After spending one full year living in the Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, I feel pretty qualified to write a thorough blog post about it. For some reason, Inverness gets talked down a lot, but I really enjoyed my year in the little city.
It was also a great access point to the surrounding Highland highlights, and you can either take the train up or fly straight in. The airport is one of the tiniest you'll see, and there is absolutely zero need to arrive any more than an hour before your flight (in fact, you'd probably be fine with less) as there in only one small building with four terminals. The bus from town goes straight there for four pounds.
Inverness has proven to be a fantastic, pretty, and perfectly sized base for my year in Scotland. The reason for choosing the northernmost of Scotland's big cities (if Inverness can really be classified as a big city) as our home for 2016 was that Lewis was finishing up his degree at the university there.
We found a nice little affordable, furnished flat in an area called Raigmore. It was conveniently located right up the hill from a hotel where I found work on the reception desk, Jurys Inn (originally the much superior Inverness Hotel which was bought over two months after I started, but this post is not going to be a 10 page rant about my former job). It only took five minutes to walk down every day. We were also just a 20 minute walk from the city center, there were two bus stops nearby anyway, and we were located just about equidistant from the city and the college campus. Everything fell into place pretty perfectly!
One thing I will quickly say as gained knowledge from my time as a receptionist is do not show up in Inverness in the height of summer and expect to find a room for the same night. I cannot believe how many people are surprised when they have booked nothing ahead of time and then don't believe you when you say you have no rooms. It's a small city and it will often be full.
I'd say the only downside to working so near to our flat was that I didn't have the opportunity to walk through Inverness itself every day. I'd only head into town once or twice a week, but every time I was reminded of how much I like the little city.
First of all, it's scenic. The River Ness runs through the center and is lined with cute bars, restaurants, parks, and hotels. There are pretty bridges along the way to cross, and on any given day you might see fly fishermen waist-deep in the water or kayaks gliding through the water.
Inverness does have a castle, but it isn't currently accessible as it's been used as a courthouse. There are plans, however, to turn it into a museum in the near future. At any rate, it's nice to view from the outside and is visible up on the hill overlooking the river.
There's also an iSite on High Street behind it, so head there to get any information or book tours (and do not try to book through your friendly hotel receptionist whose minimum wage job description does not include planning out the itinerary for your trip).
If you walk far enough down the river, you'll reach a large and very nice playground for kids, the Aquadome which has a gym and an indoor pool with slides, and the botanic gardens. The gardens are totally free, and although they're small, it's a nice little way to spend a half hour or so. There's a tropical greenhouse with fish pond, a desert house with cacti, and the outdoor area with flowers and tables.
Walking back towards town, you'll find Eden Court theater where there are stage performances or indie film screenings.
Which I've never attended, so here it is at Lewis's graduation.
Past that is St. Andrew's Cathedral which is gorgeous from the outside and just as nice inside.
I've also been to St. Mary's Catholic Church for Christmas mass further down the river nearer to town.
Finishing up my church tour, there's the Old High Church across the street, and there's an old graveyard on the grounds.
Now that you're back in the city center, if you come out of the graveyard onto Church Street, you can go next door into Leakey's Book Shop which I so highly recommend! It's a used book store located inside of an old church, and I felt like I walked straight into Harry Potter. There are bookshelves lining every wall, piles of old books stacked everywhere, and a spiral staircase up to an alcove where you'll find more books as well as sofas and chairs. If you are a book lover, you absolutely have to visit.
Falcon Square is at the center of the city, located right next to the Eastgate Shopping Center (a mid-sized but very useful mall) and the train station.
High Street is just one block over, and that's where you'll find a lot of your independent shops and souvenir shops. You're also likely to see scattered street performers (usually bagpipers or musicians) and inevitably a couple of junkies, but all in all it's pretty tame for a city.
An alternative shopping area would the Victorian Market, a very charming (I feel like a tour brochure using the word "charming" but seriously that's what it is) indoor shopping market with a cute array of shops including kilt makers, barbers, butchers, ancestry specialists, and candy stores. There's one watch repair shops that sells old jewelry and nice pewter glasses and tankards, and I also particularly like this comic shop you'll find up a flight of stairs which is nerd heaven with things like Harry Potter wands, Lord of the Rings memorabilia, a Batman mask, and so forth. (PS. There is also a shop on High St. up the hill next to Little Italy where there is actually a Nimbus 2000 in the window, and they have a full-scale Pip Boy inside which I lost my shit over.)
Of course, my favorite place to shop was Tomlinson's, a craft beer shop across from the castle. Once a month I would visit this adorable little shop full of hundreds of beers and spend an absolute fortune. They're constantly getting new ones in, so you'll never be short on variety. I've had some seriously spectacular beers from this shop. Thanks, Tomlinson's!
Where to Drink
Speaking of drinks, nightlife in Inverness is better than you might expect. Everything in Inverness is so walkable to start with- it only takes ten minutes to walk down the river and five to do a circle of the main city center sights. All of the bars are basically on a few parallel streets, so you can do an easy loop of them all in no time. There's quite a few to choose from, so I'll help you out with my favorites.
If you like 80s music and dancing, go to Vinyl. It's right next to the big nightclub G's (not really worth the entry fee unless you like top 40 music and fighting your way past 18 year olds for substandard drinks and poor service). Vinyl is small and doesn't offer anything beyond the basics for drinks, but there is a light up dance floor and awesome retro tunes.
For cocktails, there are four very decent options. The most popular and with what I think are the best drinks is Bar One. It's gets very busy on weekends and you may struggle to find a table, but the cocktails are good. They go for a bit of a clubby lounge vibe.
