HOSTELS IN INVERNESS, LOCH NESS, GREAT GLEN, NORTHEAST SCOTLAND

INVERNESS

The welcoming little city of Inverness is the capital of the Highlands and a main railway and coach terminus. It is a good place for a stopover, with a pleasant mixture of scenery, attractive buildings and historical interest. There is a good choice of hostels here, and a pub (advertised in the hostels) that encourages backpackers with live music every evening and sometimes scottish dancing.

In the shopping streets are three hostels. The Ho Ho hostel has a sociable common room; the owners have another hostel called the Long Lie-in, which has not been popular with reviewers, so if you want the sociability, make sure you stay in the main Ho Ho hostel.

HO HO Hostel (Inverness)

Address: 23A High Street
Tel: 01463-221225

Email: mail + AT + hostel.f9.co.uk

Facilities: Giant common room w smoking and stereo, internet, good kitchen, sociable, partying in high season.

The other two hostels both have a TV in the common room.

EASTGATE Backpackers (Inverness)

Address: 38 Eastgate
Tel: 01463-718756

Email: info + AT + eastgatebackpackers.com

Facilities: Lounge/dining with dominant TV & internet, small kitchen.

UK Trail opinions: Reviewer says: 'The hostel in Inverness most likely to cause disappointment': v poor kitchen, no dining area except in lounge.

INVERNESS TOURIST Hostel

Address: 24 Rose St
Tel: 01463-241962

Email: info + AT + invernesshostel.com

Facilities: Modest hostel, lounge w internet and TV, good kitchen/dining area.

UK Trail opinions: Very clean; TV is dominant in lounge.

Up the steep hill past the castle, just 300m from the city centre, are two hostels:

BAZPACKERS Independent (Inverness)

Address: 4 Culduthel Road
Tel: 01463-717663

Facilities: Small hostel, sociable, smoke-free, cosy lounge/dining room w open fire, books & stereo, small TV lounge, moderate kitchen, garden, mixed & single-sex dorms.

UK Trail opinions: Reviews we have seen are all favourable or enthusiastic.

STUDENT Hotel (Inverness)

Address: 8 Culduthel Road
Tel: 01463-236556

Email: inverness + AT + scotlandstophostels.com

Facilities: 2 cosy small lounges, small dining room, small kitchen. Books, much local info. Background music. Limited parking. Very helpful staff..

UK Trail opinions: Cosy and homely small hostel but a bit cramped. Enthusiastic & helpful manager. Backpacker tours stop here. Background music a bit loud. Reviewers find it good.

STUDENT Hotel

 
 

You have to walk 2 km from the town centre to the SYHA hostel. The main road is boring, but there is a pleasanter way through residential streets:

INVERNESS MILLBURN SYHA

Address: Victoria Drive
Tel: 0871-330-8529

Facilities: Lg comfy lounge, TV lounge, lg kitchen & dining area, seating in reception, outdoor tables, simple decor.

UK Trail opinions: Large hostel, the building looks austere and the decor is simple, but it's a comfortable and well laid-out hostel. You are likely to find large groups here, but there's space for everyone. The longish walk from town is annoying, but it has good parking.

INVERNESS MILLBURN SYHA

 
 


NORTHEAST SCOTLAND (MORAY COAST, STRATHSPEY)

This area, between Inverness and Aberdeen, is Scotland's 'Big Country'. With open vistas and secluded valleys, well spaced small towns, and the great Cairngorm plateau in the background, it is excellent for touring. In most countries scenery like this would be a star attraction, but in Bonnie Scotland it's just average. Although not as impressive as the west, this area has a drier climate and there are fewer tourists. It's an excellent area for cycling, with mainly gentle gradients. The prevalence of distilleries will attract the whisky drinker.

Transport to the area
Frequent trains will bring you from the south to Aviemore, Inverness or Aberdeen. There are also buses, but only about 3 per day, from Glasgow or Edinburgh to each of these places.

