Christmas in Inverness and Scottish Highlands

Local departure by coach or home connect service, then on to Strathpeffer and our hotel for four nights. We enjoy a mulled wine with a mince pie on arrival to get us into the Christmas spirit.

Today we explore the ‘capital of the Highlands’, Inverness. Discover this city at your leisure, perhaps choosing to visit Inverness Castle, a stately riverside fortress built in 1836, or Inverness Cathedral, dedicated to the Scottish patron saint, St Andrew. There is also Inverness Museum and Art Gallery and the Botanic Gardens. Why not browse the quaint shops in the Victorian Market, or stand on the unusual Greig Street Bridge which stands over the River Ness that flows into the famous Loch.

Merry Christmas! Relax in Strathpeffer, open some presents, tuck into a traditional turkey dinner, and enjoy the festive atmosphere in the hotel with your fellow travellers.

This morning we enjoy a scenic drive around the Black Isle – not actually an island! It is in fact a peninsula, surrounded on three sides by expanses of water, with the Cromarty Firth to the north, the Beauly Firth to the south, and the Moray Firth to the east. Charming towns and villages dot this ‘isle’, with fine Georgian houses and quaint fishermen’s cottage. The region is famous for its pod of resident bottlenose dolphins which can often be seen at Chanonry Point. We return to the hotel for a festive cream tea.

We depart the hotel this morning, filled with magical Christmas memories, and return home.