Inverness: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Inverness stands where the River Ness meets the sea, at the head of the Great Glen, the long valley that cuts Scotland in two. It is the gateway to the Highlands, Loch Ness and the road to the Isle of Skye. Ninety minutes; the weather changes by the hour.
A short history of Inverness
According to tradition, the court of the Pictish king Bridei stood here in the 6th century, and the monk Columba came to him from Iona. In the 12th century Inverness was made a royal burgh by David I, King of Scotland. On 16 April 1746 the last battle of the Jacobite rising was fought on Culloden Moor, a few kilometres east of the town; the Highland clansmen were defeated, and afterwards the Highland clan way of life was destroyed. In 1822 the Caledonian Canal opened, linking the town via Loch Ness to the west coast. In 2000 Inverness was granted city status, and it is the capital of the Highlands.
The ten best sights in Inverness
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1Inverness Castle
The red castle over the river, with Flora MacDonald’s statue
2Inverness MuseumPictish stones and Jacobite relics; free
3Old High ChurchThe oldest church in the city, tied to Culloden
4Inverness CathedralA Victorian cathedral on the river
5Eden CourtThe Highlands’ theatre and cinema
6Ness IslandsWooded islands in the river, joined by footbridges
7Botanic GardensA tropical glasshouse; free
8TomnahurichA cemetery on a hill shaped like a boat
9Craig PhadrigAn Iron Age hillfort in the forest
10Culloden BattlefieldThe moor where the Jacobites fell in 1746
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Inverness →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Inverness:
Free walking tours in Inverness
The capital of the Highlands
Inverness stands where the River Ness meets the sea, at the head of the Great Glen, the long valley that cuts Scotland in two. It is the gateway to the Highlands, Loch Ness and the road to the Isle of Skye. Ninety minutes; the weather changes by the hour.
- Inverness Castle · The red sandstone castle of 1836 stands on the site of older castles; in Shakespeare’s play it is where Macbeth murders King Duncan. Outside stands a statue of Flora MacDonald, who in 1746 helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape to Skye disguised as her Irish maid, Betty Burke.
- Inverness Museum · A free museum of the Highlands, with stones carved by the Picts, the people who lived in the north before the Scots, with symbols nobody can fully read, and the swords, targes and letters of the Jacobites.
- Victorian Market · A covered market of the 1870s, rebuilt after a fire in 1889, with arcades of small shops and a food hall. Its entrance on Academy Street is a grand arch of stone.
- Old High Church · The oldest church in Inverness, on a mound by the river where Christianity is said to have been preached since the time of St Columba. After Culloden, Jacobite prisoners were held in the church, and some are said to have been shot in the churchyard.
- Inverness Cathedral · A Gothic cathedral of red sandstone on the west bank, finished in 1869. Its two towers were meant to carry spires, which were never built for lack of money.
- Ness Islands · Upstream, small wooded islands in the river are joined to both banks by Victorian iron footbridges, a favourite evening walk of the town; fishermen stand in the river casting for salmon.
Culloden and the Jacobites
East of Inverness, on a moor, the last pitched battle on British soil ended the Jacobite risings and the old way of life of the Highland clans. Around it are far older stones, a castle out of Macbeth and a fort built to make sure it never happened again. Half a day by car.
- Culloden Battlefield · On 16 April 1746 the Jacobite army of Bonnie Prince Charlie, tired and hungry, met the government army here and was destroyed in less than an hour; about fifteen hundred Jacobites died. Stones on the moor mark the graves of the clans. After the battle the government banned the kilt and the tartan and broke the power of the clan chiefs.
- Clava Cairns · A group of burial cairns and standing stones about four thousand years old, in a grove of trees. The passages of two of the cairns point to the sunset on the shortest day of the year. The site is said to have inspired the magic stones of the Outlander novels.
- Cawdor Castle · In Macbeth the witches promise him the title Thane of Cawdor. Legend says the first lord was told in a dream to build where his donkey lay down to rest, beneath a holly tree; the castle was built around the tree, and its dead trunk still stands in the vault, dated to the 1370s.
- Fort George · After Culloden the government built this huge artillery fort on a spit in the Moray Firth, finished in 1769, to hold down the Highlands. It never fired a shot in anger, and it is still an army base today, with its ramparts open to visitors.
- Chanonry Point · Across the water from Fort George, a spit with a lighthouse where the firth narrows. The Moray Firth holds one of the northernmost groups of bottlenose dolphins in the world, and on a rising tide they hunt salmon a few metres from the beach.
