From Edinburgh we travel north-west, passing the imposing Stirling Castle, before making a coffee stop stopping at Kilmahog (where we can visit Hamish the Highland cow). We travel on through Rob Roy country of Clans MacGregor and Campbell, then over the desolate landscape of Rannoch Moor and the Black Mount to Glencoe, one of Scotland's most famous glens, site of the 1692 massacre of the Clan MacDonald.

Continuing via Loch Linnhe, we stop in the Fort William area for lunch, then continue into the natural beauty of the Great Glen as we pass beneath Britain"s highest mountain, Ben Nevis. Travelling on, we can admire the Caledonian Canal, the pretty village of Fort Augustus, and enjoy spectacular views of Loch Ness as we drive along the 24-mile shoreline to Urquhart Castle.

Loch Ness is 24 miles long and over 700 feet deep but is of course better-known for its sightings of the Loch Ness monster, affectionately called 'Nessie'. Spend approximately 2 hours at Loch Ness, where you can choose to take a wonderful 5 Star Jacobite cruise and explore the ruins of Urquhart Castle and its modern visitor centre.

At Inverness, capital of the Highlands, we start our return for home, crossing the Grampian Mountains and the woodland scenery of Perthshire, including the Forest of Atholl, with an evening stop at the Victorian resort town of Pitlochry en route back to Edinburgh.