The Great Glen cuts a straight line across the Highlands from Inverness to Fort William, holding Loch Ness, 36 km long, and Thomas Telford's Caledonian Canal; to the south-west rise Ben Nevis and Glen Coe, to the east the Cairngorms. Climbing Ben Nevis by the Mountain Track is on the United Kingdom page; this page covers Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle, the canal locks, the Jacobite story at Culloden and Glenfinnan, Inverness itself, Glen Coe, the Nevis Range gondola, Eilean Donan on the road to Skye and the reindeer above Aviemore.
Distances are long, so split a trip between a base at each end of the glen. Three things need booking well ahead: Urquhart Castle and its car park in summer, the Jacobite steam train, which sells out, and the reindeer Hill Trips, released 30 days ahead. Most sights keep seasonal hours, and by late October many are already on their winter timetable.
Climb the Grant Tower at Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness
Drumnadrochit, Loch Ness
1 to 2 hoursBook ahead
Look along Loch Ness from a tower with walls up to three metres thick, in a castle that changed hands several times.
What it is
Urquhart Castle stands on a rocky promontory on the shore of Loch Ness, just outside Drumnadrochit, with an open view up and down the loch. Edward I of England captured it in 1296, Robert the Bruce took it in 1307, and it changed hands several times in the Wars of Independence. In their Great Raid of 1545 the MacDonald Lords of the Isles stripped it of its furniture, cannon and even its gates. Later its garrison, loyal to William of Orange, held out against a Jacobite siege and then blew up the gatehouse so the Jacobites could not move in.
How to do it
Climb the Grant Tower, with walls up to three metres thick, for the view along the loch. Citylink buses 917 and 919 from Inverness stop at the castle.
Good to know
Historic Environment Scotland keeps the castle open all year, with a visitor centre set into the bank below the road.
Time needed
1 to 2 hours
Best time
Early or late in the day, when the coach tours have gone
Cruise Loch Ness from Dochgarroch, Clansman Harbour or Fort Augustus
Dochgarroch, Clansman Harbour and Fort Augustus
50 minutes to 2 hoursBook ahead
Sail Telford's canal onto Loch Ness past Urquhart Castle, or cruise from Fort Augustus with sonar scanning the depths.
What it is
Which end of Loch Ness you sail from shapes the cruise. In the north, Loch Ness by Jacobite sails all year except Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. In the south, Cruise Loch Ness has sailed from Fort Augustus since 1968: its 50-minute trips pass Cherry Island, the loch's only island, with sonar scanning the depths.
How to do it
At Dochgarroch Lock, 4 miles from Inverness on the A82 or a walk along the canal path, the two-hour Contemplation cruise follows Telford's Caledonian Canal onto the loch, past Aldourie Castle, Bona Lighthouse and Urquhart Castle, from £29. At Clansman Harbour, 9 miles from Inverness on the 919 bus, a 50-minute cruise to the castle costs from £21, and a two-hour trip with an hour ashore at Urquhart from £33. Parking is free at both.
Watch boats climb the canal locks at Fort Augustus and Banavie
Fort Augustus and Banavie
About an hour at each flightFree
Watch boats work through five locks in a village, then eight more lift the canal 19 metres with Ben Nevis behind.
What it is
Thomas Telford's Caledonian Canal, completed in 1822, crosses the Great Glen from Inverness to Fort William with 29 locks, and two flights are worth a stop. At Fort Augustus, at the south end of Loch Ness, five locks step down through the middle of the village to the loch, crossed by the A82 swing bridge. At Banavie, four miles north of Fort William, Neptune's Staircase is the longest staircase lock in Scotland: eight locks lifting the canal 19 metres over a quarter of a mile, which take a boat about 90 minutes, with Ben Nevis behind. The West Highland Line crosses the canal at the foot of the staircase.
How to do it
At Fort Augustus, watch boats work through from the lockside, then visit Scottish Canals' Caledonian Canal Centre for the story. Both are free to visit.
Good to know
Winter is the main season for repairs and lock closures.
