Inverness Winchester Train

The Scottish city of Inverness is an important centre for bagpipe players and lovers and every September since 1788 the city hosts the Northern Meeting, a bagpipe competition. Another important event for the city is the annual Highland Games which can trace its roots back to 1822. While centred on competitions in piping and drumming, dancing, and Scottish heavy athletics, the games also include entertainment and exhibits related to other aspects of Scottish and Gaelic culture.

Inverness is also home to two summer music festivals, Rockness and the Tartan Heart Festival, that bring a variety of different music to the town.

The River Ness, which flows from nearby Loch Ness, runs through Inverness on its way to the Moray Firth. The Ness Islands, a publicly owned park, consist of two wooded islands connected by footbridges and has been used as a place of recreation since the 1840s. Craig Phadraig, once an ancient Gaelic and Pictish hill fort is a 240 m hill which offers hikes on a clear pathway through the wooded terrain.

Shinty is an integral part of the Highlands and Islands and as the capital of the Highlands Inverness often hosts a wealth of Shinty finals such as the Camanachd Cup Final (the pinnacle of Shinty) as well as the International game of Shinty and Irish hurling.

The city of Winchester in Hampshire, on the couth coast of England, is packed with historic buildings, monuments and museums - all within a short walking distance of each other and just waiting to be explored. Whilst in the city explore the medieval streets and admire the magnificent cathedral and Wolvesey Castle before taking a gentle stroll along the River Itchen to The Hospital of St Cross (a medieval almshouse - or charitable housing). The city is also recognised as a foodie destination and has the largest Farmers Market in the United Kingdom. The River Itchen, which runs through the heart of the Winchester, along with the River Test to the south west of the city, are famous for the wild trout which thrive in their clear, fast-running waters. The city is located on the edge of the South Downs National Park, and combines cosmopolitan elegance with rural idyll. The park covers an area of 628 sq miles, and stretches for 87 miles from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex. The park includes the infamous iconic chalky white cliffs of Beachy Head.