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Tourist Info
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Our B & B property is located near to the centre of
the City of Inverness, the Capital of the
Highlands.
This is a rapidly growing city incorporating new and old,
from the recently completed Eastgate Centre with its large new
Debenhams store, to the Victorian Market centre with its variety of
interesting individual shops, these including a music shop selling
bagpipes.
Inverness has all the facilities you would expect of a modern city -
theatres, cinemas, restaurants, pubs, hotels, leisure centre, etc.,
not to mention some very attractive riverside walks alongside the
River Ness. It is from here that the Great Glen way starts on its
73-mile journey south west to Fort William.
See our
"Useful Links" page for links to a number of
Inverness websites. |
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In the immediate vicinity of
Inverness the largest and most obvious attraction is Loch Ness
- and the possibility of spotting Nessie, perhaps! A visit to The
Official Loch Ness Monster Exhibition Centre at Drumnadrochit should therefore be on
your list of things to do! Cruises on Loch Ness are available from
Inverness.
If you have a car, there is a drive which can be taken right
around the loch, incorporating a most pleasant B-road which runs
along the far shore and which incorporates part of General Wade's
Military Road. On this south east side of Loch Ness there is a fine
set of forest walks with excellent views above the village of Inverfarigaig, whilst at Dores there is an attractive village pub.
Also on Loch Ness just outside Drumnadrochit village is Castle
Urquhart, standing in a commanding position on a rocky outcrop. See
our
"Useful Links" page for links to websites of this area. |
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Other boat trips available from Loch Ness
take you into the Moray Firth which is home to about 130
Bottlenose Dolphins. These are normally seen as
groups of six or seven animals comprising two or three
females and their young. The males are usually more solitary and
are very often not present. The dolphins in the Moray Firth are
almost unique to the coast of Britain and in the summer they
can often be seen in inshore waters, much to the enjoyment of
both visitors and local residents.
See our
"Useful Links"
page for links to a number of websites about dolphins and
dolphin cruise trips. |
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Close to Inverness are
several castles and places of historical interest. The main ones of
these are Cawdor Castle, Culloden Battlefield (the scene of the last
major battle fought on mainland Britain), Brodie Castle and
Fort George. The latter in particular is
quite fascinating, having been built shortly after the Battle of
Culloden as a military garrison housing some 1600 infantry, and
intended to quell any further Jacobite risings. The fort was built
at huge cost equivalent to nearly £1 billion in today's money, and
represents the mightiest artillery fortification in Britain. It is
still in regular use today as a working army barracks, although
there have been recent talks about this use discontinuing. A very
important side attraction of Fort George is that the dolphins
mentioned above can often
be seen from its ramparts which give a grandstand view across the
Moray Firth. See our
"Useful Links" page for links to a number of websites
about these places of interest. |
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For those who wish to tour, there is much to see and explore
in this delightful area of Scotland. The attractions of Wester Ross
and Skye & Lochalsh, from Fort William and Ben Nevis in the south to
Gairloch and Ullapool in the north, are within easy striking distance.
To the east there is the lovely area of Speyside with its
numerous malt whisky distilleries, together with the sandy beaches
and attractive coastal towns of Nairn, Forres and Lossiemouth along
the south side of the Moray Firth. |
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Just a few miles' drive to the south west of Inverness is the famous and very beautiful
Glen Affric with
its stunning views. At the end of the public road, there is a car
park from which there are waymarked walks, long distance and hill
walks.
As
mentioned above, the very attractive Speyside area is within easy
motoring distance to the east, approached via the magnificent town
of Grantown-on-Spey. From Grantown, the Malt Whisky Trail can be reached,
taking you to many of the whisky distilleries in the area. Names
such as Glenfarclas, Glenfiddich, Macallan, Aberlour, Glenlivet, to
name but a few, will be familiar to most people. Most of the
distilleries are open to visitors and offer tours which usually
include a free dram - most enjoyable, but please be careful if you
are the driver! See our
"Useful Links" page for links to a number of distillery
websites. |
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A few miles to the north of Inverness up the
A9 lies the pretty little village of Dornoch, a place which has made
the headlines in recent years as the venue for Madonna's wedding.
