The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Jewel in the north a perfect starting point for exploring
Inverness is a fantastic base for trips around the Scottish Highlands, as Robin discovers
I’ve long been a fan of Inverness. Both as a city in its own right but also as a base for exploring the huge swathe of the Highlands that lie within easy reach on a day trip. There are options for all, from historic battlefields and cragged castles through to dolphin adventures and hikes that open up some of Scotland’s finest scenery.
It’s important to get the right base for a day trip-sprinkled holiday. I’ve just been back to Inverness with my young family and can recommend the Highland Apartments by Mansey (www. bymansley.com). Our plush modern apartment was massive with a lovely open plan living and dining area with views out over the River Ness. I also loved the large balcony, which would be a great place to enjoy breakfast or a sundowner in the warmer months. Handily for day trips there is on site parking too.
Apartments make for the ideal base as you have complete freedom and a kitchen on hand to put together picnics for your day trips. I can also recommend Gael Holiday Homes, who have a range of more than 40 properties across the city, but also further afield if you fancy basing yourself somewhere outside Inverness. I’ve written a series of blogs for them on day trip options in the area if you want even more ideas at www. gaelholidayhomes.co.uk/blog.
My first day trip idea doesn’t even involve driving out of Inverness. It is heading off on the scenic waters of the Moray Firth with Dolphin Spirit (www. dolphinspirit.co.uk) on one of their excellent dolphin spotting trips. The estuary is home to the most northerly pod of bottlenose dolphins in the world and they are famously active so there is a great chance of enjoying a good sighting. Bring your camera and remember to click the shutter release as soon as you see any movement or you’ll miss our marine mammal cousins.
Heading north we cross the Moray Firth on the Kessock Bridge for a day on the Black Isle. This criminally unheralded part of Scotland is brilliant for exploring. If you want more dolphins head for Chanonry Point, where you can come face to face with them at the beach. The best time to come is around one to two hours after low tide when they come right in to feed in the shallows.
A trio of villages also tempt on the Black Isle. Fortrose in the south boasts its mighty cathedral and near neighbour Rosemarkie offers a good beach and a wee walk in the RSPB’s Fairy Glen reserve. On the northern coast the star is Cromarty, a picturesque wee escape that is home to an ace bakery, the Hugh Miller Cottage and Museum and a craft brewery. I also thoroughly recommend Ecoventures (www.ecoventures.co.uk), an award winning local RIB boat operator who offer trips out in search of not only bottlenose dolphins but porpoises and whales too.
Head east from Inverness and we are instantly into blockbusting history. Two sights stand out. First is the site of the Battle of Culloden on Drumossie Moor. This epochal battlefield is managed by the National Trust for Scotland, who have done a great job of making the site easy to navigate, as well as building an impressive modern visitor centre that is sewn into the landscape rather than dominating it.
On my most recent trip I took my wee girls to Culloden to teach them about some of the backdrop to what forms both the Highlands and Scotland today. Whatever your sense of history or politics, Culloden is a must visit and really puts the fascinating Jacobite rebellions in a more understandable context. The ‘Battle Immersion’ cinema experience also chillingly brings the horror of the brutal fighting to life.
Experiencing this first hand really sets you up for then going out on to the field of battle. We made our way across the moor to the stone marker where my
clan stood on Drumossie Moor back on April 16 1746 and tried to imagine how the 400 Cameron men felt before they charged into the cannon and musket fire from the extreme of the Jacobite right. My girls were far more interested being here than just hearing about Culloden at home or school.
Just up the road is a striking edifice that forms a dramatic historic full stop to the Jacobite years. Mighty Fort George, which still dominates the approach to Inverness up the Moray Firth, was forged to ensure the Highland clans would never rise against the government again. It is still currently garrisoned by the British Army, but much of the site is given over to museum space. On our visit we enjoyed wandering around the vast ramparts taking in the hulking cannons and spotting dolphins again in the waters below.
Heading south, it is not long down the A9 before you arrive in the Cairngorms National Park, the UK’s largest national park.
I recommend timing your visit to focus on Rothiemurchus (www. rothiemurchus.net). This well run estate is very well set up for visitors, and welcoming too. I enjoy hiking around its woodland trails taking in the twin lochs, Loch Morlich and Loch an Eilein, and stopping off for a local venison burger from the estate café en route.
The activities at Rothiemurchus don’t end there.
You can explore the estate’s network of trails on two wheels with bike hire available as you enter the estate from Aviemore by the car park. In the warmer months there are watersports too, like kayaking and rafting for those looking for whitewater thrills. If that is not enough there is archery, pony trekking and even sleddog rides.
The family-run Cairngorm Sleddog Centre can take you out for a unique ride (www.sled-dogs.co.uk).
Turning our focus to the west, we head a little south-west to the bonnie, bonnie banks of Scotland’s most famous loch – Ness. It never fails to stun me contemplating that there is said to be more fresh water in this loch than in all the lakes in England and Wales put together. Let that idea sink in for a minute!
Handily there are boat cruises out on to Loch Ness from Inverness itself so you don’t need to take the car. Awardwinning Jacobite Cruises (www.jacobite. co.uk) have a number of vessels and really know what they are doing. With extras like onboard sonar they are also great at whipping up a bit of Nessie fever.
If you want to get active around Loch Ness you are in luck as the Great Glen Way (www.highland.gov.uk/ggw) runs from the heart of Inverness out through the Ness Islands towards the loch.
You can just choose to walk a section of the trail, either circling back or taking a bus or taxi one way. You can cycle the route too, and since 2012 there has been the option to hop in a canoe or kayak and tackle the Great Glen Canoe Trail (www.greatglencanoetrail.info).
If history is more your thing then you will want to make a visit to rugged Urquhart Castle one of your day trips. This is one of Scotland’s most striking castles, which clings to the banks of Loch Ness with a fold of mountains sweeping all around.
This romantic ruin is great for rambling around and kids love it. While you are here I recommend popping into nearby Fort Augustus to check out the lock staircase that eases boats down to Loch Ness.
I finished my weekend at the Highland Apartments out on my balcony overlooking the River Ness. The charms of the Highland capital unfurled all around and I resolved to be back to explore the city, but also enjoy the multitude of superb day trip escapes that lie within easy reach of the Highland capital.