Inverness Castle and the River Ness

Inverness [1] is the city at the heart of the Scottish Highlands and the principal centre for administration and commerce.

Understand

Advertised as "the Gateway to the Highlands" by the local authority, Inverness is regarded as the center for commercial and industry for the Scottish Highlands, with continuing new investment in traditional industries and new hi-tech industries. It is also claimed as one of the fastest growing citys in Europe.

Get in

By plane

Inverness has an airport served by British Airways, Easyjet, BMI, Eastern Airways, AerArran, and Highland Airways. It is sited between Nairn and Inverness and accessible from the Inverness - Aberdeen road. Limited charter services fly out from this airport. A taxi from the airport into the city costs between £10 and £12. There are also buses.

Inverness airport - links to all scheduled services

By car

Inverness can be reached from the south by the A9 from the south (Perth & M90 from Edinburgh, Glasgow) and from Aberdeen, 110 miles by the A96 road. The A82 reaches Inverness from the south-west, Loch Ness, Fort William and eventually to Skye. None of the roads to Inverness are entirely dual-carriageway. The A9 continues to Thurso on the extreme north coast of the Scottish mainland.

By train

Inverness railway station is located in the City Centre. There are direct services to Edinburgh, Glasgow and London from the south and Aberdeen from the east. There are two scenic lines: to Thurso and Wick, and to Kyle of Lochalsh.

If you're travelling from London, the sleeper train is an excellent way to travel. It leaves from London Euston and arrives between 0800 - 0830.

Be warned. There is sometimes an error with the booking system through the internet if you intend to sit rather than book a sleeping berth; if your ticket says 'no seat reserved', you need to either phone up First Scot Rail or visit your nearest train station to reserve one (for free). If you don't have a reserved seat you may not be allowed on the train, despite having bought a ticket with the times and dates of the train printed on them!

By bus

• Buses from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth, operated by Citylink and Megabus
• Stagecoach Bluebird buses from Aberdeen
• National Express run buses from England.

By boat

The Caledonian Canal links the Beauly Firth through Loch Ness to Fort William at the foot of Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain.

Get around

By bus

There are around fifty bus routes travelling in and around Inverness, mainly operated by Stagecoach Inverness[2] and Rapsons Highland [3]. It helps to know where your destination actually is as certain services, especially those run by Rapsons, do not have detailed information on the outside of the bus. The average fare for inner-city travel is around £1.20 single adult and 60p for children, though this may vary from time to time.

By train

No inner-city train services operate, though trains do provide excellent transport links to surrounding towns and villages, notably Beauly.

By taxis

This is probably the most efficient form of transport after hours, as most bus services cease or become less frequent at about 7pm. You won't be expected to pay a great deal for a taxi as Inverness is rather small and routes are very direct. Some black cabs do exist, though the majority of taxis are minicabs. These are all fairly trustworthy.

By limousine

Limos are available for hire from certain operators at a rate of about £70/hour. However, around the country limousines have become associated with hen nights and similar events, therefore the effect of class they have has been somewhat diluted!

By bike

There are a few cycle lanes [4] on Inverness roads. However there are many combined cycle-footpaths where bicycles are welcome.

See

Inverness Castle and River Ness

• Inverness Castle [5] at the end of the western pedestrian zone. It is a relatively new castle built in 1847 to replace a medieval castle blown up by the Jacobites. It houses the Sheriff's Court and cannot be seen as a visitor (you at least should try to never see it from the inside).

• Inverness Museum & Art Gallery [6], Castle Wynd (base of Inverness Castle), 237114. The museum has a collection of Pictish stones and wildlife dioramas, as well as historic weapons. Closed in July 2006 for major refurbishment, due to reopen in January 2007.

Do

• Located on the south side of the Moray Firth with picturesque River Ness flowing through the city, it is worth taking a walk to the Ness Islands [7]. From the castle, walk upstream along the River Ness for less than 1 mile.

• Inverness offers activities from golfing to watersports.

• A bicycle ride through the Ness Islands and along the waterfront is highly recommended.

Buy

Eastgate Centre (Shopping Mall) [8]

Eat

Inverness has a wide selection of restaurants to suit all tastes and budgets. There are a number of quality restaurants serving a mixture of traditional Scottish food and modern cuisine using locally sourced produce. Worthy of a mention are:

• The Mustard Seed [9]

• Rocpool

• Glenmoriston Hotel

• Cafe1 - Beside Rileys and simply a bit of an institution

• Castle Restaurant - Cheap, cheerful and popular. Also very convenient for the High Street.

• La Tortilla Asesina [10] The tapas bar where lovers of all things Spanish meet. Opposite the road entrance to the castle.

Check the easyjet guide - meal prices up to €15 (£10) [11] up to €30 (£20) [12] and over ... [13]

Drink

Inverness has a 12 o'clock curfew. You will not be allowed to enter any pub or club after midnight apart from the one you are already in. So don't get caught out as some pubs close at midnight and then your night ends!

There's plenty of live music and good lively atmospheres around so have fun exploring. Hootananny's is the chief of those, offering (predominantly) celtic entertainment.

As in all Scotland, all our enclosed public places - which includes all eating places and bars - are non-smoking. A few have outside seating areas.

Sleep

Budget

• Inverness Youth HostelVictoria Drive, ph: 0870 004 1127, [14] A modern 5 star hostel with excellent facilities. Some small rooms en-suite, internet, laundry. £10.75-13.50/5.00-12.00 (adult/child). Open all year.

• Bazpackers, 4 Culduthel Rd, Inverness, IV2 4AB, ph: 01463 717663[15] A perfect combination of cleanliness and informality. This hostel is quite small so booking in advance is advised. They have a resident cat called Polly.

• Bught caravan and camping site, Bught Lane, Inverness, IV3 5SR, ph: 01463 236920, [16] is just off the main road out to Loch Ness and Fort William. Open March to November, it is situated conveniently for a very pleasant 20 minute walk along the river into the city centre.

Mid range

Splurge

• Culloden House Hotel [17], beautiful Country House Hotel set 3 miles out of the city centre, great food, magnificent rooms, tele - 01463 790461. Culloden House is where Bonny Prince Charlie slept, the night before the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

Get out

• Inverness is a good base for a visit to the evocative Culloden Battlefield, scene of Bonny Prince Charlie's final defeat in 1746

• Clava Cairns, close to Culloden battlefield (leaving the carpark turn right and right again at the next intersection, follow the signs). The Clava Carins is a Bronze Age burial site. No admission charge. Site in care of Historic Scotland and accessible all year.

• Loch Ness is not as close as many people think. Jacobite have buses travelling to Loch Ness from Inverness to link up with their cruise boats. Cruises may be joined at Tomnahurich, at the southern edge of the city. For the first 3/4 miles, these sail down the famous and scenic Caledonian Canal and then down Loch Ness itself. Alternatively you may board at Drumnadrochit for the return sail, having visited nearby Urquhart Castle [18] and the Loch Ness Visitor Centre[19] which carries the story of Nessie [20]].

Mountain Resorts

There are two mountain resorts within easy reach of Inverness. Both started life as ski facilities but now cater for a wide range of year-round activities and have mountain-top restaurants and shops.

• Cairngorm Mountain [21] - is approx. 30 miles away near Aviemore and has Scotland's only funicular railway.

• If you have a car you can also easily reach the Nevis Range [22] in Fort William, some 63 miles away. At Nevis Range the mountain (which is called Aonach Mor and is 'next door' to Ben Nevis) is ascended by a cable-car gondola system.