Ticket To Ride exceeded all of our expectations. We rented mountain bikes and touring bags from…read morethem for a 2 week bike-packing trip around the highlands. We also used their drop-off/pick-up services for our start and ending points. They were great to work with and a really really friendly team! We couldn't of been more happy with their service. We highly recommend them for any trip you have planned whether its a day rental or a long tour like ours!

Fantastic place - excellent value and quality of experience! Personally guided me through the…read moreprocess and accommodated my every need to rent a bike and tour north of Inverness. They switched out road tires for trek tires based on the trip I was taking, lights, high vis, and helmet with no extra charge, I hired high quality panniers that fit all my gear, and the bicycle was in perfect condition. The team is friendly, took time to understand my needs and genuinely seemed to thoroughly love and intimately know the details of cycling in the highlands. Even if you have a nice touring bike, the faff of bike train reservations makes renting in Inverness here a really good option. My daily hybrid commuter cycle was not going to cut it for my trip so I rented but I watched friends from London struggle on every leg of their train journey to get their touring bikes to their destinations, while I dropped this rental off and was back on my merry way. Hearing that they do a bicycle taxi service when I returned the bike opened up new route possibilities outside of the train routes as well. Can't recommend highly enough.

If you're ever in Cromarty you must go and visit the pirates graveyard.. It's not signposted but if…read moreyou ask any local they will show you the way. It's up a slight hill you can walk to it easily, if you drive you need to just pull in at the side of the road to park. The graves date from the 1600's and each gravestone is uniquely decorated with boats, skull and crossbones, egg timers and bells.. Which are all related to the sea and as many believe pirates. There is also a crypt in the middle, I get a bit freaked out by this, but have peaked in from the doorway.. There is a beautiful erieness about the place, the way the light casts shadows through the trees can lead to some amazing photographs.

The only all-weather pitch in Inverness, this astroturf - located just around the corner from the…read moreInverness Leisure Centre and Aquadome - is the home for Sports including Football and Hockey most nights. Featuring bright floodlights, a fence all the way around and full size dugouts, the astroturf also features several different sizes of goals, for five a side Football, 11 a side Football, Hockey and Shinty, among others. The pitch is fairly cheap to book, especially considering the size - if the cost is split between 22 people for an 11 a side Football match, you'll end up paying next to nothing each - and is open all year round. Being located next to the Leisure Centre is also very handy, allowing for warm showers and snacks after your game.

i would just echo what quffyuk has to say about the place - it is cheap, good facilities and covers…read moremost sports which means boys and girls. being a footballer at one time i even managed to pull a hockey girl - result good parking nearby and handy for aquadome. the only problem with any astroturf is the mess on your legs if you fall. it is best to stay on two feet!

Climbing Fyrish is a must if you are in the Ross-shire area. It's a short drive from Alness and…read morethere is a small car park at the bottom. The walk isn't that tough, it has a few steep bits at times. The paths are well maintained and the views just get better and better the higher you get. On a clear day from the top you can see to Sutherland and Inverness. The monument at the top is like your prize.. It's great to stand beside and get your photo with the view in the background. There's a few ways down, one goes through the wooded area at the back and the other is the way you came up. It's a must do if you are visiting the area and it is free. For more info on the history of the monument then please look at the tip I have put on the page.

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of the castle and wandering the gardens next to it. We spent at…read moreleast an hour going up and down stairs to see the bedrooms, living quarters, art, and modernized kitchen. The audio tour, available in other languages, was especially helpful. At the end of the tour, when we handed back our audio device, we got our picture next to a Scotsman. He was a little stiff, but that's probably why he let us pose with him!

We toured the gardens first. They're quite beautiful even tho the maze was closed and no longer…read moreaccessible to the public. Then we did the audio tour of the castle. There were many interesting rooms but the most interesting one for me was the dungeon. The areas I visited did not have a lived in feel altho much of the castle is off limits to the public. The gardens are really much better than the interior simply for their stunning masses of color and quirky objects around the corner and down the lanes. We had lunch in the small cafe. There's also a gift shop at the end of the audio tour. It's worth a visit if you're in the area.

