I went to Inverness recently, I’d never been to Scotland before so it was something I was really looking forward to…

We flew over from London and stayed in this cosy Air BnB place with the friendliest host. The house, overall, was so comforting to be in, we had coffee in a cafetière every morning with croissants and fresh fruit laid out. It was the small things like this that made me feel like I could live there and wake up to this every day for the rest of my life. Inverness was quite a small area, it is technically a city but it feels more of a town, maybe because I’m use to London and how big it really is.

What To Do

Of course Scotland is well known for their amazing whiskies. Inverness is surrounded by many distilleries, all you have to do is pop on a train! Some however do require a car… We chose to go to Benromach as it was closer but I also hadn’t tried their whisky. We booked ‘The Contrast Tour’ which was £15 and gave you a tour around the distillery, followed by a tasting of their range.

There is a cheaper tour for £6 but we would recommend the £15 as it gives you more of an insight into the different ages of whisky and how they are each distilled.

Along with its whiskys, Scotland is known for its beautiful landscape, so we decided to take in the fresh air and take a walk to Ness Island. Walking around the Island was peaceful and we found a beautiful corner that was just on the river bank so we watched two rivers join together when they were once apart. There was a man fishing and it was just tranquil watching the view for a while.

After when we came off the Island, we went to the Inverness Botanic Gardens which our host recommended to us. At first, it looked like an average garden centre, ones that I get around where I live back at my parents… But when we wondered to the back, it had a few conservatories that kept various plants in, my favourite was of course the conservatory with all of the cacti and succulents. They were giant and it was strange seeing larger versions than the ones I keep in my flat in London.

We then walked up the canal and made it to the top of Inverness and looked over toward The Highlands, the view was beautiful and the air was so clean. It was something I tried to capture on camera but nothing did it justice, it was something you had to experience, just green and blue everywhere.

What To Eat

Our first night we had dinner in the pub across the road from the house, The Castle Tavern. They had quite a few ales on tap which we had along with some food which was both filling and warming. I had pork with haggis mash and gravy, Jon had some fish and chips. It was the first time I had actually tried haggis and I surprisingly enjoyed it seeing as I cringe every time I hear what it’s made from.

The last night we thought to take our Air BnB host’s recommendation and go to The Mustard Seed. We had looked at the menu the day before and thought it would be too high in price for us but our host explained that they do a ‘A La Carte’ menu which is for the early evening diners and was £13.95 for two courses. This was amazing seeing as one course is usually £15 here.

I had pork belly to start which came with a sweetcorn salad, Jon had smoked salmon pate. For main, I had the Sea bass which was cooked perfectly with the skin crispy. I usually go for fish in restaurants because it’s usually locally sourced and forever changes on menus. Jon went for a steak and we had their seasonal veg on the side. It was a nice atmosphere and great food, not somewhere we’re used to which I think made the experience special. That and the ‘Al La Carte’ menu!