Cawdor Castle, Inverness, Culloden, Outlander and Loch Ness Tour
Description
Return journey: We WILL have you back to your ship around 1 hour prior to its departure time. We nearly always arrive back BEFORE the ship’s own buses. We’re very efficient and have been doing this for 7 years, serving thousands of cruise passengers every summer season. This bus tour from Invergordon features highlights from Outlander, Culloden, Castles, Loch Ness & Nessie! It packs in a lot for one day's tour and is very affordable and good value for money. Entrance to castle is INCLUDED. Our tours are specially put together after taking feedback from YOU. We have surveyed your desires and requests and put them together in our tours. We provide a quality experience and a guide or driver guide on our minibuses or buses. Our guides are always excellent. Please check the tour times on our website, as the times listed here are approximate. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to start. This tour is usually in a large bus unless it’s a small ship then it may be in an 8 seater minivan.
Tour Options
Itinerary
We will travel to the Culloden Battlefield, where the Jacobites lost many a soul in the 1946 uprising. This was the last battle to be fought on British soil. If time allows we will give guests a chance to walk on the battlefield. Depending on tour we may not stop but just drive by.
After a half hour visit at Clava Cairns, we will pop around the corner to see the famous Culloden or Nairn viaduct, designed by Murdoch Paterson and opened as a railway crossing in 1898. It is a spectacle to behold – there will be photo opportunities.
Cawdor Castle is a lived in castle which is written about in Shakespear's MacBeth, when he refers to the Thane of Cawdor and the prediction. It has spectacular gardens and guided audio tours in your own language.
Drop off in the city for shopping or seeing the historical churches and streets. It can vary between 30-90 minutes for this stop.
We will leave the urquhart castle around 2-2.30pm to journey via a scenic route to Beauly to drive by the historic priory, now a ruin, built in 1230 by a little-known French order of monks. It is also the location where Claire of Outlander fame, is supposed to have met Mairi. It is the true site of the burial ground for the chiefs of Clan Fraser of which the fictional character from Outlander, Jamie Fraser is related. If time allows we will stop.
Journeying onwards through the city of Inverness we will pass the historic town hall and the Inverness Castle. There will be photo opportunities for the castle and Inverness Cathedral. You’ll be able to visit the castle viewing gallery and the shops, cafes or historic bars. Photos only until 2024 as castle is being renovated.
Going over the River Ness onto Loch Ness, where you need to be ready to spot our legend, Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. Enjoy the comfortable ride by Loch Ness, which takes just around 30 minutes , searching for a sighting of Nessie herself. The last famous recorded sighting of her was a few decades ago, but we live in hope she will be photographed again soon. The scenery is second to none, so have your cameras ready. In recent months there has been footage circulated online of video recordings of an animal similar to Nessie playing in Loch Ness. We will stop at the Loch Ness lay-by for photos but it isn’t possible to paddle in Loch Ness due to the steep hillside location. You’ll travel past Loch Ness for 30 minutes enjoying it and waiting for a glimpse of Nessie. Drive by for 30 minutes. We will try to stop for photos
Go see a local farm shop but most of all see the two Highland cows Jamie and Katie-Morag
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
- Wheelchair travellers difficult
Reviews(351)
Not as expected for the price. We had a private tour on the same trip for less. The lochness which we were looking forward to the most, was only a hectic :15 stop. And it shows a castle ruins in the advertisement that my husband wanted to do, but it wasn’t included. Just a blah tour.
Most of the time on this trip seemed to be spent driving from place to place. Due to sailing schedules, it felt rushed. Our guide was knowledgeable, and shared a lot of information, not all of which was needed.
Comprehensive knowledge by guide added to the interesting places visited. Well organised for meeting etc
Thank you Dave Very kind of you.
Lorraine was fabulous. The trip was informative and very worthwhile. A great experience and highly recommended.
Thank you
Gavin Fraser was our guide and he was very knowledgeable about all things Scottish. We learned a lot about the battle at Culloden, Clava Cairns and Cawdor Castle. He even wore his kilt for the tour.
Thank you
Our Guide was 87 years old. A wonderful day with him! Such a personality! We are german and he spoke such an understadalbe English. A wonderful Tour. Thank you!
Thank you Seoris is a star.
