Our flight on a Loch Lomond Seaplane!

When booking our trip to Loch Lomond I stumbled across Loch Lomond Seaplanes and after watching a few of their promo videos I had my heart set on booking a flight. It seemed an amazing way of seeing a big chunk of Scotland in such a short space of time, as well as being an incredible experience. I decided to keep it a total surprise from Rob until we arrived and I'm so glad I did - his reaction was priceless, he was so excited! 

I wanted to share with you a few (ok, quite a few!!) of the photos from our flight...

Loch Lomond seaplanes fly from both Loch Lomond itself and Broadford on the Isle of Skye and there are several different routes you can choose from. I chose the Loch Lomond Discovery Tour which departed from the banks of Loch Lomond, outside the renowned 5 star Cameron House hotel and health spa. The setting was really beautiful. In the days leading up to our trip I was praying for good weather and frantically checking the local weather reports. Thankfully we woke up to the most perfect weather that morning, we could not have been luckier. It was cold and there was a frost on the ground but the sky was blue and pretty much cloudless. There was very little wind and the Loch looked stunning - so blue and tranquil. I was SO relieved!! 

Once arriving and checking in, our pilot David introduced himself and gave us a short (but mandatory) safety briefing. Then it was time to board!!

Rob took the window seat and I took the aisle seat because I get quite panicky when I'm in small spaces, but there wasn't much choice in the plane!! It seated just 9 of us - it was pretty tiny! After being given some (very sexy) headgear it was time for take off... so exciting!

Flying over Loch Lomond was incredible - the contrast of the bright blue Loch and the green forested islands was stunning, it felt like we were flying over somewhere tropical! There are quite a few islands on the Loch, the largest being Inchmurrin which is the largest freshwater island in the British Isles, pretty cool!

 

We then headed up across from Loch Lomond to Loch Long and then over Loch Fyne and up to the West coast of Scotland. We could see mountains for miles and miles... and the islands of Mull, Tobermory, Jura and Arran. The Highlands are so impressive, especially from above.

The views were incredible and I don't think the photos do the experience justice, it was breath taking. The flight lasted about 45 minutes in total and our tour guide David gave a brilliant running commentary, but it wasn't by any means cheesy or a nuisance - we were all genuinely interested by what he had to say. It was clear that he had a great passion for flying and was just as overwhelmed by the beautiful weather conditions as we were. 

On our way back down to the Loch we flew over our hotel! It was quite cool to be able to point out somewhere familiar! The landing was so smooth - I was a little hesitant about taking off and landing on water but I didn't even notice a splash, maybe because the weather was so perfect.

After landing it was then time for a glass of celebratory champagne next to the plane!

If you're visiting Loch Lomond or you're in the surrounding areas I would thoroughly recommend a flight on the seaplane. Our flights cost £139 per person which is a little extravagant I know, but I can say hands down it's one of the best things I've ever done. It was totally worth the money, totally worth surprising Rob and the highlight of our holiday!!

Lydia xxx