Dog Friendly City Guide: Inverness, Scotland

Until 1828 the only way onto the Ness Islands was by boat. Inverness built its first bridges to them that year, the flood of 1849 carried them away, and in 1853 and 1854 William Dredge hung two suspension bridges in their place. Walkers still cross on them, out of Bught Park and over the river among imported trees, bats, otters and now and then a deer, a few minutes from the shops.

The Highland capital sits where the River Ness meets the sea, Loch Ness is a few miles upstream, and almost every walk worth doing starts within reach of a city centre street.

The Law That Opens the Hills

The Scottish Outdoor Access Code, which sets out where the public may walk in Scotland, is plain that its rights take in your dog: "Access rights apply to people walking dogs as long as their dogs are kept under proper control." In practice that means a dog close at heel or on a short lead near other people and in any field with farm animals, and never in a field with lambs, calves or other young animals. From about April to July, when birds nest on the ground, the lead goes on in open country. Pick up after your dog in any public place. Keep to that and the forests, riverbanks and long distance paths below are yours.

Where to Stay

The Kingsmills Hotel on Culcabock Road has been taking guests since the 1700s, Robert Burns among them, and you can still sleep in the original house in its Classic 1785 rooms. It has 144 rooms in all, a pool and spa, and mature gardens. Dogs are welcome in those gardens and in the lounge, the hotel puts out free treats and points you to its walks, and if you want dinner without your dog, it can be left in the room. The fee is £25 per dog for the stay. Read the Roch Dog review of the Kingsmills Hotel.

The Inverness Palace Hotel & Spa stands on Ness Walk, across the river from Inverness Castle, in Victorian buildings dating from the 1890s, with a leisure club and pool. Most of its 110 rooms take dogs, up to two to a room, with no weight limit. Bowls are provided, staff will send you to the best green spaces nearby, and the Ness Islands are a short stroll upriver. The fee is £15 per dog per night. Read the Roch Dog review of the Best Western Inverness Palace Hotel.

A little further along the same bank, the Glenmoriston Townhouse is a hotel of 30 bedrooms and three apartments on a tree lined terrace above the river, with the Contrast Brasserie and a Piano Bar pouring more than 260 malt whiskies and 50 gins, with live music at weekends. That bar is where your dog is welcome, bowls come with the room, and two dogs can share it. The fee is £15 per dog per night. Read the Roch Dog review of the Glenmoriston Townhouse.

If you are flying in, the Courtyard by Marriott at Inverness Airport, out at Dalcross, has 130 rooms and lets your dog into both the bar and the restaurant. Bowls, treats and a toy are waiting, there is a garden, there is no weight limit, and staff will give you a map of local walks, including a path to the village of Tornagrain. The fee is £20 for the stay. Read the Roch Dog review of the Courtyard Inverness Airport. For the full field, see our dog friendly hotels in Inverness.

Walks and Parks

The Great Glen Way is the walk that begins at your door. It runs 79 miles from Inverness to Fort William along canal towpaths, forest tracks and quiet roads, usually over four to seven days, with osprey, golden eagles, red kites and deer to watch for. On its way out of town it crosses the Ness Islands, opposite Bught Park, on those Victorian footbridges. Bught Park and Torvean Park beside it give you open grass by the river and the canal.

For a flat walk with something to look at, take the Caledonian Canal towpath from the Tomnahurich swing bridge. The towpath is even all the way, past boats working the locks at Muirtown and the wide water of Muirtown Basin, to the sea lock at Clachnaharry, where boats leave the canal for the Beauly Firth. You cross the railway on the way, so keep the lead short there. Walk up to the point for the view.

Above the canal to the west, Craig Phadrig is a wooded hill crowned by an Iron Age fort more than 2,000 years old, later the seat of a Pictish king. Its ramparts were burned so hot that the stones fused together. Forestry and Land Scotland marks two routes from the car park on Leachkin Brae: the Craig Phadrig Trail, 2.3 km on wide gravel in about an hour, and the steeper Hill Fort Trail, 1.9 km with wooden steps up to the fort and the Beauly Firth through the trees.

East of the city, Culloden Battlefield is where the last Jacobite Rising ended on 16 April 1746. The National Trust for Scotland keeps Highland cows grazing on the battlefield. Dogs may cross the battlefield on a lead, and VisitInvernessLochNess points to a field behind the visitor centre where they can run off it.

Eat and Drink

The Black Isle Bar on Church Street is the city bar of the Black Isle Brewery, central and easy from both the bus and train stations, with a secret garden bar open until midnight. It says it loves dogs at the bar, and if you take one of the rooms upstairs your dog can stay with you for £10.

At the Heathmount on Kingsmills Road, a small independent hotel, dogs are welcome in the lounge, the bar and the heated terrace, and can eat with you in the back bar and out on that terrace, though not in the main restaurant. The kitchen cooks Highland produce as small bites and full dishes, and the bar keeps craft beers, artisan spirits and cocktails.

MacGregor's on Academy Street is the live music bar, and your dog is welcome along while you have a pint, food and the music. On the riverbank, Uile-bheist is the distillery and brewery that opened in 2023, the first distillery built in the city for 130 years, and its tap room is dog friendly, with the beer straight from the tap.

End the canal walk at the Clachnaharry Inn on Clachnaharry's High Street, an old fishing village inn looking over the Beauly Firth, where the kitchen serves traditional pub food.

Arriving From Abroad

Inverness is in Great Britain, so the rules for bringing a pet into Great Britain apply. The microchip has to go in before the rabies jab, the jab has to be at least 21 full days old when you travel, and your vet issues the pet travel document your country calls for. Most dogs also need a tapeworm treatment from a vet no less than 24 hours and no more than five days before arrival, and you must use an approved route unless you are coming from Ireland or within the UK. A dog that arrives without the right papers can be put into quarantine for up to four months. Banned breeds cannot enter without a Certificate of Exemption.

Good to Know

At the Courtyard by Marriott only 13 rooms take dogs, so book early, and dogs may not be left alone in the room; the same goes at the Inverness Palace and the Glenmoriston. Kingsmills keeps a number of rooms for dogs and takes them up to 88 pounds. At the Glenmoriston only some rooms take dogs and the limit is 75 pounds.

The Ness Islands footbridges close now and then for repairs, though the islands stay open from Island Bank Road; check the Highland Council's notices.

Our Edinburgh and Glasgow guides cover the two big cities to the south. From Inverness the Great Glen Way runs south down the glen, beside Loch Ness, all the way to Fort William.