Best of the Scottish Highlands Tour from Inverness: Black Isle, Loch Ness and Scotch Whisky

Inverness, United Kingdom

Venture through Scotland’s Highlands on a full-day trip from Inverness with an expert guide. Traveling by luxury minivan, you’ll explore the area known as the Black Isle, home to incredibly barren yet beautiful scenery. Visit the sleepy fishing village of Cromarty, see bottlenose dolphins at Chanonry Point, and sample whisky at the Glen Ord Whisky Distillery in Beauly. Before returning to Inverness, you’ll walk along the banks of Loch Ness to seek out Nessie – a must-do activity in the Highlands!

Depart Inverness by minivan and travel with your guide to the heart of Scotland’s dramatic Highlands. Heading west, you’ll venture along a stunning stretch of the Highlands known as the Black Isle, an area of land that’s actually a peninsula and named for its association with the dark arts during medieval times. Hear tales like this and more from your friendly guide as you journey deep into the Black Isle’s beautifully barren countryside.

First stop of the day is in Cromarty, a picturesque village where time feels like it’s truly standing still. Enjoy a leisurely walking tour around its quaint streets, seeing cute fisherman’s cottages and houses with typical Scottish crow-stepped gables.

Continue traveling by minivan through the pretty villages of Rosemarkie and Fortrose, and then stop for a walk along a ridge known as Chanonry Point. Jutting out into the sea at Moray Firth, the ridge is widely acknowledged as the best place in Britain for see dolphins – home to a community of some 130 bottleneck dolphins.

After dolphin spotting to your heart’s content, your tour continues to the nearby town of Beauly for lunch (own expense) and a look around. The name of the town comes from the French beau lieu meaning ‘beautiful place,’ and you’ll find it to be just that while you explore its charming streets at leisure.

The town is home to the legendary Glen Ord Whisky Distillery, and you’ll visit this next with your guide. While touring the cellars and distillery itself, you’ll see the whisky workers creating their flagship product – a 12-year-old single malt whisky – and you’ll be given a wee dram to sample before leaving.

On the way back to Inverness, there’s one last – and very important – stop at the banks of Loch Ness to try and catch a sight of the fabled Loch Ness monster. As you stroll through the village of Drumnadrochit and around the gorgeous shores of this famous loch (lake) surrounded by flora and fauna, you’ll soon realize that there’s more to Loch Ness than just a monster!

USD $59.00

Traveler Reviews

Review by:   frederick h,    November 2017
Off we went with our guide Allison in a roomy van. Allison was fantastic, she knew our 10 names in the first 5 minutes and I enjoyed her good-natured banter and her wealth of knowledge. First to Loch Ness where we heard the legend but the monster was on an extended vacation presumably. After the whiskey tour which had been pre-arranged, we had lunch in the quaint village of Cromarty where some of us had Cullen Skink soup which sounds like it's made from lizards but actually a delicious smoked fish. We got our feet wet along the coast as we looked for dolphins. They must have been on vacation too but the Highland cattle were not and no one complained we were having such a good time. Back to Inverness where we received recommendations from Allison for dinner and entertainment ideas. I'd do this all again, and hope to sometime soon.

Review by:   jessmelch229,    October 2017
It was a great trip! Our tour guide was very willing to help us see some great country! Great time!

Review by:   Elizabeth R,    September 2017
We loved our tour! Our guide was wonderful - very informative and a lot of fun!

Review by:   Marian D,    September 2017
It is worth of for those who enjoy countriside views, want to see life out of capitals and spend comfortably a day during their stay in Inverness. Nice Black Island sites and really rural atmosphere of villages to enjoy some coffee, sandwich or beer in local pubs. Whisky tour in Glen Ord only basic level, however, enough for most of not deeply interested in, finished with tasting. All tour related information given during the day were practical and interesting. Satisfied at all, but would recommend to tour guides, in general, to take better care of their pronounced english as also not native english speaking visitors can appear on their board from time to time. Thanks for nice day.

Review by:   Jillian K,    August 2017
Enjoyed the lovely scenery and our guide, Julien, despite a mostly rainy day. We only stopped for a short time to take in the view of Loch Ness but I think I prefer that to the place we passed by - what seemed like a more commercial Nessie visitor's center. Julien, kept up a commentary through the day telling us interesting facts as well as local lore of the places we visited. The distillery tour was great and I felt there was ample time spent there about 45 min. Sally was our good humored distillery guide. I'm not a scotch drinker but this was an interesting tour and I can better appreciate what goes into making this libation! Footwear tip: don't wear thin/ spiky heels as part of it is walking on grating. Stopped in Beauly for a visit to the ruin of what was once an abbey. Julien's commentary did not seem rehearsed and I felt that he was sharing his knowledge with us rather than talking at us. It was like traveling around with a friend! We did not see dolphins near Cromarty but had a very nice lunch on our own and a brief walk on the beach there. By then the sun was peeking out. Again, Julien's stories were entertaining and personable. I would like to go back and spend a little more time in some of these places! Logistically speaking the pick up and drop off point bus station in Inverness was convenient and we left in a timely manner and got back earlier than I had expected. One thing I would encourage is to engage the tour participants with each other - maybe some ice breakers as we begin the tour. The people on the tour were pretty quiet and we didn't interact much with each other. Maybe all of us happened to be introverts that day? Overall a good day - wet but well spent! Thank you, Julien!

