UKH

Hi all, we are staying in Inverness for a week over the Christmas. Car hire is very expensive so wondering what the situation is like for public transport for getring to places you can go walking etc.? I guess services are reduced over the Christmas season, especially the days 24, 25, 26th December.

Not great in general. Trains to Kyle and to Thurso give options but limited service at the best of times. Train to Aviemore may work too but would need a means of getting to e.g Glen More, bike perhaps.

I don't know about buses but I collect Forestry Commission Scotland leaflets whenever I'm up there. I have one called 'The Forests of Inverness' and you'll never guess what it's about? Probably everything is online now. Now I haven't yet done any of the walks in there but there are a few very close to the city (if not exactly in it) - Craig Phadrig on the west, Ord Hill just over the Kessock Bridge, and Culloden Muir just east. If you can get a bit further east to Nairn then you can explore Culbin Sands and Forest - fantastic beach that stretches to infinity and beyond.

Check out Citylink's Inverness to  Ullapool service. The 8.25 from Inverness would get you to Ben Wyvis area , to The Fannichs and to Braemore for Beinn Dearg area to give you enough time for a day out before the early evening return bus from  Ullapool. You would need to check out the Christmas timetable on Citylink website. 

Good point, I was assuming Munros etc but many good walks nearer. Again, a bike would help. The river/canal to Loch Ness is very pleasant 

Yes, they only have three hours daylight at Christmas up there (so I believe) so the closer the better. I've been to Chanonry Point nearby up on the Black Isle and the Fairy Glen at Rosemerkie. Might spot a festive dolphin? Close to Inverness but might be tricky on the bus.

Its quite a bit more than that. Its more like 6 1/2

If you do end up needing a car then if you get hire that is cancelable up to 48 hours before collection then you can lock in a price/car but keep checking prices up to departure.

I have found this year the price can reduce dramatically around 1 or 2 weeks out and then you can cancel the one you have and replace with the new one - sometimes this has been with the same company!

Sunrise in Inverness late December is after 8.30 and sunset after 3.30. 

Where are you travelling from? Where' s home?

I'd be tempted to drive, but then I actually like driving (as long as I don't collect points),

No car and living in France at the moment. Our daughter (no car either) will be there for work so we are visiting her.

Moonlight reflecting off the frozen Ness doesn't count

Thanks! Details are online with public transport options given. Looks promising.

A good option would be a bus to Fort Augustus then follow the Great Glen Way to Invermoriston. On this section you can follow the ‘High Route’ which takes you off the forestry track out of the trees and you get great views of Loch Ness and the Great Glen the whole way. The path is excellent, well marked and not boggy. It’s about 7 miles. Or you could go from Invermoriston to Fort Augustus which might be better if you want pubs or fish and chips at the end of your walk. 
 

I don’t know about bus links, but it’s a main route and I’m pretty sure there are regular buses.

We’ve done something like that to occupy ourselves on a wet weather day.

There’s a bus stop just before Abriachan Gardens and just walk up the road and ggw back to Inverness.

Caveat, it’s not the most exciting part of the ggw(if there is such a thing)

I live in Inverness - the Citylink services are running a normal timetable on Christmas Eve (917 Inverness to Fort William service and 961 Inverness to Ullapool), with the 917 normal service on Boxing day too (961 is reduced on Boxing Day, back to normal on the 27th). No service on Christmas Day. There are good walks accessible from those routes, it depends what you're looking for in terms of mountains or low level walks. There again, given the short hours of daylight, you may well prefer lower level walks nearer Inverness itself rather than aiming for munros.

Stagecoach operates the local buses, so you can get to local towns like Dingwall and Nairn as well as the Black Isle easily, take a look at the Stagecoach website for routes.

Regarding trains, it's still not clear what the strike situation will be. Strikes were or are going to be every Friday and Saturday in December, so that would mean no trains running in the Highlands. I've bought my tickets to get from Inverness to Edinburgh and then to Carlisle on Fri 23rd Dec and have a horrible feeling I won't be going anywhere. Strikes aside, the Kyle of Lochalsh line goes through great scenery, and the Wick line is useful if you want to do sections of the John o'Groats Trail.

The WalkHighlands website gives a good selection of walks in the area and for each route description also says what the public transport option is (if there is one) for getting to the start points.

I notice everyone seems to be suggesting going west. Don’t forget you’ve got options east. The Moray coast is stunning.

Needs bus changes but doable I guess. Only bit I know really well is findhorn.

The Bar near Nairn gives a lovely, lonely and surprisingly wild feeling walk. I bivvied on it one night after work and it had a bit of that 'last man on earth' feeling you get when you can't see any signs of other humans.

So it does. That’s annoying. I’d assumed it would be relatively straightforward.

You could get off the no10 in Forres and walk along the footpath to findhorn(it’s along a road) Take on suenos stone on the way. 
Very accessible distillery in forres too assuming it’s open during the festive season.

Thanks for all the replies, so we have decided to go car free as there seems to be viable PT options. Just need to organise the weather now.

Will you be bringing/have access to bikes? If you do, you can cycle from Inverness up to Strathnairn, and then have access to lots of 600m/700m hills.   Even cycling out, and a short trip up Stac Gorm by Loch Ruthven would be well worth doing.