The Victorian Market: Inverness Travel Guide (4.1★)

Under the iron and glass

Step in from Academy Street and the city noise drops away. You walk through a carved stone archway into arcades under a glass roof held up by iron, with shopfronts packed close on both sides. Inverness has traded on this spot since the 1870s. The market burned in 1889 and was rebuilt soon after, and the halls you walk through today date from that rebuild.

The units are small, often a single room with a counter. Expect:

• Gift and souvenir shops selling tartan, Highland crafts and Nessie trinkets
• Independent specialist traders, some of them running for decades
• Cafés with a few tables set out in the arcade
• A food hall with several street-food counters around shared seating

Finding the entrances

It’s one of the easiest stops in the city to reach. Inverness railway station sits just across Academy Street, and the bus station on Margaret Street is a short walk away. You won’t need a car. The market has several entrances, so you can cut through it between Academy Street, Union Street and Church Street.

That makes it useful as a shortcut as much as a sight. Come out on Church Street and you’re close to Leakey’s Bookshop, a large second-hand bookshop inside a former church. From there it’s a few minutes’ walk down to the River Ness, Inverness Castle on its hill, and the riverside path across to Inverness Cathedral.

Working the arcade

The market is well known and gets a steady stream of visitors, especially from the trains and buses next door. Here’s how to get more out of it:

• Use the late evenings. Thursday to Saturday the building currently stays open until 8pm, two hours later than the rest of the week. Shop units don’t always keep the building’s hours, though, so check with any trader you’re set on visiting.
• Come early if you want quiet. The doors open at 8am, before most day-trippers have left their hotels. Coffee is your best bet at that hour, since the shops tend to open later.
• Pay by card. Most counters take contactless. Carry a little cash for the smallest stalls.
• Order at the counter. In the food hall you queue at whichever stall you want, pay there and find a seat. Nobody brings a menu to your table, and tipping isn’t expected.
• Ask the trader. Owners of the specialist units usually know their stock well, and that’s the gap between them and the chain shops in nearby Eastgate.

Fitting it into a day

This is a good first or last stop if you’re arriving or leaving by rail. You can browse with your bags while waiting for a train, then head out to the Highlands without a detour. It’s also the best indoor option nearby when the weather turns, which in Inverness happens often.

If you’re doing a Loch Ness or Culloden trip, go in the morning and save the market for your return. On Thursday to Saturday you’ll then have the 8pm closing on your side. Pair it with a walk along the Ness and a look up at the castle, and you’ve covered central Inverness on foot in an afternoon.