Transport within the area
A train line runs through the area from Inverness to Aberdeen (7 per day plus one late-evening), and there are buses within the Aviemore area, but otherwise this vast area has very little public transport, so you need a car to tour. Alternatively, the Speyside Way is a marvellous walking trail with transport access at several points.

Hostels
There are several hostels in the Aviemore area, both SYHA and independent, and a few elsewhere.

AVIEMORE AND CAIRNGORMS

The approach route is by road or rail from the south across the Pass of Drumochter and down the upper part of Strath Spey. It's usually cloudy there, but the weather usually improves as you descend, and you will get a good feel for Scotland's 'Big Country' with its wide expanses of mountain, moor and forest. If you just want to speed through on your way to more exciting destinations, well that's fine, but do look out the window at the majestic views as you pass; and if you're not in a hurry, deviate from the highway and pass through two small one-street towns, Newtonmore and Kingussie. Better, stay a night or two in the area, there's loads of fine scenery for motoring, cycling or walking.

If you are bound for Fort William or Skye, Laggan in a beautiful broad valley with mountains all around, makes a good stopover. No public transport, but you could hitchhike here to do the fine walk over Corrieyarrock Pass to Fort Augustus on Loch Ness. You can stay at the friendly hostel:

POTTERY Bunkhouse (Laggan Bridge)


Tel: 01528-544231

Email: lynda + AT + potterybunkhouse.co.uk

Facilities: £10 (2006), linen £2, 34 beds. Lg well-equipped kitchen/dining/sitting room with fine views and small TV in cupboard, good dorms, good bathroom/showers, good drying room, hot tub on deck.

Newtonmore has a train station and a Citylink bus stop; there are a few shops, and some restaurants (mostly expensive); one restaurant offers takeaway pizza but there are no takeaway shops. There are two hostels:

NEWTONMORE Independent

Address: Craigellachie House, Main St
Tel: 01540-673360

Email: pete + AT + HighlandHostel.co.uk

Facilities: Owner-run, £11 (2006). Lg well-equipped kitchen/dining/lounge with wood stove & cd player/radio, good drying room, owners helpful.

UK Trail opinions: Excellent homely hostel; dorms rather cramped, alpine-style platforms.

NEWTONMORE Independent

 
 

Click for hostel and area information

STRATHSPEY MOUNTAIN Hostel (Newtonmore)

Address: Main Street
Tel: 01540-673694

Email: strathspey + AT + newtonmore.com

Facilities: Owner-run, £11 (2006). Well-equipped kitchen/dining/lounge w lg TV & coal fire, spacious dorms w bedside lights, power showers, drying room, parking.

UK Trail opinions: Very pleasant lounge and kitchen, but TV could spoil conversation.

Kingussie (pronounced Kin-yussie) also has rail and bus connections. There is a fish-and-chips and a Chinese takeaway, and you have a choice of 2 hostels, one on each side of the main road:

HAPPY DAYS Hostel (Kingussie)

Address: 65 High St
Tel: 01540-661175

Email: info + AT + cairngormhighlandhostel.com

Facilities: Owner-run, £12.50 (2006), 48 beds. Small kitchen, lounge/dining room w TV & books & internet, cafe/chatting room, drying room, laundry.

UK Trail opinions: Very pleasant hostel, kitchen equipped except pans, spacious dorms all en-suite, cafe is good value.

Visit HOSTEL WEB SITE!
Visit HOSTEL WEB SITE!

THE LAIRD'S BOTHY Independent (Kingussie)

Address: 66 High St
Tel: 01540-661334

Email: info + AT + thetipsylaird.co.uk

Facilities: £10 (2006), 30 beds. Well-equipped kitchen/dining room w sofa, games, TV in corner, good dorms, drying room, patio tables.

UK Trail opinions: A good hostel. TV in lounge and in one dorm.

Visit HOSTEL WEB SITE!
Visit HOSTEL WEB SITE!

For direct walking access to the Cairngorms, follow the tourist route to the ski slopes and stay at a mountain lodge, amid fine scenery and a base for hikes and many sports:

CAIRNGORM LODGE SYHA (near Aviemore)

Address: Glenmore
Tel: 0871-330-8538

Facilities: Kitchen, dining room, lounge w TV, quiet room, fine views.

