A Day Ashore in Scrabster, for Thurso and Caithness
Off the ship at Scrabster and along Scotland’s north coast: Thurso and its distillery, Dunnet’s great beach and headland, the Castle of Mey and the stacks of Duncansby.
Words by Hidden Scotland
Ships berth alongside at Scrabster’s deep-water pier, at the top of mainland Scotland, and a free coach takes passengers into Thurso, with local volunteers on hand for advice.
Thurso is a small town on its bay, with Orkney on the horizon on a clear day. On its edge, Wolfburn is a small independent distillery with no visitor centre, so a Wolfburn tour takes you right in among the stills and the casks.
The north coast east of Thurso, all beaches, cliffs and lighthouses, is the reason to come, and it takes a tour or a taxi to see it.
01 · Dunnet Bay
Dunnet Beach
East of Thurso, the coast road runs beside one of the great beaches of Caithness. Dunnet beach sweeps for nearly two miles round Dunnet Bay, pale sand backed by high dunes of marram grass, with the headland of Dunnet Head rising at the far end.
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02 · Caithness
Dunnet Head
Not John o’ Groats but Dunnet Head is the most northerly point of mainland Britain, and a stone at the end of the road says so. A single-track road crosses a heather moor to the white lighthouse on the cliffs high above the Pentland Firth, with Orkney laid out across the water.
03 · Caithness
The Castle and Gardens of Mey
Looking across the Pentland Firth to Orkney, the Castle of Mey was the Highland home of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, who bought it in 1952 and came every August and October for the rest of her life. You see the rooms of her home and the walled garden she loved. The castle opens from May to September, Wednesday to Sunday.
04 · Caithness
John o’ Groats and Duncansby Head
At the far north-east corner, past John o’ Groats and its signposts, a single-track road ends at the lighthouse on Duncansby Head. Walk south over the rise and the cliffs open on the Stacks of Duncansby standing out of the sea. It is the furthest of these from the ship, so leave plenty of time.
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