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Aigas Fish Lift. A831 about 10
miles from Beauly. Fish lift which allows them to pass the Aigas
dam. 'The Borland lift at
Aigas on the River Beauly is now open to the public during the
summer months. At over eighteen hydro-electric sites in the north of
Scotland there are electronic counters to record the number of fish
passing through them. These are sophisticated devices, able to
distinguish between ascending and descending fish...'
Web
Firthlands
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Alness Golf
Club: Open all year. Lovely 18 hole course. 4,886 yards. Trolleys
and clubs for hire. Visitors welcome.
01349 883877
info@alnessgolfclub.co.uk
Firthlands
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Avoch. Fishing village which was
once the main herring port on the Black Isle. Good heritage centre.
Above village is site where Andrew de Moray raised the Scottish
Standard in the War of Independence before leading his Highland army
south to join with William Wallace in 1297.
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| Beauly. Picturesque village with
its wide high street lies at the head of the Beauly Firth. Stunning
floral displays. Probably takes its name from the most attractive
13th century Priory which sits back from the high street - not a lot
remains but it's worth stopping for. The monks here founded the
original harbour on the River Beauly which continued in use until
WWII and contributed to the prosperity of the town. Pop into the
Made In Scotland shop at edge of village
Remains of
thirteenth century priory.
In Beauly just back from the high street on A862
Open Mid June - Sept
Tel: 01667 460232
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Ben Wyvis.
SNH. The highest mountain
in the area at 1046m. The great whaleback ridge of Ben Wyvis is
covered in a carpet of woolly hair moss and is home to many
interesting plants and animals including red and roe deer, pine
marten and golden eagle. The lower slopes support dwarf shrub heath
and boglands with plants like dwarf birch, cloudberry and dwarf
cornel.
Main path for climbing starts a few miles
beyond Garve on the Ullapool road - fifteen miles west of Inverness
off the A835. A path through the forest onto the reserve is
signposted from the car park on the A835.
Note: deer stalking takes place between August and October - please
contact the
Hillphones Service for advice on suitable routes at these times.
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Black Isle Wildlife & Country
Park. Lots of animals - sheep, deer, cattle. Feed the ducks, pet
the rabbits...
Take A9 north over Kessock Bridge on outskirts of Inverness. N.east towards Munlochy.
The Croft, Drumsmittal
North Kessock IV1 1XF
Tel 01463
731656
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Brora Heritage Centre. Heritage
centre and archaeological exhibition. 'For adults and children
alike, we have a wide selection of exhibits on the local Whisky, Coal and Woollen
industry as well as a fabulous new display by our local Clyne
Heritage Society...'
See signs in Brora
Open Mon to Sat - May - Sept
Tel: 01408 622024
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Clan Chisholm Burial Ground.
A831 Erchless Castle.
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Clynelish
Distillery. Brora
Off A9 one mile n.west of Brora
Open East - Sept Mon - Fri
Tel: 01408 623000
Web
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Corrimony
Cairn. A831
between Drumnadrochit and Cannich. Chambered burial cairn surrounded
by standing stones. 'A passage grave
constructed in the "Clava Cairn" style. It lies on the level flood
plain of the River Enrick. It was excavated in 1952, when a crouched
body was found in the floor of the chamber..'
Web
Firthlands
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Corrimony
RSPB Reserve. off A831
between Drumnadrochit and Cannich
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Cycling:
Square Wheels. Cycles, cycle parts, repair service.
Open Thur-Mon Easter to Oct. Weekends during winter.
The Square, Strathpeffer.
01997 421000
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Cromarty Courthouse Museum.
Cromarty's history with reconstructed trial in the18thc courtroom.
Audio tour of the old town. Excellent few hours entertainment.
Cromarty on A832. 22 Miles north east of Inverness
Open Apl - Oct
Tel: 01381 600418
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Cromarty
Ferry. Cromarty-Nigg Car Ferry. Britain's smallest car ferry.
013831 610269
Web
Firthlands
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| Dingwall. County market town
with shopping facilities, good parking and sites of architectural
interest
Dingwall Museum.
'Stunning courtyard area with artefacts, flowers in abundance and
picnic tables now in place to complement this civic award winning
Highland town museum. Permanent displays include reconstructed
smiddy and kitchen and remarkable military room featuring the life
and times of Fighting Mac. Special exhibitions. All welcome!...'
