park, and Cairngorm National Nature Reserve, as well as shopping in the City of Inverness.

Inverness (meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a cathedral city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative center for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Historically it served as the county town of the county of Inverness-shire. Inverness lies near two important battle sites: the 11th-century battle of Blàr nam Fèinne against Norway which took place on the Aird, and the 18th century Battle of Culloden which took place on Culloden Moor. It is the northernmost city in the United Kingdom and lies within the Great Glen (Gleann Mòr) at its northeastern extremity where the River Ness enters the Moray Firth. At the latest, a settlement was established by the 6th century with the first royal charter being granted by Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim (King David I) in the 12th century. The Gaelic king Mac Bethad Mac Findláich (MacBeth) whose 11th-century killing of King Duncan was immortalized in Shakespeare's largely fictionalized play Macbeth, held a castle within the city where he ruled as Mormaer of Moray and Ross.

Urquhart Castle, a ruin, sits beside Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland. The present ruins date from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though built on the site of an early medieval fortification. Founded in the 13th century, Urquhart played a role in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century. It was subsequently held as a royal castle and was raided on several occasions by the MacDonald Earls of Ross. The castle was granted to the Clan Grant in 1509, though conflict with the MacDonalds continued. Despite a series of further raids the castle was strengthened, only to be largely abandoned by the middle of the 17th century. Urquhart was partially destroyed in 1692 to prevent its use by Jacobite forces and subsequently decayed. In the 20th century, it was placed in state care as a scheduled monument and opened to the public: it is now one of the most-visited castles in Scotland. The castle, situated on a headland overlooking Loch Ness, is one of the largest in Scotland area. It was approached from the west and defended by a ditch and drawbridge. The buildings of the castle were laid out around two main enclosures on the shore. The northern enclosure or Nether Bailey includes most of the more intact structures, including the gatehouse, and the five-story Grant Tower at the north end of the castle. The southern enclosure or Upper Bailey, sited on higher ground, comprises the scant remains of earlier buildings.