Aviemore
is the centre of the Scottish ski industry. There is not much to attract you here, but it is a good base for the area. You have a choice of 2 hostels: a large SYHA probably filled with groups travelling by coach, and a small new independent on a quiet street attached to a pub.

AVIEMORE SYHA

Address: 25 Grampian Road
Tel: 0871-330-8504

Facilities: Large hostel, caters for groups.

UK Trail opinions: A reviever says this hostel is best (in Aviemore) if you like a common room to chat or read; generally liked.

AVIEMORE Bunkhouse

Address: beside The Old Bridge Inn, Dalfaber Rd
Tel: 01479-811181

Email: sales + AT + aviemore-bunkhouse.com

Facilities: New purpose-built hostel, £14 (2006), well-fitted, small plain kitchen/dining area, kitchen equipped except pans, good dorms w bedside lights and all en-suite, drying room, parking, pub next door w meals.

UK Trail opinions: Reviewers say: Well provided, high standard; kitchen/ dining area far too small for 40 people; very poor sound proofing; en-suite toilet/shower in 6-bed dorm causes delays; sociable if only a few people, but no lounge.

AVIEMORE Bunkhouse

 
 

If you travel 15km from Aviemore towards Inverness, you can turn off the road to find a newly-built hostel attached to a bike shop. This is only convenient if you have a car, bike or are hitch-hiking, as there's no pubs or shops nearby:

SLOCHD MHOR Lodge (near Carrbridge)

Address: Slochd
Tel: 01479-841666

Email: slochd666 + AT + aol.com

Facilities: £14 (2007), 28 beds. Lg common room w lg TV, books, games; spacious kitchen & dining area, cosy spacious dorms, good drying room, picnic tables.

UK Trail opinions: Very well fitted-out and modern; common room large enough for several activities if TV is kept low.

SPEYSIDE

The River Spey flows through the broad friendly valley of Strathspey. Not far from Aviemore are Carrbridge, Boat of Garten and Nethybridge, where you are already starting to get away from the tour buses. These are served by 5 buses a day from Aviemore and also up to Cairngorm (none on Sundays). The following hostels are excellent bases for touring or for mountain walks, especially if you have your own transport, and accessible by public transport if you want to walk the Speyside way.

2km from Carrbridge on a quiet road is:

CARRBRIDGE Bunkhouse

Address: Dalrachney House
Tel: 01479-841250

Email: jonesbunk + AT + aol.com

Facilities: Low-cost, simple accom. Cosy lounge w stove & small TV; good kitchen/dining room, books. Some bunks are triple vertically! Deck w tables, covered deck, sauna, parking.

UK Trail opinions: Great informal atmosphere.

Just outsdie Boat of Garten is:

FRAOCH Lodge (Boat of Garten)

Address: Deshar Rd
Tel: 01479-831331

Email: hostel + AT + scotmountain.co.uk

Facilities: Owner-run, pleasant mature house, £12 (2006) incl linen; equipped kitchen, social lounge w books, no TV, dining room, meals available, drying room, street parking.

UK Trail opinions: Alterations planned in 2007 w new kitchen. Feels friendly and sociable. Advice on mountain walks..

Nethybridge is a pleasant village. Just 2km from there, 300m of track and a gate leads you to the 'most unique' hostel in Britain, on the edge of woodland in grounds with its own duckpond, with moorland walks from the hostel and views of the Cairngorms. It's simple accommodation, but fully comfortable with hot showers and a wood fire. Don't come here if you're in a hurry! It only holds 8 so is often full, but you can camp in the grounds:

LAZY DUCK Hostel (Nethybridge)

Address: Badanfhuarain
Tel: 01479-821642

Email: lazy.duck + AT + virgin.net

Facilities: Owner-run, 8 beds, simple but with all conveniences; well-equipped kitchen/lounge, covered patio w tables & bbq, relaxed natural setting w duckpond, built-in bunks w lights. Camping with bush shower. Owners extremely friendly.