Fantastic tour and wonderful operators. Our guide Eleanor was wonderful. She was very friendly and knowledgeable. Maxine was very helpful as our ship was quite delayed due to a uk customs inspection.
Thank you Eleanor is a great guide.
The operators were fantastic. Our tour was delayed due to UK immigration. They were very flexible. Great communications. The tour leader Eleanor was fantastic, friendly, and knowledgeable of the area.
Thank you so much Rick. You got to us in the end. Must’ve been your Scotland rugby shirt LOL.
Despite the fact that the boat was delayed, and we had to cut some destinations, which we can understand, it did not seem acceptable to us that we missed seeing Urquhart Castle, when, however, we did stop at a store to buy souvenirs because there was a hairy cow. Honestly, we found the cow thing to be a joke, and with absolutely no interest, always in comparison to the visit to the castle (which would have taken the same amount of time). On the other hand, we want to emphasize that the guide of the excursion was perfect, he attended to us magnificently well and is a very valuable person in terms of knowledge and very kind treatment! The landscapes and Cawdor Castle were fantastic, understanding that we could not stop at Culloden Battlefield, but, as we say, the part of Loch Ness was very poorly managed, because we did not even go to see the statue of Nessie (which we can understand, due to the limited time), but, absolutely, and we repeat, not stopping for 15 or 20 minutes at Urquhart seems unacceptable to us, and we demand the corresponding economic compensation for this NO VISIT, which was among the essentials of your excursion, when there was time to see and visit it, even if it had been the almost 25 minutes that we did have for the store! The excursion to Cawdor, with Culloden and Inverness, or the one to Urquhart, Loch Ness, Nessie statue, and Inverness, would have cost us, through the cruise, less than 250 euros. If we chose this one from you, it was because, in a single excursion, we visited both places, and for 327 euros (and according to what was offered, it seemed fantastic), but the truth is that one of them (the one to Urquhart and Loch Ness) was very, very, very scarce, and the reason for our complaint!, which we hope will be refunded to us, in the amount you consider or evaluate, for the part not visited! Thank you
Estimados señores, En primer lugar, ustedes no pagaron esa cantidad por la excursión. El precio abonado fue de £129 por persona. La excursión que reservaron fue nuestro tour de Castillo de Cawdor, Lago Ness y vacas de las Highlands, y ese es exactamente el tour que recibieron. En ningún momento estaba incluida una visita al Castillo de Urquhart. Nosotros nunca ofrecemos excursiones que incluyan ambos castillos, ya que simplemente no hay tiempo suficiente para hacerlo. Además, su barco llegó con retraso y los pasajeros no pudieron desembarcar a la hora prevista. Como consecuencia, tuvimos que salir a las 10:00 en lugar de las 8:30. Dado que su barco tenía prevista la salida a las 17:00, nos vimos obligados a acortar parte del itinerario para garantizar el regreso puntual de todos los pasajeros. Creemos que quizá han consultado o confundido nuestra excursión con la de otra empresa, ya que nosotros nunca hemos anunciado ni ofrecido una excursión con dos castillos. Les invitamos a revisar nuevamente la descripción del producto que reservaron o, si lo prefieren, a consultarlo directamente con Viator. Debido al retraso del barco, la operación de la excursión fue especialmente complicada y nuestro equipo hizo todo lo posible para ofrecer la mejor experiencia posible dentro de las circunstancias. La parada para ver las vacas de las Highlands es una de las más populares entre nuestros clientes. Lamentamos que no fuera de su interés. En cualquier caso, nadie estaba obligado a entrar en la pequeña tienda de productos locales de la granja; los pasajeros podían visitar las vacas o permanecer en el autobús si así lo deseaban. Nos alegra saber que apreciaron el trabajo de nuestro guía, Seoris, y que reconocen su profesionalidad, conocimientos y atención al cliente. Para futuras reservas, les recomendamos revisar detenidamente la descripción completa de la excursión para asegurarse de que cumple exactamente con sus expectativas. Por todo lo anterior, no procederemos a realizar ningún reembolso. Atentamente, Maxine Smith Directora Thistle Excursions
George was aGreat tour guide; told you what to expect at the right time & on the bus so as not to waste time. He gave us an amazing tour of Culloden with just enough historical info.
Thank you so much.