- Craig Phadrig · Back west of the city, a forested hill topped by an Iron Age fort whose stone walls were burned so hot that the rock melted and fused — a vitrified fort, a puzzle of Scottish archaeology. Paths lead up through the trees to views of the firth.
Loch Ness
South-west of Inverness, Loch Ness runs for about thirty-seven kilometres down the Great Glen, so deep it holds more fresh water than all the lakes of England and Wales together. Drive down one side and back up the other. A full day.
- Dores Beach · A pebble beach at the north end of the loch with a view straight down its length. A man named Steve Feltham has lived here in a converted van since 1991, watching for the monster — he holds a world record for the longest continuous monster hunt.
- Falls of Foyers · A waterfall plunging into a wooded gorge, which Robert Burns visited in 1787 and wrote a poem about. In 1896 its water was harnessed to power an aluminium works, one of the first large hydro-electric schemes in Britain.
- Fort Augustus · At the south end of the loch, a flight of five locks lifts boats on the Caledonian Canal, built by Thomas Telford and opened in 1822 to join the two coasts of Scotland through the Great Glen. Watching a boat climb the locks takes about an hour and a half.
- Urquhart Castle · A great castle on a point in the loch, fought over for centuries between the Scots and the English and the clans. In 1692 government soldiers blew it up so that the Jacobites could not use it, and it has stood in ruins ever since.
- Loch Ness Centre · The monster became famous in 1933, after a new road along the north shore brought more people to the loch. The most famous photograph, of 1934, was revealed sixty years later to be a hoax — a toy submarine with a sculpted head. Sonar searches have found no monster, but the loch is so deep and dark that the hunt goes on.
- Beauly Priory · On the way back, the ruins of a priory founded around 1230 by French monks, who named the place beau lieu, beautiful place. Legend says Mary, Queen of Scots, visiting in 1564, exclaimed the same words.
Getting to Inverness and getting around
- Inverness Airport · Twenty-five minutes east of the city
- Inverness Station · The sleeper from London, and the scenic line to Kyle for Skye
Cheap eats in Inverness
The Highlands eat haggis with neeps and tatties — turnip and potato; Cullen skink, a thick soup of smoked haddock, potato and milk; smoked salmon and venison; and for dessert cranachan, of raspberries, cream, honey, toasted oats and whisky. A haggis roll or a bowl of skink at a café is the cheap meal.
- Victorian Market · The food hall in the market
- Ness Islands · Riverside restaurants on the way
- Eden Court · A café by the river
- Cawdor Castle · Lunch in the castle café
- Fort Augustus · Pubs beside the locks
Museums in Inverness
Around Inverness history is told on the ground: a battlefield, castles and a fort, with a free museum in town.
- Culloden Battlefield · The visitor centre and the moor
- Inverness Museum · Picts and Jacobites
- Fort George · The ramparts and barracks
- Cawdor Castle · The holly tree in the vault
- Urquhart Castle · The ruin on Loch Ness
Nature and day trips near Inverness
Inverness opens onto the Highlands: the Great Glen and its lochs, firths full of dolphins, and waterfalls where salmon leap.
- Chanonry Point · Dolphins from the beach
- Rogie Falls · Salmon leaping in late summer
- Falls of Foyers · The gorge above the loch
- Dores Beach · The view down Loch Ness
- Craig Phadrig · Forest walk to the hillfort
Things to do in Inverness with kids
With children: hunting the monster, watching dolphins, castles to climb and a fort with cannons.
- Loch Ness Centre · The monster story
- Chanonry Point · Dolphin watching
- Fort George · Cannons and soldiers
- Botanic Gardens · The tropical house
Holy places in Inverness
From four-thousand-year-old cairns to medieval priories and the churches of the town.
- Clava Cairns · The ancient cairns
- Old High Church · The oldest church
- Inverness Cathedral · The towers without spires
- Beauly Priory · The beautiful place
Nightlife in Inverness
Inverness evenings are Highland music in the pubs — fiddles, accordions and Gaelic song — and a dram from the whisky shelves.
- Old High Church · Church Street’s music pubs
- Eden Court · Theatre and concerts
- Victorian Market · Bars in the centre
Frequently asked questions about Inverness
What is there to see in Inverness?
The top sights in Inverness are Inverness Castle, Inverness Museum and Old High Church. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Inverness?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Inverness without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Inverness?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Inverness, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The capital of the Highlands.
How do you get to Inverness and get around?
The main ways are Inverness Airport and Inverness Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Inverness, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Inverness that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Inverness for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.