The Great Glen (Scottish Gaelic: An Gleann Mòr) and Strathspey (Scottish Gaelic: Srath Spè) is in the Scottish Highlands.
Inverness (Inbhir Nis, "Mouth of the River Ness") is the most northerly city in the British Isles, and the administrative capital of the far-flung Highland Region. It's a Victorian town, with hotels and other sights and amenities, and a good base for exploring the area.
Culloden saw the defeat of Bonny Prince Charlie's Jacobites.
Nairn 📍 is a seaside resort at the east edge of the region.
Strathspey is the area that most visitors reach first, as the railway and A9 climb out of the Tay Valley over bleak Drumochter pass to descend into the Spey valley. Much of it is part of Cairngorms National Park, topped to the east by the line of peaks from The Cairngorm 📍 to Ben Macdui.
Small settlements along A9 are Dalwhinnie, Newtonmore and Kingussie 📍.
Aviemore is Speyside's main town, popular for skiing and other winter sports and activities in the Cairngorms.
Carrbridge is a junction: the railway and A9 continue north over the moors to Inverness, while A95 descends east down the Spey Valley.
Grantown-on-Spey is classic whisky-distilling country. A95 continues into the lowlands of Aberdeenshire.
The Great Glen is the fault line that slices diagonally across the Highlands, with its north end at Inverness.
Loch Ness 📍 is the deep brooding water filling much of the Glen - monster-spotting boat trips sail year-round.
Drumnadrochit halfway along has the compulsory photo-stop of Urquhart Castle.
Fort Augustus is at the loch's south end: A87 here branches west to Skye. The Glen coontinues past two smaller lochs and the village of Spean Bridge to reach the sea again.
Fort William is a centre for hiking close to Ben Nevis.
The southern Great Glen is flooded by the sea. Glencoe is the dramatic valley that joins it, with its sad history, mountain climbing, ski centre, and lonely boggy expanses of Rannoch Moor.
The road south along the Glen continues to Oban, ferry port for many islands of the Hebrides.
The Road to the Isles is A830 west from Fort William to Glenfinnan, Arisaig, and Mallaig, for ferries to Skye and the Small Isles. These too are part of the Highlands, but described as Inner Hebrides.
Ardnamurchan and Morven are part of the mainland yet more remote and less accessible than many of the islands.
This part of the Highlands was "Sassenachised" at an early date, with the adoption of lowland farming methods and land tenure, and English replacing Gaelic. The process was well under way before the 1745 rebellion, and although it led to de-population, this was more driven by the "pull" of growing economies like Glasgow and America than the "push" of uncaring landowners. And those that were forced out were evicted in an era before civil rights, photography and pesky reporters, so their stories went largely untold. It would be a different matter a century later when similar processes scourged the northern and western Highlands and the Hebrides, so it's those stories of "The Clearances" that we remember.
But in 1822 the vast bulk of King George IV was somehow levered into a kilt, the loyal clansmen all stood to attention in their newly-invented tartans, and the era of Highland tourism and mythology began. The railways arrived, then better roads and private vehicles, and people with money and leisure. The Great Glen and Strathspey were well placed to benefit, within reach of a weekend break from Edinburgh and Glasgow. Winter sports developed, then better appreciation of the natural environment and wildlife. Today this feels like the area's trump card.
You can also fly to Edinburgh, Glasgow or Aberdeen and hire a car to reach and explore the area.
Mallaig has CalMac ferries to Armadale on Skye, Lochboisdale on South Uist, and the Small Isles of Rum, Eigg, Muck and Canna.
You really need a car to explore this spread-out region. Fill up on fuel in the main towns, it's sparse and pricey out in the country.
By boat: The Caledonian Canal links the Beauly Firth at Inverness through Loch Ness to Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis. The sea loch beyond is usually well sheltered, so small craft can putter down to Glencoe and Oban.
All the towns have cheap 'n cheerful places for refuelling hungry hill-walkers and skiers. There isn't really a stand-out top rank restaurant that's worth driving long miles to reach. But look out for places using local produce.
The Spey valley is classic whisky-distilling country; several distilleries are open for tours.
Most hazards here are natural: remember that you're on the same latitude as Newfoundland, and Tomsk in Siberia. It doesn't have to be winter to be rough weather.
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