Tours that stop at Drumnadrochit or Urquhart Castle come first, then cruises, day trips from the cities and the rest of the Highlands.
Drumnadrochit is about 25 minutes from Inverness by road, so most tours that reach the village or Urquhart Castle start there. The tours below are sold through GetYourGuide and run by local operators. Read what each price covers: castle entry is included in some listings and a paid extra in others, and the same goes for cruises, distillery tastings and visitor centres. Historic Environment Scotland warns that castle tickets often sell out in summer. If you book through these links, this site earns a commission at no extra cost to you.
Not sure which to pick? Read the best Loch Ness tours, ranked by who they suit.
A boat trip on the loch and real time inside the castle, mostly from Inverness. Most of these listings include castle entry; check each one before you book.
3.5 hours
The best-selling half day from Inverness: a guided coach to the loch, a cruise with a sonar watch for Nessie, then an hour inside Urquhart Castle with the entry ticket included.
from$75
Check availability9 hours
A cheap full day that sails 30 minutes to Urquhart Castle for 70 minutes in the ruins (ticket included), then adds Beauly, Culloden Battlefield and the Clava Cairns standing stones.
from$60
Check availability7 hours
A full lap of Loch Ness by minibus via Dores, the Falls of Foyers, Fort Augustus and Invermoriston, ending with Urquhart Castle entry and an hour-long cruise.
from$109
Check availability9 hours
Cruises to Urquhart Castle for a look round the ruins, then works in a distillery visit, lunch in Beauly, Culloden Battlefield and the Clava Cairns before evening.
from$98
Check availability6 hours
A private day for your own party with pickup, an hour on the water, the Loch Ness exhibition, a buffet lunch by the loch and a guided visit to Urquhart Castle.
from$239
Check availabilityRoad trips round the loch with a stop at the castle. On some, castle entry and the cruise are paid extras, so read what the price covers.
9 hours
A budget coach loop of the loch that stops at Urquhart Castle, Fort Augustus, the Falls of Foyers and Dores Beach, with the castle ticket and the cruise as paid add-ons.
from$73
Check availability4 hours
A private half day with a kilted driver-guide: a loch photo stop, 90 minutes at Urquhart Castle with tickets included, the Corrimony chambered cairn and an optional stop to meet Highland cows.
from$471 per group (up to 8)
Check availabilityBookable in the village: the Loch Ness Experience exhibition, and a photo shoot that meets in Drumnadrochit.
1 hour
A self-guided walk through the darkened film rooms of the Loch Ness Centre in the village, covering the loch's geology, the famous sightings and the kit real monster hunters used.
from$27
Check availability30 minutes - 2 hours
Starts from the car park by the tourist information centre in Drumnadrochit for a private photo shoot on the loch shore, along a jetty and through nearby meadows, with edited photos sent afterwards.
from$53
Check availabilityFull days to Glenfinnan and Mallaig that pause at Urquhart Castle for photos only. Pick a tour from the first two groups if the castle is the reason you are going.
12 hours
Heads down Loch Ness with a coffee stop and an Urquhart Castle photo stop, then on to the Glenfinnan Viaduct to watch the steam train, lunch in Mallaig, and back via Fort Augustus and Foyers.
from$79
Check availability12.5 hours
Combines a short photo stop above Urquhart Castle with a seat on the Jacobite steam train over the Glenfinnan Viaduct to Mallaig, returning by coach via Fort Augustus.
from$262
Check availabilityBoat trips that sail past Urquhart Castle without landing. Clansman Harbour is on the A82 about 4 miles north of Drumnadrochit; Dochgarroch Lock is near Inverness.
50 minutes
The cheapest and most-reviewed Loch Ness cruise: 50 minutes from Clansman Harbour, a few miles up the A82 from the village, out to the castle for photos from the water, with no landing.
from$32
Check availability2 hours
A longer round trip from Dochgarroch Lock near Inverness, down the Caledonian Canal and along the loch as far as Urquhart Castle before turning back.
from$39
Check availabilityLong coach days via Glencoe. The Loch Ness stop is usually at Fort Augustus or a lochside hotel, and a cruise or castle visit is an optional extra where it is offered.
12.5 hours
GYG's most-reviewed Highlands day from Edinburgh: Glencoe on the way north, then a stop by the loch where you can pay extra for a cruise and Urquhart Castle, and Pitlochry on the way home.
from$77
Check availability12.5 hours
The cheapest Edinburgh day to the loch, with Glencoe and Highland cows; book the Castle & Cruise version (not daily) if you want Urquhart Castle, otherwise the stop is Fort Augustus.
from$59
Check availability11.5 hours
A long coach day from Glasgow past Loch Lomond, Glencoe and Fort William to the south end of Loch Ness at Fort Augustus, with an optional cruise.
from$83
Check availability11.5 hours
A Glasgow day with Luss, a Glencoe photo stop and two hours in Fort Augustus at the foot of the loch, where a cruise is an optional extra, before a Highland cow stop in Perthshire.
from$80
Check availabilityDay trips west along Loch Ness to Eilean Donan Castle and the Isle of Skye.
12 hours
The most-reviewed Skye day from Inverness, driving down Loch Ness to Invermoriston, then on to Eilean Donan Castle, Portree, the Old Man of Storr, Kilt Rock and Lealt Falls.
from$91
Check availability12 hours
A top-rated small-group Skye day that passes Urquhart Castle on the way out, then stops at Eilean Donan, Portree, the Old Man of Storr, Kilt Rock and the Quiraing.
from$94
Check availabilityThe battlefield and the prehistoric cairns east of Inverness; one of the tours adds a walk in Glen Affric.
9 hours
Clava Cairns and Culloden in the morning, then waterfalls and old Caledonian pine forest in Glen Affric, Beauly Priory and a last look at Loch Ness.
from$83
Check availability4 hours
A private half day from Inverness to the Bronze Age cairns above the River Nairn and the Culloden battlefield, with the Jacobite story told by your guide.
from$471 per group (up to 8)
Check availabilityA guided walk round the city and two distillery tours, for a day off the loch.
1.5 hours
A first-day orientation stroll through Inverness taking in the castle, the cathedral, the River Ness and the old town house, with Jacobite and Highland stories along the way.
from$20
Check availability1 hour
A one-hour tour of a working Highland distillery about 20 minutes south of Inverness with a tasting of three single malts; drivers get their drams to take away.
from$27
Check availability75 minutes
A walk-in tour of the city's first new distillery in over a century, covering both whisky and beer, with a lager and a blend to taste at the end.
from$44
Check availabilityGetYourGuide's own live list for Urquhart Castle. It includes some tours that only pass the castle or skip it, so check each itinerary.
Prices are in US dollars and, with ratings, were checked on GetYourGuide on 14 October 2026. They change without warning. This site does not run the tours, take payments or handle bookings: that is GetYourGuide and the local operators.