12.10.2016 Doune Castle - Loch Rannoch - Blair Castle

What a great ride today! Today Morning we will visit Doune Castle first. Another medieval castle known to Outlander fans as 'Castle Leoch' and the seat of the Mackenzies. Older film fans may also know the castle from Monty Python's 'The Holy Grail'. Doune Castle is the last castle we visit with our 'Historic Scotland' Pass and as a special attraction it has a 'Outlander' tour on the audio guide, which we of course love to listen to!

After Doune Castle we head towards the Highlands. It's only the foothills so far, but the landscape is breathtaking. Huge valleys, mighty mountains, beautiful colors! Valentina takes photos from the car and still manages to take some beautiful shots.

It is only noon and I have chosen a very quaint camping site. Upon closer inspection, it turns out to be a bit TOO quaint. There is no electricity and the water needs to be boiled because it is not drinkable. Since it is still so early, we prefer to continue driving. The next camping site is full, but it is more like a huge holiday park, so it doesn't really matter to us. 6 kilometers further we find the next camping site, but it is horrible. It looks like a dump. We are glad that the ward is not there and we can look for another place right away. So another 10 kilometers through beautiful scenery. Finally, we find a beautiful camping site right next to 'Blair Castle', the seat of the Duke of Atholl.

As camping site visitors, you get a 25% discount at the castle and because we still don't have enough of castles, we decide to also quickly visit this one. Unfortunately, it is almost closing time and we still have 2 kilometers to walk. I would actually prefer to skip the castle but Valentina runs off like a berserker and the grandma follows as fast as lightning, so I have no choice but to run after them as well. I can't afford to be left behind by the grandma. After about a kilometer it turns out that it is really close, but Valentina is already almost there and so we don't give up. We get damn warm in chilly Scotland! But then a gardener takes pity on us, drives up to us with his garden vehicle, turns around and takes us with him. 'You're pushing it, Ladies' he says and in the end we actually arrive at the entrance 5 minutes before closing!

By the way, the castle is beautiful, the effort was absolutely worth it! Unfortunately, taking photos in the rooms is forbidden again, but I will see if I can find some pictures on the internet.

Tomorrow we will go to Culloden and hopefully afterwards watch dolphins!