2025 has just flown by. It only feels like five minutes since the turn of the year, and yet here we are in December barrelling towards Christmas like a fairy-light bedecked freight train. And I’ve really not been feeling that Christmassy. Going full tilt at work, trying to grow this blog, keeping two working breed dogs happy and exercising a horse five times a week has left me feeling a bit burnout in the run up to Christmas. I can admit that I am not superwoman and can’t do it all, much as I may try! It had all left me feeling a bit ‘meh’ about the festive period, but this all changed in an instant when we arrived at Wildside Highland Lodges for a short break in mid-December.
We’d been invited to stay here all the way back in March, and it seemed so far away at the time that I filed it away in my ‘sort this out later’ folder in the back of my brain, only for it to (not so) suddenly appear on my to do list at the start of December. Packing ended up being a last minute scramble and then we were in the car and driving north – very, very north – for 4 nights on the shores of Loch Ness in the Highlands.
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Wildside Highland Lodges
After pretty much all day on the road, we arrived at Wildside just as true darkness had fallen and fatigue was setting in. Stumbling through the door of our lodge, any weariness I was feeling was immediately wiped away by the scene waiting for us: the most perfect Christmas cabin we could have dreamed of, complete with a Christmas tree and fairy lights. We got the log burner going straight away and just like that, Christmas was in full swing!
We stayed in Ptarmigan, one of Wildside’s premier Dalwhinnie Lodges. Sleeping six people in two doubles and a twin, this was by far the nicest log cabin we’ve ever stayed in. Spacious enough to fit us all comfortably without losing that charming cosy cabin vibe, the lodge was well equipped (with decent cookware, which makes a change when you’re used to self-catering accommodation) and even had its own private hot tub.
Wildside has a collection of cosy cabins sleeping between 2 and 6 people, with 2 dogs allowed per cabin. Despite being a collection of lodges, it doesn’t feel that way at all: our cabin overlooked the river and felt totally secluded and private. Just the way we like it!
Although it was pitch black outside when we arrived (hello, winter), it was still reasonably early and so we hadn’t eaten. We’d stopped at Sainsbury’s en-route, Wildside being a bit of a drive from the nearest big shop, and happily had had the foresight to pick up a few pizzas for a nice easy tea. Sinking into the sofa with the log burner merrily crackling away, we felt so immediately at home and relaxed here, it made the concept of being stuck inside for most of our stay (thanks Storm Bram) actually rather appealing. And a good thing too…
The Falls of Foyers
Our first morning brought with it rain, rain and more rain. And did I mention the rain? A precursor to Storm Bram, the weather was just getting an early rehearsal in for the main show the following day. Resisting Sam’s attempts to drag us out first thing to ‘get it over and done with’, I insisted on waiting until midday when, thankfully, the rain eased off and left us with just an impressive collection of ominous clouds. I don’t think I’ve ever managed to get my shoes on so quickly.
It was just a short 10 minute drive down the road to the car park for the Falls of Foyers. You can actually walk there on a 7 mile route straight from the door at Wildside Lodges, but with the rather iffy weather we decided to just do a quick visit to the falls, rather than chance a longer walk and getting caught in a downpour. We’re enthusiastic but not that enthusiastic! Parking is pay & display (£2 for up to four hours) and it’s a short 10 minute walk from the car park to the waterfall – down steps which can be slippy when wet.
There are two viewing areas: an upper platform which is about a 5 minute walk from the start, and a lower platform another 5 minutes or so further down. It’s worth a few extra steps to go down to the lower viewing area as it’s (in my opinion) the better view of the falls. When we got there I thought our luck had run out and the rain had re-started, but it was just the spray off the falls: they were truly thundering down.
Our Pocket Mountains guide to the area had a 90 minute walk taking in the falls and walking down to the shore of Loch Ness: reluctantly we decided to forgo this route in search of a better weather forecast elsewhere. But first, we stopped off for lunch at the Waterfall Cafe next to the car park. I expect it’s much busier in summer, but on a drizzly Tuesday in December we were the only customers. It was excellent value for money, coming in at £13.75 for a panini, sausage roll, coffee and bottle of water. I can’t remember the last time we got lunch out that cheaply!
Culloden
The area around Inverness looked much better weather wise: dry, if a little grey. After lunch we hopped back into the car and carried on north east to visit Culloden, one of the most famous historic sites in Scotland. The scene of Britain’s last pitched hand to hand battle, more than 1,500 men lost their lives in minutes as the Jacobites’ futile charge into British Government muskets resulted in disaster for Bonnie Prince Charlie’s men.
