Home > Explore Scotland > Places > Central Highlands > Inverness And Loch Ness > Inverness Area

Holidays in Inverness Area

Inverness, capital of the Highlands and one of Britain’s newest and fastest-growing cities, is strategically situated where the innermost reach of the Moray Firth meets the northern extremity of the Great Glen, the valley that runs north east/south west coast-to-coast, neatly splitting Highland Scotland in two.

Inverness’s roots go back to at least the time of the Picts and the Pictish king, Brude, is said to have met St Columba here in 565AD. A succession of castles have stood in Inverness since mediaeval times and many battles and skirmishes fought in the area.

Today, Inverness is the Gateway to the North West Highlands & Islands and is also the major Highland & Islands hub, its shops and services serving a vast area. People travelling from the West and North Coasts on a frequent basis and commute from far and wide. This gives the city a real buzz and makes it fun to visit on holiday.

You can enjoy the city’s excellent swimming pool, Eden Court Theatre, the Victorian Market, riverside restaurants and wide range of shops. You can also enjoy tours around the town, on Loch Ness or on the Moray Firth to see bottle-nose dolphins. Just along the coast is the wonderful Fort George - a great day out for all the family with it's barracks and regimental museum of the Highlanders.

West of Inverness lies the ancient and very pretty town of Beauly, which began life with the founding of a priory in the 13th century. Beauly offers some lovely walks, fishing for salmon and trout, cycling and golf – as well as restaurants and shops.

East of Inverness the main town is Nairn. Nairn stood on the traditional boundary between Highland and Lowland Scotland, so much so that King James VI, on going to London to become King James I of Britain, was able to boast that he had a town in his Kingdom with a street so long that the folk at one of it could not understand those at the other end! (Gaelic speaking Highlanders lived at one area Lowland Scots, speaking Doric - Scots English - lived at the other).

Nairn started life as a fishing village and, as with so many seaside towns in Scotland, it became a very popular holiday resort for the middle and upper classes with the coming of the railway in the middle of the 19th century. Today it boasts some lovely beaches, 2 outstanding links golf courses in Nairn and Nairn Dunbar, and nearby, the new Castle Stuart Golf Course is about to join the ranks of Britain’s Greats. You can also sail, walk, kayak and much more.

East of Inverness you will also find Culloden Battlefield, Cawdor Castle, the prehistoric Clava Cairns and the Tomatin Distillery, as well as some lovely walks and excellent salmon and trout fishing.