The ''Scottish Highlander'' is a boutique hotel barge cruising the

Caledonian Canal The Caledonian Canal connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William in Scotland. The canal was constructed in the early nineteenth century by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford. Route The can ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, from

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

to Fort William. She is a Luxe motor Dutch steel barge. She is a member of the fleet of hotel barges owned by

European Waterways European Waterways is an international company based in Berkshire, England that operates a fleet of 17 river cruise, river cruising vessels along the rivers and canals of Europe. The company takes old Barge, trading barges and converts them int ...

History

Scottish Highlander Hotel Barge Cruising

She was built in 1931, by Gebroeders Van Zutphen, in

Vreeswijk Vreeswijk is a former village and municipality in the Dutch province of Utrecht. The municipality merged with Jutphaas in 1971, and is now the southern half of the town of Nieuwegein. The former village was located on the Lek River, near whe ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

as a trading barge. She was christened the ''Vertrouwen'', meaning "trust" in

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

. She served as a trading barge for her first 60 years, transporting grain and various commodities throughout the Netherlands. J.P. Leisure Limited purchased the vessel in 1991. Following a renovation in the

, it sailed to Inverness in April 1993 to commence operations as a passenger ship. In 1999 she was purchased by Derek Banks to become part of the

fleet of hotel barges. From 1999 to 2000 she was completely renovated and was renamed ''Scottish Highlander''. She was refurbished again in 2006. As a working hotel barge she cruises in Scotland on the Caledonian Canal with up to 8 passengers. She has four passenger cabins, three crew cabins, and a saloon. She is crewed by a captain, tour guide, chef and housekeeper.

References

External links

European Waterways Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scottish Highlander (Barge) Hotel barges Loch Ness Barges 1931 ships Hotels established in 2000 1931 establishments in the Netherlands 2000 establishments in Scotland Hotels in Highland (council area)