The Capital of the Highlands: A Sightseeing Tour of Inverness

(193 reviews)

Inverness audio tour: The Capital of the Highlands: A Sightseeing Tour of Inverness

This is a 2.8mi walking tour.

It takes an average of 120 mins to complete.

Inverness

The United Kingdom

$9.99

Access all 33 locations offline with the VoiceMap app

Buy for a Group

Reviews

About the Tour

Inverness calls itself the Capital of the Highlands, but its riverside paths hide centuries of rebellion, prophecy, and myth. On this walking tour, you'll hear how a seventeenth-century seer's prophecies about the River Ness's bridges eerily foretold two world wars. You'll also pass sites tied to Pictish warriors, Jacobite executions, and a Victorian opium fortune.

The tour starts outside St Andrew's Cathedral, built from local red sandstone, and follows the river past elegant townhouses funded by opium trader Alexander Matheson. You'll cross the wobbling Shooglie Bridge to the Old High Kirk, where Jacobite prisoners were executed after Culloden, and pass Abertarff House, Inverness's oldest surviving building, linked to the Fraser clan family who inspired Outlander's Jamie Fraser.

Along the way, you'll hear how Columba reportedly banished a monster from the River Ness in the 600s, long before Loch Ness's modern legend began, and how the Brahan Seer predicted the Caledonian Canal centuries before it was built. You'll wander through the Ness Islands and climb to Inverness Castle, blown apart by retreating Jacobites in 1746. The tour ends at Eden Court Theatre, once home to the Bishop of Moray.

On this 120-minute tour, you'll have a chance to:

See why Church Street's Dunbar's Hospital served as a poorhouse, grammar school, and storehouse for the town gallows
Hear how a butcher's loyal dog refused to flee the Great Fire that destroyed Inverness's Victorian market in 1889
Spot the Mercat Cross's smooth Clach-na-cuidhin stone, said to guarantee the city's prosperity for as long as it remains
Learn why the riverside Three Graces statues stand in the wrong order, mixing up Faith, Hope, and Charity
Browse hand-sewn kilts at the Highland House of Fraser, tailoring tartan for over fifty years
Listen for fiddle music at Hootananny's, one of Inverness's liveliest venues for traditional Scottish music
Walk among the ancient yews of Tomnahurich Hill, long said to be guarded by sinister fairies

By the time you reach Eden Court, you'll understand why this Highland capital is as shaped by prophecy and legend as it is by its real, turbulent history.

Tour Producer

Andrew Baxter

2 tours

Andrew Baxter is an experienced professional tourist guide and founder of Glen 2 Glen Tours. He welcomes guests from across the world as they discover the very best Scotland has to offer. Andrew combines elements of history, culture, humour, folklore and storytelling to conjure up an unforgettable experience.

His mission is to make every tour educational, enjoyable and above all entertaining. Specialising in researching the unusual and unexpected details about any destination, Andrew delights in weaving the traditional myths and legends of Scotland into his tours. Alongside this, he throws in a careful blend of contemporary culture and everyday Scottish life to demonstrate the real Scotland.

Andrew Baxter is based in the stunning West Highlands, surrounded by lochs, mountains and midges! He spends his spare time tramping footpaths, clambering over castle ruins and bog hopping with his young family as they explore the Scottish Highlands together.

Save with Inverness audio tour passes

How do passes work?

Buy credits that give you discounted access to your choice of tours

3 Tours

Valid for 7 days

$24.99

Buy Pass

View all passes

Preview Location

Location 25

Beware the Fairy Hill

The geologists like to tell us that Tomnahurch Hill is part of a landscape feature called an esker. It's a large mound of sand and gravel left behind by a retreating glacier at the end of the last Ice Age, around 14,000 years ago.

However, local people might tell you that ... The geologists like to tell us that Tomnahurch Hill is part of a landscape feature called an esker. It's a large mound of sand and gravel left behind by a retreating glacier at the end of the last Ice Age, around 14,000 years ago.

However, local people might tell you that it was really built by fairies as it remains the home of fairies. Now, before you head off in search of cute little fairies flying around on delicate wings - beware! Highland fairies aren't like those you see in the Disney films. These are more sinister creatures that like to trick human beings.

