Holiday to Loch Ness

[Honeypickle]

An tips or advice on what to do there please (apart from the obvious Nessie hunting). We have a 7yr old, 5yr old and 18 month old. Have googled and seen Urqhart Castle and boat trips on the Loch, which looks good, but anything else that you might recommend? Thank you!

Pm’d you

Have a look at what's on offer in Inverness itself?

Also within reach would be the Highland Wildlife park, (although disappointing if you are used to larger parks I'll be honest!) and Landmark in Carrbridge.

I stayed at Drumnadrochitt and it's a lovely wee village. It has a Nessie exhibition and you can get boats from there for a wee cruise. The hotel aswell has good food and there's a wee shop. We walked to Uquhart Castle from there, it was a bit of a walk but nice!

Take lots of mozzie stuff. I was bitten to bits there as a child. To be fair, I did spend most of my 2 week camping trip staring intently at the loch. Sadly, Bessie stayed well hidden. 😢

Inverness is also close and really nice but I'd totally recommend a trip over onto the Black Isle - absolutely gorgeous views and we went to the Clootie Well which is a forest where you leave something for luck as someone spotted a fairy there once! I'd recommend driving right up to Cromarty - it's just beautiful and I want to move there!

Second a visit to Drumnadrochit. Castle Urquhart worth a visit too. Definitely go into Inverness, it's a beautiful city - Cathedral, theatre, parks to visit. The swimming pool is also good - has flumes etc. Landmark is a brilliant place to visit, Aviemore has some good stuff - esp the Wildlife park - say hello to Hamish the baby polar bear whilst you are there! The Moray Firth is a lovely part of Scotland, with loads of pretty fishing villages, Elgin is also a lovely city to visit. Enjoy your trip!

You can get on the boat from Inverness or halfway down at the Clansman hotel. Worthwhile getting a guided tour of Urquhart Castle.
On the other side of the Loch is Dores beach and the amazing Dores Inn. Great food and beer. The beach is pebbles/stony so not much chance of building a sandcastle.

Places to eat in Inverness...
Rocpool on the riverside ££
Cafe1
Miele’s ice cream on Church street.
Rajah behind the post office or Sam’s on Church Street for amazing curries.
Go to Culloden House for afternoon tea after a trip around the battlefield and great visitor centre.

Plan a visit at high tide to Chanonry Point to see the Moray Firth Dolphins from the shore. They are amazing!
Take a trip up the funicular railway to the top of Cairngorm.
Have a day on the beach at Loch Morlich.
Take a walk around Loch an Eilean - nearer to Aviemore but a good day out.
Nairn beach is good too, or drive to Gairloch for some stunning hidden beaches (google big sands Gairloch).
Do a cruise down Loch Ness and explore Urquhart Castle.
If time allows go to Lewis/Harris from Ullapool. (Plus tick off Eilean Donan Castle en route)
A bit further afield...
The beaches on Harris (Luskintyre beach in particular) are stunning!
Explore the west coast of Skye and go hunting for dinosaur fossils.
Look up for Highland games too, there are usually loads in the summer!
Harry Potter fans? Do the steam train at Mallaig (I think) which goes over the GlenFinnann viaduct (the one in the films).
If they’re a fan of Outlander, there are some tours you can do to visit the locations around Inverness too.
Have a great trip!

If you get to Aviemore there's the reindeer centre and a trip up Cairngorm on the funicular, Loch Morlich is nice, the train to Boat of Garten, the Osprey Centre and walks
Down on the Firth there's the Scottish Dolphin Centre.

Day trip to Skye
Fort Augustus (I think?) has a family farm
Inverness is great - the park is brilliant, good equipment and parking.
We went looking for dolphins on the Black Isle didnt see any but was a nice day out at the beach.

Thank you so much everyone - really looking forward to it and trying out all your fab suggestions! And thank you @funmummy48 for the mossie tip - my DH reacts terribly to bites, so good to be pre-warned.
Thanks again everyone for taking the time to post.

There's Fort George near to Inverness.
Red open topped bus tours available in Inverness.

Lots of distilleries round and about eso in Moray/Speyside.

I know Culloden already mentioned but there is also a Gruffalo trail right next to it

Head up to fort Augustus
Balmoral on the way up
Inverness town is nice
Use it as a base to explore some of the lovely rural corners

Nairn beach and riverside is beautiful

I went to a caravan site near fort William some years ago for two weeks holiday.
We came home after a week due to the dreaded highland midge.
They are a complete pest and you cannot ignore them, if you keep moving its not to bad, but when you stop they will home in on you.
Some months are worse than others so check it out and take precautions.
Long sleeves, long trousers, socks, hat and repellent.

Fort George is massive and has a great military museum (cafe's good too). Highland Wildlife Park is fun. Loch Ness itself is a grand sight.

We're here at the moment and had a fab time. Particular hits have been trip on Loch Ness and urquhart castle, plodda falls, the dolphin spotting trip in Moray Firth and glass bottomed boat trip on Skye. Off to Landmark tomorrow.

I'm normally bitten to pieces by midges with massive saucer-sized reactions. I have been bitten but not on the scale I expected. I've about 10 5p sized bites, which is nothing for me. I've had worse at home!

There's a place called abriachan off the rd by the loch. Waterfall walk in pretty woods.

It's the midges you want to worry about not the mozzies. A known Scottish remedy is Avon's Skin so Soft. For some reason they avoid people wearing it. You can even buy it in camping shops in Scotland

I purchased skin so soft from my Avon lady.
You can purchase midge repellent but it is not very nice.

If you can get to avimore then Landmark is amazing for kids, tree top adventures ect. Midges can be abit annoying but some pirotin will sort any irritation in the evening. We live on the west coast, so they are our summer annoyance, one of ours has big lumps but pirotin soon sorts that with no discomfort. I hope you love it and go back!! Drumnadrochit is a must go to!!!