The place with the most interesting selection is the very hipster Scotch & Rye. It's all wooden inside and they also serve American-style food. The cocktails are more like scientific concoctions and can range from pink fluff in a martini glass to a smoking beaker.
My vote for best vibe is The White House. This is also a viable restaurant option with great food and a 10 pound two-course lunch deal. They have an extensive cocktail list and have a really trendy, chilled out atmosphere. There are comfy benches with pillows, brick accent walls, and fairy lights everywhere. I think I might like just being inside the place more than the actual cocktails.
Finally, there's Contrast which is down the river. I've only been once and would recommend it during the daytime as they have big glass windows looking out on the water. There was even a guy playing the piano while we were in there. It has a little more of a high-end feel.
For your more chilled-out, everyday pub experience, there's the rest of Inverness. Johnny Foxes, the Irish pub on the river, is easily the most popular and will often have live music. It gets packed on the weekends. I would avoid the attached Den nightclub though (but feel free to wander through and decide against it for yourself).
Gunslingers is one of my favorite casual pubs as it has a really laid-back vibe and they do karaoke on the weekends. A couple doors down from that is Maccallums which seems to draw a very drunk middle-aged crowd, but their music is generally much better (more classic rock and old tunes) and they've got some nice black leather benches and chairs.
One place that I only had the opportunity to visit once and am afraid it may have since closed down as I tried in vain to go back twice before we moved and it was shut each time is the Gin Hut. I only discovered that gin is, in fact, not horrible in very recent years. The first time I tried it in college, I got a gin & tonic and immediately gave it away after one sip as I really didn't like the taste of pine air freshener. I'm pretty sure it was the tonic that I wasn't a fan of though, because when I finally gave gin another chance with cranberry juice, I really liked it.
Anyway, getting to the point, the Gin Hut had the most fantastic gin drinks I could ever imagine. It was hidden in an alleyway and I only even noticed it as my mom pointed it out as looking like a shady establishment while they were visiting. Lewis and I decided to go in one night soon after, and I was in love. They had a gigantic menu of about 50 gins behind the bar, and helpfully they listed where each one was from and what ingredients they would mix it with. Since I know nothing about gin, I just chose the ingredients I liked best and had the drinks with Sprite instead of tonic. Well, one was a Mediterranean gin mixed with basil and olives, and the other was a Scottish gin mixed with a chili (the bartender put a full one in for me since I said I like spicy) which set my mouth on fire in the best way. Both were so fantastic and I was dying to go back, but as I said, I fear the place may be shut. It's worth looking into though just in case!
Finally, I can't write about the Inverness bars without mentioning Hootenanny. It's a proper, dimly lit traditional pub with live ceilidh music on every night. There will be little bands that come to play with fiddles and singing and Scottish songs. It's awesome! If you want to properly feel like you're in Scotland, definitely check it out.
Also, they've recently opened up a Glow Bar on the third floor which I also love. It has glowing cubes as chairs and tables, and they also serve cocktails.
Where to Eat
Inverness is also full of awesome restaurants. Book ahead for dinners because it's a small city and they fill up fast! My recommendations for really well-prepared cuisine are The Mustard Seed, The Kitchen (glass building with awesome river views as well), Cafe One, and the Rocpool. Actually, my favorite thing at Rocpool was the best espresso martini of my entire life, but the food was good too. These are all pretty nice places, so they'd be a perfect choice for a special occasion.
The Kitchen
Rocpool
For more exotic food, I absolutely loved the Turkish restaurant, Aspendos. Friendly guys who work there, cool decor that reminded me of a marketplace, and the best and only real Mediterranean food you'll find in the city. I love baba ganoush, hummus, tabouleh, and stuffed grape leaves though, so I was always going to be a fan of this place. I might even rank it my favorite restaurant in Inverness.
There are also plenty of Indian options, but having tried quite a few, Saffron is hands down the best of them. I've never been inside the actual restaurant and hear it's quite small (plus it's in the Insches area, not the city center), but we ordered delivery from them constantly. Indian Ocean is also good for a takeaway option. Cinnamon does a Sunday buffet, and George's has a cool atmosphere and does both Indian and Thai- plus made a mean pina colada and played Pink Floyd the entire time I was there on Valentine's Day.
For quick bites, SoCoco on High Street is a cool little cafe specializing in chocolate. They do great nachos as well, and I also recommend their selection of shakes and drinks.
Also, definitely stop in at the little Good Food Co. bakery, also on High Street. Their pasties are the best in town and their millionaire shortbread (shortbread with a layer of caramel and chocolate) is possibly the best in all of Scotland.
Castle Tavern is an extremely cute pub right across from the castle, but I know they're changing their menu at the moment. They used to do a 2 for 1 lunch deal with pretty big portion sizes, but I'm not sure what specials will be on now. Anyway, whether you go for food or drink, it would be my choice for having a beer out in the sun (on the rare occasion that the sun visits Inverness).
One last food recommendation is on the way south out of town towards Loch Ness in a town called Dungarroch. It's called the Oakwood Restaurant and doesn't look like much, but the food is great and all tastes like somebody just whipped you up a home-cooked meal. They also have a gift shop in the restaurant where you'll find Harris Tweed at prices you won't see anywhere else (think 40 pounds for a bag that would usually cost 80). It's less than a ten minute drive out of the city.
Inverness is the access point to the rest of the Highlands including Loch Ness, Culloden Battlefield, and more, so I've got plenty of suggestions on places to go nearby to experience this beautiful part of the world! I'll cover more at a later date.