UK Trail opinions: Unique 'bush' hostel, brings you close to nature! Relaxed woodland setting w pond & views to Cairngorms. See ducks & red squirrels. All bunks have light and window..

Visit HOSTEL WEB SITE!
Visit HOSTEL WEB SITE!

The Speyside Way is a several-day hike through a range of excellent countryside. Hostels that lie close to it are:

ARDENBEG OUTDOOR Centre (Grantown-on-Spey)

Address: Grant Road
Tel: 01479-872824

Email: enquiries + AT + ardenbeg.co.uk

Facilities: Equipped kitchen, dining area, TV, radio; free wireless internet (bring laptop).

UK Trail opinions: Self-contained units, caters for families & groups. Mountain advice, equipment hire.

Tomintoul is a small open-plan town amid glorious open scenery. A new hostel in an old school has just opened there:

TOMINTOUL SYHA

Address: Main Street
Tel: 0870 155 3255

Facilities: Small, low-cost, newly-converted old school opened 2003, good facilities.

THE REST OF THE AREA

There's no hostels and little public transport, but arm yourself with a map and take a car tour -- it's all nice. Elgin is a large town on the rail line.


THE GREAT GLEN area

Loch Ness

Loch Ness -- peaceful on a fine day

The Great Glen is an antique version of the San Andreas fault. Millions of years ago the northwest of Scotland slid southward relative to the southeast. The fault is no longer active, but you can't mistake it -- a dead straight line from Fort William to Inverness, cutting the highlands in half, with a string of lochs along it including the most famous of all -- Loch Ness. This area is scenic but has a sombre feel about it when the cloud lies low and cuts off the tops of the hills. It may even feel a little eerie, just as if a monster is about to jump out of the loch....

Buses run along the Great Glen from Fort William to Inverness every 2 hours, and there are several on Sundays.

Hostels
There is a cluster of hostels at Fort William in the Ben Nevis area. Then there is a sequence of hostels along the Great Glen:

LOCH LOCHY SYHA (near Invergarry)

Address: South Laggan
Tel: 01809-501239

INVERGARRY Lodge

Address: Mandally Rd
Tel: 01809-501412

Email: mail + AT + invergarrylodge.co.uk

Facilities: Owner-run, 26 beds. Kitchen, dining room, lounge w TV & piano.

Visit HOSTEL WEB SITE!
Visit HOSTEL WEB SITE!

MORAG'S Lodge (Fort Augustus)

Address: Bunnoich Brae
Tel: 01320-366289

UK Trail opinions: Used by Haggis tours. Reviewers are enthusiastic..

LOCH NESS SYHA (near Invermoriston)

Address: Glenmoriston
Tel: 01320-351274

Drumnadrochit, a village with an inordinate amount of tacky nessie-related stuff but with a bus service to Inverness and Cannich, has a good hostel:

LOCH NESS Backpackers (Drumnadrochit)

Address: Coilte Farmhouse, E Lewiston
Tel: 01456-450807

Email: hostel + AT + lochness-backpackers.com

Facilities: Owner-run, 2 good kitchens, eating room, patio tables, cosy lounge, TV room, sociable.

LOCH NESS Backpackers

 
 

On the other side of Loch Ness (3 buses a day from Inverness) is Foyers:

FOYERS HOUSE Independent


Tel: 01456-486623

Cannich and Glen Affric

From Inverness there are 3 buses a day (2 Saturday, none Sunday) to Cannich. Cannich is a flat and plain village, but it lies close to glorious scenery including a long walk up lovely Glen Affric to the West Coast, and on the edge of Britain's biggest wilderness area. So it is a good base or starting point, and it has 2 hostels in adjacent low buildings.

Glen Affric Hostel (a former hotel) is currently closed.

CANNICH SYHA


Tel: 0871-330-8511

GLEN AFFRIC Backpackers (Cannich)


Tel: 01456-415263

Facilities: Lg kitchen/dining room, lg lounge w TV in corner, small dorms.

