United Kingdom
River Coe

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    • Day 113

      Glencoe Scotland

      August 29, 2022 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      No visit to this country is complete without driving through the beautiful Glencoe Valley which offers some of the best views and mountains in Scotland. We spent a few days here walking through town and doing a day hike up the Glencoe Pap.

      The hike was quite difficult. Most of the hike was covered in loose rocks, but we got some great pictures of the valley, Glencoe, and Loch Leven below.

      Glencoe also has some troubled history. In 1692, Glencoe was the site of the Clan MacDonald Massacre by order of the English King. The worst part was that the massacre was a misunderstanding. The leader of the clan was doing as requested and swearing loyalty to the English King, but the local official who was supposed to accept the pledge was away. So the pledge was not made until after the deadline given, leading to the massacre.
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    • Day 14

      I'm a Lady!

      September 22, 2022 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

      I’m a Lady, doing Lady-Things (wer das nicht kennt, sollte unbedingt mal Little Britain schauen).

      Gestern war es soweit! Endlich konnte MJ auf „ihrem“ Stück Land stehen. Ja, MJ besitzt Land in den Schottischen Highlands. Stef hat ihr das nämlich zu Weihnachten geschenkt, inklusive offiziellem Titel: „Lady of Glencoe and Kilnaich“. Keine Angst, wir werden jetzt nicht nach Schottland auswandern. Es handelt sich hier um eine symbolisches Parzelle von ca. einem Quadratmeter in einem Naturreservat. 

      Nach dem 2. Weltkrieg hatte Grossbritannien ihre Wälder bis auf 5% des Originalbestandes heruntergeholzt. Eine Katastrophe, für Flora und Fauna. Es gab dann zwar Projekte (man hat Leuten Geld in die Hand gedrückt, damit sie Bäume pflanzen), welche jedoch ein Schuss nach hinten waren. Es wurden massenweise die falschen Bäume gepflanzt. Vor 15 Jahren hatte dann schliesslich einen junge Frau eine Idee: sie würde ihr Land (sie, respektive ihr Vater, hat viel davon), parzellenweise „verkaufen“. Mit dem Geld würden dann die „richtigen“ Bäume gepflanzt. Natürlich wurde sie belächelt und für verrückt erklärt. Sie machte es trotzdem: auf Ebay verkauften sich die ersten Parzellen wie warme Semmel. Heute kommen bis zu 10’000 Leute pro Jahr vorbei, um „ihr“ Land zu besuchen. Das Ganze ist inzwischen ein wunderschönes Naturreservat, inklusive Igel-Spital und grösstem Insektenhotel der Welt. Was uns am meisten beeindruckte: trotz des Erfolgs findet man kein schickes Visitor-Center, sondern nur eine kleine Baracke. Alle „Angestellten“ machen das auf Freiwilligenbasis. Das heisst, alles Geld fliesst wirklich ins Naturreservat!

      Wir trafen in der Baracke Stewart, ein älterer Herr welcher schon seit über 10 Jahren dort arbeitet. Er zeigte uns wo MJ’s Parzelle ist, wie wir dort hinkommen und versorgte und mit allen wichtigen historischen Fakten (siehe Text oben). Wir haben uns super verstanden mit ihm. Er war nur enttäuscht, dass wir ihm keine weisse (?!) Toblerone mitbrachten. Es bleibt uns also nichts anderes übrig, als eines Tages zurückzukehren
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    • Day 96

      101ème étape ~ Glencoe

      November 6, 2022 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

      Quels paysages époustouflants !
      Les trajets en Écosse nous émerveillent, nous vous laissons admirer les photos.
      Nous avons découvert la vallée de Glencoe dans les Highlands où nous avons vu les fameuses vaches écossaises : les highlands.
      Nous avons fait une petite balade de 1h, autour du lac de Glencoe, environ 4km.
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    • Day 23

      Glen Coe, Three Sisters

      August 28, 2023 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

      Glen Coe is a glen of volcanic origins, in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies in the north of the county of Argyll, close to the border with the historic province of Lochaber, within the modern council area of Highland.

      Glencoe Three Sisters. The road-facing peaks of Aonach Dubh, Beinn Fhada and Gearr Aonach are the mountains that are together known as the Three Sisters of Glencoe, also known as Bidean Nam Bian.
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    • Day 7

      Tag 7 Crarae Woodland Garden/ Glencloe

      May 15, 2022 in Scotland ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      Heute haben wir den Crarae Woodland Garden besucht, leider bei strömendem Regen. Hier werden seit 1912 Pflanzen vorwiegend aus dem Himalaya gepflanzt. Es führen verwunschene Wege durch diesen Park.
      Mit Jacke stört der Regen wenig.
      Danach ging es direkt in die Highlands mit dem Übernachtungsziel Glencoe.
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    • Day 5

