“The Inverness and Loch Ness region is popular with tourists, eager to experience its breath-taking beauty and learn about its fascinating history.”
www.visitinvernesslochness.com
Inverness is an exciting city steeped in history and full of things to do. It sits within the Great Glen (Gleann Mòr) on the mouth of the river Ness and is considered the capital of the Highlands. Like Edinburgh, Inverness has it’s own loyal dog story. It is recorded that the Victorian Market burned down in 1889 and there was only one casualty, a butchers dog who refused to leave his post (protecting the butcher’s meat) and so died in the flames. He is affectionately referred to as the Greyfriars Bobby of the Highlands. You can walk your dog through the Victorian market today as it has remained a dog-friendly place.
Our trip
My partner spent six months working in Inverness. Pup (Sash) and I stayed with him for two of those weeks. While my partner worked, we explored in and around Inverness. On the weekends we visited other Scottish places of interest such as Skye, Edinburgh, Loch Lomond, any many others.
For the most part, Sash and I walked around the city of Inverness itself. There are lots of dog-friendly places to eat and drink and explore – see below for some highlights. A perfect day, for me, in Inverness would include a morning walk around the Ness Islands, an afternoon pottering about the City itself, and an evening in MacGregor’s bar.
Things to do and places to see in Inverness
A highlight of Inverness is this fantastic book shop on the high street. It is unfortunately not dog-friendly, but well worth poking your head into! I left our pooch with my partner outside – couldn’t resist. Now, I’ll talk about the dog-friendly things to do.
There are lots of great places to eat in Inverness such as MacGregor’s and Encore. See Dugs Welcome and Dog-friendly Inverness for the full lists.
Places to visit in and around Inverness:
- Ness Islands
- Monadh Mor
- Moray Coast Trail
- The Cairgons National Park
- Inverness Castle (grounds only with a pooch)
- Brodie Castle (grounds only with a pooch)
- Merkinch Nature Reserve
Dog-friendly accommodation in Inverness
We stayed in a little apartment that my partner rented while he was working there. This was a long-term rental and so not appropriate for short stays and holidays.
You can find dog-friendly accommodation on all the usual sites (e.g. TripAdvisory, Booking.com) and some new ones such as Dugs Welcome.
Other useful sources
Below are some websites that I found useful when finding things to do in Inverness, hopefully you will find them useful too:
- Dog-friendly blogs such as ‘Dog-friendly Inverness’ and the Dog-friendly getaways Inverness days out
- Visit Inverness
- Visit Scotland’s page on Inverness
- Pinterest – see our Highlands board for more ideas
- Dugs Welcome – dog-friendly places to eat and drink in Inverness
The story of the butchers dog is heartbreaking! This looks like a refreshing area to relax and take a long walk. I’ve always wanted to travel to Scotland, ever since reading the Outlander series years ago.
We loved it there so much that we’re considering buying a little property there as a base to keep exploring Scotland.
That’s a great plan! We will visit one day 🙂
Wow you make me want to head over there right now! Love the writing as it’s very inviting and intriguing, and the place looks amazing!
Thank you! I can’t recommend it enough. But, if you can only visit one place in Scotland it has to be the Isle of Skye. Stunning.
Wow, that Inverness bridge pic is indeed breathtaking! And a castle! My daughter and I love castles and would love to visit at least one! I don’t get to travel much, so I thoroughly enjoyed being an armchair traveler and visiting such an interesting and beautiful place via your pics and story has been wonderful! Thanks for the “visit!”
Thank you for your comments. We LOVE Scotland. If you do make it to the UK I highlight recommend renting a car and touring the many castles and sights. It’s stunning!
That book store looked like a dream. No wonder you couldn’t help poke your head in. Sash looked so taken by the river almost like she was thinking of jumping in. I have to ask: did you go to the loch?
I am an absolute book nerd and so that bookstore was a real highlight for me. Although it does have a raging fireplace in the middle that I’m sure wouldn’t pass health and safety anywhere else!
We visited Loch Lomond on our way to the Isle of Skye (which will be a future post 🤭). We did not go in. It was in February and so freezing cold!
What a beautiful place to visit. Thank you for sharing ‘furbulous’ photos!
My favourite description so far! Thank you!
😊