Review by:   kym b,    August 2017
A lovely drive through the countryside with a very experienced driver/guide. Information provided on the history of villages we passed through and of some of the myths and legends that abound throughout Scotland.

Review by:   Jonine F,    October 2016
We had a fantastic tour guide Duncan, who was extremely knowledgeable and gave the best stories of the area. He even played music during the tour. It was exceptional. My in-laws said that this was the best tour they had ever had in their lives, so we know it was memorable. Highly recommend!

Review by:   Ina V,    August 2016
This trip was fantastic. The tour guide was very knowledgeable.

Review by:   Swinder J,    July 2016
We enjoyed the trip overall, but felt that it was a bit too long for the different experiences included. Our guide was nice and if you have a whole day to spend in a van soaking up some great views, it was ideal.

Review by:   Anita P,    July 2016
There were only 4 of us on the tour. It was terrific. Thanks, Ian !

Review by:   Amelia B,    July 2016
Nice !

Review by:   Michelle N,    June 2016
I had the best time, Alison driver/tourguide was amazing. Wonderful experience

Review by:   Steven G,    May 2016
Our driver Kevin was spectacular! the weather was great and he was so knowledgable about so many different parts of the areas we saw. the tour guide at the distillary was so-so, but all in all it was a lovely day. We appreciated the scenic drive actually the best. And the dauphins were really active the morning we were there.

Review by:   Diane R,    May 2016
This was just what we were looking for -- a nice wander through the Black Isles with an experienced and informative guide. Gary not only knew lots of interesting facts and stories, but he gave us tips about what to look for in each of the places where we stopped. His enthusiasm was infectious. Another great Viator tour!

Review by:   Keith H,    May 2016
Best part was the distillery tour. The rest was very interesting with some lovely scenery and an excellent guide

Review by:   James R,    April 2016
Fairly good

Review by:   Joseph Q,    October 2015
Would recommend this tour to anyone wanting to see the true country of the Scottish Highlands. Our coach driver was the greatest. He was very informative on the history and was very thoughtful and accommodating to everyone. Would recommend this tour to anyone. Very long day but worth every hour of it. Five Star tour and driver was great with resteraunt recommends.

Review by:   Sharon M,    September 2015
This was an interesting tour. The guide was knowledgeable and the sites were worthwhile

Review by:   Hilary M,    September 2015
The trip was wonderful. Alison, our tour guide, was exceptional. Very knowledgable and loads of fun. We all had a great time.

Review by:   Robert O,    July 2015
The best part of our tour was our guide, Alison, who was witty, knowledgeable, and caring about the people on her tour. Plus, we received glimmers of sunshine for the first time, an omen that followed us to London the following day. Great trip. Would recommend it for anyone who has never been to Inverness before._br/_ It's a four star rating._br/_ Thanks,_br/_ Robert and Tobi O'Brien

Review by:   dlcama,    June 2015
We did not know the town was at least 45 minutes from the dock and we missed our tour.. called but was told they could not wait for us

Review by:   Ronald W,    May 2015
Had great tour with small group. Allison did great job and adapted to suit the group to make tour even more enjoyable. A couple of extras added to the experience. Dolphins had the day of but this did not detract from the trip

Review by:   John C,    October 2014
Only 3 passengers on the bus so driver adopted a flexible itinerary, which suited us all.

Review by:   Andrew C,    June 2014
Malcolm was a kind, patient and excellent host. Interesting commentary on the local areas covered. It was fantastic fun seeing the seals and dolphins at the Black Isle and the visit to the distillery was fun too.

Review by:   Heidi,    September 2013
Beautiful countryside and with just one day we did see alot. However there was little commentary provided from our driver or helpful hints as to what exactly we were seeing. At several of the stops we were told to walk around a bit and be back in 45 minutes. Learned on our own.

Review by:   Wilbur W,    September 2013
Very good tour guide and fun experience. Will recommend to Anyone.

Review by:   Dianne L,    July 2013
The only reason I give this tour one star is because the tour of the Scotch Whisky Distillery was very, very good. Nice tour guide and very informative, I learned a lot of interesting things about making whisky._br/_ However we saw not even a hint of any bottlenose dolphins at Chanonry Point. _br/_ The sleepy village of Cromarty was so sleepy nothing was open so we waisted time just walking around doing nothing until the van was ready to move on. _br/_ We did not go near the banks of Lock Ness, instead was taken to a nomey grabing building with a lock ness display we had to pay extra to see and a gift shop, but no where within sight or walking distance to Loch Ness or Urquhart Castle. The driver/tour guide was very nice, when I complained he pulled the van over to the side of the road so I could see Lock Ness from a distance and take a picture._br/_ I do not recomment this tour. It was a very big disappointment.

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