Invergordon is the premier port of call for cruise ships in the Highlands of Scotland and is amongst the top four ports in Scotland. The largest ships can berth alongside the pier here. (Largest to date Queen Mary 2.)
Invergordon lies on the north bank of the Cromarty Firth (Fjord) in north-east Scotland – nearby are historic towns and villages such as Inverness, Cromarty and Tain. The latter, it is said, had its original Royal Burgh status conferred by the King in 1066.
The most famous inhabitant of these parts, however, is ‘Nessie’, the Loch Ness monster, which is supposed to lurk in the Loch’s dark depths – extending in places to over 250m deep. Loch Ness with its wonderful scenery and ruined Urquhart Castle, is only an hour’s drive from the Port of Invergordon.
The great attraction of this part of the Highlands is the wide variety of both half day and full day shore excursions which are available from Invergordon. Amongst the shore excursions on offer are Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle and Inverness, Fort George and Culloden Battlefield, Dunrobin Castle, Inverewe Gardens and the west coast, Dornoch Cathedral and Falls of Shin, Cawdor Castle, visit a whisky distillery, Brodie Castle and Gardens, Golf at Dornoch or Nairn, shopping in Inverness, visit a woollen mill, Cairngorms National Park, Tain Through Time, Cromarty Courthouse and many, many more.
All the world’s major American and European cruise lines call at Invergordon and many schedule several visits per annum. The port lies conveniently on the way to or from the Norwegian Fjords, Iceland, Spitzbergen and the North Cape. It is also ideally placed for ‘round Britain’ cruises and those originating in Amsterdam, Germany and the Baltic. With its easy access to the open sea, the port is only an overnight cruise away from Edinburgh (Leith and Rosyth), Dundee, Aberdeen, Peterhead, Kirkwall, Lerwick, Stornoway, Ullapool, Loch Ewe, Bergen, Stavanger and Torshavn (Faroe Islands).
The port has regularly handled two or three ships simultaneously and has a good number of foreign speaking guides for overseas visitors and being a mainland port, there is no shortage of luxury coaches and shuttle buses available for the short run to Inverness. Whole train charters or block bookings of individual carriages can be accommodated as Invergordon Railway Station is only a short walk from the cruise berths.
