14 miles south west of Inverness, Urquhart Castle sits on the northern banks of Loch Ness by a small village called Drumnadrochit. The name Drumnadrochit (a place name somehow rather pleasing to say) derives from the Scottish Gaelic ‘druim na drochaid’, meaning the 'Ridge of the Bridge’.
There is evidence to suggest a Pictish fort once sat here and that Saint Columba visited the area in 597 AD although the first documentation of a castle on the site is the years following 1230 AD, when Alexander II crushed a revolt in Moray, to the north, and decided to defend this strategic route through the highlands.
Another of the draws to the area, besides this majestic ruin is the mysterious creature of the loch. Nessie. The position of Urquhart Castle is ideally situated to allow visitors to see for miles down the loch each way, making it an idea spot to do some Nessie watching.
