The Northern Highlands – a beautiful, rugged landscape, many castles and ruins, breathtaking cliffs. We visit so many beautiful places here that we can’t get everything summarized in one post. Therefore, we divide this travelogue into two parts. Here follows part 1.

North Coast 500 Route

On the north coast of Scotland there is a particularly beautiful road that follows the coastline very closely, is quite winding and accordingly can offer the most beautiful impressions of the coast of the Highlands. This is the North Coast 500 Route. The 500 stands for its length in miles, the NC500 is all in all a bit more than 500 miles long. The route includes all sorts of points of interest. Very similar to the NE250, which runs along the eastern coast of Scotland (here are our posts on that; Part 1 & Part 2).
Since the introduction of the NC500, tourism in the Highlands has increased tremendously. No wonder, as the route opens up a fabulous landscape with no less impressive fauna to us tourists!
Roughly we stick to the NC500, but every now and then we make some detours or skip some sights (otherwise we would probably still be here next summer).
What strikes us already at the beginning is how many campers there are on the streets here – and that in the middle of October, we can’t and don’t want to imagine how crowded the area must be in high summer!

Inverness

Our exploration tour through the Highlands starts in its capital Inverness. Here we want to refuel and replenish supplies for the coming days. We almost feel a little like we are going on a safari to an uninhabited, remote area. Of course, this is not the case. The northern Highlands are also inhabited. And yet, we are probably not so badly advised to go on the multi-day tour with a full supply, since the places quickly become very small and accordingly the available assortment will probably also be rather limited.

Leakey’s bookstore

Of course, we also have a look at the city, first we land at a somewhat special, but definitely unique sight: In a very old church the (used) bookstore Leakey’s is set up. It looks fascinating and the old church walls are filled to the ceiling with books, old maps and documents. Just the smell in the air when entering the large room invites us to dive into another world for a moment. The heating system, which is still in use, also contributes to the ambience: In the middle of the room, in the middle of the books, there is a wood-burning stove that is still used on a daily basis.

Mon-Sat 10.00-17.30
Admission free

St. Andrew’s Cathedral

Inverness also has a cathedral, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, and of course Mimi has to visit it. The cathedral is not very big, but lovingly maintained and beautifully located on the River Ness.

Mon-Sun 09.00-16.00
Admission free, donation

Inverness Castle

On the hill of Inverness stands the Inverness Castle. This one would certainly be a nice impression and we would like to visit it. However, at the time we are in Inverness (October 2022) the castle is used as a court and the only publicly accessible area is the viewing platform on the tower. Therefore, we decided against a visit and continued to stroll through Inverness.

River Ness

The river Ness flows right through Inverness and several pedestrian bridges have been built especially for a walk along the river. This walk is about 30 minutes long and offers beautiful impressions of Inverness, the Cathedral, and the Castle.

Fyrish Monument

On our way north we make an overnight stop a little north of Alness. By chance we park on the parking lot from where we can walk to the Fyrish Monument. Without further ado we make our way through the beautiful forest, in which there are countless mushrooms. About an hour later we reach our destination and stand on the hill near the Fyrish Monument. A fabulous view! However, we notice that it is slowly approaching winter, and the days are getting shorter. We have to hurry to get back to our Ben with the last daylight.

Dunrobin Castle

Dunrobin Castle is known for its beautiful gardens and well-preserved interior. The castle has been used over the centuries for various purposes, from residential, to a boys’ school, at times a hospice and now as a museum. For this reason the castle has survived all the years well and is in relatively good condition.
The tour is a lot of fun for both of us. In addition to the building and the antique furnishings, the view over the beautiful, huge gardens out to sea is particularly impressive.
The ticket price includes both the tour of the building and the gardens, so of course we also stroll across the dense lawns, past the numerous ornamental flowers and fountains. A visit is really worthwhile.

Summer Mon-Sun 10am-5pm (last admission 4:30pm).
Winter Mon-Sun 10.30am-4.30pm (last admission 4pm).
Admission £13.50/adult, £8.50/child

During the summer months there is a falconry show in the garden 2x daily.