Nic and Sue’s Euro River Cruise and l bits on the side. Autumn 2026. Day 10 – Plan C Edinburgh – Ft William.

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Well everything worked out ok this am. We watched the end of the Grand Final and went for breakfast. Packed, checked out, left out bags and then walked to get our car – a Volkswagon Polo.

Back to hotel for luggage – a squeeze but all in. Then we had trouble connecting the phone so took a trip back to AVIS where I worked it out anyway. Off and out of the city about 10:15.

We spent some time on the M9 motorway travelling through the Scottish Countryside, lots of castles and woods and greenery.

First stop, The Falkirk Wheel. A feat of engineering. I dropped Sue off and while I was parking she saw a boat (Archimedes, one of the Falkirk Wheel tour boats) come down the wheel.
Then by chance there was a Canal boat coming up through the traditional loch behind us. The lock doors/gates were opened and closed by manpower, a woman lochkeeper just leant on the big timbers to open the gates. Lucky to see that one I think.

We then waited so I could see the full turning of the wheel. The Archimedes went up and the Antonine came down.
It was only four minutes once the actual wheel started turning. process kicked off. (The Wheel replaces 11 locks that used to lift and drop boats and take all day to do so!)

The Falkirk Wheel – the world’s first and only rotating boat lift, links the Forth & Clyde Canal to the Union Canal 35 metres above, allowing vessels to sail through the sky thanks to a unique fusion of art and engineering.

The Wheel is based on Archimedes’ principles – the ancient Greek engineer and mathematician. The Wheel rotates using the same power it would take to boil eight kettles.

The next stop was at The Kelpies. A sculpture of a pair of horses with a fabulous story. They stand on the Forth and Clyde Canals, which meet the River Carron. We were lucky with the day a mix of broody clouds and sunshine.
The Scottish myth of the scary tale of the Kelpie is used by older generations as a practical warning to keep young children away from deep, dangerous lochs and fast-moving rivers.
A kelpie is a shape-shifting water spirit in Scottish Folklore that typically haunts rivers and lochs, luring unsuspecting travelers into deep water to drown them.
The Water Horse: Most legends describe the kelpie as a magnificent horse, often black, grey, or white. Its mane often contains tangled kelp or water weeds.
To lure the victim the beast acts gentle and invites travelers to ride across a stream or loch. Then the kelpie plunges into the deepest part of the water.

From there it was off to Fort William, where we are staying. A little while longer on the M8/M9 before turning onto some A roads that took us through villages, beside Lochs and across rivers, through winding hillside roads. It was amazing to see the countryside change throughout the day.

We made a couple of stops – one at Ardverikie Gate Lodge, at Kinloch Laggan, at the eastern end of Loch Laggan, next to the A86 road. It is the gate lodge for Ardverikie House, on the south side of Loch Laggan.

The second stop was The British Aluminium Company- Lochaber Water Power’s Laggan Dam on the Laggan River.

We arrived into Port William in a misty rain (very Scottish) at our Bank Street Lodge accommodation at 5 o’clock on the dot. We checked into our first floor room before packing a couple of smaller bags from the car. I then moved the car into the under Lodge car park.

There was a restaurant on the corner below us (10% discount for Bank St Lodge customers) called Caorann. The team there were lovely. We asked how the Gaelic for Fort William, An Gearasdan, was pronounced? The owner didn’t know, he said the young ones learn Gaelic at school, one was unsure, the second had a stab, finally the boss brought another youth from out in the kitchen and he could pronounce it – ‘An Garishlan’ = Fort William. It means Garrison.
Our meal was lovely and some local gin for me and cider for Sue.

Home for shower and some downtime before bed.