Caledonian Gifts & Souvenirs — Local services in Great Britain

Gifts and souvenirs is hands down the best place in all of the Scottish Highlands (the forests and lakes were not bad as well). They specialize in not only selling goods, renting bikes, and being friendly, but also in restoring friendships. We shall tell you a story of our stop in the little shop.

She was tired and I was hungry, we were both grumpy and in serious need of a miracle to turn our rough patch of sleepy travel days into a lively adventure. And that's when it happened, we stumbled upon this shop while trying to find the tourist info center. We asked for directions for a bus to see Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle. We were persuaded, despite our better judgement and general lack of confidence in our fitness ability, to instead rent bikes and go down the opposite side of the lake. We got snacks (they even provided a handy lock - that funnily looked just like a bike lock - to secure our food), water bottles and helmets (we needed them) and headed on our way. The bike ride was meant to be about 1.5 hours to a nearby town where we were going to have lunch. We 'accidentally' took a wrong turn (shady sign reading on someones part) ... long story short, we ended up biking for 5 hours, 2 of those spent climbing a mountain (see fitness ability comments above...), 99% of that time silently swearing, 60% of the time crying (on the inside), but much to our surprise, 100% of the time was filled with smiles and laughter. Maybe it was the fresh air, the adventure, the exercise, the giggles, or the snacks, who knows, but it ended up being the time of our lives.

We left our grumpy and sleepy ways behind and came out with a stronger friendship than ever. Thanks Gifts and Souvenirs and those that work there that make it the coolest place ever.

Love from Jasmin, Jessica, and Nigel (little porcelain haggis who is a former Scotsman, but is in the process of...

We stopped into Caledonian Gifts a couple of times during our stay in Inverness. Both times, we found the guys super helpful.... and very entertaining!! 😀. They gave us some great tips, including places to go locally.

My friend was shopping for a handbag and was eyeing the Harris Tweed bags. The guys were very good about telling us about the difference in quality in the products using Harris Tweed and what to look for. My friend did buy a hand bag and a few items at their store. While shopping in other areas of Scotland, we found it quite interesting to see the lesser quality items being sold in other stores and how easy it was to pick them out. By the way, my friend LOVES her handbag!!

Whether you’re looking for a gift or souvenir, some good local information or some friendly conversation, I highly recommend this place! We had such such a good time there. I will definitely be stopping by again on my next trip to Inverness.

The girls from Colorado...

Spent a couple days in Inverness, never been, didn’t know what to expect. Wondered in to this lovely shop and both owners welcomed my mother and I and we started chatting about things, about our trip and they were nice enough to really share a locals view of how unbelievably wonderful and beautiful Inverness and the surrounding area is. All of the goods in the shop are incredible and we bought something the first night, where the owner shared a few places to see that we wouldn’t have even known about if it wasn’t for going in to the shop on a whim. We went back the next night to say hello and share how our day was and bought more goods. I can honestly say, hand over my heart, the kindness and welcome my mother and I received made this experience and trip all the more special and worth it. We even took a photo with them before heading off. Do yourself a favor, go in, shop, buy, and say hi! You’ll be glad you did.

-Alex...