What an awesome giant functioning fort!!! I really had low expectations thinking it was going to be…read moreboring but I truly enjoyed the audio guide and being able to see all the historic items throughout the fort. The place was giant and we spent a few hours here so plan accordingly. We didn't get lucky with the dolphins but it was a gorgeous Scottish day and I was thankful for that. Quick breezy at the top.

Google maps originally directed us to drive inside the fort but there was a dedicated visitor…read moreparking lot out in front. Inside the fort we decided to head to the back to start our visit. A small and beautiful chapel was located there and well worth a look inside. The demi-bastions were the highlight with panoramic views of the water, Moray of Firth, and Inverness in the distance. Not all of the buildings in the fort were accessible to visitors and were marked accordingly. Highlights for us included the following: Historic barrack rooms were setup to show conditions and how soldiers (and those lucky enough to have their families) lived. A museum delved into the history of the Seaforth Highlanders and even had a room where one could try on traditional Scottish wear such as kilts. The Lego mini figures with their unique Scottish clothing were a hit with the kids but they were all sold out in the gift shop. The Grand Magazine held a huge display of rifles, satchels and swords. Eventhough it was a little bit of a drive to get there, the fort was in very good condition and accessible to visit.

This is a very large and scenic National Park that covers about the lower half of the Scottish…read moreHighlands. We were on Highway A9 which looked like the main route on the western side of this park. I had only one chance to catch the welcoming park sign upon entering (something I like to do if at all possible) from the south, and I missed it, and the only other sign apparently was 55 miles away in the other direction, duh. Ahh, we'll get 'em next time lol!

If you're driving through Scotland, and you don't visit Cairngorms National Park, what are you even…read moredoing in Scotland? Yes, of course the scotch is unbelievably delicious in that country, but you simply cannot miss visiting this national park. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking. It expands for miles and miles with only a few roads to traverse. Of course, since this is Scotland, there are distilleries scattered throughout the national park. Always a great touch. By the way, the distilleries located in the park serve some phenomenal scotch. You would be missing out greatly by not visiting both Cairngorms National Park and the distilleries located within. As soon as I get another chance to visit Scotland, i will definitely be back.

A great landmark if you like lighthouses. its supposed to be good for dolphin spotting too. Also…read morethe Brahan Seer monument.

Very popular with tourists, locals and dog walkers, Chanonry Point, On the banks of Rosemarky…read moreBeach, is by far the best place for spotting dolphins in the Moray Firth. Also used by scientists, who frequent lighthouse next to the beach, Chanonry Point juts out far enough into the water that the dolphins swim mere feet away from you. The dolphins tend to put on a show, performing jumps out of the water while swimming around in groups of up to 3 or 4, while the seals are also visible bobbing in the water nearby. Ice-cream vans also appear in the car park, offering refreshments to those hoping to spot a dolphin.

The Clava Cairns was a short drive after our visit to the Culloden Battlefield…read more After turning off the main road the last bit was single track but short. Entrance was free and good signage were posted to introduce visitors to these thousands of years old structures that likely were the burial chambers of some VIPs. The Cairns also were well known for their reference/inspiration in the Outlander series especially the split stone that transported the main character back in time. Two of the cairns could be entered while the third was a fully enclosed ring cairn.

Have you watched the Outlander series? Clava Cairns just outside of Inverness in Scotland is said…read moreto have been an inspiration for the series. What is Clara Cairns? It is a cemetery from prehistoric times. It is about 4,000 years old from the Bronze Age. We visited on a very very very rainy day. Stayed for a short time to take some pics and check out the place a bit. It is free to enter and is open year round.

Corrieshalloch Gorge is surprising. You park up in a dry little car park and start making your way…read moreinto the trees below you. Thats right, the trees below you. As you descend, you hear the sound of water. They as you look across, you realise, the ground has dropped away. If you didn't know any better, from the shape of the rock, you would think the gorge was man made, but it isn't. It's the result of glacial carving (think a rockier version of the Grand Canyon, or better still, Cheddar Gorge). The sheer depth of the gorge takes your breath away as you stand on a gently swinging suspension bridge overlooking the Measnach(sp?) falls before carrying on your walk to the viewpoint jutting out over the gorge below. From there you can walk back up the steep incline, or take the gentler amble to the left of the suspension bridge back up to the car park above. It's a lovely detour on an amble around the area and well worth stopping to take a look.