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Inverness Scotland Tours › Every Day Tour Route From Inverness, Explained by DirectionUpdated 2026-09-14

Every Day Tour Route From Inverness, Explained by Direction

Hours, prices and access verified by the Inverness Scotland Tours team — last checked 2026-09-14

A broad Highland mountain rising above forest and water on the road west

The short answer. Five directions run out of Inverness, and the direction decides everything else. South-west down the Great Glen is the shortest and cheapest. West to Skye is twelve hours. North to Caithness is eleven. West again to Glenfinnan is twelve, and east to the battlefield is a half day. Pick the direction first and the tour second.

Tour listings are named after what they contain, which is why they all sound alike. Sorted by where they actually go, the day tours from Inverness fall into five groups, and once you see them that way the choice gets much easier.

DirectionHoursWhat it reachesThe gate you may pay
South-west: the Great Glen3½ to 9Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, Fort Augustus, the Falls of FoyersUrquhart Castle, £14 online
West: the Isle of Skye12, or 2 daysEilean Donan, Portree, the Old Man of Storr, the Quiraing, the Fairy PoolsEilean Donan, £13, never in a fare
East: the battlefield country5 to 9Culloden, Clava Cairns, Cawdor Castle, Glen Affric, BeaulyCulloden, and Cawdor at £17
North: Caithness11 to 11¼Dunrobin Castle, Wick, John O’Groats, the Sutherland coastDunrobin, £16, April to October only
West: Glenfinnan and Mallaig8 to 12The viaduct, Fort William, Mallaig, the Jacobite Steam TrainThe train, on the one fare that includes it

South-west: the Great Glen

The shortest, the cheapest and the one most people take. Everything on it is within an hour and a half of the city, which is why a half day works here and nowhere else. The decision is whether your fare includes Urquhart Castle and the boat — see the Loch Ness page for what each one gives you.

West: the Isle of Skye

Twelve hours, of which roughly seven are driving. There is no shorter version that reaches the island, because there is no faster road. You get four or five stops and one of them is lunch. If that sounds thin, a two-day tour spreads the same ground over a night on Skye.

The routes differ in which stops they choose. Some go to the Fairy Pools, some to the Quiraing, and none does both. The Skye page sets out what each stop actually is.

East: the battlefield country

The shortest journeys of all — Culloden is six miles from the city and the Clava Cairns are three hundred yards beyond it. Days here run five to nine hours because they add Cawdor Castle, Glen Affric or Loch Ness on the way home rather than because the driving is long.

This is also the only direction where a fare regularly includes its admission. Two do.

North: Caithness

Eleven hours up the A9 to the top corner of the mainland. The honest thing to say is that John O’Groats is a signpost and a harbour rather than a spectacle, and what justifies the day is Dunrobin Castle fifty miles up the road.

Dunrobin closes for five months. It opens 1 April to 31 October only, and the coach tours run outside that window too. Between November and March the castle stop becomes the outside of the building. The Dunrobin page has the month-by-month opening.

West again: Glenfinnan and Mallaig

The other westward run, and a completely different day from Skye. It crosses to the coast at Mallaig by way of Fort William and the Glenfinnan Viaduct. One tour puts a one-way Jacobite Steam Train ticket inside the fare, which is why it costs roughly three times a coach day.

The train runs from June to late October only. Outside those months the coach still goes and you photograph the viaduct from the ground instead.

What does not run out of Inverness

  • Nothing from Edinburgh. Every tour here starts in Inverness or at Invergordon. Come north first — see getting to Inverness.
  • No combined Loch Ness and Skye day. Skye routes pass the loch to get west, but the stops are on the island.
  • Very little on foot. This is a driving destination. The walking is at the stops, and only the Fairy Pools amount to a hike.

What the hours actually mean

An eleven or twelve-hour tour is not a long sightseeing day. It is a long driving day with sightseeing in it. On the Skye run, roughly seven of the twelve hours are spent moving, and the far-north day is much the same. You will be out of the vehicle for four or five stops, and one of those is lunch.

That is not a criticism, it is the geography. The Highlands are empty and the roads are slow, and the alternative is driving those roads yourself. But it does mean the number on the listing is the number that should drive your choice, and it rarely is.

A useful rule of thumb. Take the hours, halve them, and that is roughly your time out of the coach. If that figure still sounds worth the fare, book it. If it does not, look at a shorter direction — what a touring day costs sets the fares against the hours.

Where each direction leaves from

The direction also decides your kerb, which is the other thing worth knowing the night before. The Skye and far-north coaches mostly go from Railway Terrace, behind the station. The Great Glen days split between Union Street and the bus station. The small-group minibuses to the battlefield country leave from Ardross Street by the cathedral, across the river.

There are nine departure points in all and two of them are on the same street, which is the commonest way to lose a morning here. Every one is listed with its postcode.

Choosing between them

If you have one day, go south-west: it is the cheapest, the shortest and the most likely to work in poor weather. If you have two, add Skye and give it the better forecast. If you have three, take the battlefield day third, because it is the one that works in rain.

And if you have half a day rather than a whole one, the Great Glen is the only direction that fits it.

Sorted by direction, the choice is short. Compare the fares, the hours and the gates on Inverness Scotland Tours.

One day in each direction