Moving to Inverness area - advice please

[Purplecatshopaholic]

Potentially moving to Inverness for work, and wondering where to consider living. Dont want to live in the city, so slightly further out but commutable. Would up to say, 20-odd miles away be reasonable (roads-wise, weather in winter)? Cursory search is throwing up places like Contin and Alness - are these nice places? Where else might you recommend? Don’t need to worry about schools. Public transport would be useful, eg a train station. Any advice from those in the know would be much appreciated.

Black Isle? Or other way, Nairn?

Yeah, been to Nairn right enough and it seemed nice. Will have a look at the Black Isle, thanks

Lucky you. Inverness is a beautiful city. Personally, I would choose the centre, along the river/park.
20 miles out could make the drive into work tricky sometimes during the winter.

Thanks @MrsSkylerWhite, that’s helpful, I wondered about driving in winter. I am actually not wedded to living outside the city if I can find the right property in Inverness itself, so will have a look.

I have relatives that live in Drumnadrochit and commute into Inverness either by car or bus. They seem to manage fine.

I was just going to say avoid Drumnadrochit! Ils lived her until recently and there's nothing much there especially once the tourist season ends and I hate the drive along the loch from Inverness.

Alness is a dump. I say that as someone who grew up and went to school there. Invergordon is similar sadly. Evanton was nice but is going downhill. Dingwall not great.
would suggest Black Isle. Or potentially Carrbridge /tomatin it’s further but the road is good and may get dualled inthe next 20 years!

The weather would be an occasional issue in winter but nothing that's going to cause an ongoing issue (and lots of other colleagues will be affected on snow days too).
If you're worried though, I'd go east to Moray, then the train could be an option in bad weather, depending on your work times as the trains are not frequent. Moray is lovely and a much drier climate wise than areas to the north/west of Inverness.

I believe Forres is quite nice. I'm along the coast in Moray with no train service sadly.
The weather is like a little microclimate - totally different from much of Scotland. This week it's been warmer than in the summer 😆

Definitely Black Isle, gorgeous and you're still quite close to the city. Friends not long moved to Nairn and are really liking it also.

Do you drive? Also are you buying or renting a property? Renting can be really difficult particularly in Inverness as there is a shortage of available properties. Public transport in general in the Highlands is poor so it's best not to rely on it. The weather can make driving conditions pretty dire at certain times of the year ( it often snows in January and February and gets dark so early so can be pretty icy) though today was 17 (unheard of at this time of year). I think it depends what you like. Inverness has most amenities including cinema, swimming pools, fitness centres, theatre, restaurants etc. Personally I wouldn't live in Alness, Black Isle or any outlying region but know plenty of people that do and love it. I think it depends what you enjoy doing.

I drive and I’ll be buying - need a big garden and preferably detached house as I have dogs, hence thinking outwith the city might work better but would actually prefer city outskirts if price allows (in Central Belt where I am now I needed to come out of the city to get what I wanted/needed).

What's your budget? Looking at round £300,000 for a decent house in a decent area. There's a nice one in Nairn , offers over £330,000 for sale now. Gives you an idea of prices etc.

Westhill/Cradlehall/Culloden might suit?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/153594041#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/153262601#/?channel=RES_BUY

Hunglikeapolevaulter · Yesterday 16:59

Definitely Black Isle, gorgeous and you're still quite close to the city. Friends not long moved to Nairn and are really liking it also.

Lucky them, too. Was 19 degrees in Nairn yesterday, followed by spectacular northern lights.
We’ve recently bought in Perth. Haven’t seen them yet but fingers crossed.

(I know in the grand scheme that temperatures like that in November are a worry, though)

It might be worth looking at areas like Ness castle and Milton of leys in Inverness. They are an on the outskirts of the city but plenty of dog walking routes around those areas. I think some even have dog walking groups etc.

Would go up to 350k, big garden, preferably detached. Thanks QueryA, that’s the idea, defo.

Hi everyone
Considering moving to Inverness area but not sure about living in Inverness itself. Would anyone recommend heading to Black Isle or east of Inverness? Somebody else asked this. Public transport would be good to have into Inverness.

Public transport in the Highlands is pretty abysmal. You can't really rely on it to do anything. In 2 days alone over 80 buses were cancelled recently and half the time they don't show up. It was such a big issue that Highland council put on there own buses to certain secondary schools. Where abuts in Inverness east are you thinking? I wouldn't go to the black isle unless you can drive and have a car.

Thanks @Fundays12. I was thinking Nairn way. The villages of Avoch and Fortrose look nice. I can drive but it would be handy to be able to catch a bus to Inverness. I haven’t ruled out living Inverness but I’d have to live in a quiet area. Any suggestions?

DH was brought up in Alness lived there from birth to 20s when he went to uni in Edinburgh and never went back home, he's 56 now is enraged you said its a dump and wants your name 🤣

I do love to visit Alness but as someone who lives near Manchester I do find Alness quite isolated, and you have to drive anywhere u want to go.

There isn't really quite areas of Inverness as such but I wouldn't say the residential areas are particularly noisy generally. Inverness is expanding at a phenomenal rate so even a quiet area now could end up being build up at some point. Nairn is nice but pretty touristy in the summer which means it does get busy (the whole of the Highlands can become very busy traffic wise due to north coast 500. Dores area is quite nice and right on the loch.

Omg don’t move to Alness - as a pp said it is a dump!

Inverness doesn’t really have a “city centre” it’s hard to explain but it’s mostly lots of residential areas all spread out. Sorry but I would avoid both Ness Castle and Milton of Leys. I like Slackbuie/Culduthel/Holm area. A three bedroom new-ish build in Slackbuie would be about £280k for reference.

Buses in general across the highlands are no use so trains are better.

Contin - nothing there really. I can’t imagine bus connections are good.

The Black Isle - nice but expensive, public transport is awful.

Nairn - also nice and easy to get into Inverness.

Beauly would get my vote over Nairn though - cheaper, two nice wee coffee shops and other shops, can get the train to Inverness which is much more reliable than the buses.

Conon Bridge is also good, feels villagey but you’re pretty much straight onto the A9 and less than 30 mins to Inverness. Also not expensive.

Tain and Invergordon are actually also nice and you can get a train into Inverness, although they are further away.

Have to agree with the don't move to Alness comment. Everyone is different though.

I was thinking Milton of leys or Ness castle as both have a lot of dog walkers and quite a community feel. However personally I would advise against living at the top of Milton Of leys as it's above the snow line and can be treacherous in the winter.

I was just thinking of coming back to retract my Milton of Leys bashing - sorry! You do get more house there and the gardens are such good sizes, plus handy for the shops and schools ☺️