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 Village Green |
Drumnadrochit lies at the head of Urquhart Bay on Loch Ness and is the focal point for interest in the Loch Ness Monster: but don't let that put you off. It can seem a little crowded and commercialised as you drive through, but scratch the surface and you'll find yourself pleasantly surprised by an unexpectedly attractive village.
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Turning to Nessie first, this is a creature which may or may not actually exist. Either way it has been exercising a fascination since a report appeared in the Inverness Courier on 4 August 1933 of a sighting of "the nearest approach to a dragon or pre-historic animal that I have ever seen in my life" by George Spice, a visitor from London. Other sightings were quickly reported and the cult of the Loch Ness Monster quickly took off. It has since been suggested that the first reference to it in print was in a story written about St Columba in the 700s. Whether Nessie exists or not is open to debate, but if it does, it is reputed to have a near relative, Morag, who is said to live in Loch Morar.
 Post Office & Shop |
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 Tourist Information Centre |
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 The Nessie Shop |
Overlooking the main junction in the centre of Drumnadrochit is the Original Loch Ness Monster Centre, which also offers monster-spotting cruises on Loch Ness. A couple of hundred yards in the Inverness direction along the A82 is what is now called the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre. This used to be called the Official Loch Ness Monster Exhibition, but presumably Nessie objected.
The Loch Ness Exhibition Centre is housed in the imposing baronial stone building that used to form the main part of the Drumnadrochit Hotel. The hotel is now housed in the attractive modern extension built in 1986. Proceeding through the gap between the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre and the hotel brings you to the Nessie Shop and the Whisky Shop. Again, what you might expect to be highly commercialised development turns out to be pleasant conversions of older buildings.
If you travel the short distance along the main road past the junction with the A831 from Cannich you come to the unexpectedly attractive centre of Drumnadrochit.
At the heart of Drumnadrochit is a village green, complete with a stunning model in miniature hedges and plants of nearby Urquhart Castle. Surrounding it is a collection of largely white-harled cottages, cafes, plus an attractive village shop and post office on the far side of the main road. On the east side of the green is the Drum Farm gift shop and tea room: with a working farm behind it.
To the south of the green is the village's main car park, complete with the Tourist Information Office, open all year. Further south still, Drumnadrochit becomes Lewiston, a planned village created in 1769. Not far beyond Lewiston you should watch out for the turning for the car park for Urquhart Castle.
2002 saw the launch of Great Glen Way, the 73 mile long distance path from Fort William to Inverness. This passes through Drumnadrochit and has started to bring to the village a steady stream of footweary travellers in search of food and accommodation.