In the High Street Dingwall
Open mid-May to Sept Mon-Sat
Tel: 01349 865366
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The Dolphin and Seal Centre at North Kessock is run by the Whale and
Dolphin Conservation Society. The centre is one of the many great
places in the Moray Firth where you can often see dolphins and seals
in their natural habitat. The Dolphin and Seal Centre is open June -
September and can provide information about the local wildlife and
where's best to see it. Bottlenose dolphins, common seals and otters
are all regularly seen from the Dolphin and Seal Centre. There are
also underwater microphones you can listen to and if there are
dolphins around you can hear the clicks, squeaks and whistles that
they use to communicate and find food!
Cross Kessock bridge
(Inverness) north, take first left. Centre near TIC car
park.
Tel: 01463 731866
Open Apl - Oct
Web
Moray Firth
Dolphin Cruises: 01463 717900 Phone to book
Dolphin
Ecosse at Cromarty
Dolphin
Trips, Avoch.
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Dornoch. Long beaches and golf
course (see below) ranked 15 in the world's top 100! 13th Century cathedral.
Attractive village with easy walk to beach.
Dornoch Firth has extensive
mudflats where you can find wintering waders and wildfowl.
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Fortrose &
Rosemarkie Golf Club: Open all year. Links golf course. Parties and
visitors welcome.
01381 620529
Web
Firthlands
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Fortrose and Rosemarkie.
Fortrose, a pretty town with 14th century cathedral. Super place for
watersports and if dolphin watching is just for you try the Chanory
Point area. They come and go with the tides. The TIC in North Kessock
should be able to give you an idea of what the tides are doing the day you
are there. Rosmarkie has a wonderful beach and the Groam House
Museum gives insight into the Picts. Take a walk in the Fairy Glen.
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Glen Affric. off A831 Cannich.
One of Scotland's best known glens including Dog Falls, Loch Affric,
Loch Beinn a Mheadhoin and many walks and trails. Many slopes
covered by remnants of the ancient Caledonian forest - home to the
Red Squirrel, Pine Martens, Stoats, Wildcats, Crested Tits and
unique Scottish Crossbill and rare Capercaillie and Black Grouse. If
you're lucky you will see some of the rarest dragonflies in Europe
here. Autumn is considered to be the prettiest but watch out for the
primroses and orchids in the spring, not to mention heather in late
summer - spoilt for choice!
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Glen Cannich. off A831 Cannich.
The wildest of the three glens running into Strathglass
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Glen Ord Distillery. Muir of Ord
Approx 14 miles north west of Inverness off A832
Open all year - winter more restricted
Tel: 01463 872004
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Glenmorangie Distillery. Tain
'It is up here, by the
shores of the Dornoch Firth, that we have been crafting our unique
single malt whisky for centuries. We love having our friends drop in
for a visit as much as we love making Glenmorangie- the one passion
in life that we can't talk about enough!...'
Just out of Tain on the A9 going north.
Open all year - winter restrictions
Tel: 01862 892477
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Groam House Museum. Local Pictish
sculptures.
North east of Inverness on A832 at Rosmarkie
Tel: 01381 620961
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Highland Liliums. South of
Kiltarlity. Nursery specialising in Liliums as well as other plants
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Highland
Museum of Childhood.
Located in a restored
Victorian Station, the Museum tells the history of Childhood in the
Highlands of Scotland with evocative photographs, an award-winning
video and displays interpreting life at home, on the land and at
school
Located in restored Victorian station. Strathpeffer five miles west of Dingwall on A834)
Open Apl - Oct
Tel: 01997 421031
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Hugh Miller's Cottage. Cromarty.
Birthplace of Hugh Miller. Here in this thatched cottage built c1698 by his
great-grandfather. Was born Hugh Miller, on 10 October, 1802. Miller
rose to international acclaim as a geologist, editor and writer.
Church Street, Cromarty
A832 22 miles north east of Inverness.
Open Easter - Oct
Tel: 01381 600245
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Invergordon
Golf Club: Open all year. Lush parkland with some good testing par
4s and some short par 3s. 8th has natural pond and green surrounded
by the rhododendron bushes.
01349 852715
Firthlands
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Loch Fleet Wildlife Reserve. Golspie,
Dornoch. See
seals and birds on the coast. '2,833 acres (1,147 ha) of tidal basin and sand dunes, coastal heath
and some planted pine woodland. It is an SSSI. In the summer, the
ranger leads guided walks around the reserve. A cottage next to the
reserve is being developed as an educational and interpretative
centre...'
Loch Fleet lies 2 miles (3 km) south of Golspie on the A9, and about 5 miles north of Dornoch. OS Map: 21 NH 794965
Cars can be
parked at Little Ferry or in lay-bys around the basin.
Parking with information panels are on both south and north shores.
