Eilean Donan Castle

Eilean Donan is the castle on the postcard, on a small island where Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh meet, just before Skye if you are coming the Kyle way. What you are looking at is a twentieth-century rebuild on medieval bones. That does not make it fake. It makes it a castle that someone bothered to put back up, with a causeway that still photographs like a film.

When to bother

Opening hours are seasonal; check before you drive. Early or late is the difference between a place and a queue. The village is Dornie. Parking is not a mystery but it fills. Midges in still summer by the water are loyal employees.

From here you are on the road to Skye, or back towards Glen Shiel. Do not collect castles like stamps. One castle, a walk, a meal. If you are going on to the island, Skye is the longer page and the Skye candle is the one we pour for that air. For the other famous loch, Ness.