TheProfessionalTraveller

Yes my eyes did a double take when I saw the prices for private cars! You should be able to get a private car for significantly less. There are various tour operators on Viator and Get Your Guide that do private tours. There is a mix of smaller group tours - maximum 8 or private car tours where you can arrange your own itinerary completely

There are lots of non-cruise ship options in Invergordon to choose from. Some of them are very similar to the ship options, but many combine other features such as visits to Outlander sites, Highland Coos etc. A google of Invergordon Shore Excursions should find you something. Viator has a good selection as does Get Your Guide. There are half day and full day options available, full bus tours, small group tours and private care tours. Taxis are available to hire at the port and they cost around £50 per hour if you wanted to put your own tour together.

As noted above Uber doesn't operate in Invergordon. Local taxis are available near the port exit gates. They charge around £50 per hour for day tours. You can easily reach Inverness by public transport. You can reach Culloden by local bus from Inverness quite easily. If you wanted to visit Urquhart Castle you would need to go back to Inverness and then catch another bus to Urquhart Castle. This bus can be extremely busy on port days and having a ticket doesn't mean you are guaranteed a ride. I've written a detailed guide on how to get from Invergordon to Inverness by public transport (train, bus) or by taxi. There are a number of private tour operators operating group or private small group, or private car tours from Invergordon that could easily combine these elements together for you. Personally, I think it would be difficult to do all this on public transport from Invergordon as the timings would be very difficult to co-ordinate, meaning you would lose a lot of time waiting and transferring. Hope that's helpful.

Yes - tour buses park in the coach park which is close to the Soar shop and museum and a 5 minute walk from the main street 😊

Bit late to this reply - been busy working with so many cruise ships in Invergordon! If you take the Easy Scottish Drive you will probably have around an hour at most in Dornoch so there isn't much chance to do the things you are suggesting. The Easy Scottish Drive also includes a scenic drive to a salmon waterfall which is not suitable for roller walkers as it's downhill on a series of sloping paths which have gravel on them. Before you decide to go to Dornoch let me just give a plug for Invergordon. There is nice pub just across the road from Invergordon Port called The Ship Inn which has a good selection of local beers and a fresh menu that changes frequently. There is also a High Street which includes a mural trail and a small but interesting museum which covers the naval history of Invergordon too. All these are easy walking, flat and level. If you wanted to visit the golf club to play you can contact them and they will pick you up, free of charge, they will pick you up and run you back. There is a train station in Invergordon. This is flat and easy walking from the port. Trains go North to Tain where there is a nice pub right on the Platform - it's the old station building infact. You could also head to Alness where there is flat level walking to the High Street which has a variety of shops including the Station Hotel. This is easy to reach on the train. Dingwall is also a good option on the train. The town centre is flat and level walking from the station and there are more places to eat. However, if you are set on Dornoch - and Dornoch is lovely then the bus service is good or you can hire a 6 seater taxi at the port. That would mean you could get dropped off right in the centre of Dornoch. The Eagle is probably the closest pub to the centre and there are some nice cafes, alongwith a great place for hot chocolate, nice shops and a lovely cathedral too. Hope that helps with you decision making, especially in relation to the Easy Highlands Drive tour which I have taken as a tour guide a number of times now.

Well the good news is that Invergordon isn't a tender port. Sometimes we do have cruise ships miss their port call at Invergordon but that's generally because the weather has been bad elsewhere and they have to make up time to get to Edinburgh. Ullapool can be tricky for cruise ships to get into in any sort of rougher weather so that does get cancelled sometimes. Orkney (Kirkwall) does get cancelled a bit because of poorer weather as we sometimes end up with cruise ships calling in at Invergordon when they miss these two ports. As to the policy of cancelling a cruise port I think it just depends on the situation and the schedule really. Most ships won't want to cancel a port call at all and will try and offer another port if possible but that isn't always possible, especially if it's at the height of the cruising season.

