I’ve been lucky enough to have two summer holidays this year, though the latest was even closer to my own home. We spent a week in Aberfoyle exploring the Trossachs and Loch Lomond so here’s what we got up to, in 10 photos.
1. Loch Ard
We stayed at Forest Hills, just outside Aberfoyle, and Loch Ard was practically on our doorstep. The apartment had a big balcony and it was so nice to see the loch views every morning. We even had some deer grazing right in front of the building one evening. The drive into Aberfoyle along the banks was so pretty but sadly with no stopping places for photos. You’ll just have to go yourself.
2. Three Lochs Forest Drive
This was top of our list as a really great way to get an overview of the local area. It’s a one way track that takes you past 3 lochs with lots of stops for photos or walks. This is Loch Drunkie looking very #Scotland.
3. Loch Drunkie
It’s really pretty close up too. We were lucky to get a sunny break for our walk down the loch. All the walks around here are well marked with plenty info on how difficult they are. There’s also some camping spots right by the water.
4. Loch Katrine
When you exit the drive, you can keep going and see lots more lochs too. This is Loch Katrine, where you can go on a steamship boat trip. We didn’t really plan to go for a walk but ended up wandering quite far around as there’s lots to see. There’s also some eco lodges here that looked really cool.
5. Loch Ard
The weather forecast was consistently wrong and our bad weather day turned out glorious. We went for a quick walk on the other side of Loch Ard, took a wrong turn and ended up doing a big walk. The views were so beautiful though and totally worth it.
6. Loch Lomond
That sadly meant that our boat trip day was horrendous and we could barely see a thing! It was still nice to be out on the loch but it’s definitely better to do on a sunny day, like I did last year.
7. Queen Elizabeth Forest Park
This park surrounds Aberfoyle, with lots of different areas to explore including most of the above. We went back again for an accessible walk that had a waterfall, lots of sculptures and fun interactive things. You can do ziplining here too but it looked scarily high up.
8. Queen Elizabeth Forest Park
There’s also a wildlife hide where we finally saw lots of red squirrels, after hearing about them everywhere. Red squirrels have been disappearing from the UK but the Trossachs are one of the areas where you can see lots of them. I took this photo with my mum’s camera.
9. Duck Bay
For our last day, we had a lovely fancy lunch at Duck Bay and were treated to an incredible rainbow! We were able to get lots of nice photos and it stayed there for most of our meal too. I can’t promise you a rainbow if you go yourself but Duck Bay is always worth a visit.
10.Afternoon Tea
We also had a fancy afternoon tea at the hotel, to celebrate all our birthdays that we missed. We had only seen our mum for a few hours since Christmas 2019 so it was lovely to have a week together. This was a pretty good afternoon tea with excellent scones.
You can have a look at all my photos on Flickr, or watch my Instagram Stories from the week. Angel Bunny and Rilakkuma & Kogumachan also had a good holiday.
