Trossachs

To the northeast of Loch Lomond lie the Trossachs, a recreational area that is popular with Glaswegians. This picturesque valley that nestles between Loch Katrine and Loch Achray and the peaks of Ben An and Ben Venue is only an hour's drive from Scotland's most densely populated region. "Trossachs" means something like "bristly area". At the beginning of the 19th century the English poets Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy visited the valley and found inspiration for their romantic verse. In 1803 Dorothy Wordsworth wrote in her diary: "Here we were completely alone and everything that we saw was loveliness and beauty in perfection". Seven years later the historic novelist Sir Walter Scott was bewitched by the beauty of the Trossachs.