Scottish Crannog/ Kenmore-Fort Augustus

Yep, you are possibly over-booked or you need to be very disciplined. :( The drive from the Crannog Centre to the Cafe is an hour and 1/5 per google maps and I do not disagree with it. You have 45 minutes on a B road before you even reach the A9. And that drive is gorgeous and windy so you won't / can't floor it. And it's another 45 minutes to the turn off for Rothiemurchus on the A9. There was construction on the A9 this summer, but you may be alright now that it is fall. It's only about 10 minutes to the reindeer park. It's close to 25 minutes to the Sheepdog. So, if you do at least an hour at the Crannog Centre, I would figure on getting to the cafe by 1. You only know how fast you want to eat and how much time at the paddock. But I would plan on leaving the paddock by 3:15 at the latest. Here's the full google map. You might want to run it at the time you would be traveling from the Crannog Centre. I am never sure how much real traffic plays into their times. So running it at 6 AM EDT would tell you a lot.

Opps missed the Fort Augustus bit. That's another hour and 1/2 of driving time minimum.

Hi, Liz,

From your post, it looks like the last event that you have scheduled for the day is the Leault Sheepdog Exhibit, which runs about an hour. You didn't say when you are doing this, but if it's this year, you're going to be running out of daylight, with still a fair drive to Fort Augustus. Are you travelling to Fort Augustus via the A9 to Inverness, and south on the A82, or the A86 to Spean Bridge, and the A82 north from there? If it's the former, there is a 24 hour Tesco in Inverness, just off the A9. If it's the latter, there is a Morrison's in Fort William, near the train station. It stays open until 10:00 p.m.

You'd have a considerably larger choice of places to eat in Aviemore than in Rothiemurchus.

Hope that helps.

Slainte!

Mike (Auchterless)

I have been concerned about traveling in the dark in the highland area where we dont know our way around nor if the gps devices will work! Mike- yes, our last event is the working dogs and we head to Fort Augustus to stay the night. The google map I have didnt send me all the way to Inverness. Rather up A9, then left on B851, B862 and a right on A82. However, maybe we should consider dinner in Inverness before we head onto Fort Augustus? Traveling 2nd week of October. Are these roads clearly marked? I'm good at squinting for road signs in country darkness because of where I am from but it wont be helpful to anyone if there arent road markers :) Should we maybe cut the reindeer and just enjoy the drive?

Hi, Liz,

Whatever you do, don't attempt the B851 and B862 at night! The B851 in particular is a very narrow road, single track with passing places most of the way. It would be okay in broad daylight, especially as you get down to to the B862 near Loch Ness, but after dusk, and especially in the dark, it would be a nightmare of a journey. You'd have to drive so slowly that it would treble or even quadruple your driving time.

The A9 to Inverness and the A82 to Fort Augustus are very well signposted. The A9 is almost a straight road all the way in to Inverness. The A82 is a bit more windy and twisty, as it follows the contours of Loch Ness, but you should be able to keep up a speed of about 35 to 40 m.p.h. most of the way to Fort Augustus.

There are dozens of places to have dinner in Inverness, and you can stock up on groceries at the 24 hour Tesco in town (near the hospital), or the 24 hour ASDA at Inverness Fairways. There is also a Tesco Metro in the middle of town on Tomnahurich Street (just west of the bridge), but it closes at 8:00 p.m.

Best wishes!

Mike (Auchterless)

p.s.: There's a third Tesco in Inverness, which I've never been to. It's on the Dores Road (B862), south of town on the east bank of the River Ness. It's open from 6:00 a.m. to midnight, but it's pretty far out of your way.