The passage graves
Step into the heart of the two outer tombs and see how their passages aim at the midwinter sunset.
Thomas Woodtli from Zürich, Switzerland — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Thomas Woodtli from Zürich, Switzerland — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Mainlymazza — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bewahrerderwerte — CC BY-SA 4.0
Around 4,000 years ago, some five centuries after the last of the great pyramids rose at Giza, people whose name we will never know piled three stone cairns on a terrace above the River Nairn and lined the passages of the two outer tombs on the midwinter sunset. That is what waits at Clava: a Bronze Age cemetery that has survived almost intact, under beech trees that scatter light across the stones, with no ticket window and nothing roped off between you and it. The three big cairns sit in a row. The two at the ends are passage graves you can stand inside; between them is a ring cairn, open to the sky, with low stone 'rays' running out from its kerb to three of the standing stones around it. Every cairn has its own circle of standing stones, graded in height so that the tallest face south-west, and the kerb stones grow larger and redder in that same direction - a deliberate choice that suggests one coherent design rather than centuries of additions. A small kerb cairn completes the main site, and a short walk to the south-west is Milton of Clava, where the remains of another cairn sit beside the footings of a medieval chapel. Rising through the trees beyond is the Culloden railway viaduct, all 29 masonry arches of it, so one photograph takes in four millennia and the age of steam. The modern fame comes from Outlander: Clava is widely described as the inspiration for the fictional Craigh na Dun stones the heroine falls through time at, and fans arrive in numbers. Historic Environment Scotland, which looks after the site, asks visitors not to climb the stones or leave offerings on them - what feels like a small gesture does real damage to an open monument. This is a half-day outing at most. Clava lies about 10 km east of Inverness, roughly 15 minutes by car on the B9006 and B851, and only 2 km from Culloden Battlefield, so pair the two. There is no direct bus: hire car, taxi, a combined Culloden-and-Clava tour, or the Stagecoach bus to Culloden - service 5 at the time of writing - followed by a walk of about half an hour along narrow lanes. Entry is free and the site is open around the clock all year, but the car park is tiny and fills fast in July and August, and there are no toilets, cafe or shelter - the nearest are at the Culloden visitor centre. The ground is uneven grass, fine for children who like to explore as long as they keep off the stones, less friendly to pushchairs after rain. Allow 30 minutes to an hour, ideally in the long summer evening light or early in the morning before the tour buses.
Step into the heart of the two outer tombs and see how their passages aim at the midwinter sunset.
An open-topped cairn with low stone rays running from its kerb to three of its standing stones - an unusual touch you rarely meet at a stone circle.
The site widely credited as the inspiration for the fictional Craigh na Dun; take your photos, but do not climb the stones.
Balnuaran of Clava, Culloden Moor, Inverness IV2 5EU
Worth it, if you set expectations: the site is small, done in under an hour, with no visitor centre and few information panels. But it is only 2 km from Culloden, free, and the mood under the trees is nothing like the open battlefield. If you have a single day in Inverness and Loch Ness matters more to you, skipping it is no loss.
Only with effort. No bus reaches the site itself; the closest option is the Stagecoach bus to Culloden - service 5 at the time of writing - and then a walk of about half an hour along lanes with no pavement, which is unpleasant with children or in rain. A return taxi from Inverness with waiting time, or an organised tour that pairs Culloden and Clava, is the practical answer if you are not driving.