This tour is operated by a very well established team Nigel and Elaine who have been taking tour groups around the Highlands for as long as I can remember. They are both really knowledgeable. It is a great itinerary that includes some great places to visit. It makes for a lovely circular tour from Invergordon. I am not sure about your chances of seeing Salmon at Shin falls given your trip in June but the falls are lovely and the drive there is too, with plenty to see along the way. Loch Fleet is a great place for birdspotting and seal spotting. There is also a farm that often has Highland Cattle grazing. Dunrobin is one of my favourite castles - it was designed by Charles Barry who designed the Houses of Parliament. It has lovely gardens. The falconry display is great, one of the best I've seen. The falconer lives on site and has a great selection of birds. Dornoch is a lovely spot. The cathedral has lovely stained glass windows and it has several claims to fame. It has some nice little shops too. So I would say it sounds a pretty good trip. Hope you have a lovely trip here in June

I realised at the weekend that I totally forgot to answer your question about Ardross Castle! My best friend is hooked on The Traitors too - I confess I have never seen it 😬 Currently there are no details of any tours on the website and I haven't heard of any tours being offered there for this year. They seem to be busy with weddings and events. Their website doesn't mention anything about visiting either https://ardrosscastle.co.uk/ Will just have to keep eyes and ears open to see if anything changes

Totally agree. If you are ever back in the area then I would really recommend the Eastern side of Loch Ness. It's much quieter and you get some great views of Loch Ness, from the shore to beautiful viewpoints and of course from the beach!

The cruise on Loch Ness will most likely be on a Jacobite cruise ship. These generally depart from The Clansman Hotel and take a 1 hour cruise on Loch Ness. You cruise down to Urquhart Castle and the boat swings round so that all guests on board get a great view of Urquhart Castle. In my view this is the best view of Urquhart Castle, from Loch Ness. It takes around 30 minutes to cruise each way. On board the boat there is a snack bar, toilets, outside and inside viewing area and sonar which shows you what is happening under the water. There is also a commentary. Sometimes it can be quite busy on the boat which can make it difficult to see everything. However, in April you should be OK as it is generally a little quieter. The castle is interesting but if it's Loch Ness you want to see then the boat is definitely the better option. Hope that helps you with your decision making and that you have a great trip when you get here 🙂

Okey dokey - I will start with local tour operators and transport options. These are people I know and have used either personally or when organising transport options for cruise ship guests. Invergordon Bus Tours - these are larger bus tours for up to 53 people with local guides. They offer 4 different tour options from Invergordon. WOW Scotland Tours - One tour from Invergordon offered covering Inverness, Loch Ness photo stop. Mid to larger sized buses. Happy Tours - they offer tailor made tours from Invergordon in smaller vehicles. Minibuses or Land Rovers Taxis Ross-Shire Taxis - they mainly do commercial work with cruise ships but might have some availability A9 Taxis - local taxis that operate in the evenings too. I think they have a people carrier type car. Alans Taxis - from the neighbouring town of Alness but they do cover Invergordon. They have an 8 seater minibus as well Highland Chauffeur Drive - they do tailormade tours and have cars or people carriers Minibus Hire - MB Plant have some minibuses. They are located on the industrial estate in Invergordon Car hire is going to be an issue in 2023. The nearest car dealership has stopped doing car hire locally so actually not sure who supplies cars now 😞 Lots of cruise ship guests make their own way to Inverness. There is a regular bus service from Invergordon High Street and there is also a train service. It takes around an hour on the bus or the train. Hope that's helpful

Well I can tell you a little about the excursions that are offered by various cruise ship companies, and then you will have some ideas to choose from perhaps? (I work as a tour guide for the cruise ships) I will start with the most popular excursions; Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle - this is the most popular trip. Generally a 4.5 hour trip from Invergordon which gives around 1-1.5 hours at Urquhart castle which is midway along Loch Ness. There is a visitor centre and guests explore on their own. This involves 3 hours of coach travelling in total. Loch Ness Cruises - again often a 4.5 hour trip from Invergordon with 3 hours on the coach and a 1 hour cruise on Loch Ness itself. The boat has sonar equipment and commentary. Cawdor Castle - this is a very popular tour. Travel time is just over an hour each way and there is generally about 2-2.5 hours at Cawdor Castle. This is a beautiful castle, still in use by Lady Cawdor today. It has lovely gardens and sculpture set around it. Dunrobin Castle - this is a grand castle with 365 rooms set beside the North Sea. It's North of Invergordon, and generally it's a half day tour too. The castle is full of interest, with wonderful gardens too. The building was designed by Charles Barry who designed the Houses of Parliament. There are full day cruises which often combine things so Urquhart Castle and Cawdor Castle for example with a lunch in Inverness. Some cruise companies offer walking tours. The most popular walks are Rogie Falls and Silverbridge, usually done as a half day tour, or Glen Affric which is a longer tour. Eilean Donan is a full day tour with a lot of travelling due to the distance and The Castle of Mey (the Queen Mother's castle) is also a full day These tours are generally offered by the ship. There are all sorts of excursions offered by private tour operators, who pick up outside of Invergordon Cruise Port itself - everything from small group tours, to big bus tours and private car tours. There is definitely plenty of choice!