Inverness
Travel Guide > Europe > United Kingdom > Scotland > Inverness
Introduction
Inverness is the city at the heart of the Scottish Highlands and the principal centre for administration and commerce. Advertised as "the Gateway to the Highlands" by the local authority, and long regarded as the capita of the Highlands, Inverness is regarded as the centre for commerce and industry in the Scottish Highlands, with continuing new investment in traditional industries and new hi-tech industries. It is also claimed to one of the fastest growing cities in Europe.
Sights and Activities
Inverness Castle
Inverness Castle sits on a cliff overlooking the River Ness. The red sand stone structure evident today was built in 1836 by architect William Burn. It is built on the site of an 11th century defensive structure. Today, it houses Inverness Sheriff Court. There has been a castle at this site for many centuries.
A succession of castles has stood on this site since 1057.
The castle is said to have been built by Máel Coluim III of Scotland, after he had razed to the ground the castle in which Macbeth of Scotland according to much later tradition, murdered Máel Coluim's father Donnchad I of Scotland, and which stood on a hill around 1 km to the north-east.
The first Inverness Castle was partially destroyed by King Robert I of Scotland and a replacement castle was sacked in the 15th century.
In 1427 King James I of Scotland held a parliament in the castle to which the northern chieftains were summoned, of whom three were executed for asserting an independent sovereignty.
Other
- Inverness Museum & Art Gallery - The museum has a collection of Pictish stones and wildlife dioramas, as well as historic weapons. Closed in July 2006 for major refurbishment, due to reopen in January 2007.
- Dolphin Spotting
Events and Festivals
Getting There
By Plane
Inverness has an airport served by British Airways (in the form of Loganair, a franchise partner), Easyjet, BMI, Eastern Airways, Aer Aran, Ryanair and Highland Airways. It is sited between Nairn and Inverness and accessible from the Inverness - Aberdeen road. Limited charter services fly out from this airport. A taxi from the airport into the city costs between £10 and £15. There is an good bus service, with departures every half hour to Inverness and connections to Nairn.
By Train
By Car
By Bus
By Boat
Eat
Drink
This is version 3. Last edited at 6:10 on May 15, 08 by GeoBot (+57). 3 articles link to this page.
Except where otherwise noted, content of this article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License