      Glencoe

      September 18, 2019 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

      Zu beiden Seiten ragen hohe, schroffe Berge vor uns auf. Die einsame Straße windet sich durch das einzigartige Panorama des Glencoe Tals. Wildblumengetupfte Weiden und Wolken die so tief hängen, dass man das Gefühl hat man kann die Hand danach ausstrecken und sie berühren. Viel Einsamkeit, eine Stille in der man sich verlieren kann und die das Herz auf besondere Weise berührt. Das ist der Augenblick, in dem du weißt, dass du wahre Schönheit gefunden hast.Read more

    • Day 14

      Glencoe

      July 30, 2018 in Scotland ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

      Vandaag een tussendag met weinig bijzonderheden op de planning. Opgestaan met regen en het was fris (10 graden). Via een omweg (Loch Ness, Ben Nevis en de LIDL in Fort William) zijn we net aangekomen op een mooi plekje aan Loch Leven. Morgen hopen we een mooie wandeling te gaan maken als t weer meewerkt.Read more

    • Day 14

      3e testje: verdubbelingssnelheid

      July 30, 2018 in Scotland ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

      Het antwoord op de vraag over productiesnelheid was 5 minuten. Hierbij de laatste testvraag:

      In een vijver drijft een eilandje van waterlelies. Elke dag wordt dit eilandje twee keer zo groot. Als het 48 dagen duurt voordat de hele vijver met waterlelies wordt bedekt, hoe lang zou het dan duren voordat de halve vijver wordt bedekt? 24 dagen of 47 dagen?Read more

    • Day 6

      Bus to Glencoe and Inverness

      April 20, 2018 in Scotland ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

      We dragged our suitcases from the b&b to the train station where we could store the luggage. We walked at a good pace and the noise of our approaching wheels clattering over the cobblestones struck fear into the older and slower Scotsman we passed. All to no avail as we sit on a broken bus that has an intended destination of Glencoe. We were early for the bus, it was late, now it is getting a few squirts of WD40 so the door will open.

      We get to Glencoe and it is a pretty village with lots of character. We find a hiking trail and start out still dry, but rain threatens. Unfortunately (fortunately) we have no time for shopping because our bus was late. Only a bit of rain for our hike, and the ride back to Fort William is on time. We eat lunch and catch another bus for Inverness.

      There is no train to Inverness that doesn’t go back to Glasgow. That would be about a 10 hour day, so the 2 hour bus ride makes sense. It is raining hard as I write this, the road is narrow and lots of traffic. It seems we are up in the clouds, however Inverness has a sunny forecast so things should get better for our arrival.

      As Tom snoozed part of the way he missed the stunning scenery around him. As we got closer to Inverness everything was green and lush and the sun came out.
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    • Good bye to Skye

      July 8, 2019 in Scotland ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

      I had to leave Skye today and start heading home. These next 4 nights all involve my trip home. I guess that is what happens when you travel to remote places. That said I still had one more adventure on Skye. I decided that I still wanted to do the hike that I had missed yesterday. Round trip it was about 2.5 hours and it was only moderately difficult. It was called the Camasunary Bay hike and afforded a wonderful view of the Cuellin mountains on the south of the island. The night before I had wandered around Portree which had been absolutely packed with tourists from a Viking cruise liner. The hike to Camasunary Bay could hardly be different. I was at the trail head by 7:30. No one was there. I hiked up and over a significant rise which commanded a beautiful view of the bay a farm house and a bothy. A bothy is a building sometimes maintained and sometimes not for people to stay in overnight when out wild camping. This one was supposedly maintained, kind of like an alpine but. It was at the far end of the beach and I figured I didn't have to check it out. There were some tenters on the beach but all was very quiet. I snapped a few photos and then walked back to the car.
      I had a 2.5 hour drive to Glencoe which is 30 minutes on the far side of Fort William. I guess I booked this B and B to allow me to explore the Glencoe valley. The drive was very windy and busy with traffic. When I did get there I was quite tired so I don't think I'll be exploring that much. The hike also tired me out. On the West Highland Way I also came through the valley so I had seen a fair amount of it alread,y. Perhaps returning the car to Fort William and staying there overnight would have been easier.
      The one fun thing I did on the drive down was stop at Eilean Donon, castle of the McRaes. It had been totally destroyed by the English in 1719 during the first Jacobite rebellion. The had learned that it was harbouring Spanish soldiers. Upon capturing the castle they used Spanish gunpowder found in the castle to blow it up. Fast forward 200 years and the castle was bought by a John McRae-Gilstrap who was married to the English heiress of a malting empire. They spent 250000 pounds rebuilding a better castle then filling it with antiquities that they bought to fill. It was opened to the public in the 1950s and it is the quintessential Scottish castle. It was featured in the Highlander series and was in a James Bond movie. I think there is still hope for the McLean castle. The McLean chief merely needs to marry into some English money to rebuild the castle.
      I am now at my BnB in Glencoe. I went for a walk after supper and just behind the BnB I happened upon Glencoe House, a huge mansion that had been converted into a swanky hotel. When I googled it I learned that this was the summer residence of Donald Smith also known as Lord Strathchona, founder of CP rail, last chief factor of the Hudson Bay, the person Old Strathchona is named after. The BnB was the gardeners and cook's residence. Small world.
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