INVERNESS Scotland

The Black Isle is quite nice and I just checked on Google maps and it looks like there is a bus from Inverness to Cromarty. Cromarty is lovely little town. I visited a few years ago. And the bus goes through Fortrose and Rosemarkie. You can visit the Fortrose Cathedral. You can get a good meal at The Anderson. You can walk out to Chanory Point and look for dolphins. Or you can just go on out to Cromarty. If you haven't found Undiscovered Scotland on the Internet google it and look up these towns. There is not a distillery in town, however, you can take the train to Muir of Ord and tour the Glen Ord Distillery. I've not done it, but I have some friends who enjoyed their visit. Also, within walking distance20-30 minutesof the Battlefield are the Clava Cairns. You might also think about visiting Fort George. They have great views of the Moray Firth and it's an interesting counterpoint to Culloden. In Inverness, itself there are some nice short walks along the rivers and the Ness Islands. There is a great used bookstore called Leakey's. Nice little cafe for lunch. I had a great meal the Mustard Seed. Book a reservation. Hootenanny has great live music and you can get a pub dinner there. There's a local museum. Pam

Inverness has THE BEST tourist information office I've ever seen. I'd check there (or on the web beforehand) to get an idea of what is available. There are LOTS of day tours (with a wide range of prices) you can do. Isle of Skye- with a stop at Elien Donan castle and a drive through some lovely glens, drives with stops for walks in several bealutiful places, gardens, photography day trips, cruises on the firth to see dolphins and puffins and other 'wild' life, various castles and ruins, even a long one up to Orkney and back as well as some distillery tours.

H Pam, I appreciate your information. What is Fort George? Is it preserved? Who occupied Fort George? I will google the towns you suggested. Thanks!

Before Pamela gives you good information I have a suggestion. Buy a copy of the Rough Guide to Scotland. The correct title is "Scotland, The Rough Guide". Some big book stores have it as well as Amazon.

Thank you everyone for the tips. I googled "undiscovered Scotland" and found a lot of info. I will keep Toni's info. in mind as well. Maybe we can find some interesting easy one day tours at the TI. I am thinking of Fortrose/Black Isle area. This is near the end of our vacation and I would like something easy.

Fort George is the Fort that was built after Culloden by the English. It's right on the coast. It has a museum in it, but it is also still an active military base. The George is as in King George. I'm not sure if it's the 2nd or the 3rd. ; ) Pam

We'll be in the Inverness area in mid-July, and one of the places we're definitely going to be going to is Dunrobin Castle, near Golspie north of Inverness on the main road towards Caithness. Look it up on the castle's Undiscovered Scotland page(s) (the castle, gardens, and museum all have their own page)--it looks really gorgeous, and they have falconry exhibitions twice a day!

I've visited Dunrobin twice, but then my middle name is Sutherland. ; ) The gardens are beautiful, and the castle is interesting. There's a bizarre museum in the garden with lots of natural and historical objects that the dukes have collected. Also, if you go as far north as Golspie to Dunrobin, go a wee bit further (a mile?) and you'll see the see the ruin of a broch, which you can explore and you can easily walk down a rocky beach by the North Sea. Pam

Leakey's was a surprise favorite with my family. (Besides the big things like Loch Ness/Urquhart Castle, Culloden, etc.) My husband, 18 year old daughter, 13 year old son and I loved this bookstore/cafe. My son, looking over my shoulder just now, said the "atmosphere is great, it's just a great place." Maybe he's just fondly remembering his first taste of Irnbru? We're book-y people, so prowling around an old church that smells of old books was perfect.