Culloden is one of the most visited sites in Scotland, its popularity probably boosted by the Outlander TV show: it is of course one of the most pivotal locations in the series. Visitors can walk the battlefield trail and visit an excellent museum which explains, in a very logical and consumable way, the Jacobite rising of 1745 and the events which led to the disaster at Culloden in April 1746. Entry is charged for, although we were able to use our National Trust memberships for free entry.
We walked the battlefield trail with the dogs first, then popped them in the car for a nap while we explored the museum (which isn’t dog friendly). In hindsight it might have been better to visit the museum first and then we’d have known a bit more about what we were looking at – but the battlefield trail does have a few information boards dotted about to explain the crucial moments of the battle.
People often describe Culloden as a very moving experience, and the area which hits home the most is the clan stones marking the mass graves where the dead were buried. Battlefields can be a bit hit and miss for me in terms of emotional impact, which generally is very influenced by how well explained the context of the site is. I’d rank Culloden highly in terms of emotional impact: probably the only sites which would top it for me would be Towton and Flodden.
We’d planned to visit a nearby lifting stone after Culloden (if anyone remembers Sam’s attempts with the Saddlin’ Mare in Perthshire a few years ago), but we ended up spending just over two hours here and by the time we’d finished the light was going. So, happy to have managed to get a decent day out in despite a dodgy weather forecast, we headed back along the shores of Loch Ness to Wildside.
Chanonry Point
Storm Bram arrived overnight, with the Highlands buffeted by winds of up to 70mph. I was half expecting Wednesday to be a total write off: at 10am it was still almost dark and the rain was coming down sideways. Not the kind of weather that makes you want to go outside, especially when you can cosy up with a log burner and a cup of tea!
Nevertheless I always feel like we should do something when we’re away, and so we made a dash to the car for a quick drive down the road to Cameron’s Tea Room and Farm Shop. This place was recommended in the information book at Wildside, and I think local recommendations always top anything you can find on the internet. It had a lovely atmosphere despite being pretty quiet, and we enjoyed an early lunch with views looking out over the Highland ponies grazing in their paddock – they at least weren’t bothered by the rain.
Thanks so much to everyone who buys us a coffee – we always try and pass it on to local independents like this. Refuelled, a quick last minute check of the weather forecast revealed that the area around Inverness was looking promising, and so we again forayed north for a visit to Chanonry Point.
Like Culloden, Chanonry Point is one of those places that’s been on my list for years, but we’ve never been quite close enough. Renowned as possibly the best place in Britain for dolphin spotting, the resident pod of bottlenose dolphins are frequently sighted just metres away from the shore here. Of course sightings aren’t guaranteed, but the main tip that I could find online was to visit when the tide is rising.
The second tip was that chances of spotting the dolphins are higher in the summer months, when the dolphins are feeding on salmon heading back to the rivers to breed. Given that it was December and there wasn’t much I could do about the time of year, we decided to head up for a mosey anyway – because the weather certainly did not make any kind of hiking alternative remotely appealing. Our Pocket Mountains guide did include a walk linking up Chanonry Point, Rosemarkie Beach and Fortrose Cathedral, but unfortunately we just didn’t have enough daylight left by the time we got there. What a shame…
It turns out that dolphins also aren’t fans of blustery winds: we spent about half an hour on the point before conceding defeat and beginning our retreat back to Wildside and our log burner. There is a ‘dolphin viewing area’ a short walk from the car park, but happily the car park is situated so as to give you views out to sea from your car – so if you really want to hunker down and wait, at least you don’t have to do it outside.
Dores and Torr Wood
Third time’s the charm, as they say – and on our third (and final) full day at Wildside, Storm Bram finally blew over, leaving us… maybe not raring to go, as it was still quite gloomy, but certainly filled with more enthusiasm that the two days before. When we got up, a quick glance out of the window confirmed that the weather hadn’t lied to us (makes a change), and it indeed wasn’t raining.
It was by no means a sunny day, with rain forecast from late morning, so we picked a shorter walk along the shores of Loch Ness from Dores. From our Pocket Mountains guide, it was a 6.5km route which had several opportunities for the dogs to have a paddle in the loch, and entirely livestock free. Most of the walk is in woodland which we figured would keep us marginally drier should the rain catch us – turns out that wasn’t needed, as we timed it perfectly, getting back to the car just as the drizzle started. A similar route is available on Walkhighlands.