Walk the moor at Culloden, where the last Jacobite Rising ended
Culloden Moor, east of Inverness
2 hours with the visitor centreNo booking needed
Walk the moor where the last pitched battle on British soil lasted less than an hour, past the clans' mass graves.
What it is
On 16 April 1746 the last Jacobite Rising ended on Culloden Moor, east of Inverness, in the last pitched battle fought on British soil: it lasted less than an hour, and the Jacobites lost between 1,500 and 2,000 killed and wounded against about 50 government dead. The National Trust for Scotland cares for the site. The moor is kept close to its 1746 state, with the 6-metre memorial cairn raised by Duncan Forbes in 1881, the headstones he set on the clans' mass graves, the English Stone and the thatched Leanach farmhouse of about 1760, on the site of a cottage probably used as a government field hospital.
How to do it
Start at the visitor centre beside the battlefield, opened in 2008, whose immersion film room puts you among the lines. Outside, footpaths cross the moor, and a raised platform gives the view from above.
Walk among three cairns built about 4,000 years ago, their kerb stones chosen for size and colour.
What it is
Around 2000 BC, about 4,000 years ago, Bronze Age people built three cairns in a line at Balnuaran of Clava, on the south side of the valley of the River Nairn. The cairns at either end are passage graves, with a passage running from the inner chamber to the outside; the middle one is a ring cairn with no way in, and stone causeways run out from it to three of the standing stones that ring it. Clava gave its name to a whole type: around 50 similar cairns stand around Inverness and the Moray Firth.
How to do it
The cairns are about a mile from Culloden battlefield.
Good to know
The kerb stones were chosen for size and colour, larger and redder to the south-west, smaller and whiter to the north-east, and some carry cup-and-ring marks carved before they were set in place.
Walk to the Ness Islands and eat in the Victorian Market
Inverness
2 to 3 hoursFree
Walk the river to wooded islands joined by Victorian suspension bridges, then eat in a market rebuilt after an 1889 fire.
What it is
Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, is best seen on foot along the River Ness. The Ness Islands are wooded islands in the river reached by bridges since 1828; the originals were swept away in the flood of 1849 and replaced in 1853 to 1854 by two suspension bridges by William Dredge. The islands carry the Great Glen Way among imported trees, with play areas, a miniature railway and the chance of an otter. The Victorian Market, opened in 1870 and rebuilt after a fire in 1889, links Academy Street, Church Street, Union Street and Queensgate.
How to do it
From the centre, walk upstream on either bank, past the Greig Street footbridge, to the islands. Back in town, eat in the refurbished Market Hall. The market opens daily from 8:00, with hours varying by trader.
Good to know
Look for the marks on the Church Street arch where fish merchants sharpened their knives.
Ride the Jacobite steam train over the Glenfinnan Viaduct
Fort William to Mallaig, via Glenfinnan
A full day from Fort WilliamTimed entry
Cross 21 concrete arches 100 feet above the River Finnan by steam, looking down Loch Shiel to where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard.
What it is
The Jacobite is West Coast Railways' steam train from Fort William to Mallaig and back, 84 miles on the West Highland Line, usually behind a Black Five locomotive, with an hour and a half in Mallaig's fishing harbour. The high point comes early on the Glenfinnan Viaduct: 21 concrete arches 100 feet above the River Finnan, opened in 1901, looking down Loch Shiel to the Glenfinnan Monument of 1815, where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard on 19 August 1745.
How to do it
In 2026, after a delayed start, the morning train ran daily from 1 June to 23 October and the afternoon train from 10 June to 25 September. ScotRail's Glasgow to Mallaig trains cross the viaduct all year.
Good to know
Seats sell out, so book once the 2027 dates appear; the guard sometimes sells a few cash seats on the day.
Time needed
A full day from Fort William
Best time
June to October; the 2026 morning train ran to 23 October
Learn the story of Glen Coe and walk into the Lost Valley
Glen Coe
Half a day with the visitor centreFree
Learn the story of the 1692 massacre, then climb a wooded ravine to the Lost Valley, where the MacDonalds hid cattle.
