Visiting Scotland’s Mysterious Loch Ness

In the Scottish Highlands, there's a loch that's become famous all over the world because people believe a monster lives in it. He's actually had a sighting of the Loch Ness monster. Loch Ness stretches for 23 miles and it's over 200 meters deep. The water is so dark you can barely see beneath the surface. I'm going to be travelling all the way around Scotland's most mysterious loch to see what's really hiding here. I'm starting my journey to Loch Ness at another nearby loch. This one is called Loch Lochie and the reason I stopped here is because the name is quite funny and interesting. You might be wondering, what is this word loch? Why do we use this in Scotland instead of saying lake? Well, this is actually a Scottish Gaelic word. Scottish Gaelic is one of the traditional languages from Scotland and this word loch has stuck for describing a body of water or a lake. If you use the word lake in Scotland, be careful. There are lots of things to see around Loch Ness so let's get going. Loch Lochie is around 70 meters deep, making it the third deepest loch in Scotland. It's also part of the Caledonian Canal which connects Scotland's east and west coasts and it's even said to have its own monster called Lizzie. I have made it here to the town of Fort Augustus and this is where the Caledonian Canal, which you can see behind me here, it narrows and then joins onto Loch Ness. Loch Ness is basically between Inverness and Fort William and I started my drive today from the Fort William side of Scotland. So as I was driving, I actually passed quite a few of the lochs that are included in the Caledonian Canal. So only around a third of the Caledonian Canal is man-made, the rest of it is made up of natural lochs. The Caledonian Canal stretches for around 60 miles across Scotland, linking the North Sea in the east with the Atlantic on the west coast. It cuts right through the Scottish Highlands along the Great Glen, the natural geographical fault line that runs from Inverness down to Fort William. It was designed by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford and opened in 1822, but at the time it was seen as a commercial failure as it was completed behind schedule, way over budget and quickly rendered obsolete by advancements in ship size and the rise of steam-powered vessels. However, it did serve as a successful government-funded job creation scheme during the Highland Clearances. Over there, there's actually the Caledonian Canal Centre, which shares more information about the canal, so I'm going to head in there. The Caledonian Canal Centre has a small exhibition all about the history and engineering of the canal, plus a cafe and lots of Loch Ness Monster souvenirs in the gift shop. Here in the main street of Fort Augustus, the canal actually runs through the town. This bridge goes up when the canal is in operation. So interesting. You can also do boat trips from here, which take you out onto Loch Ness. Fort Augustus was built by the British government after the 1715 Jacobite Rising, when supporters of the Stuart family tried to take back the throne. The government wanted more control over the highlands, so they built a chain of forts, including Fort William and Fort George. This building is the Fort Augustus Abbey, which was originally built as a military fort. The abbey behind me is now used as apartments and accommodation. I have walked about 10 minutes from the town of Fort Augustus past the abbey, and I've now made it to the banks of Loch Ness. And the weather today is quite windy, and the loch is pretty choppy. It almost looks like the sea, actually. It is huge. Loch Ness reaches depths of around 230 metres, making it the second deepest loch in Scotland, after Loch Morar. And it contains more fresh water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined. I've really enjoyed my time here in Fort Augustus, especially learning more about the Caledonian Canal. I find canal systems really interesting, and in Scotland there's not actually that many canals compared to in England and Wales. Last year I actually did a canal boat trip on the Union Canal, which goes between Falkirk and Edinburgh, and it was really fun. But it's nice to see another canal here in Scotland, especially as this one goes through natural lochs. I'm going to start my trip around Loch Ness on the south side of the loch. It's the quieter side of Loch Ness. I started my drive along General Wade's Military Road, a narrow single track road that winds its way along the south side of the loch. It was built in the 1700s to help government troops move more easily through the highlands, and respond quickly to any Jacobite uprisings. Before I carry on, I'd like to talk about something which makes international travel much less stressful, and that is using an airlow eSIM. I wonder if any of you can relate to this. For me, it's not really the packing or the actual travel that I worry about when travelling. It's more about