Loch Shiel

It's the loch at whose head Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his Jacobite standard in 1745, the spot now marked by the Glenfinnan Monument. Stretching 28 kilometres (about 17 miles) between steep mountain walls, it's also one of the most photographed landscapes in the Scottish Highlands.

Loch Shiel Cruises run scheduled and private boat trips from Glenfinnan Pier at the northern end, heading south towards Acharacle. They reach shores you can't otherwise get to, pass through some of the finest Highland scenery, and combine well with a visit to the Glenfinnan Monument and Viaduct.

Loch Shiel is about 28 kilometres (17 miles) long and up to 2 kilometres wide, one of the larger freshwater lochs in the western Highlands. For most of its length no road follows the shore, which gives it a sense of wilderness and remoteness that's rare even in Scotland.

The shores of Loch Shiel stood in for the Black Lake in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, filmed around Glenfinnan in 2000. Together with the nearby Glenfinnan Viaduct, used for the Hogwarts Express route, the Glenfinnan area is one of the richest Harry Potter filming locations in Scotland.