What it is
Glen Coe, whose drive on the A82 is one of the classic Highland journeys, has belonged mostly to the National Trust for Scotland since 1935. The Trust's visitor centre near Glencoe village has displays on the glen's nature and on the massacre of 13 February 1692, when government soldiers billeted with the MacDonalds killed 38 of their hosts, and a reconstructed turf house. Coire Gabhail, the Lost Valley, is where the MacDonalds hid cattle: a flat valley floor between two of the Three Sisters.
How to do it
Start at the visitor centre. Then, from a car park on the south side of the A82, west of Allt-na-reigh cottage, a path crosses the River Coe on a footbridge and climbs a wooded ravine to the valley floor.
Good to know
It is about 3 km each way with 230 metres of ascent, on rough steps with hands on rock and stepping stones over the river.
Time needed
Half a day with the visitor centre
Best time
A dry spell, since the path crosses the river on stepping stones
Ride up the north face of the UK's eighth-highest mountain in about 15 minutes, to a café looking over Fort William.
What it is
Ben Nevis is the big climb; the Nevis Range Mountain Gondola is the easy way onto its neighbour. From a base 7 miles north of Fort William, it rises up the north face of Aonach Mòr, the UK's eighth-highest mountain, from 100 to 650 metres in about 15 minutes, in 80 six-seat cabins on a 4.6 km cable. In winter it serves the ski slopes; the rest of the year, walkers, mountain bikers and paragliders. At the top station, the Snowgoose Café and short viewpoint walks look out over Fort William and Lochaber.
How to do it
Buy tickets online or on site; parking is paid at the machines or online until 16:00 the day before. Shiel Bus 41 runs from Fort William.
Good to know
The gondola runs daily but can close without notice in bad weather, so check the Mountain Report before driving out.
Time needed
2 to 3 hours
Best time
A clear, calm day; check the Mountain Report first
Cross the bridge to Eilean Donan Castle on the road to Skye
Dornie, on the A87 to Skye
1 to 2 hoursNo booking needed
Cross the bridge to an island castle blown up in 1719 with its garrison's own gunpowder and rebuilt over 20 years.
What it is
Eilean Donan sits on a small island where three sea lochs meet at Dornie, on the A87 eight miles before the Skye Bridge. The first fortress went up in the early 13th century against Viking raids. In 1719 it was held by 46 Spanish soldiers supporting the Jacobites until three government frigates bombarded it and troops blew it up with the garrison's own 343 barrels of gunpowder. It lay in ruins for about 200 years until Lt Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap bought the island in 1911 and spent 20 years rebuilding it.
How to do it
Tickets are sold only on site, on the day: £13 for adults in 2026. From 25 October to 22 December it opens 10:00 to 16:00, last entry 15:00. Citylink 915 and 917 stop at Dornie.
Good to know
There are a few closed days in that period, and it shuts for all of January.
Walk up the hill to Britain's only free-ranging reindeer
Glenmore, near Aviemore
1.5 to 2 hoursTimed entry
Walk up into the Cairngorms and stand among Britain's only free-ranging reindeer while they feed from your hand.
What it is
The Cairngorm Reindeer Herd is Britain's only free-ranging herd: around 150 reindeer, most of them roaming the Cairngorm mountains above Glenmore. On the guided Hill Trip you walk up to the herd and stand among the reindeer for a short hand-feeding.
How to do it
Visits start at the Reindeer Centre in Glenmore village, 6 miles east of Aviemore past Loch Morlich. You drive a short way in your own car, with a small parking fee, then walk 20 to 40 minutes up to the herd; the whole trip takes 1.5 to 2 hours. Trips run most days from the February half term to the end of the Christmas holidays, and tickets are released 30 days ahead to the hour, so book early. The Aviemore Adventurer bus runs about hourly to Glenmore.
Good to know
Wellies or walking boots and waterproofs are essential, and anyone without them is turned away without a refund.
Time needed
1.5 to 2 hours
Best time
May to December; February to April is harsher, age 4 and over only
Stand on the highest point in the UK after a full day on the Mountain Track, the walkers' route up from Glen Nevis.
What it is
At 1,345 metres Ben Nevis is the highest point in the UK, and the Mountain Track from the Ben Nevis Visitor Centre in Glen Nevis is the walkers' route. The round trip is about 16 km, and the average time to the summit and back is 7 to 8 hours.
