Inverness

My family and I took the "Reflections" boat tour on Loch Ness from Inverness. It was very nice. Round trip from Inverness. It does not "Land" at Uruquhart Castle. The boat cruises slowly next to it for an excellent view. The castle is in ruins, so I was satisfied with the boat only view and not walking around the ruins.
If your group is small, you can wait until you arrive in Inverness and sign-up for a trip at the tourist center close to the river. That's what we did and had no problems.

If you are game for a VERY long day trip, you can visit the Orkney Islands. The tour left from the Inverness bus station, went to John O'Groats (nothing much but a ferry port), ferry to Mainland (the principal Orkney island), bus picks you up, you see Ring of Brodgar, Skara Brae, and others. The drive back was very pretty - lovely views over the water.....For something closer to Inverness, there's Culloden and Clava Cairns in one direction, Urquhart Castle (ruins are extensive, IMHO worth a visit) and Glen Affric in the other direction.

Maria, our family used Puffin tours for a day trip to the Isle of Skye.

We will be stopping n Orkney a couple of days after. We were looking for a tour to loch ness and the castle wondering what we should do aside from that. I am looking at companies other than Jacobite that are reliable.

Are you looking for Day Trips from Inverness? You could do some on your own. One would be to take the train to Skye. It's a beautiful trainride. There are some tours of Skye from Kyle of Lochalsh to Skye. They do have mixed reviews. But you could probably catch a cab or bus to Eilean Donan. Plockton might be a nice stop on the way back. I had friends who made a day trip of it to Plockton. You know that you can get to Culloden Battlefield by the city bus, very easily. And from there it's a 20-25 minute walk over the Clava Cairns on a very pretty country road. Alternatively, you can email the Inverness Tourist office and ask them. Here's the link the Visit Scotland website for Inverness. I have found them to be very responsive. http://www.visitscotland.com/info/services/inverness-information-centre-p333031?utm_source=google&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Google%2B%2B%2BLocal

Thank you for the info !!

I second the Puffin Skye tour- it was great! And I actually liked Skara Brae better than Culloden. The John O Groats tour to Orkney is long, but amazing. As for Loch Ness, try the Tourist Office in downtown Inverness. It booked our tour with only a day's notice and we got off at the Castle. There were several choices and I took their recommendation, but I can't remember which company offered the tour. Have fun. There isn't a lot to do in Inverness proper but it is a great center for touring other areas. The Black Isle is close, too.

There are several tour companies listed here: http://www.visitlochness.com/things-to-do/loch-ness-tours.php