landing somewhere unfamiliar and not really knowing anything at the destination. As soon as I arrive somewhere, it is so good to have access to maps, transport booking apps, translation apps, and also being able to message people to let them know that you've arrived safely. If you're connected straight away, everything just feels so much calmer. I used to buy physical SIM cards whenever I travelled to a new country, and it was always quite annoying having to swap out the SIM card, and also wait in lines at the airport. Since switching to an eSIM, I wouldn't go back. I use airlow, and it's an app that you download a digital eSIM before you travel. You don't need to swap out any physical SIM cards, and you don't need to rely on dodgy Wi-Fi. What I really like about it is how simple it is. You just download the app, choose the country or region that you're travelling to, and install it in a few minutes just before you leave. You then land, turn it on, and you're connected straight away. It works in over 200 countries and regions, including here in Scotland. If you're travelling here to Scotland or anywhere overseas, I highly recommend using airlow eSIM. If you use my code RUTH3, you can get $3 off. You can also scan the QR code on the screen, and I will link it in the video description below. Thank you to airlow for sponsoring this video. Around 10 minutes from Fort Augustus is this small loch called Loch Tarth. Scotland actually has around 30,000 freshwater lochs, and the drive up to this point has been so scenic. Around this loch, red deer are often spotted, so I'll keep an eye out for some deer. I've just pulled up at a viewpoint, and this is meant to be one of the most spectacular viewpoints in the entire area. You park just over there, and it's around a 10-minute walk to the top of a hill. Let's go and see what the view is like. I was just heading up to the viewpoint, and I came across these deer. Look at this! Wow, there's actually so many deer. Hello! Suie viewpoint is about 366 meters above sea level, and you get panoramic views from the top. The views from up here in every single direction are magnificent. You can see so many lochs, hills, there's snow on the hills. Wow, so beautiful. The hike to get up here is very exposed with the wind. So cold, but it's definitely worth it for the views, and the fact that I got to see deer as well. How amazing. I think I've been quite guilty of writing off places that are main tourist attractions in Scotland, and Loch Ness definitely is one of those areas. But these places are popular for a reason, because they are beautiful, and obviously Loch Ness has the story of the monster, which we will find out about later on. I have now pulled up at a spot called the Falls of Foyer, and this is meant to be a really beautiful waterfall, and it's said to have inspired Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, to write a poem. I'm just putting on some different shoes that are a bit more grippy, because there is a bit of a hike down to the waterfall. Here's the start of the walk, and then up here is the Foyer's store. They have ice cream, but too cold for ice cream today. I have just arrived at the upper viewpoint of the waterfall. Oh my gosh, that is incredible. Robert Burns wrote lines on the Fall of Foyers after visiting here in 1787. The waterfall drops around 46 metres into the gorge below, which then winds its way through the trees before eventually flowing out into Loch Ness. This is a good place to see them from if you don't want to do too much of a walk, but I think I'll go down to the bottom so I can see the full force of the waterfall from down there. I think this is the final viewpoint. The path ends here. It's a good job this railing is here, because you could just fall off the edge of this rock here. It's such a drop. The name of this waterfall in Scottish Gaelic is the Smoking Waterfall. I wonder if it's because of all that spray hitting the water at the bottom that it looks like smoke, perhaps. This might be one of the most impressive waterfalls that I've seen in the whole of Scotland. So to get down there to the bottom looks like a sheer drop, so I don't think it's possible to get down there. Quite dangerous, I think. So on my way back up I've come across this path, so maybe that goes over there and then down to the bottom of the waterfall, or perhaps all the way down to the loch. And actually I've come across these stones as well, and I think these are snippets from the poem that Robert Burns wrote. I heard it's possible to see some lovely sunsets over Loch Ness from the shore. It's just about sunset time, so I'm going to head down and have a look. I have come down to the shores of Loch Ness, and now is pretty much the sunset time, and there's some great views from here of the snowy mountain, the orange sky. When I've been looking out at the loch, I keep imagining seeing something. I don't know, I think because I know the rumour about the monster, I see a wave or something and it