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Travelling north from Edinburgh to Inverness, crossing the Forth Road Bridge on your way, take a detour off to see the Royal Burgh of Culross. A small village, resting on the banks of the River Forth, Culross is a medieval Scottish gem. The old cobbled area of the town has changed little in hundreds of years and its principal building is Culross Palace. This is a complete misnomer, as the Palace was never a Royal residence, but built between 1597 and 1611 for Sir George Bruce it is a remarkable example of a successful merchant's town house.
N
ow owned and cared for by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS see http://www.nts.org.uk), visitors are welcomed to the property by a bevvy of highly knowledgeable, friendly and helpful guides. With painted walls - fading perceptibly with time, ceilings essentially in the shape of upturned boats, and a fantastic kitchen garden, Culross Palace is well worth a visit. Whilst you're there, you can also visit the Town House, the Abbey, and a building called The Study. Also worth a visit for those of you who might be in need of refreshment is the NTS "cafe" next door to the Palace called Bessie's Bar. Bessie's offers simple food at very reasonable prices - popular with the day trippers who pass through. For more information see http://www.nts.org.uk.
The only downside to Culross is the view - much of which is industrial along the banks for the river.
Inverness, once a town but designated a millennium city in 2000, is the "capital" of The Highlands. The Highlands has a population of just 210,000 people, of which 70,000 live in Inverness. For more information see http://www.inverness.org.uk.
One of the main attractions of Inverness is the chance to see the world's northern most dolphins. Frequently seen in the Inner Moray Firth and the Beauly Firth, boats can be taken from the mouth of the River Ness (close to the city centre) to look for dolphins. The big caveat here is that there is no guarantee that you will see dolphins. For example, when we went they had only see dolphins once each day for the last week - most trips, six cruises each day, had been unsuccessful in their search. Even if you don't see dolphins, the trip offers you a very different view of the area and if you do see dolphins the atmosphere of happiness on the boat is electric.
Loch Ness is huge, running more or less north-east to south-west from Inverness to Fort Augustus. Famous for its reputed inhabitant, Nessie - the Loch Ness Monster, Loch Ness is an area of outstanding natural beauty popular in its own right with walkers and day-trippers. If you have a car, you can complete a circuitous tour of Loch Ness, stopping as you want at the various parking places along the way. The south shore is quietest and the most picturesque. The north shore is far busier and offers less little stopping places but has the most add-on visitor attractions.
Urquhart is a ruin standing on the banks of Loch Ness. Whilst much of the castle has been reduced to the remnant patterns of ancient outlined walls on the ground, it still has a fantastic and enigmatic aura of what it once was - a fortress dominating Loch Ness. Visitors crawl over the ruins, squeeze past each other on narrow turret staircases, and take pictures of each other from all the different vantage points overlooking the Loch and, if you like steps, down on the Loch's edge. A new visitor centre will improve access especially for those who find walking up slopes and steps at all difficult. For more information, click here.
Just five miles east of Inverness is Culloden, scene of the last major battle fought on mainland Britain on the 16 April 1736 when the Scottish army led by Bonnie Prince Charlie (Prince Charles Edward Stuart) was heavily defeated by the Government side under the leadership of the Duke of Cumberland. Today, there is not much to see save for some positional flags, a cairn to those who died, and various plaques around the site marking the places when individuals or groups of individuals met their tragic ends. Even today, this is an emotionally fraught site, hung heavy with silence, history, whispered voices, and littered with small floral tributes. If you have any interest at all in history or in the forge that helped to cast the Scottish identity, then Culloden should not be missed. See also http://www.nts.org.uk.
This is an exceptional site - a collection of three prehistoric burial chambers. Archeologically very interesting but very little information actually available when you get there. Very close to Culloden and worth a visit. See also http://www.ancient-scotland.co.uk/CLAVA.html
Looking for somewhere to stay in the Inverness area and fancy living with the familial familiarity of a Scottish family? Then try The Lodge at Daviot Mains - see http://www.thelodgeatdaviotmains.co.uk.
For additional information about Scotland visit the Scottish Tourist Board official site at http://www.visitscotland.com.