Inveraray with Rabbie’s

We took that tour in September 2023, and really enjoyed the entire day. As I recall, we had at least two hours in Inveraray. We didn't go inside the castle, but toured the grounds and had a leisurely lunch in the tearoom, which was surprisingly affordable and tasty.

I did this Rabbie's tour in September last year--we were let off the bus at Inveraray Castle and given a couple of hours with the expectation that we would get ourselves back down to the town to meet the tour bus. This allowed plenty of time to tour the castle--ticket cost was not included, but I don't recall it being too costly--explore the gift shop with lots of quality items, and have lunch in their tea room. All of this took perhaps an hour at most. There are also gardens, but it was a bit of a chilly and drizzly day so I didn't venture there. The walk back down to the town took about 15 minutes, then I had time to walk near the edge of the loch and poke around a few shops--it's a very small town. I wish we had more time at the Loch Lomond stop, and our time at Doune Castle, the last stop, was just right. All in all I really enjoyed this tour, it was an excellent day.

As an aside, I just finished watching season 2 of The Diplomat on Netflix and was delighted to see an episode set inside Inveraray Castle--the main foyer and several other rooms have very distinctive wall decor.

I took this tour in May 2023 along with the Loch Ness, Glencoe and the Highlands tour. I preferred the Loch Ness tour, as it got out more into the Highlands and thus was more scenic. I thought the West Highlands, Lochs & Castles had too many lochs for my liking.

But to your question, my bus driver took us all to Inverary Castle to see the exterior. Those that wanted to stay could and the rest of us went down to town. Later, the bus driver picked up those of us that toured the town and we drove back up to the castle to pick up those that stayed up there. I’m sure each driver has his or her own way of doing things.

That is the lunch break stop on that tour. So, you should have an hour to an hour and a half there, depending on how on-time the day is going.

Thank you all for your input!!

As an aside, I just finished watching season 2 of The Diplomat on Netflix and was delighted to see an episode set inside Inveraray Castle--the main foyer and several other rooms have very distinctive wall decor.

I saw that episode and was thrilled that they chose to film in Scotland at Inveraray.