looks like a black monster. Imagine it just leapt out of the water and ate me. Perhaps you've heard of the Loch Ness monster before, or perhaps you haven't. The legend of the Loch Ness monster is often traced back to 565 AD, when Saint Columba, an Irish monk, was said to have encountered a water beast in the River Ness. The modern wave of sightings began in 1933, after a new road along the loch made the water much more visible to passing motorists. And in 1934, the famous Sturgeon's photograph appeared, but it was later proven to be a hoax involving a small model. Since records began, there have been over 1,100 reported sightings logged on the official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register. Over the years, people have suggested it could be a prehistoric sea creature, a very large eel, a giant fish, or simply natural things like floating debris, boat wakes or unusual wave patterns on the loch. Extensive sonar searches and a major environmental DNA study found no evidence of a large unknown reptile or prehistoric animal living in the loch, although the DNA results did show a significant amount of eel DNA. While there's no scientific proof that Nessie exists, the depth of the loch and its dark, peaty water continue to fuel the mystery. Good morning, so last night I stayed at this campervan air and woke up to all of this snow. It was minus three degrees Celsius overnight and I heard it raining, but obviously it turned into snow. Wow, this is so beautiful. I need to get out of here and I need to go down this hill. Yikes, it looks quite steep. Hopefully it'll be OK. I luckily made it down the snowy slope without any problems and headed to Doors, a village on the north side of Loch Ness. I have made it to the very end of Loch Ness. Wow, you can really see the size and the scale of it from here. It's really lovely to see the beach with all the snow as well. It looks so beautiful in the winter. Just along there, there's actually the spot where the Nessie hunter is, but he's not there at the moment during the winter, but there's a plaque that explains more about him. The Nessie hunter is Steve Feltham, who's been watching Loch Ness since 1991 in search of the monster. He lives on the shores of the loch and holds a Guinness World Record for the longest continuous vigil for Nessie. Over the years, he has said he no longer believes it's a prehistoric creature, but thinks if anything is there, it could be a large eel. As I made my way to the north side of Loch Ness, I passed by the outskirts of Inverness. I have made it to the north side of Loch Ness now and the road on this side is much busier. I've actually booked a boat trip to go out on the loch and find out more about the Loch Ness monster. Let's go. This hotel here is called the Loch Ness Clansman Hotel. At this point, there is the harbour where you can get on the cruise. Oh my gosh, look at all the Nessies in the window there. Wow. And then there's this big statue as well of the Loch Ness monster. My goodness. Let's go. I'm quite excited for this actually. It doesn't seem very busy. There's the boat over there peeking out. Oh wow, there's actually quite a lot of people waiting to get on. There were quite a few different boat trips that you could book on. Some were 50 minutes, which is the one that I booked, and some are up to two hours or longer. And there's also ones that leave from Inverness, so they pick you up by bus and then bring you down to the harbour. This must be the boat we're getting on here. I booked a cruise called Inspiration with Jacobite Cruises, which cost £22.26. Welcome aboard. Thank you. We are already cruising along Loch Ness. The boat goes so quickly, so I think we're going to head out into the loch and then go and have a look at the castle, which is on the shores of the loch. As we were cruising along, I was keeping an eye out for the monster. The loch water is so dark, it feels like you can barely see beneath it. I can't hear much of the commentary outside, so I'm going to head inside. 37 kilometres. In fact, it's so long that you can't see the end of the loch. We're heading past the castle. What fantastic views from the loch. We made it to Urquhart Castle. It overlooks the narrowest part of Loch Ness, which made it strategically important. Now we're heading back up the loch to the starting point. It's such a wonderful day to go on a boat trip here on Loch Ness, and the commentary was really interesting. The man who was speaking said he's actually had a sighting of the Loch Ness monster. That is crazy. I really wonder if it's true. What do you think? I wasn't sure that the boat trip would be worthwhile, but I really enjoyed it. It was such a lovely day to do the boat trip, and I spoke a little bit more to the man who was doing the commentary about his sighting of the Loch Ness monster, and he said prior to this sighting he didn't really believe in it, but he said he saw something come out of the water, a greyish black colour, and there was someone