Inverness: the gateway to the Loch Ness monster

The Inverness Castle, built in pink sandstone, dominates the River Ness from the city center with a view of the surrounding hills.

Minutes away, Loch Ness, the largest freshwater lake in Britain by volume, remains world-famous for the alleged appearances of the monster Nessie.

Continuing along the lake, you visit the ruins of Urquhart Castle, a medieval fortress destroyed in the seventeenth century to prevent use by the Jacobites.

Toward evening, the Culloden Battlefield, just outside Inverness, commemorates the last pitched battle fought on British soil in 1746.

Loch Ness, with a volume of water greater than all English and Welsh lakes combined, remains so deep and murky that, according to some, it could plausibly harbour hidden large aquatic creatures.

The Battle of Culloden in 1746, which ended Jacobite hopes of restoring the Stuarts to the British throne, remains a crucial moment in Scottish history, still commemorated at the original battlefield.