Inverness Bus Tours from Invergordon?

Has anyone had experience with Inverness Bus Tours out of Invergordon? We'll be docked there on July 2nd on Vision of the Seas - they have a Loch Ness/Inverness tour that shows as matching the time the ship is docked, but it seems to cut the time pretty close. Ship is docked from 13:00 to 20:00. Tour departs 13:45 and returns 18:30.

The tour itself stops for a brief time (25 minutes) in Beauly, has just a brief photo op stop at Loch Ness (15 minutes), and 2 hours in Inverness - the rest of the time on the bus. Worth the 39 GBP per person? I don't mind that it doesn't include any castles (I think we'll be castled-out by the end of this cruise anyway). I like the convenience of pick up from and return to Invergordon.

Still looking into options, but would love to hear from anyone who's taken this tour. Thanks!!

Andrea

personally I'd rather have more time around Inverness than spending the majority of the time in it. Whether you want to see castles or not, the scenery is lovely. Beauly is a pretty, traditional town and worth a visit. Loch Ness is about 22 miles long, South West of Inverness, so what you'd see in a few minutes I don't know. You need more time there if you're going to do a tour. You can take a sail on the loch etc.

What were you hoping to see in Inverness? There's a bus every 30 minutes from Invergordon which lots of cruisers take and only costs a few pounds if you just wanted to visit the town

I see your point about spending the time seeing the scenery, and as I think you mentioned on another thread, that is the point of spending some time on the bus. along with the sights being spaced well apart. I think I have left these plans a bit late, and many of the organized tours are already fully booked.

I must confess to not knowing exactly what I'm looking for here. I don't know that we need much more than a drive through the countryside. From what you've said, it sounds like 2 hours is plenty of time to take in Inverness itself. So I'm inclined to take this tour, or something similar.

Still a little concerned about the timing. So would love to hear from anyone who can vouch for their ability to synch with the ship's schedule.

I was on Caribbean Princess in Invergordon on Tuesday and there was a kiosk selling tours on the pier. This is the website of the local cruise volunteers.

http://visitinvergordon.com

and this is the official website for Inverness and Loch ness

http://www.visitinvernesslochness.com

personally I'd rather have more time around Inverness than spending the majority of the time in it. Whether you want to see castles or not, the scenery is lovely. Beauly is a pretty, traditional town and worth a visit. Loch Ness is about 22 miles long, South West of Inverness, so what you'd see in a few minutes I don't know. You need more time there if you're going to do a tour. You can take a sail on the loch etc.

 

What were you hoping to see in Inverness? There's a bus every 30 minutes from Invergordon which lots of cruisers take and only costs a few pounds if you just wanted to visit the town

Is it easy to get the bus from Inverness back to Invergordon? I read it might be "tricky" on these boards. What do you suggest doing in Inverness? We have been to Loch Ness, Culloden Battlefield, Urquhart Castle, etc.

We caught the bus to Inverness,Its the 25 and x25 cost £10 which is an all day ticket,we left at approx 10.30 There are 2 bus stops in the main street,coming back was a crush as we were in port with a large princess ship which was leaving at 17.00,We were at anchor and didnt leave till 22.00 ,we left Inverness at 15.00 as the weather was a bit grim,someone recommended a walk along the river ness, the information shop in Inverness was very helpful as were the guides at the pier,you can also catch the train but it doesnt run that often

We caught the bus to Inverness,Its the 25 and x25 cost £10 which is an all day ticket,we left at approx 10.30 There are 2 bus stops in the main street,coming back was a crush as we were in port with a large princess ship which was leaving at 17.00,We were at anchor and didnt leave till 22.00 ,we left Inverness at 15.00 as the weather was a bit grim,someone recommended a walk along the river ness, the information shop in Inverness was very helpful as were the guides at the pier,you can also catch the train but it doesnt run that often

Thank you! We are in the process of booking a private tour, but I am going to take your information with me in case something happens to the private tour, like the taxi doesn't show up! The bus to Inverness will be our contingency plan. Thanks again.

We took the public bus from Inverness back to Invergordon and it was fine. There was a bit of a lineup at the Inverness bus station but the bus company added some express buses, since most people waiting were clearly returning to the cruise terminal at Invergordon.

Do leave a bit of time if you take the bus, but lots of people are on the same boat (literally) so we weren't worried.

We actually found public transit in Inverness to be very easy. We took the bus to the Culloden Moors and then walked around Inverness for an hour and a half and it was enough.