loch lomond

This past Sunday one my flatmates, Amy and I went on an organized tour to explore a few of Scotlands famous sights. We woke up at the way too early time of 8:30 in order to catch the bus at 9:15. What we thought was going to be a large tour turned out to be us and 3 other people from Austria. Although we ended up being thankful for the small group as it allowed us to have some say in what we got to see. We started our journey by crossing the Firth of Clyde and making our way to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. The drive was definitely something interesting. All I can say is for someone who easily gets car sick Scotland roads are not my friend (don't worry nothing actually happened - it was just terrifying and windy). Once reaching Loch Lomond it was obviously raining - typical Scotland weather getting in the way of the beautiful sights and making us quite cold due to our not-so-excellent choices of clothing. Despite the cold, Loch Lomond was gorgeous and everything I imagined Scotland to be like.

Loch Lomond

The romantic beauty of the landscape was first 'discovered' in the late 18th century. Novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott brought it to the popular eye with his thrilling poem The Lady of the Lake set in locations across the Trossachs. Scotland's first national park, designated in 2002, stretches from the Argyll Forest Park in the west across to Callander, and from Killin in the north to Balloch (where we stopped) in the south, which is only 18 miles from Glasgow.

Loch Lomond

This is a popular hiking area (which we only did a bit of), with plenty of trails and islands. I am hoping to make my way back up to Loch Lomond on a nicer day so I can hike around more of the surrounding areas. The Trossachs area to the east of Loch Lomond includes the hills of Queen elizabeth Forest Park and the peak of Ben Venue - which we were able to see as driving out of Loch Lomond. 

Cold and wet and loving Scotland

Amy and I at the start of our journey

Stay tuned for more on the rest of my trip to another loch and a couple castles! xo