Urquhart Castle on the shores of Loch Ness
For a good part of the visitors who come to Scotland , **Inverness is the gateway to Loch Ness **, that place to which arrive by train and where to rent a car or hire a tour to one of the most touristic places of the famous lake – urquhart castle , the interpretation center of Drumnadrochit , the waterfalls of Invermoriston , a passing city in which, if anything, spend a night before continuing the route.
However, the main city of the Highlands , recovers during the winter, when the influx of tourists plummets and the population is reduced to just over 50,000 inhabitants , a pace that makes it a perfect destination for those seeking tranquility and the more urban version of the Highlands.
Inverness
EVERYTHING HAPPENS THROUGH CHURCH STREET
While high-street has been taken over by the banks and the big international fast food chains, Church Street has retained a much more local character . And local, in this case, does not mean closed but, on the contrary, it is a sample of how Scottish society is today.
Here you can start by trying Jamaican cuisine at the Kool Runings , indian in the AKZ Curry House , decide on something more local in The Ivy either The White House or browse in the shops of the Victorian Market.
There are a lot of souvenir stalls in the old market, it's true, but there are always interesting things in between, like Duncan Fraser , a mixture of butcher and fishmonger, where they sell only local product , which can become your best friend if you have a kitchen during your stay in the city.
Burger at The Ivy, Inverness
Further north, on the same street, things get more serious. the pub hootananny It appears in all the guides, but has managed to preserve its environment. good selection of whiskeys and beers and local musicians jamming every night.
Although if we talk about beers, his thing is to cross the street, walk just 50 meters and enter The Black Isle Bar . Near two dozen craft beers on tap , many of them coming from their own workshop on the Black Isle , the peninsula that can be seen on the other side of the firth (the Scottish version of the estuaries) . Near 60 whiskeys and the best selection of natural wines in the city complete its offer.
A little further on is the Old High Church , with its neo-Gothic bell tower and its cemetery with Celtic crosses overlooking the river. However, the most interesting appears where you least expect it.
At the back of the church, in what was once the Gaelic Church, is Leakey's , possibly the antiquarian bookstore most charming in Europe.
Is ship of 1793 is literally filled to the ceiling (and the ceilings here are high) with over 100,000 books , from 90s paperbacks to authentic 18th century wonders, victorian engravings Y maps from another era at surprisingly low prices.
Leakey's, the most charming antiquarian bookstore in Europe
In the middle, in what at some point must have been an altar, Mr Leakey has his desktop installed . At his feet there a chimney that from time to time feeds with logs that are stacked between the books and that invites you to get rid of your scarf and gloves. Here and there an ancient pulpit looms, galleries and nooks full of books.
Until recently Leakey's had a small cafe in the loft that the owner decided to remove to stack more books . But if you need to have a hot drink after this session of bibliophile and fireplace, you will always have the **I nverness Coffee Roasting **, the only roaster in the city, which works only with fair trade coffee
THE SHORES OF THE NESS
The Ness is a loch , but also the river through which it empties into the Moray Firth after crossing the city. Although the noble streets are left behind, the walk along its banks is one of the most pleasant that can be done in Inverness.
If time gives a truce -and it does with some frequency- the sunset over its waters has a special charm . As much as that sunset, in the middle of winter, is at half past three in the afternoon and, if the north wind blows, it can be freezing.
Since Huntley Street, On the other bank, the four bell towers that loom over the old city are surprising. It's here that some of the best restaurants in town are: **Encore, Urquhart's, The Waterfront**, and most of all, The River House , which on Friday afternoons has a Oyster Hour (which lasts two hours, by the way) in which they serve locally produced oysters at knockdown prices.
Huntly Street, Inverness
Although there are no shops and hardly any bars as soon as you leave the river bank, it is worth exploring the residential streets of this west bank and going down the Kenneth Street either alexander plac and until the St Andrew's Cathedral and the field that hosts the summer Highland Games.
From here the views of the castle are spectacular and the walk back to the center takes just five minutes. Now back, and before getting back into the pub culture in places with gellions , spend some time at the ** Inverness Museum and Art Gallery .**
The collection is small but interesting, admission is free (although a donation is appreciated), the staff is very friendly and the small cafe is surprisingly quiet , given its location in the center, and from the window there are excellent views of the town hall and The Steeple , the bell tower that marks the symbolic center of the city. A piece of cake and tea they help to tone the body before continuing.
A walk along the banks of the River Ness
THE SURROUNDINGS
Inverness is the perfect basecamp either. If you have a car, in just over an hour you can visit some of the most spectacular places in the Highlands. Loch Ness is there, just 15 minutes away, and now in winter you will avoid the queues of tourists. To eat, do not miss The Dores Inn , one of the best pub cookery in Scotland.
If you organize your schedule well, you can even make an early dinner enjoying the sunset over the lake from your table by the fireplace . Or if you prefer a more conventional schedule, you can always kill time by visiting the famous Boleskine House and the adjoining cemetery, in which, according to legend, the dead rose, bewitched by a sorcerer, around 1690.
Dores Inn
At one time it was the occultist's mansion Aleister Crowley and, already in the 1970s, it was the headquarters of Jimmy Page , the legendary guitarist Led Zeppelin , who brought here all his esoteric paraphernalia and all the excesses that made him almost as famous as his music.
Or, if you prefer another route to enjoy the quieter version of the Highlands, drive to ullapool just an hour and a half. The about 60 small hotels and Bed & Breakfast in this village of just 1,500 inhabitants peeking out Loch Broom They give an idea of the charm of the place.
a room in the Argyll Hotel It will be around €90. Try to get one of the ones with views of the coast and reserve to dine in their dining room with a fireplace and ceiling-high tartan.
Salmon from the local smokehouse ( Ullapool Smokehouse ) and the mussels of the neighboring Isle of Lewis they can be a good start.
Then, if they do, just remember that the Ullapool Harbor Norway lobsters are considered among the best in Europe.
Investigate the surroundings of Inverness