Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ACTIVITIES
EcoVentures
Off Bank Street, opposite Sutor Creek
T
01381 600323,
W
ecoventures.co.uk.
Sails from the
harbour in a powerful RIB out through the Sutor stacks to
the Moray Firth to see the resident bottlenose dolphins and
other wildlife up to three times daily (2hr; £25).
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Royal Hotel
Marine Terrace
T
01381 600217,
W
royalcromartyhotel.co.uk.
On the seafront just behind
the harbour, this traditional inn provides fairly bland but
perfectly acceptable rooms which overlook the Firth.
Superiors provide the most character through a mi
x and
match of antique furnishings and more modern decor.
£110
Ì
Sutor Creek
21 Bank St
T
01381 600855,
W
sutorcreek.co.uk.
A lovely café-restaurant full of
laidback seaside charm. It focuses on local and seasonal
food, whether light lunches (£6-10) or excellent dinners
like Shetland scallops with black pudding. The same ethos
carries into posh pizzas, best washed down with Black Isle
Brewery beers. A gem.
May-Aug daily 11am-9pm;
Sept-April Wed-Sun 11am-9pm.
Sydney House
High St
T
01381 600451,
W
sydneyhouse.co.uk.
Antique wood or iron beds and
pretty dressing tables are typical of the furnishings picked
up over the years by the owners to lend character to the
three en suites in their smart redbrick house just
off
High
St. The best rooms look out over the rear gardens.
£70
Strathpeffer
Visitors first came to this leafy Victorian spa town to take the waters. In the 1970s and
1980s they arrived with coach tours to wallow in its faded glamour. Now
STRATHPEFFER
is restyling itself again as a place for activities in the surrounding hills,
with a focus - ironically - on “wellbeing” that sees it return to its origins as a renowned
European
health resort
. All manner of guests disembarked from the Strathpeffer Spa
Express train: George Bernard Shaw, Emmeline Pankhurst (who caused a scandal with
a lecture on women's rights) and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt on honeymoon.
Renovation has transformed the town's Victorian grand hall into an arts centre and
upgraded the adjacent
Upper Pump Room
(April-Sept Mon-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun
2-5pm; donation), where displays narrate the spa's history.
For all the appeal of the village's faded grandeur, it's the hills that will make you stay.
Within striking distance is
Ben Wyvis
, an approachable Munro usually scaled without
complication from
GARBAT
,
six miles west of Strathpeffer, in five hours. Another excellent
hike in the area is up Cnoc Mor hill, where the Iron Age hillfort of
Knock Farril
affords
superb panoramic views to the Cromarty Firth and surrounding mountains.
ARRIVAL AND ACTIVITIES
12
STRATHPEFFER
By bus
Stagecoach bus #27 from Inverness drops
passengers in the town square (Mon-Sat 12 daily, Sun 5
daily; 50min).
Bike rental
The excellent Square Wheels (
T
01997
421000,
W
squarewheels.biz; closed Mon) on the main
square rents out bikes and offers good advice on local trails.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Craigvar
The Square
T
01997 421622,
W
craigvar.com.
Good breakfasts set you up for a day in the hills and a
relaxing atmosphere to settle into afterwards. As central as
it gets, this B&B provides modern decor that refers to the
early Victorian house (love the roll-t
op b
aths) yet includes
flatscreen TVs and wi-fi throughout.
£90
Red Poppy
Main St
T
01997 423332.
By spring 2014, this
casual, modern place should have shifted from the exhibition
hall to new premises opposite the Pump Room. The bistro
menu - Cullen skink, pastas, burgers and beef stroganoff
priced around £6-12 - is expected to remain the same.
Tues-Sat 11am-8.30pm, Sun noon-3.30pm.
The Dornoch Firth and around
For centuries, visitors on the pilgrim trail to the
Fearn peninsula
came from the south
by ferry from Cromarty. Nowadays the area north of
Dornoch Firth
is linked by the A9,
FROM TOP
COASTLINE NEAR STOER
P.464
; SURFER NEAR THURSO
P.469
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