We weren’t catching the ferry to Skye till early afternoon so we had some time to kill. We headed towards Glenfinnan. On the way we stopped at a lay-by that had a sign post for the Prince’s Cairn. It wasn’t obvious initially where it was but we found the path and headed down to the cairn. The cairn was erected in the 1950s to mark the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie embarked on his journey away from Scotland after being defeated at Culloden.

It was then a trip to the Glenfinnan monument which commemorates the raising of the Jacobite standard on 16th August 1745. The monument was built in 1815. As we are National Trust for Scotland members we decided we wanted to go up the monument. It is a very narrow stone staircase similar to those found in castles. At the top is a hatch way to get out onto the top of the monument. I was glad it was just the two of us as it was awkward get out and the same going back down. Despite that it was worth the climb to see the view.

Where the monument is a possible site. Behind the visitors centre there is a viewpoint which could also have been where the standard was raised. View of the monument from the viewpoint.

From the viewpoint there were excellent views of the Glenfinnan Viaduct. While we were there we were lucky enough to see The Jacobite train cross the viaduct.