Inverness Travel Forum

Hi there!

I will be in Inverness by the end of next week. I would like to know how to get to famous Loch Ness from Inverness and see the major attractions.

Thanks for your help!

ronaldpk

Probably the best place to head for is Drumnadrochit, about 30-40 minutes from Inverness by car on the north side of Loch Ness. I am sure you can take a bus there, but I've never done it since I always have a car when I am staying there. It really would be best to rent a car, since there are a lot of things to see and do in the region that are only accessible that way.

Drumnadrochit has several Nessie-related tourist places and is also the location of Urquhart Castle. I have a few tips on my Drumnadrochit page.

There are buses and coach tours which run from Inverness, although I don't know how frequent they are in winter. This page has lots of transport links:
www.scotland-inverness.co.uk/inverness-trips.htm The Jacobite coach tour/cruise firm seems to operate every day, according to the their link from this page (you'll have to book in advance though).

If you end up renting a car, then make sure you visit Culloden Moor.

Thanks a lot for info!

Where can you spot the famous Nessie?

Hm.. Well... be warned you might be disappointed by what you see. IMO Loch Ness is one of the most boring places and Drumnadrochit deserves full marks as Scotland's major tourist trap. At least visit Fort Augustus which is a few miles beyond Drumnadrochit, should be served by the same bus. As someone else suggested here, Culloden Moor might be a more interesting place to visit. The same goes for Nairn and nearby Fort George, and of course Cannich and wonderful Glen Affric.

I absolutely second that, RhineRoll - as a "native" I didn't want to be too negative! Fort George can be combined with a trip to Culloden, and is well worth-while.

Hi, I support RhineRoll`s opinion, Scotland is great, but Loch Ness was rather an overcrowded tourist trap, and the castle ruins are not exactly impressive.

*giggling* -- yes, how about a "Scotland for Beginners" tour... this certainly should include:

-- The Edinburgh Dungeon/Whisky Heritage Centre on Royal Mile (two major rip-offs)
-- Lomond Shores in Balloch (who needs a shopping mall there??)
-- MacTavish's Kitchen in Fort William (aaaaaargh!)

... and of course:

-- The Monster Exhibitions in Drumnadrochit (see above)



any further suggestions to the list are welcome!

Lots of people are trying to discourage me from visiting Scotland - Loch Ness is a tourist trap, be aware of Scots as they won't like your ethnic background, et.c.

I will ignore such comments and will enjoy my trip to Scotland to the fullest! And I will eat haggis, as well!

LOL -- nobody tries to discourage you from Scotland, there is nothing in this thread suggesting so -- I will be going there myself in April BTW, it will be my 10th time. And of course, if it is what you want, you can also go visit the Loch Ness Monster, along with all the other people going there. I hope you like Loch Ness -- enjoy your visit!

Ha!

I was in Inverness on Sunday. Don't be put off. Loch Ness is spectacular. See my travel pages.

Lots of other stuff to see and do.

Touristy?

Well I visited Prague in October and Istanbul in August, so I've seen touristy. Scotland's no worse.

I fully agree that Drumnadrochit has some very tourist-trap attractions, but then again, the loch and the surrounding area are really beautiful. The touristy part of Drum is about two blocks long, and once you get away from that, you're totally fine. I stay there because my great friend has a house there (see my Drumnadrochit page), and if you have your own car, it's a great base of operations. Inverness is really nice too, very compact and quite attractive.

I think there's a notable difference between places like Prague/Istanbul and the Highlands. Cities need people. A busload of package tourists in Prague is just another busload of package tourists. Cities live from the presence of people, it's part of what makes them attractive. That is not the case with the Highlands IMO -- their particular attractiveness is the natural grandeur and solitude. Hence, a busload of package tourists in Rannoch Moor pretty much spoils the attractiveness of the place, if you are unfortunate to get caught in it. For instance, on the A 82 between Bridge of Orchy and Glencoe, there are a couple of notorious parking which are big enough for buses to stop and so there are ugly fastfood stands and pipers playing for tourist money . Especially if you also stop at less crowded places along the road and hiked a bit on the West Highland Way running parallel to the road on the old drove/military road and if you then stop at one of these tourist trappy parking lots, you cannot fail to notice how alien this business is to the place.

Granted, though, it's easy to get away from the crowds, and I agree with the above post that this is also possible with Drumnadrochit/Loch Ness, if only you step aside a bit. Even by car.. for instance, there's a very interesting and infrequently travelled backroad on the southern side of Loch Ness well worth exploring (B 852). I still think Fort Augustus is nicer than "the bridge of the ridge" (Drumnadrochit). And if you are after natural grandeur, with Inverness as a base (a very good one IMO), it is well worth checking out some excellent alternatives to Loch Ness, such as Glen Affric, Glen Nevis, the roads to the Isles, the road to Ullapool and beyond either to Gairloch or to Coigach.

In the end, it is of course a matter of personal taste and preference, and there is nothing wrong to choose Loch Ness over these places if it is so high on your priority list. This is merely to make aware of alternatives and to discuss differring viewpoints -- the choice is always a personal one.