Inverness in October?

Mr_Mister

Hi I am considering going to Inverness for the late October school half term as flying abroad is out of the question at the moment. 2 Adults and 2 children under 12.
The flights are around £100 return from London. 
Any recommendations for a 4 day trip in and around Inverness?

Thanks

pogofish

When did Inverness leave the UK..?

And anywhere but Inverness itself will be your best bet - it is not one of our finer destinations!

Will you be hiring a vehicle or relying on public transport? - This choice will be important as some of the best areas are not well served by public transport. However, the Speyside area - Grantown on Spey/Aviemore/Newtonmore has a decent bus service and offers a lot of highly scenic country and family-oriented activities.

bradders1983

Loch Ness isnt a million miles away but you will need to hire a car in reality.

Far North or Kyle of Lochalsh Line Line worth a trip out if you want to see some scenery but not many trains per day so timings may not be great.

pogofish

Loch Ness is another place best avoided - Fine if you see it on the way to somewhere much better but It has been grossly over-promoted as a destination despite its very average to poor scenery and its popularity with the tourbus trade means dumps like Drumnadrochit/Urquhart Castle can get very, very busy - and are rip-offs because of it.

The eastern side of the loch is better, not least because the views west are fractionally better and the road actually lets you get down by the water plus villages like Foyers are nice places but it is a narrow single track road for much of its length and you would need a vehicle.

Fort Augustus is by far the nicest village on the loch and the views from the end of the Caledonian Canal in the village itself are amongst the best you will get - and you get down by the water too but you can access it from Speyside via the excellent hill road from Daviot, through Whitebridge, which avoids Inverness itself and the god-awful stretch of the A82 that runs down the west side of the Loch, which is one of the worst trunk roads in Scotland.  The only thing it has going for it is that it is also well served by public transport 20+ buses a day run each way along the western side of Loch Monday-Saturday but only a handful run on Sundays.

daveyjp

Plenty to visit in either direction.  The coast east of Inverness towards Fraserburgh.  West to Torridon, south west to Loch Ness, south east to Aviemore and Cairngorms.

Be aware we were in Scotland in August and many attractions were closed.

pogofish

Yes, the Moray/North Aberdeenshire coast is a superb stretch of country, largely off the tourist radar with great near-empty beaches, historic/character-laden towns and impressive cliff scenery.  Good potential for dolphin watching at Fort George and Spey Bay, although the best spot is undoubtedly Chanonry Point by Fortrose on the Black Isle, where the current/water depth means dolphins hunt/breach very close to shore on a rising tide.

If you want a feel of the more open/mountain studded landscapes of the Northern Highlands, heading up through Contin, Garve and then to Achnasheen will take you into very fine country - and after Achnasheen, the views of Loch Maree/Slioch as you descend Glen Docherty towards Kinlochewe are amongst the finest in the west.  Plus the road has been recently upgraded to a very high standard and will be far less busy than the A82/A87 trunk roads towards Skye.

Mr_Mister

pogofish said:

When did Inverness leave the UK..?

And anywhere but Inverness itself will be your best bet - it is not one of our finer destinations!

Will you be hiring a vehicle or relying on public transport? - This choice will be important as some of the best areas are not well served by public transport. However, the Speyside area - Grantown on Spey/Aviemore/Newtonmore has a decent bus service and offers a lot of highly scenic country and family-oriented activities.

No will be hiring a car. 
I'm not sure if we want to keep our base at Inverness and book a hotel there to do daily travels

TELLIT01

pogofish said:

When did Inverness leave the UK..?

The OP hasn't said Inverness has left the UK, he said they are looking at Inverness as an option because travel abroad is out of the question at the moment.  If you are going to give smarta**e answers you should at least read the question properly first.

pogofish

TELLIT01 said:

pogofish said:

When did Inverness leave the UK..?

The OP hasn't said Inverness has left the UK, he said they are looking at Inverness as an option because travel abroad is out of the question at the moment.  If you are going to give smarta**e answers you should at least read the question properly first.

Maybe you should read the name of this forum then? - We have a perfectly good board for travel within the UK.

Hasbeen

TELLIT01 said:

pogofish said:

When did Inverness leave the UK..?

The OP hasn't said Inverness has left the UK, he said they are looking at Inverness as an option because travel abroad is out of the question at the moment.  If you are going to give smarta**e answers you should at least read the question properly first.

To be fair to pogofish I think it was a humorous tongue in cheek remark as to the OP posting
Here:
Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning
And not
here:
 UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments
And it was an informative reply in there as well.
  

comeandgo

Try and book your accommodation but under 24 hour cancellation.  We did a stay cation and don't think will do it again.  So many tourists activities closed or you have to book a time on line prior to visit, the hotel menus for evening meals were very reduced, fish and chips or burgers etc, no fine dining.  Breakfast take forever as no buffet.