One of its other claims to fame is a quite superb and seemingly
endless stretch of sandy beach along the shore of the Dornoch Firth.
At the time of the writer's last visit to Dornoch, there was a shop
in the village selling quite the most delicious Italian ice cream
ever tasted - an absolute "must visit"! Whilst on the subject of
food and drink, you will pass the Dalmore and Glenmorangie malt
whisky distilleries when travelling up the A9 from Inverness towards
Dornoch. There are links to the websites for both these distilleries
on our
"Useful Links" page. |
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Travelling south west and then west from
Inverness, a whole new area of the Highlands opens up, the
beautiful West Coast with its many sea lochs. The combination of
mountains and water is quite magnificent and attracts visitors from
all around the world. A superb day out can be had
in Skye & Lochalsh and Wester Ross by making a round
trip drive via Invermoriston and the A887/A87 to the west towards
Kyle of Lochalsh, and then returning via the A890/A832 through
Achnasheen, Garve, Muir of Ord and Beauly. This journey takes you
through some of the most stunning scenery in the British Isles, and
you will see a number of famous landmarks on the way - Cluanie Inn,
the dramatic Glen Shiel, the Five Sisters of Kintail and Eilean
Donan Castle to mention but a few. Detours from this route can be
made to Glenelg (which has a car ferry crossing to Skye) via Mam
Ratagan, with some truly spectacular views on the way. |
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Also, from
Kyle of Lochalsh you can cross to the Isle of Skye via the Skye
Bridge (now toll-free!), from where another whole new world waits to
be explored! The view below shows the bridge as seen from Kyle Akin.
Just at the right-hand end of the bridge are the Eilean
Bàn cottages, formerly the home of the writer, Gavin Maxwell,
the author of "Ring of Bright Water". The cottages now house
the Eilean Bàn Trust and
the
Bright Water
Visitor Centre. |
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Another possible detour from the round trip suggested
above takes in Lochcarron (reputed to be the longest village in
Scotland) and Kishorn, from where there is a mountain road leading
to Applecross via the Bealach na Ba (Pass of the Cattle).
This road
starts from sea level and reaches an altitude of 2,053 feet, pretty
well the highest road in Britain. This is a most spectacular drive
with some magnificent scenery along the way, especially from the car
park at the top from which one has a panoramic view across to the
Isles of Skye and Raasay.
On the far side one reaches the pretty
little village of Applecross with its excellent inn which has
deservedly won several awards for its food. |
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Travelling
north west from Inverness, an easy drive on good roads takes one to
the very attractive town of Ullapool in its pretty setting on the
shores of Loch Broom. The town originally grew around the local
fishing industry and celebrated its bicentenary a few years ago.
Today it is kept busy with tourists and is the terminal for the
Caledonian MacBrayne ferry service to Stornoway. Ullapool is home to
a variety of shops, restaurants, hotels and inns, the most notable
of which is the Ferry Boat Inn on the harbour front. En
route to or from Ullapool, time should be taken to stop at the
Corrieshalloch Gorge and the Falls of Measach, which can be viewed
from a suspended viewing platform. The falls are quite a sight,
especially after heavy rain - there is a link to a descriptive
website on our
"Useful Links" page. |
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Another excellent round trip
drive taking in the northern part of Wester
Ross can be had by travelling the A835
from Inverness as far as Garve, and thence via the A832 right around
through Achnasheen, Kinlochewe, Gairloch, Aultbea, Laide and
Dundonnell, rejoining the A835 Ullapool road at Braemore Junction.
This journey takes in a wealth of sights and places: Glen Docherty,
Loch Maree, Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve, superb beaches at
Gairloch and Gruinard Bay, the tropical gardens at Inverewe - the
list goes on and on.
See our
"Useful Links" page for links to websites about the area.
For
local
views in and
around Inverness itself, please see
our
Photo
Gallery.
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