I am going this summer and would love to know what you recommend as in places to see and do

I recommend you:

1) do a search, including clicking DESTINATIONS above. LOTS of good info already on here.

2) Tell us WHY Inverness. Isn't much to see in I'ness at all.

3) How long will you be in Scotland and do you plan on renting a car or using public transport?

4) tell us what sorts of things you enjoy

Edinburgh has tons to see/do but which are most up your alley - hard to tell w/o more info.

There is a lot to see outside of Inverness (nothing in the town itself) but to do so you would need a car and a coupele of days minimum.

For Edinburgh Have a look at one of the city centre website and you will see a lot of things to do and see and that is just one small section of the city centre,
http://www.edinburgh-royalmile.com/onroyalmile.html

I enjoyed the jaw dropping scenery surrounding Inverness and although the city is a LOT smaller than Edinburgh, it is also much less stressful (Kind of like comparing London to York). If you are in the area I would highly recommend taking a drive out to the Isle of Skye and stopping along the way to see the Eileen Donan Castle. Again the scenery was breathtaking.

If it can be avoided, I would not try to drive through Edinburgh. It is a zoo. It may be wise to find parking on the outskirts of town and use public transportation to the city centre. Definitely check out the castle, Holyroodhouse Palace and stroll the Royal Mile / Old Town inbetween. Make your way over to Calton Hill if you get a chance. Spectacular views.

thanks so far
i love castle and history and would like to see museums, historic places, etc. we are staying in an old castle in inverness and i will have a car so i am thinking that i might be able to drive to places during the day. Any recommendations? thanks for the help

We loved doing the nighttime tour of the underground areas; also daytime tour of the old tenements that are now underground on the main street of old town; also the Royal Ship Brittania was fascinating, a ten minute city bus ride from the Castle. Edinburgh was one of my favorite places five minutes after we arrived. Hope you have a good time.

From Inverness we took a day trip to the Orkney Islands (mini-bus & boat - then another mini bus or something on the island). We really enjoyed our day. Loved the long haired cows!

If you are basing yourself for a reasonable amount of time in Inverness then there are a number of day trips you can do outwith Inverness with the car.These would include a visit to Culloden and then onto Fort George which looks out onto the Moray Firth. You may see the local dolphins there however if you wish to take a cruise to see the dolphins have a look at http://www.inverness-dolphin-cruises.co.uk/map.html
Another day trip would be to Urquhart Castle either by the boat down Loch Ness www.jacobite.co.uk or drive down the A82 to the castle before travelling along Glen Urquhart to Cannich before continuing on the A831 to Erchless Castle and Beauly. Depending on time you could continue to Dingwall or instead return to Inverness. Another trip could be north on the A9 the A836 to Bonar Bridge / Invershin and continue round to the Harrods of London shop / restaurant at Shin Falls, near Lairg. If you had time you could then continue to Lairg before crossing over to Dornoch before making your way back to Inverness.
There is a lot to do and see especially when travelling by car and you can pick and choose what suits your requirements.

londonfan: where are you staying? There aren't any old castles in Inverness. There are a few in the surrounding area - but not any in Inverness itself. Tell us the name of the actual hotel/castle.

janisj... That's exactly what I was thinking re: castle hotels in Inverness, but thought I might have missed one