The fun doesn't stop when the skies get dark!
When most of us think of the Highlands, and of Inverness and Loch Ness in particular, our thoughts might assume generously long, warm summer days. Days that start with a 4am dawn chorus. Nights when the sun barely sets, and when it does, the birds will soon begin singing again.
We love those long summer days - there always seems to be so much time. Time for long walks and cycle runs. Time to dip your toes lazily into a loch, and to let your mind wander free. Time to delve into the history of our landscape, and wonder about the people who have stood in this spot before you.
But where there is summer light, there is winter darkness. Yin and yang. And that winter darkness has a beauty, a magic, and a pull that’s just as strong as the endless light of summer.
At night Inverness’s restaurants, bars, and music venues come into their own. And it’s on winter nights that cosy bar stoves and log fires are lit.
On winter nights the lights in the trees along the riverbank bring sparkle to the city. And it’s on winter nights that nature puts on her most dazzling shows, wowing us with clear views of the Milky Way and the aurora. That’s a show that is, quite literally, out of this world.
City Night Life
We hope you’re staying for a while in Inverness, because you’ll want to try many of the bars and restaurants. Luckily the city centre is compact, so nothing is too far away - and many of the favourites seem to gather near the river.
You are quite literally spoilt for choice with dining experiences, whether that is in Inverness city centre or if you are staying in the more rural areas around Loch Ness.
To find out more about what is located where you are choosing to stay, use our interactive map to find all the fabulous dining on offer.
Experience Highland Hospitality
As well as the culinary delights on offer, the dark skies give you more time to enjoy the music, the craic, the stories, and the laughter, in the many venues offering live traditional music and entertainment.
If points were awarded for packing personality into tiny spaces, the prize might go to The Malt Room. This dedicated whisky bar is tucked up a small alley near The Victorian Market. Its dram lists are extensive; its tasting nights pleasingly sociable, and the bar’s staff exquisitely knowledgeable. Think you don’t like whisky? They’ll tell you that you’ve just not found the right one yet.
If you are looking for something more relaxed with a riverside location, how about an evening at the Piano Bar located in the Glenmoriston Hotel. A huge selection of whiskys and gins, not to mention a fabulous cocktail list.
Stage Lights
Eden Court Theatre and Cinema shines like a bright jewel on the banks of the Ness. Inside, it lights up dark nights with a dazzling array of drama, dance, and the best international cinema this side of the channel.
Over the festive period, the family panto is the most dazzling show of them all! Make a family panto or take in a touring west-end show, build in a shopping excursion, monster-hunting expeditions and delicious meals and drinks around showtime. There is a myriad of hotels and guest houses within easy walking distance. The most wonderful time of the year? You better believe it!
Out of this World
Once out of the bright lights of Inverness, our region has almost perfect dark skies. You will crick your neck neck trying to take in the vastness of the Milky Way and pulling over while driving because the Aurora Borealis, Merrie Dancers or Northern Lights - call them what you will - have made their colourful presence known. It’s a breath-taking sight, one of nature’s finest.
Download one of the free Aurora alert apps to tell you when conditions might be right for a good show in the sky.
The dancers might be relatively rare visitors, but on a clear night, wrap up warm and head for a high spot - the viewpoint at Suidhe is ideal, or Abriachan Forest, or Culloden Battlefield. There, a whole of sky’s worth of constellations, meteor showers, planets and satellites will fill your eyes, and www.nasa.gov will alert you to when the International Space Station is passing by, if you sign up for notifications.
Closer to the city, Culloden Battlefield is also home to the Highland Astronomical Society’s Observatory. Check out their website for details of public events and how to join.
Inverness and Loch Ness are full of undiscovered winter treats; cosy places in which to escape the dark, and wondrous places in which to embrace its delights. Whatever your pleasure, be it sunrises or sunsets, city lights or dark malts, wood fires, fairy lights or the lights in the sky, it’s all here waiting.