Even on such a grey day (I believe the Scottish term is ‘dreich’) there was still plenty of interest around this walk. As well as some lovely views across Loch Ness to Meall Fuar-Mhonaidh (which I think would be even better in the sunshine), there’s a short detour to admire Aldourie Castle. Not to mention, the beginning of the walk takes you past Steve Feltham’s caravan: the infamous Nessie Hunter who has been searching for Nessie full time since 1991.
This is a nice easy walk, not steep or strenuous, and surprisingly quiet (although we did see a few local dog walkers). It’s a great choice for a dog walk, with plenty of off-lead time and lots of opportunities for dogs to have a swim.
From here, we decided to drive up to An Talla for lunch. Sam had seen their Highland Cow statue on Instagram, and it’s obviously worthwhile having a cool feature like that, because it stuck with him! There’s plenty of indoor seating (dogs allowed but we left ours in the car to snooze), and we arrived just as they were starting to serve lunch. After warming up with a pot of tea (me) and a coffee (Sam), we tucked into a tasty lunch. Sam had the roast sandwich of the day (Korean BBQ chicken), while it will come as a surprise to absolutely no one that I again chose the brie, bacon and cranberry option – at least I changed it up by having a toastie rather than a panini?
A scenic drive back along Loch Ness brought us back to Wilside – where, I was very excited to be able to use the hot tub for the first time since we’d arrived. It always feels very extravagant and luxurious to have a hot tub, and it’s a point of principle that we have to use it whenever we can! A soak in the hot tub followed by a hot chocolate by the log burner: a perfect afternoon.
Craigmonie and Divach Falls
The end of a trip always rolls around too quickly, but that felt especially true as we packed up the car to leave Wildside. There’s something so innately restful about a cosy log cabin in the Highlands: I really didn’t want to leave. Especially as, after three days of wet and gloomy weather, we finally lucked out and got one of those beautiful winter days with blue skies and sunshine.
Luckily, we didn’t have to rush off south too hastily, as we were stopping off in Fife on the way home to break the journey up. This freed up a decent chunk of the day to get out for a walk before we said ‘goodbye for now’ to the Highlands – because we will always be back soon.
I must admit to a lot of prevaricating over where to go. My knee jerk reaction whenever it’s sunny is to make for the hills, and I had my eye on a route up Meall Fuar-Mhonaidh near Drumnadrochit. However, the user reports on Walkhighlands were clear that this route can be very boggy, and our Pocket Mountains guide had a different route (also from Drumnadrochit) which promised lovely views with a) less bog and b) a shorter time. While we could fit in a decent walk, I was still mindful that we had a fair drive to come in the afternoon.
Decision made, we drove across to Drumnadrochit and set off on the first part of the walk, a fabulous woodland stretch up to the small hill fort of Craigmonie. Not only was this lovely and quiet, but the views down over Drumnadrochit and Loch Ness were superb: view craving satisfied, I felt totally vindicated in ditching the boggy hill option. According to our guide book the hill is named after a Viking prince who retreated here after a battle – either way, it’s an excellent objective for a walk. Save it for a day when you’ll get the view!
Having snapped lots of photos, we carried on deeper into the woods, and from this point we had the walk entirely to ourselves. Eventually we emerged from the woods for a stretch of road walking (happily a very quiet road). This out and back stretch incorporates a visit to Divach Falls – an impressive waterfall which could also be visited by a short out and back walk from a nearby car park. The falls were nice but not quite as lovely (to me) as the Falls of Foyers which we’d visited earlier in the week – I want to feel the spray from now on!
The return to Drumnadrochit from here is all along the quiet road we picked up to walk to the falls. If you didn’t want to connect the two (as despite not being a hill walk it definitely falls into the moderate+ category) you could do two separate shorter walks up Craigmonie and then another to the falls. The route we followed is available on Walkhighlands if you don’t want to buy the Pocket Mountains guide.
Dog friendly rating: 4/5. We had such a fantastic break at Wildside – and so did the dogs. There’s plenty of space inside for them to relax without getting under your feet, and they both spent most of the time we were inside snoozing in front of the log burner. Wildside is also in an ideal location for walkies, with multiple ‘from the door’ options, as well as all of Loch Ness and parts of the NC500 in easy reach. I’ve just knocked off a point for not having an enclosed garden – but I will note that our outside area felt very private without other guests passing by on their way to or from their lodge.
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