Things to do

For guests taking a holiday in Horseshoe Cottage, there is plenty to do around Inverness.

If you are planning a holiday in the Highlands of Scotland, you are probably already aware of the range of activities, the variety of landscapes and the diverse places to visit. So many that deciding which to leave until your next visit is somewhat of a dilemma.

Fishing or mountain biking? Golf or water sports? Pony trekking or wildlife watching? Historic castles or mountains? The choice is endless.

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Cawdor Castle, or Fort George (visible from Horseshoe Cottage), Brodie Castle (some shopping here as well?) or Culloden Battlefield, Urquhart Castle or Castle Stuart. Maybe you can squeeze two visits in to-day.

What about tomorrow? A tour or even a cruise around Loch Ness, calling in at Drumnadrochit, and its monster exhibition, Fort Augustus and the Caledonian Canal, the hundred foot water fall at Foyers and the loch side village at Dores. Or, maybe a trip to the West Coast and some picturesque villages like Plockton and Ullapool, Inverewe Gardens or even over the sea to Skye.

You probably wanted to conquer a couple of mountains – Ben Wyvis, the nearest (3432ft), Ben Nevis, the highest (4408ft),or Aonach Mor, the easiest in a gondola (2150ft) – and taste a couple of distilleries – Glen Ord and Tomartin are both within a half hour drive.

Remember, you want to see some wildlife. Definitively must go to Chanonry Point (seen from Horseshoe Cottage) on the Black Isle to watch the Bottlenosed Dolphins. At the same time you can call in at the Black Isle Wildlife Park, to see a variety of animals. As you reach the Tore Roundabout look up and you could catch a glimpse of a Red Kite soaring over the fields. You also surely have to make time for a drive to Grantown-on-Spey, where the Ospreys are nesting or to Glen Affric for a picnic in the largest surviving native pinewoods in the U.K.

But then, just a few miles from the cottage is the R.S.P.B. site at Loch Ruthven, where you can see the rare Slovenian Grebe, or you could just sit outside the cottage and watch the deer grazing, the swallows showing off and the buzzards keeping an eye on everything.

And of course, Horseshoe Cottage is a perfect base for exploring Inverness, capital city of the Highlands. Fine restaurants, an excellent theatre and good shopping are just some ways to spend your time.

So much to do!

Haste ye back.