Ullapool to Inverness is about 57 miles (92 km) on the A835 — allow 1 hour 20 minutes of steady driving. Carrying on from Inverness to Loch Ness adds another 15 miles on the A82 to Urquhart Castle, which makes the full run roughly 72 miles one way. It works well as a day trip, but the stops along the road are the point.
Visited: May 2025
Nestled on the rugged northwest coast of Scotland, the small fishing village of Ullapool may seem remote, but it serves as a perfect gateway into the dramatic beauty and folklore of the Scottish Highlands. On a recent day trip, we journeyed from this peaceful harbor town through ancient glens and into the heart of Highland history—culminating in a visit to the mysterious waters of Loch Ness.
Ullapool to Inverness: Distance, Drive Time and Stops
The A835 runs the whole way — about 57 miles, or 1 hour 20 minutes without stops. Three are worth building in: Corrieshalloch Gorge, twelve miles south of Ullapool at the Braemore junction, where a Victorian suspension bridge hangs over the 46-metre Falls of Measach; Rogie Falls near Contin, around 20 miles short of Inverness, with a short forest walk and salmon leaping the falls in late summer; and, with a little extra time, the ruined 13th-century Beauly Priory a few minutes off the main road. If you are not driving, buses link Ullapool and Inverness in roughly an hour and a half, partly timed around the Stornoway ferry.
We departed Ullapool in the morning, heading eastward past the Glen of Dirrie More, a windswept valley surrounded by rolling hills and raw, elemental landscapes. The Highland scenery here is wild and timeless—endless peat bogs, granite outcrops, and distant peaks shaped by glaciers over millennia. It’s easy to feel small amid such vastness, yet deeply connected to nature.