Highlands - Inverness Is The Gateway To The Highlands

Inverness is the City in the Highlands where you will find the warmest of welcomes whether you choose to visit, explore shop, relax or just live Inverness.

Theres plenty to see and do in and around Inverness just leave yourself enough time. Browse city shops old and new, from the Victorian Market to the new award winning shopping complex, Eastgate II.

Take a stroll to Inverness Castle, currently used as a courthouse, and St Andrews Cathedral, which dominate the River Ness and what has been described as one of the most beautiful riverside settings in Britain.

Enjoy the fine circular walk from the castle along the river and through the Ness Islands where, in the peak season from July to October, you can watch anglers casting long lines to leaping Atlantic salmon.

Buy a daily ticket and try it for yourself. Above the city lies Craig Phadrig, once the stronghold of Pictish Kings, which offers interesting forest walks. From here you can enjoy magnificent views of the Moray Firth, home to a diverse range of wildlife including bottlenose dolphins which can be seen from the shore or on trips available from harbours along the coast.

Inverness is The Gateway to the Highlands of Scotland and the surrounding area, including our famous Loch Ness and Nessie, its fabled monster. It is easy to get out of Inverness and visit many attractions close by and further afield. These can be arranged by day trips using buses, hire cars or by boat through the canal and down Loch Ness.

Inverness has a long history, having evolved from an ancient fort to the Capital of the Highlands. The city and the surrounding area are now home to 65,000 people, but it was much smaller when St Columba visited the Royal Court of the Pictish King Brude or Bridei in 565AD.

Legend has it that, in 1040, Macbeth, of Shakespeare fame, built his stronghold in Inverness. In 1158 King David of Scotland awarded Inverness its charter as a Royal Burgh.

Robert the Bruce, of spider fame, seized the first of the citys five castles from English forces in 1307 and, in 1562, Mary Queen of Scots had the Governor of Inverness Castle hanged for refusing her entry to the Burgh.

Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Jacobite troops were defeated in the famous Battle of Culloden the last battle on British soil in 1746. Thereafter, Fort George now considered the finest 18th century fort in Europe was established just outside the city.