Detour #30: Glasgow to Inverness
It is all too easy for anyone that lives in the UK to look on wistfully and imagine how great it would be to spend days driving in the Alps, with early starts and long lunches, or tackling Iceland’s ring road, pausing at glaciers and volcanic beaches, or cruising Highway 1, Ray-Bans on and The King crooning on the radio.
Yet Scotland has roads and landscape that will seduce drivers just as well. Plot a course from Glasgow to Inverness and no matter what you’re driving you can’t fail to have a good time - and you don’t have the hassle or time commitment of travelling abroad.
It’s not difficult to find your way. A single road takes in many of the Highlands’ greatest hits, starting with Loch Lomond, before opening up into Bridge of Orchy then powering on to the spectacular landscapes and mountain ranges of Glencoe, Fort William and Ben Nevis - the mountain with its head in the clouds - then losing yourself in the inky, mysterious reflections of Loch Ness.
The views bring hikers and film makers alike to these parts. After Bridge of Orchy, you’re onto Rannoch Moor, which is Skyfall territory, but you may need the cunning of 007 to time your run along Loch Ness so that you avoid the traffic that comes with the high season.
A memorable trip along these parts saw me travel by Audi R8 Spyder, with the melodious 5.2-litre V10 for company. On these roads, where you can often see for miles as you charge along valley floors chasing the mountain ranges and lochs, a car like the R8 can justify every penny of its six-figure price tag.
I went in search of the UK’s wettest location, which just so happened to be Dalness, a gearchange or two off the A82 and south of Glencoe. The skies were moody, the rain swept through, but when the sun broke the clouds and the roof was down, there really wasn’t anywhere I’d rather have been.
Words James Mills Twitter | Instagram
Photography Unsplash (Matthew Feeney; Max Hermansson; Malcolm Lightbody; Carl J)
ROADBOOK
Class: Mountain ranges and valley floors
Name: Highland Roadtrip
Route: A82 Glasgow to Inverness
Country: SCOTLAND, UK
Distance: 170 miles