Loch Ness, woods and Highland history
Drumnadrochit
A village at the foot of Glen Urquhart, with long-distance trails, ancient woodland and the modern monster story on its doorstep.
- Best for
- Loch Ness history, woodland walks and Scottish food
- Give it
- 3–4 hours for Craigmonie and Divach Falls
- Don't miss
- Urquhart Castle's Grant Tower above Loch Ness
The Fox verdict
A trail village with the Loch Ness story all around it
Drumnadrochit brings together wooded walks, Highland history, village food and the monster mystery.
The Great Glen Way and Loch Ness 360 pass through the village, while the Affric Kintail Way starts here. Ancient wet woodland lies around Urquhart Bay, Craigmonie rises above the village and loch, and Urquhart Castle stands on the shore just outside the village.
Where to go
Places in Drumnadrochit
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesFiddler's Highland Restaurant
A restaurant and café bar known for Scottish ales and a large whisky selection; Great Glen Way walkers have used it as a meeting and refreshment point since 2002.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 60 minutes
- Locality
- on the Village Green
Urquhart Bay Woods
A route from the village into ancient wet woodland, with alder, wild flowers, dragonflies and dippers.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow about 1½ hours
- Locality
- between the Enrick and Coiltie rivers
- Access
- The route can be muddy.
Loch Ness Centre
An interpretation centre presenting the scientific and cultural story of the Loch Ness monster mystery, beginning with the pivotal 1933 sighting.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 90 minutes
- Locality
- the former Drumnadrochit Hotel
Food & drink
1 placeThe Loch Ness Inn
A traditional Scottish inn, restaurant and Brewery Bar in a building the inn dates to 1838, with seasonal menus and a wood-burning stove.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 90 minutes
- Locality
- Drumnadrochit
- Access
- Well-behaved dogs are accepted in the bar and courtyard, but not in the restaurant.
Walks & outdoors
1 placeCraigmonie and Divach Falls
A circuit climbing to the prehistoric fort and viewpoint at Craigmonie before visiting the 30m Divach Falls.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow 3–4 hours
- Locality
- above Drumnadrochit and Loch Ness
History & heritage
3 placesKilmore Parish Church
A Category B listed harled church designed by William Robertson of Elgin in 1836, with a Gothic bellcote, crowsteps and Y-traceried windows.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 45 minutes
- Locality
- Kilmore
Urquhart Castle
Lochside ruins with the five-storey 16th-century Grant Tower and a visitor centre; departing government troops blew up the castle in 1692.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 90 minutes
- Locality
- on the shore of Loch Ness
Corrimony Chambered Cairn
A well-preserved Clava-type passage grave dating to around 2000 BC, retaining much of its passage roof and encircled by 11 standing stones.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 45 minutes
- Locality
- off the A831
Things to do
1 placeBlairbeg Park
The village shinty field and pavilion, where Glen Urquhart Shinty Club matches and training take place and the annual Highland Gathering is hosted.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 45 minutes
- Locality
- the village
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Three ways to explore Drumnadrochit
Signature outings
Craigmonie and Divach Falls
Climb to the prehistoric fort and viewpoint at Craigmonie, then continue to the 30m Divach Falls.
Grant Tower over Loch Ness
Explore Urquhart Castle's ruins, where the five-storey Grant Tower stands above Loch Ness.
Corrimony's stone ring
See a Clava-type passage grave from around 2000 BC, encircled by 11 standing stones.
The village story
Drumnadrochit Village Guide
Village food, ancient woodland, Highland history and the modern Loch Ness mystery.
Village Tables and Trail Talk
On the Village Green, Fiddler's has been where Great Glen Way walkers stop since the route opened in 2002. It is a restaurant and café bar with Scottish ales and a whisky list long enough that one visitor called it "a whisky lover's dream," and there is a patio to sit out on when the weather allows. The Great Glen Way and the Loch Ness 360 pass through here, and the Affric Kintail Way begins in the village.
The other pub worth your evening is the Loch Ness Inn, in a building the inn dates to 1838. Inside there is a wood-burning stove, a Brewery Bar and original work by the Scottish artist Dot Walker on the walls. The kitchen changes its menu with the seasons and sources carefully: fish mainly from Peterhead, whole prawns from Applecross Bay, meat from local hill farms and estates. Under executive chef Niall Dunbar you might find haggis fritters with parsnip purée and apple sauce, Isle of Shetland mussels in a harissa-and-coconut broth, chicken croquette with sauce gribiche, or hot-smoked salmon with beetroot, egg and apple salad. Well-behaved dogs are welcome in the bar and courtyard, though not the restaurant, and there is a beer garden.
Daytime Food and Woodland
For daytime eating, Ness Deli is also on the Green, and Quila Cridhe Tearooms, tied to Drumbuie Farm, does home baking and home cooking. The Drum Bistro at the Drumnadrochit Hotel leans on local produce and generous portions. For a fridge to fill at your rental, there is a Scotmid at Carriers Croft in Lewiston.
The setting does most of the work. Drumnadrochit sits on the western shore of Loch Ness at the foot of Glen Urquhart, where the Enrick and Coiltie rivers meet in the low, flood-prone woodland of Urquhart Bay. A walk of about three miles there and back takes you into ancient wet woodland of alder and wild flowers, with dippers on the water and dragonflies over it. For height, the Craigmonie and Divach Falls circuit climbs to a prehistoric hill fort looking down over the village and the loch, then drops to the thirty-metre Divach Falls. Those falls drew the earliest tourists, who came by boat to Temple Pier; John Phillip's painting of the waterfall hangs in Buckingham Palace.
Church, Castle and Cairn
Kilmore Parish Church was designed by William Robertson of Elgin in 1836, a harled building with a Gothic bellcote, crowstepped gables and Y-traceried windows. Inside there are galleries on three sides, painted cast-iron cluster columns, a scissor-braced roof and a bell dated 1780.
Urquhart Castle stands on the shore just outside the village, its five-storey Grant Tower still upright above a visitor centre. Government troops blew the castle up in 1692 as they left, and a storm brought down part of the tower in 1715. Eight and a half miles west, off the A831, the Corrimony chambered cairn keeps much of its passage roof after four thousand years and is ringed by eleven standing stones.
Monster and Community Traditions
The monster, of course, is the reason most people have heard of the place. In April 1933 the manageress of the Drumnadrochit Hotel, Aldie Mackay, reported a whale-like object in the loch; a story in the Inverness Courier that May helped propel the modern monster phenomenon. The hotel building is now the Loch Ness Centre.
Blairbeg Park is the shinty field, home to Glen Urquhart Shinty Club and the ground where the Highland Gathering tradition dates to 1945. Two former telephone boxes, at Milton and West Lewiston, have been kept by the community and filled with books to swap.
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A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- Fiddler's Highland Restaurant — visitinvernesslochness.com operator, sector body or destination organisation
- The Loch Ness Inn — staylochness.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Urquhart Bay Woods — sac.jncc.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Craigmonie and Divach Falls — walkhighlands.co.uk other published source
- Kilmore Parish Church — portal.historicenvironment.scot statutory register or public authority
- Urquhart Castle — historicenvironment.scot statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Corrimony Chambered Cairn — historicenvironment.scot statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Loch Ness Centre — lochness.com operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Blairbeg Park — matches.shinty.com other published source