A coffee and cake crawl through Inverness

This is a walkable coffee and cake crawl through Inverness, running from the city centre out through the Victorian Market and along Church Street to Castle Street and across to the Crown area. Six independent stops, with the roaster and the baking noted at each one where it is publicly known.

1. Inverness Coffee Roasting Co

Start at 15 Chapel Street, where Inverness Coffee Roasting Co roasts its own beans and pulls them on the bar. It is the anchor of the Inverness scene, the roastery that supplies several of the other cafes on this list. A good first stop for an espresso and a look at what is being roasted that week.

2. Rendezvous Cafe

Head down Church Street to number 14a, where Rendezvous has been a city-centre institution for decades. The vintage cinema-themed interior sets it apart from newer openings; homemade cakes and scones alongside specialty coffee, and a Times Top 5 coffee shop listing that has brought in visitors from beyond the Highlands.

3. Perk Coffee and Doughnuts

A short walk along Church Street brings you to number 36, where Nicola Mclennan's independent bar pours Dear Green Coffee from Glasgow and makes its own doughnuts fresh each day. In the evenings the espresso bar pivots to martinis; by day it is a focused specialty coffee stop with some of the best baking on the route.

4. Bad Girl Bakery

From Church Street, cut through to the Victorian Market, the listed Victorian covered market at the heart of the city. Bad Girl Bakery started in Muir of Ord and has since made the Market Hall its home, baking creative cakes and pastries daily. It is an award-winning operation that understands baking as a craft rather than a commodity.

5. Kali Coffee

Head south to Castle Street and number 81, where Kali Coffee opened in 2025 alongside the newly reopened Inverness Castle. The bar combines daily espresso service with a programme of barista education, which gives it a working, purposeful character. The castle views from the street are a bonus worth pausing for.

6. Grain and Grind

Finish at 1 Tomnahurich Street, where Grain and Grind roasts its own coffee and bakes on site. It is the furthest point of the crawl and the one that most clearly marries the two halves of the Crumb and Crema brief: serious coffee from beans they roast themselves, and baking made in the same building. A proper end to the walk.

All six are independent and the route covers the walkable core of the city, from the Chapel Street roastery through the Victorian Market and Church Street to the castle and out to Tomnahurich Street. Allow two to three hours if you are stopping properly at each one.

Common questions

Which Inverness cafes roast their own coffee?

Inverness Coffee Roasting Co on Chapel Street and Grain and Grind on Tomnahurich Street both roast their own beans. Perk Coffee and Doughnuts pours Dear Green Coffee from Glasgow, which is one of Scotland's most respected specialty roasters.

Which Inverness cafe is best for cake?

Bad Girl Bakery in the Victorian Market is the most dedicated baking stop on the crawl, with a daily run of award-winning artisan cakes and pastries. Rendezvous Cafe on Church Street is the older institution for homemade cakes and scones. Grain and Grind on Tomnahurich Street bakes on site alongside its coffee.

Is the Inverness coffee crawl walkable?

Yes. The six stops run from Chapel Street through the Victorian Market, along Church Street and Castle Street, finishing at Tomnahurich Street. The whole route is under two kilometres and manageable on foot in an afternoon.

Are there specialty coffee shops in Inverness?

Several. Inverness Coffee Roasting Co and Grain and Grind both roast their own beans, which puts them at the specialty end of the market. Perk Coffee and Doughnuts pours Dear Green Coffee from Glasgow. Kali Coffee on Castle Street opened in 2025 with barista education alongside the daily bar.