How can I get to the Battlefield? When is it open?

How long should I spend there?

Access
Culloden Battlefield lies a little under 5 miles (8km), as the crow flies, east of Inverness. Public buses call there about 8x/day, Monday-Saturday, all year. A bus of the popular tour company Guide Friday calls there every 45 minutes, 7 days/week, from May to September. PUFFIN EXPRESS tours visit the battlefield regularly till mid-October.
The actual battlefield site is open all hours of the day and night. Please enter only by gates and do not cross fences.
After a period when much of the site was closed, we are glad to advise you (1 May) that most of the battlefield is now open again to the public.
The visitor centre is open most of the year except the first half of January. It is open at all times Puffin Express tours call there. Please check the NTS (National Trust for Scotland) website for exact opening hours.
The front half of the visitor centre contains a café, book/gift shop, and toilets. There is no entry fee to these areas.
The entry fee in 2001 to the rear of the visitor centre and Leanach Cottage is GBP 3 on production of a Puffin Express ticket. Free entry to members of all participating National Trusts on production of a valid membership card. The rear of the visitor centre features an audio-visual presentation; displays relating to the background to the '45 rebellion; and a very fine display of contemporary weapons. Leanach Cottage, a short walk from the visitor centre, is contemporary with the battle - that is, it is at least 250 years old - and currently displays an 18th century field dressing station.

On the outward journey of our Cawdor Castle and Brodie Castle tours we stop at King's Stables Cottage and point out major features of the battlefield. On the return journey, after visiting Brodie or Cawdor Castle and Clava Cairns, we stop at the Cumberland Stone - the only regular tour with a stop there. (Cumberland's Stone lies a half-mile from the battlefield, so this stop alone saves at least half-an-hour for the interested visitor - even though its association with the Duke of Cumberland is now in doubt.)
After Cumberland's Stone we stop at the Culloden car park/visitor centre. Those who wish leave our tour there to visit the site. You then make your own way back to Inverness by public transport - this leaves it to you to decide if you wish just a half-hour at the battlefield, or much longer (see below). In 2000, the fare on the public bus to Inverness city centre was about GBP 1.20; on the Guide Friday coach it was GBP 2.50. Visiting Culloden Battlefield by leaving the Puffin Express Cawdor/Clava/Culloden tour is the most time-effective and cost-effective way of reaching this historic site.
Please note - Sundays in October - normally no return bus available.

How long should I spend at Culloden Battlefield?

This depends very much on your depth of interest in the period and the 1745 rebellion. A stop of as little as 25-40 minutes would be meaningful. This gives you enough time to walk from the car park past the Graves of the English to the Great Cairn and north of the cairn to an outlook point which gives a general view of the battlefield. It would also give you a little time at the Graves of the Clans.
Such a visit involves no admission charge.

On the other hand, the interested person could spend up to 3 hours:
The audio-visual presentation lasts about 20 minutes. A further half-hour at least is necessary to do justice to the fixed displays and Leanach Cottage.
There are extensive trails within the battlefield area. A brisk walker would need the best part of an hour to cover all the paths, some of which double back on themselves, or are dead ends. It is necessary to walk all the paths to cover all the features, such as the Keppoch Stone. And this hour would be spent mostly walking; reading the notices and reflecting on them obviously extends this time. The interested visitor would need more time to study the field-dyke system which played an important part in the battle, and which has been substantially re-built by the NTS.