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Inverness is the capital of the Highlands region in Scotland. Inverness means “Mouth of the River Ness” in Gaelic as the city of Inverness lies at the mouth of the River Ness, where the city got its name. The River Ness is a river flowing from Loch Ness, north to Inverness and the Firth of Moray. The Moray Firth is an inlet on the North Sea.

Having heard about Loch Ness and Inverness, we continued our road trip in Scotland on July 14, 2008 to Inverness via A9 and A95 highways taking the Scotland’s Malt Whisky Trail instead of directly going to Inverness via A9. It was just after 11:10am when we left St. Andrews and it was around 5:40pm when we arrived in Inverness. It took us at least 6 hours and 30 minutes to travel from St. Andrews to Inverness instead of the normal travel time of 3 hours.

We did not book a hotel in Inverness, so we went to the information center but it was already closed. Nevertheless, we did not have a hard time looking for accommodation as we had some brochures and books about hotels and guest houses around the area so we knew where to go. We drove around Inverness along the River Ness and found some hotels with vacant rooms. We chose The Waterside hotel along the Ness Bank as it had a nice view of the River Ness. Unfortunately, we were not able to get a room with a view of the River Ness.

After we checked in at the hotel, we had our dinner at the Conservatory restaurant of The Waterside hotel Inverness. We had the impression that the Conservatory restaurant was a popular one even among the locals. We had a bottle of wine, salmon for starter, and lamb shank as the main course. Indeed, the food was good, and we really had a lovely dinner. The salmon was great, and the lamb shank was so tender and mouth watering. Another thing, we enjoyed the nice view of the River Ness from the restaurant compensating for not having the view of the river from our hotel room.

As the weather was really nice, and the night was not over yet, we went a little bit for a night walk around the city. We walked along the Ness Bank and the Castle Road along the River Ness, and on the Ness Bridge at the same time took some photos especially those of the River Ness, Ness Bridge, Inverness Castle, Ness Bank, and the hanging bridges.

We also went to the shopping areas but the shops were already closed. We also walked along the Castle Street and took more pictures of the Inverness Castle especially its huge decorative clock grass on the ground along the Castle Street. After a short night walk, we went back to the hotel just before 10:40pm. We rested early for a round of golf the next day.

Just to give you an idea, the light at the Ness Bridge changed into different colors like rainbow colors during that night. If you noticed, the light of the picture above had green color and the picture below had blue color.

The next day, after breakfast, we again went for a walk, this time around the River Ness. We walked along the Ness Bank, the Castle Road, Ness Bridge, and the Ness Walk along the River Ness. We went to the Inverness Castle but did not go inside the castle itself. The panoramic view of the River Ness and the city of Inverness from Inverness Castle was spectacular as the weather was very cooperative. The weather was awesome. It was sunny and a little bit windy so it was neither warm nor hot.

The view of the Inverness Caste from the Ness Bank and the Ness Walk as well as from the hanging bridge was perfect. It was windy when we walked on the hanging bridge crossing from Ness Walk to Ness Bank which made our cross exciting. Walking along the Ness Walk and the Ness Bank along the River Ness is something that you are not supposed to miss if ever you visit the city.

After a nice walk, we went back to the hotel and then checked out. We left the hotel just before 11:00am, then went to Inverness Golf Club and played 18 holes at past 11:20am.

Inverness Golf Club is located along the Culcabock Road in Inverness about one mile from the city center. Inverness Golf Course looked like an easy golf course to play as I saw almost all the flags on the putting greens from the tee boxes. But it was actually a tricky golf course and a challenging one.

We finished playing golf at the Inverness Golf Club just before 3:00pm. We left Inverness at past 3:30pm and drove along Loch Ness going to Oban. It was past 6:00pm when we arrived in Oban, Argyll, Scotland.

Well, I hope you enjoyed touring the city of Inverness in Scotland with us. Virtually travel with us again from Inverness passing by Loch Ness and several other lochs like Loch Lochy, Loch Linnhe, Loch Creran, and parts of the Firth of Lorn going to Oban, Argyll, Scotland.

Updated on October 21, 2009

Links to Our Scotland Golf Vacation in Summer 2008
Scotland Golf Vacation in Summer 2008
Scottish Borders Tourist Route to Edinburgh
First Day, Edinburgh City, Scotland
Second Day, Edinburgh, Scotland
St. Andrews, The Home of Golf
Scotland’s Malt Whisky Trail
Inverness, the Mouth of the River Ness in Scotland
Scotland Lochs: Loch Ness, Loch Lochy, Loch Linnhe, Loch Creran
Oban, The Little Bay in Scotland Trip
Inveraray Castle, Inveraray, Scotland Side Trip
Hawick, Scottish Borders, Scotland Trip
Colchester, Essex, England Side Trip
Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Kent, England Side Trip

Related Links:
Inverness City
Highlands, Scotland
Inverness, in Wikipedia
Moray Firth, in Wikipedia
Inverness Castle, in Wikipedia
The Waterside hotel
Inverness Golf Club