Open all year
Tel: 01408 633602
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MacKenzie
Charters & Marine. Portmahomack, Tain. Sea angling and
dolphin/nature cruises. Rods and tackle provided.
01862 871257
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Muir of Ord. Home of the Glen
Ord Distillery. Just off A832 on outskirts of town. Tel: 01463
872004.
The very popular Black Isle Show is held in August.
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Muir of Ord
Golf Club: Open all year. Parties welcome.
01463 870825
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Munlochy Bay Nature Reserve, off A832. Home to heronries, migrating geese and lots of wading
birds and wildfowl.
The village of Munlochy has a clootie well -
nothing to do with dumplings but where rags are draped from the trees.
Web
Firthlands
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Plodda Falls. off A831 Cannich.
100ft high falls outside the conservation village of Tomich.
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Portmahomack. Great beaches and
views. Good for watersports. Lovely walks to the Tarbar Ness
lighthouse.
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Royal Dornoch Golf Course. Links.
'Royal Dornoch is a very relaxed club. Informality is the order of
the day. The people of the Highlands of Scotland are renowned for
their hospitality and our clubhouse staff do all they can to make
sure that golfers and, if accompanied, their families are
comfortable and are well fed and watered. We will be pleased to
accommodate special request from groups or societies..'
Off A9 just 2 miles from Dornoch
Phone to book
Tel: 01862 810219
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Strathpeffer Spa Golf Club. Open all year. Short testing scenic
upland course. Few bunkers but many hazards. Visitors welcome.
Catering.
01997 421219
Firthlands
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Shandwick Stone near Balintore -
From the A9 take a turn
off on the left after Tain, follow signs
for Balintore on the B9165. Turn right near the coast for Shandwick,
go through the little village. Go uphill
beyond the village, the stone
is on a hilltop ahead.
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St Ignatious Well. A831 about 3
miles north of Cannich. Roadside well built in 1880 and restored in
1955.
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Strathfarrar.
Beautiful unspoiled glen, much of it a nature reserve. off A831
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Struie Hill Viewpoint. Fantastic
views. Alternative route to the north.
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Tain
Golf Club: Open all year. 18 hole links. Pat 70,SSS 71. New
clubhouse. Visitors welcome
01862 892314
Firthlands
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Tain. One of the oldest town in
the Highlands dating back to 11th century. See Tain Through Time
visitor centre, the Collegiate Church, Glenmorangie Distillery and
Aldie Water Mill.
Tain Museum.
Also children's activities and temporary exhibitions.
Tain town centre in Tower Street (fourteenth c church)
Open Apl - Oct
Tel: 01862 894089
Firthlands
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Tarbat
Discovery Centre. Multimedia discovery. Discover the Picts.
On B9165, Porthmahomack. Off A9 before Tain
Open Mar - Oct
Tel: 01862 871351
Web
Firthlands
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Tarvie Loch
Trout Fishery, Inchdrean, Tarvie by Strathpeffer. Three natural
lochs set in lovely scenery midway between village of Contin and
Garve on A835. Fly fishing from boats and bank fishing are both
available.
Open all year Mon-Sun till dusk.
01997 421250
Firthlands
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Udale Bay Nature Reserve. A few
miles from Cromarty and is one of the best estuary mudflats in the
country. 'Udale Bay
is an extensive area of mudflat, saltmarsh and wet grassland on the
Cromarty Firth. From late summer to April, the nature reserve
supports large numbers of wildfowl and wading birds. Best visited
within two hours of the high tide, there can be spectacular views of
flocks of wading birds. In autumn, up to 5,000 wigeons feed on the
beds of eel-grass that grow in the Bay. Late summer is a good time
to see fishing ospreys...'
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The Black Isle is not actually an island but a
peninsula and is gently arable. Mid-Ross is somewhat mountainous - Ben
Wyvis. Three bridges span the estuaries - Dornoch, Beauly and Cromarty.
From historical villages like Rosemarkie and Cromarty to the mountains of
Strathconon to the farmland of Easter Ross, you're sure to find more than
a days interest here. The Beauly area has been inhabited for at least
4,000 years and is evidenced by the remains of crannogs in the Firth
(man made islands built as fortresses) and in the surrounding hills are
signs of duns and vitrified forts. In Glen Affric, an ancient Caledonian
forest, you'll find the Red Squirrel, Pine Martens, Wildcats, unique
Scottish Crossbill and rare Capercaillie, some of the rarest dragonflies.
On the higher slopes Red Deer are common as are Buzzards, Red Kites,
Sparrowhawks and if you're lucky, Golden Eagle.
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