961 Inverness – Ullapool

From the thriving city of Inverness with its historic Old Town buildings and chic shops, through the heart of the River Beauly, one of the most famous Salmon rivers in Scotland and combining rugged, mountainous scenery, this is an 80 minute delightful sojourn across West Scotland.

The journey starts with spectacular views over the Moray Firth to the right and Beauly First on the left as the bus crosses Kessock Bridge. Then, it's twisting and turning through rugged landscape, past the lovely Loch Garve and then Loch Glascarnoch, climbing and descending before straddling Loch Broom on the left towards Ullapool, with its white stone cottages, picture postcard harbour and ferries over to Stornoway.

The spectacular waterfalls – Falls of Rogie and Falls of Measach are on this incredible trip, with their plunging descents and wild beauty. The journey climaxes in the beautiful town of Ullapool, which was founded by the British Fishery in 1788 and is a picturesque magnet for fishing boats and ferries to the Outer Hebrides.

As there are only two buses a day, our recommendation is that you enjoy the journey in one full trip, making the most of the scenery but also enjoying the delights of Ullapool, before returning to Inverness or further afield if you are using it as your springboard for the Hebrides.

Alternatively, if you fancy disembarking, then a stop off in Contin is well worthwhile, to visit the Falls of Rogie or the Falls of Measach – with its fabulous suspension bridge and a viewpoint to view the falls plunging 150 feet into 200 foot deep Corrieshalloch Gorge.

In Ullapool, the Celidh Place in West Argyll Street is fabulous – a collection of old houses transformed into a pub, café, restaurant, gallery and music venue – playing traditional Scottish sounds. The Old Museum is also great, an original building of the herring curring factory that also has a range of fascinating artifacts from a fragment of sail from Nelson’s HMS Victory shop through to a swords, sporrans, a whisky bottle from 1821, Bronze Age sickle and much more!