Many years ago there was two young fiddlers, who played in the inns around Inverness. One evening, as they passed the hill they came across a short elderly man who invited them to join him at a ceilidh. He beckoned them through large oak doors and asked them to play for his friends. As they entered the depths below the hill the doors swung tightly shut behind. In a cavernous room, a throng of people was gathered, the hall lit brightly with flaming torches.

Our fiddlers began to play. As they did so everyone began to dance. They reeled and twirled across the floor as the music grew faster and faster. The night wore on and the fiddlers played the best they ever had - tune after tune flowed from their fiddles. Yet, the crowd never tired of their dancing. Eventually, a round of applause rang out around the cavern and the old man presented the musicians with a bag of gold coins as they fell exhausted to the floor.

Dawn was creeping across the rooftops as the old man led the fiddlers outside and bid them farewell. Needing a hearty breakfast they headed off into town. Yet, they didn't recognise many of the buildings around them, although they could see the Old High Kirk sat above the river. As they passed by, people stopped and stared, pointing at their old fashioned clothes.

Confused by the reaction the two lads glanced at each other, to see their faces were creased and folded with the signs of old age. The tollbooth clock struck the hour, and as it did so the fiddlers turned to stone and crumbled to dust.

The tolling bell had broken the fairy charm that held them captive beneath Tomnahurich Hill for the last 200 years.

Continue along the path.

View locations and route

How VoiceMap Works

Focus on your surroundings, not the screen

The VoiceMap app uses GPS to play audio automatically, at the right time and place, so you can focus on your surroundings, not the screen.

Follow a route with turn-by-turn-directions

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a fixed starting point. That lets us give turn-by-turn directions and use context to tell a better story.

Resume playback to go at your own pace

If you'd like to stop for a drink or go into a museum, end your tour then use the Resume feature to pick up exactly where you left off.

Listen as many times as you like

You can listen to your tours as often as you like using both the VoiceMap app and website.

Take virtual tours anywhere, like a podcast

Select Virtual mode in the VoiceMap app to listen to tours like a podcast - at home or in transit.

Buy for less on voicemap.me and sync

Once you've purchased a tour, it's added to your VoiceMap library. To access it in the app, just sign in using the same account.

Do tours without paying for data

Tours work offline, so you don't have to pay roaming fees. Just download them over WiFi before you get started.

Major Landmarks

Inverness Cathedral
River Ness
Highland House of Fraser
Greig Street Bridge
Old High Church
Leakey's Bookshop
Hootananny
Abertarff House
Victorian Market
Inverness Town House
Falcon Square Market Cross
Inverness Castle
Inverness War Memorial
Caledonian Canal, Inverness
Great Glen Way
Ness Islands
Bught Park Pitches
Eden Court Inverness

View all

Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Ardross St, Inverness IV3 5NN, UK
Total distance

4km
Final location
Bishops Rd, Inverness IV3 5SA, UK
Distance back to start location

174.17m

Directions to Starting Point

The tour starts outside Inverness Cathedral - position yourself by the steps, below the towers, that lead to large entrance doors. It's a ten-minute walk from the city centre, bus and railway station, just follow the pedestrian signposts around the city.

There's a car park adjacent to the cathedral on Bishops Road (Postcode: IV3 5SB) where you can pay and display for your parking. It can get a bit busy here, so you may need to find a place elsewhere and walk back.

Show Directions

Gift vouchers

Buy tours for friends and family who delight in discovery

Buy Now

Buy for a group

Get 15% to 50% off when you buy for a group

Buy Now

License this tour

Adapt this tour to use your brand and suit your guests

Find out more

Tips

Places to stop along the way

The Black Isle Brewery on Church Street, wash down freshly made pizza with locally made beer.
Inverness Museum (below the castle) with a good exhibition about the Jacobites.
Inverness Castle Viewing platform - climb one of the towers for great views of the city and surrounding countryside.

Best time of day

This route makes the perfect pre or post-dinner tour, particularly on a fine day when you can catch glorious sunsets, particularly from the high-ground by the castle.

Precautions

You can experience all four seasons in one day in the Scottish Highlands, and that included the centre of Inverness. Make sure you have a raincoat or jacket with you just in case.

Get The App

Download tours to use them offline

Listen hands-free with GPS playback

Get turn-by-turn directions

“This app has become my go-to app for audio tours. I pretty much use it for every trip and it works wonderfully. I highly recommend VoiceMap for travelers to truly experience cities.”

App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”