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A wooden bridge crosses a moat to an arched gateway in a star-shaped fortress wall, a Saltire flag flying above the entrance.
Inverness

Fort George

An 18th-century fortress near Ardersier, built after Culloden, with a rampart walk of more than a kilometre and the Highlanders' Museum.

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Welcome

Fort George stands on a promontory jutting into the Moray Firth, near Ardersier.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

It was built after the Battle of Culloden as the main garrison fortress in the Highlands, and it took 22 years to finish, by which time the Jacobite threat had subsided. It has served the British Army for almost 250 years since, and it is still a working military base.

You can walk the main rampart, which is more than a kilometre long, and keep an eye out for dolphins off the point. Inside, the Highlanders' Museum tells the story of the Highland regiments, and the grand magazine, built for 2,672 gunpowder barrels, now holds a collection of weapons. Recreated barrack rooms show how soldiers lived. Book ahead online for the best ticket price, and an audio guide comes with it.

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Before you go

Open every day, with tickets for a set date and time.

Booking online in advance gives the best price.

Where
Near Ardersier, Inverness IV2 7TD, on a promontory in the Moray Firth.
Open
Daily, 9.30am to 5.30pm from 1 April to 30 September and 10am to 4pm from 1 October to 31 March; last entry one hour before closing. Closed 25 and 26 December and 1 and 2 January.
Price
Adult £10 online or £11 in person, concession £8 online or £9 in person, child (7 to 15) £5 online; free for members, £1 with a Young Scot card, and free for up to two carers (October 2026). The Highlanders' Museum is included.
Booking
Tickets are for a set date and time, and booking online gives the best price.
Parking
Free, in a part tarmac, part gravel car park with four accessible bays and room for coaches; the entrance is 200 metres along a tarmac path.
Dogs
Assistance dogs are welcome, including inside the buildings. For other dogs, ask the fort on 01667 460 232 before you go.
Getting there
The number 1 Stagecoach bus connects Inverness with the fort, and local services stop at Ardersier, 1.4 miles away along a signposted shore path. By bike, Fort George is 8.5 miles from Balloch and Nairn on National Cycle Network 1, with a rack for ten bikes.
Access
Mainly level, with tarmac roads and pavements and benches around the site. Ramps of 1:6 with a reinforced grass surface lead onto the ramparts. The drawbridge does not suit mobility scooters, and an alternative route can be arranged by phone. A limited number of wheelchairs and scooters can be borrowed. Adapted toilets are at the centre of the site.
Food
A café, open daily 9.30am to 4.45pm from 1 April to 30 September and Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 3pm from 1 October to 31 March.

Opening hours

Monday
10am–4pm
Tuesday
10am–4pm
Wednesday
10am–4pm
Thursday
10am–4pm
Friday
10am–4pm
Saturday
10am–4pm
Sunday
10am–4pm

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Did you know

A lone tree stands beside a ramp built into a long sandstone barrack wall, open grass stretching in front.
Did you know

A dog cemetery.

The fort has a cemetery for regimental mascots and officers' pets, one of only two in Scotland.

A pebble beach runs along the base of a stone rampart wall curving toward distant barrack buildings on a headland.
Did you know

Five football pitches.

The main rampart is more than a kilometre long and encloses an area the size of five football pitches.

A black cast-iron cannon on a wheeled carriage sits within a brick-walled gun emplacement, an information sign mounted on the grass beside it.
Did you know

Never fired in anger.

Historic Environment Scotland calls Fort George the finest example of 18th-century military engineering in the British Isles, though the base never fired a shot in anger. It was armed with more than 80 guns.

Hidden Scotland

From our guide to Inverness-shire

After Culloden, the government resolved that the Highlands would never rise again, and on a spit of land jutting into the Moray Firth it built a vast fortress. Fort George took more than twenty years to finish, by which time the threat had passed, and it is still a working army base. Cross the wooden bridge over the deep ditch, explore the recreated barrack rooms and the Highlanders' Museum, then walk the ramparts, more than a kilometre round. Watch the water off the point for dolphins, and look for the little cemetery for regimental dogs.

Read more
What is on

What is new across Inverness, day by day.

New places, news and stories, as we find them.

What is on in Inverness
01 / 05

Where it is

On a promontory jutting into the Moray Firth near Ardersier, with the fort entrance 200 metres along a path from the car park.

Close byThe Moray Firth.
  1. The cheese counter in the Cheese Pantry at Connage Highland Dairy, with whole cheeses on the shelves behind.Connage Highland Dairy2 miles as the crow flies
  2. Chefs in HG jackets slice bread and plate small dishes in a kitchenHillhead CafeA small community café in the new town of Tornagrain, near Inverness airport, with breakfasts, brunch, daily bakes and good coffee.7 miles 13 min by road
  3. Nairn Golf ClubNairn Golf ClubChampionship links along the Moray Firth at Nairn, with a salmon bothy of 1877 halfway round and the Black Isle across the water.10 miles 21 min by road
  4. Culloden Visitor CentreCulloden Visitor CentreThe National Trust for Scotland's visitor centre and battlefield five miles east of Inverness, where the last Jacobite Rising ended in 1746.11 miles 20 min by road
  5. Clava CairnsClava CairnsA cemetery of cairns and standing stones about 4,000 years old, in a small wood on a terrace above the River Nairn near Inverness.12 miles 20 min by road
  6. Chanonry PointChanonry PointThe tip of a long spit on the Black Isle, with a Stevenson lighthouse, and one of the best places in Scotland to watch bottlenose dolphins from the shore.26 miles 45 min by road
Directions
The Nairn Bookshop on the corner of the High Street and Gordon Street, a cream and maroon front with arched windows and wooden double doors.ShoppingNairn Books7.6 miles
AttractionsNairn Dunbar Golf Club7.9 miles
A tray of sponge cakes dusted with icing sugar and filled with jam and cream.CafeHarry Gow9.2 miles
Grassy dunes border a wide sandy beach with walkers near the shorelineAttractionsNairn9.9 miles
Long stone pier stretches into the sea beyond a grassy duneAttractionsNairn Beach10 miles
Brick railway viaduct arches stretching over a country road at duskAttractionsCulloden Viaduct12 miles
A curved cabin clad in overlapping wooden shingles stands on gravel among wildflowers, arched windows and a door along one side.NairnBoath CabinSleeps 4 · 12 miles
Fig & Thistle Bistro sign above black shutters on a white buildingRestaurantsFig & Thistle Bistro12 miles
Caledonian Sleeper carriage waiting at a station platform under a glass roofAttractionsCaledonian Sleeper12 miles

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the fort, and when each is next free.

A long sandstone steading with a conical-roofed tower at its centre stands beyond a field of young crops, trees framing it on either side in evening light.Newhall Mains
  • To stay
  • In Balblair
  • 7 miles from Fort George
Check datesA curved cabin clad in overlapping wooden shingles stands on gravel among wildflowers, arched windows and a door along one side.Boath Cabin
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Nairn
  • 10 miles from Fort George
Free 10–13 NovCulbin Edge, Inverness-shireCulbin Edge
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Brodie
  • 13 miles from Fort George
Free 10–12 NovA white harled cottage with a slated roof and gabled porch sits behind a garden of wildflowers, a table and chairs on the patio.Garden Cottage
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Dores
  • 16 miles from Fort George
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in InvernessAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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For further reading, before you go. The details on this page were checked on .