Loch Ness & Culloden from Invergordon: small group Highland tour

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

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Duration7h–8h

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Seven hours covering four centuries of Highland history without the tour-bus crowds

A small-group day tour from Invergordon visiting Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, Inverness, Culloden Battlefield, Clava Cairns and Cawdor Castle with a live English-speaking guide. Groups stay under 8 people, which is what keeps the stops feeling unhurried instead of a checklist. Bottled water and snacks are included; the coach returns to port at least an hour before your ship departs.

7h–8h

Step-by-step itinerary

Highland historic and scenic tour

Meet guide at Invergordon port
Drive past Alness to Beauly Priory
Visit Beauly Priory ruins
Drive to Loch Ness via Drumnadrochit
Explore Urquhart Castle and visitor center
Drive to Inverness city
Visit Inverness Old Town and museum
Visit St. Andrew’s Cathedral
Drive to Cawdor Castle
Tour Cawdor Castle and gardens
Drive to Clava Cairns
Explore Clava Cairns prehistoric site
Drive to Culloden Battlefield
Visit Culloden Battlefield and visitor center
Drive to Glen Ord distillery
Whisky tasting at Glen Ord distillery
Return to Invergordon port

The Experience

The tour picks you up at Invergordon port and heads west across the Cromarty Firth toward Beauly Priory, a 13th-century monastery now in ruins but still holding the shape of its abbey church. From there it's a 30-minute drive to Loch Ness, where you stop at Urquhart Castle—a romantic ruin on a rocky outcrop surrounded by water over 600 feet deep, the legendary home of the Loch Ness Monster. The castle has a visitor center, and you get time to walk the ruins and take in the loch itself before the tour moves on.

Next is Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, where you see St. Andrew's Cathedral (the most northerly Anglican cathedral in the UK, built in 1869) and the city itself on the banks of the River Ness. From there the route turns toward Cawdor Castle, a private fortress dating back to 1180 with three distinct gardens—the Walled Garden, the Flower Garden and the Wild Garden—each shaped by generations of owners. You spend around an hour here wandering the grounds and castle before moving on to Clava Cairns, a Bronze Age burial site set in forested landscape that inspired the fictional Craigh na Dun in Outlander; the famous "cleft stone" from the books and TV series is here. The tour then heads east to Culloden Battlefield and its visitor center, where you learn the history of the 1746 battle—the last pitched battle on British soil—through artifacts, re-enactments and talks by local historians. A brief stop at Glen Ord distillery for a whisky tasting rounds out the day before the drive back to Invergordon.

Your guide provides live commentary throughout, and the coach is air-conditioned. Water and snacks are on board. Because groups max out at 8 people, the stops don't feel rushed, and you're not competing with dozens of others for space at each site.

What’s included

Live English-speaking guide.
air-conditioned coach.
bottled water and snacks.
stops at Beauly Priory, Urquhart Castle, Inverness Cathedral, Cawdor Castle, Clava Cairns, Culloden Battlefield and Glen Ord distillery for a whisky tasting.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePublic transport nearby

Operated by Historic and Scenic Tours Inverness

Is this one for you?Pick this if you want a private guide who meets you at Invergordon port and sets the pace—rather than moving through a fixed itinerary with a large group.