else on the boat that also saw it. They saw a tail at the same time, so it wasn't a figment of his imagination, but yeah, I think it's hard to believe in it unless you actually see something. I'm going to continue on exploring the north side of the Loch. I have made it along to the next village, and inside this beautiful old building is the Loch Ness Centre, where you can learn more about the Loch Ness monster, and around here I spotted another Loch Ness monster. Wow. I've actually driven past this place before, and it's always really, really busy, but I've never been in. Explore real stories about the monster. Wow, interesting. Look, there's some history about it as well. So the old manageress reported seeing a whale-like or water beast in the Loch. That was in 1933. The Loch Ness experience looks really good, but it's £18, and I don't have much time left today before it gets dark, and I want to go to the castle before the last entry. It takes 45 minutes to do that, and it does look really good if you are interested to find out more about the Loch Ness monster. Drumnadrocht is also home to Scotland's smallest craft distillery and Nessieland, a family-friendly Nessie attraction. I have parked up, and I'm heading inside the castle. So this is Scotland's third most visited castle after Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle, and it gets around half a million visitors every single year. Let's see the price for going inside. It's £16 to go in without a donation. There's the Japanese for welcome. This is Urquhart Castle, and the site here is said to date back as far as the 6th century, but most of the stone ruins you see here today were built between the 13th and 16th centuries. If you book your tickets online before you come, you get them for £2 cheaper. They're £14 online, £16 if you turn up, but then obviously you're locked into the time that you need to come to the castle. The castle played a major role during the Scottish Wars of Independence, changing hands several times between Scottish and English forces, and later became caught up in the Jacobite unrest. In 1692, government troops partially blew it up to stop it being used by Jacobite supporters, and it was never rebuilt after that. The castle once had a huge gatehouse with a drawbridge and defensive ditch, along with a great hall, kitchens, prison cell and even a chapel. Grant Tower is the best preserved section today, and if you climb to the top, you can see panoramic views right across Loch Ness. Now I'm inside the Grant Tower. Let's go up to the very top. So this is the staircase to the top of the tower. Well, so these are the views from the very top of the tower here. You get some great views from up here, but it's very busy, especially for winter as well. Can't even imagine what it must be like in the summer here. At its height, it was one of the largest castles in Scotland by area. I think this castle gets all the visitors because it's at Loch Ness, and a lot of people come and visit Loch Ness, but honestly, there's so many other amazing castles in Scotland that you can see actually much more of. This one is in quite a ruined state. There's not many rooms or places that you can actually visit. Stirling Castle for me is still, I think, my number one castle in Scotland. If you want to visit this castle without the crowds, I definitely recommend to come towards the end of the day. When I arrived, there were still quite a lot of people here, but now there's already been the last entry time. It's really starting to quieten down and you have a lot of the places to yourself. There is one final place I want to visit in the Loch Ness area, and I might have saved the best for last. I have made it down to the waterfalls in the village of Invermoriston, and this is the final place I wanted to come. It is so peaceful here. They're like river rapids. Oh, there's this little summer house beside the river. Oh, cute! The Invermoriston Falls flow into Loch Ness. Right next to the falls are two bridges. The old bridge was built in 1813 by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford. So the old bridge is just there, and then this here is the new bridge, and vehicles currently go across this bridge here. The old bridge was built as part of Telford's wider programme of highlands, roads and bridges, designed to improve transport and government control after the Jacobite uprisings. I've had such a good time these last few days exploring the Loch Ness area, and I've actually enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. As a Scottish person, I've always thought the whole Loch Ness monster story was a load of rubbish. But after spending time here, seeing how deep and dark the water is, and learning more about the history and number of sightings, I'm not quite as sceptical as I once was. Thank you again to Airlo for sponsoring this video. If you're planning a trip abroad, definitely check them out. Thank you so much for watching, and I will see you next time.