Inverness Museum & Art Gallery

Small but perfectly formed,
Inverness was my first taste of Scotland and it was surprising and wonderful.
Inverness Museum and Art Gallery is a must visit in the city. As it’s unlikely to be torrential sunshine it’s a perfect spot to wile away the hour or so.
A really simple and informative exhibition with some really effective interactive touches marking it fun for all the family.
I very much enjoyed the taxidermy. If you’re a stuffed beast enthusiast, you’ll find yourself right at home here.
The Art Gallery was in the middle of a reshuffle so was closed during my visit, so add a bit extra time for some highland art.
Go get your learning on and have a visit.

This museum is well worth a 30 – 60 minute visit since it is a well laid out museum about the history of the Highlands, while having the added benefit of being free and centrally located.
A few of the reasons I give it 5 stars:
1. Well laid out. It goes chronologically through time, giving an easy-​to-​understand color codes timeline as you walk through the two floors.
2. Interesting and informative. It covers a wide range of topics since BC, including who controlled the land at various times, background of the Highland languages, Scottish music, Tartan clothing, history of the word «clan», and much more
3. Interactive and kid friendly. At two points, it had windows to the city and gave more information about the places you could physically see. For kids, they can touch some of the animals, play a few games, and try on Scottish clothing.

It’s a small museum/​gallery but definitely worth a look.
Kind of hidden, it’s on Castle Wynd behind Bella Italia and the tourist office. the bottom floor is mainly pre-​1900s while upstairs is post 1800s (ish). The gallery area is small, currently showing an exhibition of teapots, kettles and coffee pots, designed by famous Scots and cast in silver. Worth a look.
There’s also two naked women, I think in bronze, as you come up the stairs and probably one of the funniest things I saw all weekend was a ⁵⁄₆ year old girl run up, touch the boob of one the ladies and run away giggling!
I am a big child so I had a great time finding roman coins, solving riddles, putting on an old fashioned kilt (yes, there are pictures), putting on chain mail (again, yes), solving puzzles… there’s a lot for kids and adults alike to do! We learned a lot about the nearby area and about Scottish history.
Definitely pop in if you’re a tourist in Inverness. It’s free!

Inverness is small («wee» in the vernacular) and no one should expect collections of the caliber of the Met, Louvre or even LACMA but in addition to temporary touring exhibitions, this facility hosts the Highlander history in art, crafts, music and weaponry.
Whiskey will not be found here even though it’s tributes are worthy. This assemblage merely hints at the greatness of the Celt, Viking and Highland peoples and encourages further study on your leisure.
One item I found of particular interest were the gold neck torcs (
) ancient warriors wore not only as a symbol of their rank within their community but also a potentially lucky block to a neck-​chop sword hack. This is a land with a troubled past. That’s probably why they invented scotch.
You won’t spend much time here but time spent here is time well spent. Dig it?
(I was surprised to see I wasn’t the first Unilocaler to review this place so «Cheers» to bonnie Adrienne G!)

Located near the Inverness Tourist Center & Inverness Castle (which is not a castle but their government offices), you’ll see a nice display of Scottish, geological & natural exhibits at Inverness Museum & Art Gallery
Stones & relics from the past, rooms w/​stuffed animals (of the taxidermy kind) are located downstairs & upstairs you’ll find lots on antique Scottish kilts, pins, buckles, & guns
I really like how most of the exhibits are hands on — promotes a higher sense wanting to learn something for the kiddies — encouraging people to touch various bits & pieces of the downstairs (natural /​stones)
Upstairs, where the more precious antiques were located, no touching allowed!
There’s a café in the museum offering a smattering of teas, coffees & snacks
Nice gift shop with books, jewelry, etc…
Staff was friendly as could be!
Admission = FREE