Eilean Donan Castle at the meeting of three lochs near Dornie is the most photographed castle in Scotland and one of the most iconic images in the country, its medieval tower house on a tiny island connected to the mainland by a stone bridge with the Kintail mountains and the shimmering Highland loch as backdrop. Destroyed in a Jacobite rebellion in 1719 and extensively rebuilt in the early 20th century, the castle now houses a museum of Clan Macrae history. Hotels near Eilean Donan Castle in Dornie and Kyle of Lochalsh provide access to this legendary Highland monument and the gateway to the Isle of Skye.
Our Picks — Scottish Highlands
Fort William
Queen Victoria stayed here in 1873 and wrote that 'I never saw a lovelier or more romantic spot' — Inverlochy Castle remains one of Scotland's greatest hotels, a Victorian neo-baronial castle at the foot of Ben Nevis with 17 opulent rooms and a cooking style of exceptional refinement.
Auchterarder
Scotland's most famous hotel — a vast 1920s Edwardian palace in Perthshire with three championship golf courses, equestrian centre, shooting, falconry, and a spa of enormous size and quality. Gleneagles operates at a level of service and scale that has no peer in Scotland.
Dornoch
Andrew Carnegie's extraordinary private castle on the Dornoch Firth is now one of the world's most exclusive private clubs and hotels — a vast baronial estate with 12,000 acres of Highland countryside, its own golf course, falconry, and salmon fishing. Madonna was married here.
Sleat, Isle of Skye
The ancestral home of the High Chief of Clan Donald on the southern peninsula of Skye, Kinloch Lodge has been transformed into one of Scotland's finest country house hotels with 19 beautifully furnished rooms and a kitchen of genuine excellence overlooking a sea loch.
Torridon
A Victorian shooting lodge in the spectacular and remote Torridon glen — one of the most scenically dramatic places in all of Britain — The Torridon offers 18 rooms of real warmth, outstanding local Highland cuisine, and extraordinary walking from the door.
Inverness
A historic country house hotel on the southern outskirts of Inverness — the Highlands' capital city — Kingsmills delivers 147 well-appointed rooms, a leisure club, and a genuine Scottish warmth that makes it the most popular choice for exploring the Northern Highlands.
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