Inverness as a base of travels?

Compared with most places in Scotland, Inverness can't really be described s 'relatively small'...It is the major town for that part of the area. It does have plenty of accommodation, restaurants etc. People either love it or hate it... I like it. There is always a buzz and bustle to the place.

While there isn't a lot to actually see Inverness - the castle is currently closed and undergoing a multimillion pound refurbishment as a new visitor attraction planned to open in 2025, with eating and shopping as well immersive experiences about the landscape, heritage, culture and people, surrounded by landscaped gardens. There is a cathedral, museum and some very nice walks along the river.

Scotland doesn't really do 'quaint'. If you wanted a smaller place to stay, then look at Strathpeffer (Victorian spa town), Dingwall or Beauly with its ruined abbey. All are just a short drive from Inverness and would give good access to all of the places listed below.

Inverness is a good base with plenty of choice for day trips.

• Culloden along with Clava Cairns

• Fort George

• Nairn for the sea side

• Elgin with its ruined abbey

• Dornoch with its cathedral

• Dunrobin Castle - home of the Dukes of Sutherland

• Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness with its 'monster'

• Glen Affric - one of the prettiest glens and yet to be discovered - for scenery and walks eg Dog Falls

• Scenic drive to Kyle of Lochalsh (and across the bridge to Skye - but you won't see much of Skye on a day trip...)

• Black Isle - for scenery and small towns

• Aviemore and a trip on the funicular railway to the top of Cairngorm

• Ride on the Strathspey Steam railway

and this is just the start....

I might be inclined to split this with half at Grantown on Spey or Boat of Garten or Nethy Bridge or Carrbridge; the other half either on the Black Isle (Fortrose or Cromarty) or even further north at Tain or Dornoch.

Those locations fit the quaint bill to me. BoG or Nethy Bridge may be a bit small for you- so Grantown may be the better fit for the southern half.

All the advice above is good, but I most certainly would not describe Inverness as "quaint" in any way! It is very much a working city and the centre for all of us who live out in the sticks and need to travel there sometimes to stock up on essentials. Personally I would not want to base myself there for a vacation with a view to exploring on foot. If you want to really explore the western Highlands and or any of the Hebridean islands you'll want a different base. While distances might look small on the map, journeys take a long time as the roads are not multi lane highways but one lane in each direction, and in some areas single lanes shared by both directions with passing places (known as single track roads). If what you are looking for is amazing scenery with lots of hiking I'd personally suggest a rethink and consider maybe Fort William or Ullapool for the western Highlands, or somewhere east/south east of Inverness (e.g. Nairn or Grantown on Spey) for Speyside.

if you would like to have restaurants at the walking distance, then is a good idea to stay in Inverness city centre hotels by the river Ness. There is not much to see in the city itself (half day for sightseeing) and as weseley said the best is outside. For 8-12 days it is quite long to stay just in Inverness, so I would recommend splitting it into two locations. I would recommend Pitlochry as a second place to stay or Oban on the west coast.

We are firmly in the ‘like Inverness’ camp but charming is an attribute that does not come to mind.. As others have said it is a small working city. We have used it for a base in our first trip to Scotland and will be staying there again this Spring for several days. Also, we prefer to fly out of the Inverness airport.

As we don’t drive we found Inverness perfect for our needs, being able to walk to the grocers, we self catered, and being able to walk to the bus/train stations for little jaunts out of town. Additionally, there are several companies that offer day tours, group and bespoke, to the areas outside of Inverness. Yes, the day tours can be on the longish side but bespoke tours can be shorter. We did take a couple bespoke day tours that were absolutely wonderful, varied circular loop so no double back returning to Inverness.

Have you found the Undiscovered Scotland website? It’s a great resource for describing places of interest, even driving routes, that could help you decide where you would like to base. The map is interactive, just click on a section and follow the links. Wasleys has given you some great information and Undiscovered Scotland site can provide more information regarding those excellent suggestions.
https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/