Julie H.
Yelp
World class National Trust garden on the shores of Loch Ewe. My husband & I made a special detour from Skye up to Inverewe on our recent trip to Scotland just to see this garden, as it has been listed as one of the top gardens in the world. It did live up to it's claim - we truly enjoyed every minute we were there - through rain, drizzle & sunshine (they say you can experience all 4 seasons in one day here!).
Although it's fairly remote, it does have amenities such as a lovely cafe, art gallery, plant & gift shop, visitor center; all worth visiting as well as a tour of the beautifully furnished house. Tours of the garden itself are also offered, although we opted to take a boat ride on the loch and attend a rock gardening class instead.
We caught the early boat ride at high tide, as the sun was shining. The skipper Jamie was absolutely delightful, showing us crabs caught in a few creels & sharing knowledge & history about the wildlife in the area. So fun being out on the water.
As luck would have it, the Rock Gardening Society of Scotland was there that week for the Scottish Rock Garden Festival - celebrating the start of their new extensive rock garden. The members were so friendly & gave a fantastic demonstration on how to build your own rock garden. They are artisan masters of their craft.
A walk through the Inverewe house itself was marvelous, too - setting the mood for how the owners lived and how inspired there were by their garden. I especially loved the library with the writing desk over-looking the garden & loch through a giant bay window. Furnishings & design included mid-20th century details - excellent curation!
From there, we stopped to meet the current artist in residence, David Sandum, a brilliant & thoughtful artist of the natural world. Last stop was at the cafe for a coffee & treat. Inverewe was one of the highlights of our trip - wish we lived closer to return for the upcoming events.
Great place to spend a day!