Overview

The castle nestles on the banks of Loch Ness whilst the visitor centre is up on the hill by the main road. There’s some walking to be done here if you want to venture down the hill to the castle.

Transport & Parking

The castle’s visitor centre has its own car parking. You leave the main road and turn in to what at first looks like a lay-by. Sweeping further in you see a line of parking bays with some accessible ones just by the tower like entrance to the visitor centre. The tower is small and going inside you learn the mystery of its size as a handy life takes you down to a large visitor centre set in to the hillside over looking the castle and loch. If you aren’t coming by car you can take a bus from Inverness as several of the buses will stop at the visitor centre on their journey along the loch side. Some of the Loch Ness boat tours include a stop at Urquhart Castle where a wooden jetty sticks out in to the Loch and enables passengers to come ashore.

Access

Once you’re in the entrance tower the staff will show you the lift and stairs. Going down in to the main body of the centre you pass a lobby where there are an array of scooters and wheelchairs that may be borrowed if the walk the castle is too far for you. The lobby opens up in to the visitor centre area. Here you’ll find the shop, the cinema, the cafe and the toilet facilities. We recommend going and watching the short introductory film. The main entrance t the cinema has steps and the seats inside are tiered. If you want level access speak to a member of staff and they’ll take you through a side door and you can sit in the front row of the auditorium. The film talks you through the history of the castle and its relationship to the local people. At the end there’s a dramatic moment where the screen starts to fold neatly away in to the ceiling and the dark curtains behind slowly open revealing a fantastic view of the castle itself. Leaving the film behind you can go exploring in the shop or grab a coffee in the cafe. If you’re like us and keen to get to the castle large doors lead out on to a patio style area where you can look down the valley and see the castle. From here a path takes you down the hillside and on in through the castle gatehouse. Be warned, it’s a fair distance and quite a hill but worth the effort if you can make it. Inside the castle there’s lots to do and see as you go exploring. If you can manage the steps and obstacles you’re rewarded with amazing views from the high points of the towers. If you’re like me and on wheels you can still capture some amazing views and wheel around the lower part of the castle. The stewards will offer you a fabulous book to read that has great pictures and drawings of the different parts of the castle. You get a great sense of the scale of the building and how important it was in its time. Going back up the hill take a minute to check out the life sized trebuchet and marvel at how these hurled great rocks at the castle walls to break them down. Once up the hill the cafe offers a range of refreshments and a welcome resting point. You can sit inside or if the weather’s kind out on the patio area.

Toilets

There are accessible toilets adjacent to the shop. These were kept locked when we visited but stewards were quick to pop across and unlock them as required. They were sizeable and clean.

Staff

Often it is the people who make a visit feel good. Urquhart Castle is amongst those great places and spaces that do this. We were made to feel welcome, people were keen to tell us what there was to see, and folk were chatty and helpful.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

The highlights are numerous but I guess we’d say that the initial view you see when looking down the valley toward the castle is one that leaves a lasting impression. We enjoyed the film as it gave context and meaning to what we were going to see - we also loved the way it was also available in different languages. Thirdly, we enjoyed seeing the trebuchet and being able to get up close to it as these for us until then were only things you read about in history books. The green and open spaces were also notable as there was plenty of space to rest awhile or enjoy the views down to the water side as the various ferry boats docked at the jetty.

Photos