At Tomich, 3 miles farther, is:

COUGIE Lodge (Tomich)

Address: Tomich
Tel: 01456-415459

Beyond Cannich, Glen Affric is regarded by some as Scotland's finest glen. After a long walk (21 miles) you reach a very remote hostel:

GLEN AFFRIC SYHA (Glen Affric)

Address: Allt Beithe
Tel: 0870-155-3255

Facilities: Simple hostel, low cost, foot access only, sleeping bag needed.


FAR NORTHEAST SCOTLAND

The far northeast corner of Scotland, north of Inverness, is easy to explore, thanks to a good train service and hostels within walking distance of train stations. The scenery is very varied and interesting, sometimes exceptionally beautiful, with woods, fields, hills, mountains and sea lochs. Only the final stretch, a desolate plain, is boring.

Transport
Trains leave Inverness 3 times a day (at 0725, in the late morning and the mid-evening) and take 3.5 hours to reach Thurso or Wick on the north coast. At Thurso you can connect with a once-daily ferry to Orkney. There is also one bus a day from Inverness at 1330 to Wick, returning from Wick at 1115; in summer the bus continues to John o'Groats to connect with a summer-only ferry to Orkney.

Hostels
The land starts verdantly, with pleasant small towns such as Dingwall. Four miles from Dingwall station is the spa town of Strathpeffer in a wooded valley.

A few miles farther, but about 3 miles from the nearest station, is a bunkhouse on a caravan park:

BLACK ROCK Bunkhouse (Evanton)

Address: Caravan Park
Tel: 01349-830917

As you go north, you reach the county of Sutherland, which means southern land -- work that one out. The scenery becomes steadily more hilly, with roads over heather moorlands and views of nearby and distant mountains. You'll be glad you came this far when you reach the fantastic

CARBISDALE CASTLE SYHA (Ardgay)

Address: Culrain
Tel: 0871-330-8509

Facilities: Giant rooms, smoke-free except one room, excellent kitchen, £14 (2003) incl modest breakfast.

The scenery round here is gorgeous. Farther up the rail line, still amid fine scenery, is a hostel AT the station, where you will eat and sleep in former railway carriages (First Class at that!):

SLEEPERZZZ Hostel (Rogart)

Address: Rogart Station
Tel: 01408-641343

Email: kate + AT + sleeperzzz.com

Facilities: Enthusiastic owners, 2 carriages each w 2-bed dorms & tiny kitchen, dining room & sitting room, lg garden, free bike hire, non-smoking indoors, very sociable.

If you go inland from here you reach Lairg, Scotland's most northerly inland town, which has a pleasant lakeside area but otherwise seems to be laid out without planning, with pleasant older houses mixed in with ugly business buildings. Drive or cycle farther north and the scenery becomes more desolate, with isolated mountains.

Helmsdale, a small town on the coast, has a station and a hostel:

HELMSDALE SYHA


Tel: 0871-330-8525

The country then gradually levels out, and the last stretch of mainland Scotland is a desolate plain. The train divides, and you have a choice of going to Thurso or Wick. Thurso is a small town on the north coast with 3 hostels, and ferries leave from nearby Scrabster for Orkney.

SANDRA'S Backpackers (Thurso)

Address: 24-26 Princes St
Tel: 01847-894575

SANDRA

 
 

THURSO Hostel


Tel: 01847-896888

THURSO YOUTH CLUB Hostel


Tel: 01847-892964

Wick is a pleasant small town on the east coast. From Wick there are 3 buses a day to John o'Groats. There are also 4 buses a day from Thurso to John o'Groats. Although this collection of buildings is thronged with tourists, its only reason for a visit is that it is believed, wrongly, to be the northernmost point of the mainland, and because ferries leave there for a choppy crossing to Orkney (summer only). There is a hostel 3 miles from John o'Groats, but the bus from Wick passes the door:

JOHN O'GROATS SYHA (John o'Groats)

Address: Canisbay
Tel: 0871-330-8530

At this most uninspiring corner of Scotland there is just one attraction: the ferry to Orkney.