Exploring Inverness - 18 Great Things To See & Do in Inverness, Scotland
If you’re visiting Inverness in the Scottish Highlands soon, I hope you’ll enjoy my video showing you some of the best things to see and do in this wonderful Scottish city. It takes about 3hrs to drive from Edinburgh to Inverness and about 3.5 hrs by train from Edinburgh Waverley.
Here's a list of all the places I visit in the video, which I managed to do over a long weekend. Please remember to support as many independent cafes, restaurants & shops in Inverness as you can. It’s worth noting, that a brand new visitor attraction - ‘The Inverness Castle Experience’ will be opening in 2025, which is very exciting.
The River Ness Walks & Bridges
Culloden Battlefield & Visitor Centre, Cafe & Shop
Balnuaran of Clava (Clava Cairns)
Fort George
Inverness Botanic Gardens & Cafe
Ness Islands Walk & Whin Park
Inverness Cathedral Cafe & Shop
The Street Food Zone
The Victorian Market & Cafes
Abertarff House
The Old High Church & Cemetery
Leakey's Bookshop
Inverness Museum & Art Gallery, Shop & Cafe
The Eden Court Theatre, Cinema, Cafe & Bar
The Rendezvous Vintage Cinema Cafe
Eastgate Shopping Centre
Cafe Artysans
Tomnahurich Cemetery Hill
Some of my Recommended Visitor Attractions in and around Inverness
There are some superb visitor attractions located in and around the city of Inverness. If you’re pushed for time, four of my favourite attractions are Culloden Battlefield, Clava Cairns, Fort George and Urquhart Castle (35mins from Inverness).
CULLODEN BATTLEFIELD VISITOR CENTRE
Opened in December 2007, this contemporary visitor centre tells the story of the battle of Culloden between the government troops of the Duke of Cumberland and Prince Charles Edward Stuarts’s Jacobites on 16 April 1746 – a battle that was to change history. As well as excellent exhibitions and audio tours you can also walk the battlefield itself and survey the whole of it from the roof top viewing platform.
FORT GEORGE
Strategically positioned on a promontory into the Moray Firth, Fort George was built after the Battle of Culloden to suppress any further Jacobite unrest. It is a huge fort and thought to be the largest artillery fortification in Europe. It is still a working army barracks and houses the regimental museum of the Seaforths & Camerons.
JACOBITE CRUISES – LOCH NESS
Setting off from Inverness and Clansman Harbour (10 miles from Inverness) these wonderful cruises on lovely Loch Ness run throughout the year and are a great way to explore this famous Loch. At 23 miles long and with lots of different cruises on offer, there’s plenty of time to take in the beautiful surrounding mountains and scenery which make Scotland so special.
CAWDOR CASTLE
Dating from the 14th century, Cawdor castle is just 10 miles east of Inverness and is perhaps best known for its literary connection to Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The castle originally began life as a large tower and has been added to over the centuries to make a real fairy-tale castle. With three superb gardens, woodlands, a golf course and a tea room it’s well worth a visit.
URQUHART CASTLE
Situated on the banks of Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle is an impressive ruined medieval fortress dating back to the 13th century. The castle has a long military history and changed hands on countless occasions. There is an excellent visitor centre with fantastic views of Loch Ness, along with audio visual presentations, a cafe and a shop selling local crafts.
INVERNESS BOTANIC GARDENS & CAFE
Opened in 1993 by Prince Edward as ‘The Floral Hall, Gardens’, Inverness Botanic Gardens has been inspiring gardeners for many years with its beautiful floral displays and subtropical plant glass house. There is also a superb cactus house and a sheltered outdoor garden with raised and ground level beds, filled with colourful displays, trees, shrubs, heathers and herbs and much more. There is a lovely open terraced cafe, which is a great place to relax in the summer.
INVERNESS MUSEUM & ART GALLERY
Everything in this fascinating museum & gallery is connected to Inverness and the Highlands. The collection covers the archaeology, geology and natural history of the Highlands along with fine art and crafts. Highlights include the Wolfstone – a 6/7th century stone carving of a wolf and an incredible archive of photographs from all over the Highlands.
CLAVA CAIRNS
Located just 6 miles east of Inverness, this well preserved collection of Bronze Age prehistoric burial cairns is located just a few hundred yards from Culloden Battlefield. This ancient cemetery is in a very atmospheric and beautiful setting and is well worth a visit after seeing Culloden Battlefield.
NESS ISLANDS PARK
These delightful islands in the River Ness are located next to Bught Park just south of the city centre. Accessed via two bridges they are a very popular beauty spot with locals and tourists and a lovely place to take a stroll, relax and unwind. For children there’s a play area and the islands even have their own public miniature railway.
THE SCOTTISH KILTMAKER VISITOR CENTRE
This terrific visitor centre, in the heart of the city centre, is dedicated to our famous national dress and is a fascinating insight into the history, tradition and culture of the kilt. Kilts and other products are handmade on site in the traditional way and in the kiltmaking workshop you can see the process from start to finish. Visitors can also purchase their own kilt from a terrific collection in store.
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Best wishes & thanks,
David
David Wheater is a Writer, Guide, Photographer & Filmmaker living and working in Edinburgh, Scotland.