How to do it
Once you are on the path there are no signposts; near the summit cliffs a line of cairns guides you when cloud allows, and a map and compass are essential in poor visibility. The visitor centre has parking, toilets and staff who can advise on conditions.
Good to know
Check the Mountain Weather Information Service forecast for the West Highlands, updated twice a day, carry at least two litres of water each and bring warm layers even in summer. There are no toilets on the mountain.
Time needed
7 to 8 hours return
Best time
An early start on a day with a good mountain forecast
Inverness is the gateway, with the nearest airport and a station at the end of the Highland Main Line from Perth, via Aviemore. The Caledonian Sleeper's Highland service runs overnight from London Euston to both Inverness and Fort William. From Glasgow, ScotRail's West Highland Line climbs to Fort William and on to Mallaig, and Scottish Citylink coaches run up the A82 via Glencoe to Fort William. Edinburgh to Aviemore is about three hours by road up the A9.
Getting around
A car makes this page easy: the A82 runs the length of the Great Glen from Inverness past Loch Ness, Fort Augustus and Fort William to Glen Coe, and the A87 branches west for Eilean Donan and Skye. Without one, Citylink 917 runs from Inverness along Loch Ness past Urquhart Castle to Dornie and Skye, the 919 passes Clansman Harbour, and Ember's electric coaches link Inverness, Fort Augustus and Fort William, with stops booked in advance. Shiel Bus 41 reaches Nevis Range and the Aviemore Adventurer Glenmore. Culloden and Clava are easiest by car or tour.
How many days
In must30's view, four days: one around Inverness for the city, Culloden and Clava Cairns; one down Loch Ness for a cruise, Urquhart Castle and the Fort Augustus locks; one from Fort William for the Jacobite, Neptune's Staircase and the Nevis Range gondola; and one in Glen Coe. Add a day for Ben Nevis and one for the reindeer above Aviemore, and see Eilean Donan on the way to Skye.
When to go
May to September brings long days and full timetables: in 2026 the Jacobite ran from 1 June to 23 October, Urquhart Castle stays open until 20:15 from April to August, and the reindeer Hill Trips are gentler from May. Summer is also when Urquhart sells out and car parks fill, so book. Loch Ness cruises sail all year, and Eilean Donan stays open into December but closes for January. Winter brings short days, and the gondola and hill walks depend on the weather.
Where to base yourself
Inverness has the most hotels, the station and the airport, and is 4 miles from the Dochgarroch boats. Drumnadrochit, near Urquhart Castle, and Fort Augustus, at the canal locks, put you on the loch itself. Fort William, the base for Ben Nevis, is closest to Glenfinnan, Neptune's Staircase, Nevis Range and Glen Coe, which also has its own village. Aviemore suits the Cairngorms and the reindeer, and Dornie or Skye suits Eilean Donan.
Questions travellers ask
Do you need to book Urquhart Castle?
Yes, especially in summer. Historic Environment Scotland sells timed tickets online and warns that they often sell out far in advance; once they are gone online, none are sold at the castle. Parking is free but only guaranteed if you book it with your ticket.
Where do Loch Ness cruises leave from?
From three places. Loch Ness by Jacobite sails from Dochgarroch Lock, 4 miles from Inverness, and from Clansman Harbour, 9 miles out, where the shorter cruises to Urquhart Castle start. Cruise Loch Ness sails from Fort Augustus at the southern end of the loch.
When does the Jacobite steam train run?
In 2026, after a delayed start, the morning train ran daily from 1 June to 23 October and the afternoon train from 10 June to 25 September, between Fort William and Mallaig. The 2027 dates were not out yet. ScotRail's regular Glasgow to Mallaig trains cross the Glenfinnan Viaduct all year.
How far is Loch Ness from Inverness?
Very close: Dochgarroch Lock, where boats leave for the loch, is 4 miles from Inverness on the A82, and Clansman Harbour is 9 miles out. Loch Ness itself runs 36 km south-west to Fort Augustus, with Urquhart Castle about 2 miles from Drumnadrochit on the north-west shore.
