Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
EATING
Ì
Captain's Galley
Harbour, Scrabster
T
01847
894999.
Fish fresh off the boat is the speciality - unfussy
dishes like roast hake with borlotti broth and mussels - on
three-course menus (£49) that win awards for
sustainability as much as flavour. Also offers takeaway fish
and chips of whatever's freshest (Tues-Sat 12.30-
6.30pm). Reservations essential.
Easter-Oct Tues-Sat
6-10pm; Nov-Easter Thurs-Sat 6-10pm.
Le Bistro
2 Traill St
T
01847 893737.
An ever-popular
option in Thurso even though it can feel cramped at peak
times. The reason is reliable bistro dishes with a Scottish
twist such as chicken stuffed with local haggis or Orkney
herring. Mains £12-16.
June-Aug Tues-Sat 10am-9pm;
Sept-May
Tues-Wed
10am-3pm,
Thurs-Sat
10am-9pm.
Tempest Surf Café
Riverside Rd
T
01847 892500.
Home baking, toasties and home-made burgers (£5-8)
served in a harbourside café with a laidback surf-shack
vibe: think surfboards and surf posters and driftwood art
on the walls.
Daily 10am-5pm.
Dunnet and around
Despite the publicity given to John O'Groats, the most northerly point of mainland
Britain is actually
Dunnet Head
four miles north of the unremarkable village of
DUNNET
.
It's a far more evocative spot too, covered in heather and bog and plummeting in red cliffs
at the headland, marked by a Stevenson lighthouse, and with the whole north coast
spread out before you from Cape Wrath to Duncansby Head on a clear day.
Dunnet Bay
Just south of Dunnet lies
Dunnet Bay
, a vast, golden beach backed by huge dunes.
Surfers come for a smattering of reef breaks plus a beach break that offers shelter for
beginners depending on whereabouts on the bay you tuck in. At the northeast end of
the bay, the
Seadrift Visitor and Ranger Centre
(April-Sept Tues, hurs, Fri & Sun
2-5pm; free;
W
01847 821531) holds an exhibition about the fauna of the northwest
coast and the ecology of its sand dunes. It also stocks information leaflets on local
history and nature walks.
12
Mary-Ann's Cottage
South end of Dunnet • June-Sept Tues-Sun 2-4.30pm • £3 •
W
01847 851765
Signposted off the through road in Dunnet,
Mary-Ann's Cottage
is a farming croft
vacated in 1990 by the then 93-year-old Mary-Ann Calder. Her grandfather built the
cottage and today it is maintained as she left it, full of mementoes of the three
generations who lived and worked there over 150 years. With its antique rocking chair
before a blackened hearth, still with its old metal teapot, and family photos, it's a very
intimate portrait of a recent past that already feels distant.
Castle of Mey
5 miles east of Dunnet • May-July & mid-Aug to Sept daily 10.20am-4pm • £10.50, gardens only £6 •
T
01847 851473,
W
castleofmey.org.uk
he village of Mey whizzes past in just a few houses - yet it was here that the late Queen
Mother had her Scottish home. he original
Castle of Mey
was a sixteenth-century Z-plan
affair, owned by the earls of Caithness until 1889, and bought in a state of disrepair in
1952, the year the Queen Mother's husband, George VI, died. She spent her summer
holidays here each August, which may help explain why it's a modest wee place, unstuffy
inside despite the facade that bristles with turrets. he walls are hung with works by local
amateur artists and watercolours by Prince Charles (who still visits in late July, when it's
closed for two weeks) and personal mementoes of the Queen Mum remain on show -
guides are more than happy to explain their significance. he
gardens
outside are a lovely
spot for an amble on a sunny day, not least for their views across the
Pentland Firth
.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
DUNNET AND AROUND
By bus
Bus #80 between Thurso (stops at train station and
Olrig St) and John O' Groats passes through Dunnet and
Mey (Mon-Fri 8 daily, Sat 5 daily).
