Inverness Castle, Clava, Culloden Battlefield and Loch Ness
Description
Explore the wild and beautiful Scottish Highlands on this small-group tour from Inverness or Invergordon. Following pickup from Inverness or Invergordon simply hop aboard an air-conditioned Minibus and head into nature. Visit the 4000 year old Outlander Stones that are Clava Cairns and the Culloden Battlefield and then head to the |Highland capitol of Inverness, to explore the Castle Museum. Then look out for Nessie as we head west along the famous shoreline of Loch Ness. Learn all about Highland Clan families and culture. This small-group tour is capped at seven people for a personal outing. See many of the Highlands’ key attractions. Round-trip transit makes getting around seamless. See castles, battlefields, archaeological sites, and even Loch Ness
Tour Options
Itinerary
Our first stop will be to the Clava cairns. Clava Cairns are a well-preserved Bronze Age cemetery complex of passage graves; ring cairns, kerb cairns and standing stones in a beautiful setting. Clava Cairns or the Prehistoric Burial Cairns of Bulnuaran of Clava are a group of three Bronze Age cairns located near Inverness. A hugely significant and exceptionally well preserved prehistoric site, Clava Cairns is a fantastic example of the distant history of Highland Scotland, dating back about 4,000 years.
Our second stop... is a visit to the powerfully moving site of the final Jacobite Rising – the last and most harrowing pitched battle to be fought on British soil between Scotland and England. Explore the interactive visitor centre, view fascinating artefacts from both sides of the confrontation, and experience the battle in the immersive surround cinema. (Entry to this adventure is included in your ticket price) On 16 April 1746, the final Jacobite Rising came to a brutal head. Jacobite supporters, seeking to restore the Stuart monarchy to the British thrones, gathered to fight the Duke of Cumberland's government troops. It was the last pitched battle on British soil and, in less than an hour, around 1,500 men were slain – more than 1,000 of them Jacobites.
a new visitor attraction in the centre of Inverness, celebrating the 'Spirit of the Highlands' through its stories of past, present and future. The Inverness Castle Experience, a must-see visitor attraction opening in 2025.
Lets stop at the entry stairway down to the shoreline of the most famous Loch in the world. If you have no fear of the monster that may lurk below the water then why not dip a toe or two into the deceptively warm water.
Step into the smallest Gin distillery in Scotland and sample their world award winning Gin, while you listen to the incredible story of their local adventure leading up to the opening of this amazing Gin. NOTE: The Distillery will be closed during the winter months
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(200)
Great weather and sights. Continual anti-English comments wore thin but otherwise a pleasant day with a knowledgeable guide with entertaining stories.
This tour covers a lot of sights and note that you will need pay for some entrances if you so desire. Also, if you are an Outlander fan, you will not cover the filming sights. However, this is an excellent tour putting you in that period of history. Sara our guide was extremely knowledgeable and was very good with the pacing of the tour. It ended on a great note, by Loch Ness with a "wee dram".
This was an absolutely fantastic day where we visited the Culloden Battlefield and Cawdrey Castle. Our tour guide Alistair was incredibly knowledgeable and gave us so many interesting facts. He carefully prepared us on our way to Culloden with the history surrounding the events leading up to the conflict so we could fully understand and visualise how the battle took place. He made sure we knew where he would meet us and was ready to take us on a walk around the battlefield where he pointed out important strategic manoeuvres by the English and the catastrophic failings of the clans which led to such tragic consequences. We then went to Cawdrey Castle where he left us to enjoy the audio commentary and met us afterwards in the Castle Cafeteria. His timings were meticulous which relieved any stress of having to find him. He was so considerate to his approach both with us and a few people who found him highly engaging along the tour. He dealt with us and other members of the public in a very kind and respectful way. He took us for a lovely walk around the gardens and had brought along umbrellas just in case the weather became inclement. Our final stop was at Loch Ness where he took us to a spectacular viewing point and explained all the information about the Loch and we ended up in an adorable bar which has a very comprehensive range of whiskey. I can honestly say that Alistair was the best tour guide we have ever had and his incredible attention to detail, kindness, detailed knowledge of area we visited was amazing. We loved the trip and thoroughly enjoyed the whole day. The highlight by far for me was when he took us to see the Clydesdale Horses and we got and fed them grass which they couldn’t reach from the side of the road. Another family stopped in a car and he took time to show the children who were timid of the huge animals how to feed them. I would wholeheartedly recommend this tour and think it is exceptional value for money.
The van was so crammed with no a/c that we were ready to pass out! We had to go back for people that were late by 39 minutes which wasted an hour of our tour and did not get to finish the full itinerary and only got to spent 5 minutes at Inverness Loch after driving one hour and 45 minutes! This was by far the worst tour ever ! I would not recommend this tour to anyone
Sarah took amazing care of us and gave us a great tour experience! Highly recommended! All the places we visited were interesting and easy to traverse. Sarah had a depth of knowledge about all things Scotland and made each place visited come alive. We really enjoyed our time on this tour and would recommend it to anyone!
This was a great experience and excursion. The driver was great, friendly and even played his bagpipes for us at the end of the tour. He picked us up at the cruise ship terminal. I have been on many excursions and this was one of the best experiences we have had in the last 30 years. Highly recommend. Gregory and Laurel Martin
This entire day was fantastic! George was a great tour guide and gave us a wonderful overview of Highland history and scenery. He customized the tour to meet our interests and included a couple of surprise add-ons that we loved. Highly recommend George at Go Highlands. We will be looking him up on our next trip to the Highlands.
We had a great tour in a small group of 8 folks. Sarah the tour leader was excellent. The tour included clava cairns, culledon battlefield, loch ness, gin tasting, urquhart castle, coos with a chance to pet and feed, as well as a drive by of inverness castle. Had time for lunch in loch ness. No sightins of nessie. Worth your time. Highly recommended.
Alistair Kennedy was an absolutely wonderful guide: knowledgeable, friendly and flexible — we thoroughly enjoyed our day and would heartily recommend this tour to snyone interested in Scottish history, culture, and awe-inspiring places!
George is very knowledgeable & entertaining - a true Scotsman. He rearranged our tour to see the best sites and gave detailed information about each of them. A fun tour guide and a son of Scotland.
