Drumnadrochit
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-> Drumnadrochit
Situated above a verdant, sheltered bay of Loch Ness fifteen miles southwest of Inverness, DRUMNADROCHIT is the epicentre of Nessie hype, sporting a rash of tacky souvenir shops and two rival monster exhibitions whose head-to-head scramble for punters occasionally erupts into acrimonious exchanges, detailed with relish by the local press. Of the pair, the Loch Ness 2000 Exhibition, formerly the Official Loch Ness Monster Exhibition (daily: July & Aug 9am-8pm; June & Sept 9am-6pm; Easter-May 9.30am-5pm; Oct-Easter 10am-4pm; £5.95), though more expensive, is the better bet, offering an in-depth rundown of eyewitness accounts through the ages and mock-ups of the various research projects carried out in the loch. A recent upgrade has attempted to offer something to sceptics as well as believers by outlining more of the scientific background to set against the various myths. The Original Loch Ness Monster Exhibition (daily: July & Aug 9am-9pm; rest of year 10am-6pm; Dec-March closes 4pm; £3.50) is basically a gift shop with a shoddy audiovisual show tacked on the side.
Cruises on the loch aboard the Nessie Hunter (Easter-Oct hourly 9.30am-6pm; 50min; £8) can be booked at the Original Loch Ness Visitor Centre, though a more relaxing alternative is to head out fishing with a local gillie - the boat can take 5-8 people and costs around £30 for two hours; contact Bruce on 01456/450279 to book.
Most photographs allegedly showing the monster have been taken a couple of miles east of Drumnadrochit, around the fourteenth-century ruined lochside Castle Urquhart (daily: July & Aug 9.30am-8.30pm; April-June & Sept 9.30am-6.30pm; Oct-March 9.30am-4.30pm; HS; £3.80). Today it's one of Scotland's classic picture-postcard ruins, crawling with tourists by day but particularly splendid floodlit at night when all the crowds have gone. The castle receives more visitors each year than any other historic site in the Highlands, and to cope with the numbers a new visitor centre has been built into the hillside, ostensibly to create sufficient parking above the castle.
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