After one night stays in London, Liverpool and Falkirk, we were looking forward to our next stop – Fort William – as we’d be staying there for three nights. We had a lot to fit in in the meantime though.
That’s because there were lots of places we wanted to visit along the journey from Falkirk to Fort William. We already knew that there were castles, a monument and a distillery that we wanted to check out, but we also figured there’d be other places we’d want to stop at along the way.
The four of us therefore got on the road at a reasonable time that morning to start our journey northwest. Here’s where we stopped along the way.
The National Wallace Monument
Our first stop was the National Wallace Monument, located a few miles north of Falkirk in Stirling. It was built in the 1860s to honor Sir William Wallace, the Scottish knight whose story you might be most familiar with from the movie Braveheart.
The monument stands at the top of a steep hill, with a road leading up to it. You can choose to walk up if you like, but the site also offers a free shuttle bus up and down that runs every 15 minutes. With so many other things to see that day, we gladly took advantage of that.
With us needing to get back on the road, we only walked around outside for a few minutes to take a closer look, before taking the shuttle bus back down. You can buy tickets to tour the monument’s interior, so that could be worth doing if you have more time. Be aware that there are almost 250 steps inside up to the observation tower, with no elevator available.
The structure had some interesting design elements, like this rope feature made of stone.
Stirling Castle
A couple of miles south of the National Wallace Monument is Stirling Castle. A castle has been on the site since the early 1100s, although most of the current set of buildings were constructed in the 1500s.
This was another attraction where we decided to just quickly stop at it, rather than exploring it inside. From the grounds outside, we could see the National Wallace Monument in the distance atop Abbey Craig.
Seeing as we didn’t fully enter the grounds of the castle, it turned out that the better view of it could be obtained from below.
Loch Lomond
Our drive to Fort William then took us along the western side of Loch Lomond. At just over 22 miles long and up to 5 miles wide at some points, it’s the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area, although Loch Ness surpasses it in terms of water volume.
Scenic Drive
Ordinarily, the route from Falkirk to Fort William would probably take you via Glencoe which is an incredibly scenic area. We had plans to drive through Glencoe in the next few days anyway, plus we wanted to stop in Oban along the way, so we took a slightly different route.
That’s not to say that we missed out on a scenic drive though. With lakes, hills, mountains and streams abounding, we were still treated to lovely views throughout.
Kilchurn Castle
Along the banks of Loch Awe, we saw the ruins of Kilchurn Castle. First built in the 1400s, it’s been in ruins for more than 250 years.
Loch Etive
Scotland was home to many filming locations for the Harry Potter movies. One such location was Loch Etive as that’s where Harry, Ron and Hermione dropped from a dragon after escaping from Gringott’s Bank.
We stopped on the banks of the loch, although it’s so large that we weren’t sure exactly which view was seen in the movie.
Oban Distillery
One of our quests for this trip was to visit as many Scotch whisky distilleries as possible. Oban Distillery is a highly regarded distillery and is only an hour south of Fort William, so we diverted via there to do a tasting.
Shae was our designated driver, so Mark and I started with a cocktail. I can’t remember which one Mark got, but I ordered the Oban Old Fashioned which contained Oban Distillers Edition whisky, salted caramel syrup and smoked sea salt; it was pretty good.
We hadn’t seen anything about whisky flights initially, but then we saw some other people with one and decided to get a flight ourselves.
Oban Distillery is owned by Diageo, a large conglomerate that owns many whisky distilleries both in Scotland and worldwide. The server advised that we could pick any four types of whisky from their selection behind the bar if we wanted; that included whisky from both Oban Distillery and many others.
Considering we were at Oban Distillery though, we wanted to do a tasting of their own whisky. They have a special set Oban Distillery tasting flight, so that was perfect.
One of the handy things about the flight is that the names of the four different whiskies could be found on the flight board beneath the glasses. They were:
- Oban 14 year
- Oban Distillers Edition
- Oban Little Bay
- Oban Distillery Exclusive Bottling
My joint favorites were the 14 year and Little Bay. My next favorite was the Distillery Exclusive Bottling, while the Distillers Edition placed last for me. The Distillers Edition wasn’t bad; it just didn’t have much flavor compared to the others. For someone who’s new to Scotch whisky, the Distillers Edition might therefore be a good introduction.
The Oban Inn
After having drinks at The Oban Distillery, we were pretty hungry as it was 4pm and we hadn’t eaten lunch. Just across the road was a pub/restaurant called The Oban Inn, so we stopped there for an early dinner. It had good reviews online and nice views of Oban Bay, so it seemed like a great place to stop in at.
Despite not having the most extensive menu, there were lots of delicious-looking meals to choose from.
Our friends mentioned that the worst-tasting Scotch whisky they’d ever had was Laphroaig. The bar had Laphroaig 10 year available, so I got a shot of that because I figured it couldn’t be that bad.
Well, I could see where they’re coming from. It’s a very peaty whisky, but to the point where it’s simply not very enjoyable.
What was much tastier though were our dinners. Shae got the homemade mac & cheese containing cheese from Scotland which also came with a side of fries. She thought it was delicious.
I got the Oban Inn famous steak & ale pie which came on a bed of mashed potato and seasonal vegetables on the side. The pie was excellent – definitely one of the best steak and ale pies that I’ve had.
McCaig’s Tower & Battery Hill
Before leaving Oban, we had one more stop that we wanted to make. Atop Battery Hill is McCaig’s Tower, built between 1897 and 1902.
McCaig’s Tower is viewable from downtown Oban, but you can also drive up to see it and walk around its grounds.
John Stuart McCaig is the person who designed it and he had grander plans for it than the end result. He’d intended for it to feature an art gallery, museum and more. However, after passing away in 1902, construction halted which meant only its exterior walls ended up being finished.
Dunollie Lighthouse & Dunollie Museum, Castle & Grounds
When planning out our trip, we had tentative plans to visit Dunollie Museum, Castle & Grounds if we had time. However, we didn’t finish up in Oban until 5:30pm and Dunollie Castle closes at 4pm.
Despite not being able to visit it in person, we still got to see it at a distance. There was a good place to stop next to Dunollie Lighthouse, both of which are just a few minutes north of the center of Oban.
Castle Stalker
One of the most striking castles I’ve ever seen was one we spotted as we drove the final stretch from Oban to Fort William. On a small island out in Loch Linnhe is Castle Stalker. There’s been a building on the site since the 1300s, but the castle in its current incarnation is thought to date back to the 1440s.
The castle is privately owned, but it does open for tours on a few days each month from late spring through the summer. You have to jump on the ability to book a tour though; I just checked and every date in 2025 that they’re running tours on is already fully booked.
Inverlochy Castle Hotel
Castle Stalker wasn’t our final castle of the day though. For the next three nights, we’d be staying at Inverlochy Castle Hotel. Our next post will be reviewing our stay, but here’s a photo of its exterior to whet your appetite.
Saga 2025 Trip To London, Liverpool & Scotland – All The Posts
Here are links to all of the posts in this series:
- Saga 2025: Trip With Friends To London, Liverpool & Scotland – An Intro
- Saga 2025 Day 1: London – Police Station Hotel, British Museum, Dinner In Darkness & Abbey Road
- Saga 2025 Day 2: Liverpool – Cavern Club, Hard Day’s Night Hotel, Cocktails & More
- Visiting The Kelpies In Falkirk, Scotland By Day & By Night
- Saga 2025 Day 3: Falkirk – Kelpies, World’s Only Rotating Boat Lift & More
- Saga 2025 Day 4: Drive From Falkirk To Fort William – Castles, Distillery, Monument & More
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