Car rental Inverness Airport

Renting a car is the best way to explore this beautiful corner of Scotland and the UK. From our pick-up location at the airport, you’re only a 20-minute drive from the city center. From here, the A82 runs south-west to Loch Ness and on through the beautiful Great Glen to Fort William, just over an hour-and-a-half-drive from Inverness. From Fort William the A82 continues south to Glasgow.

Equally scenic is the A9 which runs south-east from Inverness to the city of Perth, from where the M90 freeway heads south to Edinburgh. The A9 also runs north from Inverness to Thurso and John O’ Groats on the north coast of Scotland. The A96 is the main road from Inverness to the airport, from where it continues to the major oil city of Aberdeen on Scotland’s north-east coast.

Driving in Inverness is a relatively straightforward experience, thanks to the extensive road network and the smaller volume of traffic than experienced on the majority of roads in UK cities. On-street parking is available and plentiful, but it can be cheaper to use one of the main parking lots in the center of town. There’s one at the Eastgate shopping mall and also on Rose Street, meaning you can find convenient parking no matter what part of the city you want to see.

Driving in the UK is on the left-hand side of the road, unlike most of the rest of Europe. Speed limits are 20mph or 30mph in built-up areas, 60mph on single and two-lane primary roads (prefixed with ‘A’ or ‘B’) outside built-up areas, and 70mph on two- and three-lane freeways (called motorways and prefixed with an ‘M’). Signs for primary A-roads and B-roads roads are green with white text, while freeway signs are blue. Smaller secondary roads (mainly B-roads) have white signs with black lettering.

The natural attractions of the Scottish Highlands are so plentiful that it’s almost overwhelming, but make sure you also spend time inInverness itself to enjoy the gentle charms of this small, but perfectly formed city.

Sampling Scottish cuisine

As a major tourist hub, Inverness can boast an enviable number of fine dining establishments. A local favorite is Rocpool Restaurant, which enjoys a superb central location on the banks of the river Ness. The cuisine here is modern European in style with an emphasis on seasonal produce from hand-picked local suppliers. You can tuck into Highland beef, Speyside venison, Black Isle pork, smoked salmon from Mallaig on the west coast, and mussels from the Shetland Isles.

Halfway between the airport and city center sits Culloden House Hotel, which was used by Bonnie Prince Charlie as his lodgings and headquarters prior to the fateful Battle of Culloden in 1746. Set in 40 acres of beautiful gardens, the hotel boasts an excellent restaurant where you can savor the finest local meat, fish and seafood, and vegetables from their own garden.

Monster hunting

The Moray Firth (estuary) stretches east from Inverness and is best known for its large resident population of dolphins. There’s a very good chance of catching a glimpse of these magnificent and elegant creatures, especially between June and August. Your best bet is on board a dolphin-spotting boat trip from Inverness Marina, which is north of the city center near the Kessock Bridge.

One of the region’s biggest tourist draws is, without a doubt, Loch Ness, a location shrouded in mystery and legend thanks to its long relationship with the mythical Loch Ness Monster, affectionately known as Nessie. The deep loch stretches for 23 miles south-west of Inverness and is overlooked by the dramatic ruins of Castle Urquhart. You may not be able to prove the existence of the monster itself, but the views around the loch are reason enough to spend some time wandering its banks.

Visit a Shakespearean castle

Only a few miles from Inverness airport stands romantic Cawdor Castle. Though best known for its association with Shakespeare’s legendary play Macbeth, Cawdor pre-dates the grisly historical events on which the great Bard based his famous tragedy. The oldest part, the central tower, dates from 1372, and the rest of it is mostly 16th or 17th century. It has been in the hands of the Cawdor family for over six centuries and every summer they set off on a journey of their own, leaving their home and its?glorious gardens for the enjoyment of visitors.

Tee off in golf heaven

Golfers will be in heaven here. Inverness airport is handily placed to play three of the finest courses in the world. A short drive from the airport, overlooking the sparkling waters of the Moray Firth, is Castle Stuart, a relative newcomer to Scotland’s golf scene. It may have only been open since 2009 but Castle Stuart is already being hailed as one of the best golfing experiences in the country.

Close by, at charming Nairn, is the town’s spectacular seaside golf course, with amazing views across the Moray Firth and a long, glorious sandy beach to appreciate as you wait to tee off. And then there’s Royal Dornoch, the jewel in northern Scotland’s golfing crown. This is one of the sport’s ultimate challenges and devoted golfers from all around the world make the pilgrimage here to play on the world’s third oldest course every year.

Whether it’s golf, history, food, mythical beasties or the unsurpassed Scottish countryside that has drawn you here, car rental at Inverness Airport is the very best way to see everything this amazing place has in store for you.