To get to Inverness, you can fly, or take a train or a bus.
Flying
There are direct flights to Inverness Airport from London (Heathrow, Gatwick & Luton), Amsterdam (Schiphol), Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham, Dublin, Belfast, Zurich … Here is a link for more information from Inverness Airport.
The airport in Inverness (like most airports) is a bit out of town. You can take a bus, taxi or possibly Uber to get from the airport to the city center and back. The bus fares to and from Inverness Airport are around £3.10 each direction and takes around 30 minutes.” Here is information about buses from Inverness Airport .
You will need cash – in Pounds – to pay for the bus. Note: There is only one ATM at Inverness airport and when one traveler got there, it was not working. So if you fly through London, it would be good to go to an ATM there and get some pounds or bring some with you.
Here is more information about how to get to and from the Inverness Airport:
Bus or Train
If you want to take a bus or train from Glasgow or Edinburgh, they will drop you off right in the center of Inverness. The easiest way to get to the bus or train station (from either airport in Glasgow or Edinburgh) is a taxi. They’ll be waiting outside the airport and take good care of you. If you’re adventurous, there are other options, but please remember you’ll probably be jet-lagged and not totally with it.
Here is a map with the bus station the train station circled and the Inverness Castle underlined so you can see where they are in relation to the castle. Click on the map to enlarge.
Map of Inverness Train Station
Train
I use trainline.com to look for train tickets. For Glasgow, you would leave from Queen Street station. For Edinburgh, you would probably want to leave from Waverly station (but possibly Haymarket if you are spending the night in Edinburgh).
Please see these blogs about getting around Glasgow, Edinburgh and between them:
Blog Link (opens in new tab): Getting Around Glasgow
Blog Link (opens in new tab): Getting Around Edinburgh
Blog Link (opens in new tab): Getting between Glasgow and Edinburgh
Click on the map to enlarge.
Train from Edinburgh Waverly Station (3 hours 18 minutes)
Train from Glasgow Queen Street Station (3 hours 12 minutes)
Bus
Or there are buses from almost anywhere in Scotland. Here are some bus links:
I use google maps, put in the destination, then press the Directions button. Then you can add an Origin and select the icon that looks like a train.
Ferry
If you’ve taken the ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan (Stena Line Ferry), then you can take the bus from Cairnryan to Ayr, then the train to Inverness. This is not an easy journey but if you prefer trains like I do (and I’ve done this ferry-bus-train trip), then please call me and we can chat about it.
Bus then train from Cairnryan to Inverness (7 hours 38 minutes)
