Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Scotland, which occurred here in 1727, to golfers and Madonna herself, with the usual
exhibits, plus three films.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
DORNOCH
By bus Stagecoach's Inverness-Thurso service (via
Helmsdale) stops at Dornoch: Inverness (Mon-Sat 6 daily,
Sun 4 daily; 1hr 10min); Thurso (Mon-Sat 5 daily, Sun 4
daily; 1hr 45min)
INFORMATION AND ACTIVITIES
Tourist o ce In the courthouse building next to the
Castle Hotel (Mon-Fri 9am-4pm, plus Sat June-Aug and
Sun July & Aug, same hours; T 01862 810594).
Royal Dornoch Golf Club Golf Rd T 01862 810219,
W royaldornoch.com. Opened four hundred years ago,
this golf club maintains a par 70 Championship links course
(£110) rated among the world's best by many golf media,
and the easier par 71 Struie course (£40). Booking is
essential to play. Note that it has a dress code of no T-shirts
(except polo shirts).
ACCOMMODATION, EATING AND DRINKING
Ì 2 Quail Castle St T 01862 811811 W 2quail.com.
What it lacks in size this three-room B&B makes up in
traditional country character and charm. Decor is
beautiful, featuring tartan fabrics and paint-shades of
mossy green and soft mustard, old pine furnishings and oil
paintings by l ocal a rtists. The owner is a chef so breakfasts
are excellent. £100
Dornoch Castle Hotel Castle St T 01862 810216,
W dornochcastlehotel.com. For a splurge, choose the
fabulous historic Deluxe rooms in the turreted tower of
the Bishop's Palace. Elsewhere this smart hotel is more
modern - spacious Superiors with pillow chocolates and
whisky miniatures or co mfy bu t bland Garden rooms that
overlook the rear garden. £136
Luigi's Castle St T 01862 810893. A metropolitan-styled
bistro with modern European dishes like bream with lemon
risotto - but the stress on fresh seasonal produce means
you may also find mussels in a red Thai broth or crab
fishcakes. Mains £10-18. Easter-June, Sept & Oct lunch
daily (11am-2pm) & dinner (6.45-9pm) Wed-Sun;
July & Aug lunch and dinner daily; rest of year lunch
daily, dinner Sat & Sun.
Trevose Main square T 01862 810269. With the central
location of the Dornoch Castle Hotel beside the cathedral for
a fraction of the price, this detached B&B and swathed in
roses is all warm golds and creams in its t wo rooms,
decorated with country style. Closed Oct-April. £60
12
North to Wick
North of Dornoch, the A9 hugs the coast for most of the sixty miles to Wick , the
principal settlement in the far north of the mainland. he most telling landmark in the
stretch is the Sutherland Monument near Golspie, erected to the first duke of
Sutherland, the landowner who oversaw the eviction of thousands of tenants during
the Clearances. hat bitter memory haunts the small towns and villages of this stretch,
including Brora , Dunbeath , Lybster and pretty Helmsdale . Nonetheless, many of these
settlements went on to flourish through a thriving fishing trade, none more so than
Wick, once the busiest herring port in Europe.
Golspie and around
Ten miles north of Dornoch the A9 rolls through the red sandstone town of GOLSPIE .
It's a pleasantly bustling if fairly forgettable place, and for most visitors serves only as a
gateway to good mountain-bike trails or the grandest castle of this coastline.
Highland Wildcat Trails
W highlandwildcat.com
One of the best reasons to stop is the Highland Wildcat Trails within the hills west of
Golspie. Named the best mountain-bike rides in the UK by one magazine in 2008,
the black-, red- and blue-graded trails include a huge descent from the summit of
Ben Bhraggie to sea level. All trails are accessed from the end of Fountain Road.
 
 
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