Our Favourite Cabins in Scotland
Cabins in Scotland we would book ourselves, from Highland log cabins to hideaways on the shore.
Words by Hidden Scotland
Log cabins in a Highland glen, a blue cabin on a Borders beach and glass-fronted hideaways on the shore of a sea loch: the cabins in Scotland we would book ourselves.
A cabin is one of the best ways to see Scotland. You get the woods or the water right outside the door, a stove to light when you come in from a walk, and nobody else about. And they are not all the same. Some are real log cabins with beds built into the timber. Others are small, clever, glass-fronted things designed by architects, and one is an old fisherman’s cabin on a beach you reach through a tunnel.
These are the ones we like best, from the Borders to Skye. Most are for two, a few take a family, and several welcome dogs.
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01 · Struy, Strathglass · Sleeps 6
Buteo at Eagle Brae
Eagle Brae is a village of log cabins on a hillside in Strathglass, and Buteo is the one for a family. It sits on level ground at the foot of the estate, the easiest cabin to reach, with a deck that faces straight down the glen. It sleeps six, in two bedrooms and two curtained log beds built into the mezzanine wall.
Downstairs there’s a sitting room with a log-burning stove. The paddock next door belongs to three Hebridean four-horned sheep, and buzzards circle the ridges above. Call in at reception for local tips and a hot chocolate on the house.
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02 · Struy, Strathglass · Sleeps 2
Parus at Eagle Brae
Parus is Eagle Brae’s cabin for two, tucked among mature trees high on the estate and looking across the glen. It’s named after the tit family, and blue tits, great tits and coal tits come to its bird table, with a crested tit now and then.
The sitting room, kitchen and dining area are gathered round the stove, with a second sitting room upstairs. On a clear night the dark here is deep, and this is one of the best spots on the estate for watching the stars and, if you’re lucky, the Northern Lights.
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03 · Loch Fyne, near Inveraray · Sleeps 2
Kabn
Kabn is two off-grid cabins on a private stretch of the Loch Fyne shore, on the Ardkinglas estate near Inveraray. Each is a suite for two that mixes Japanese minimalism with Scandinavian design, all tall ceilings, pale timber and full-height glass onto the loch.
The two stand more than a hundred metres apart, so you have the shore to yourself. There’s a handcrafted kitchen, a wood stove with the firewood provided, and coffee to grind by hand in the morning. Dogs are welcome.
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04 · Loch Goil, Argyll · Sleeps 2
Seal Cabin
Seal Cabin has stood on the edge of Loch Goil since 1860. It’s small and snug, with a log burner in the living room and French doors onto a deck that looks over the loch to the mountains. The bed is up a ladder on the mezzanine, under a little clover-shaped window.
A welcome pack is waiting when you arrive, with dressing gowns and slippers. Take your coffee out on the deck in the morning and watch the seals on the rocks below.
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05 · Loch Nell, near Oban · Sleeps 2
Uisge Bothy
Uisge was the first of the bothies at Inverlonan, a little timber cabin with a rusty roof right on the bank of Loch Nell. The walls inside are rich green clay, a wood-burning stove keeps it warm and the bed is up a ladder under the roof. Every window has the loch in it.
Breakfast comes from the farm. There’s an outdoor shower on your own deck, with a fire pit and a wood-fired pizza oven close by, and canoes, paddle boards and a lochside sauna when you want them.
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06 · Glenborrodale, Ardnamurchan · Sleeps 4 to 6
Borradill House
Borradill is a big, welcoming cabin that was built in Sweden and brought to Ardnamurchan by sea and road. It stands in 25 acres of wild woodland above Loch Sunart, with picture windows across the water to the islands and hills.
Inside it’s warm with timber panelling, a log fire, a reading nook and a snug for films. There’s a long table that seats ten and a large deck over the sea loch. Paths lead from the door into the woods, past ponds and a hidden den for children, to your own fire pit. Dogs are welcome.
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07 · Cally Loch, Dunkeld · Sleeps 2
Juniper
Juniper is one of five cabins at Glen Glack, set on stilts at the edge of Cally Loch above Dunkeld. They were built to feel like a Scottish bothy and clad in the estate’s own larch, each stained a different colour. Juniper’s is red.
Inside there’s a king-size bed, a wood-burning stove and a private veranda over the loch. Outside is the wood-fired bath the cabin is known for, just big enough for two. Beavers, otters and red squirrels live round the lochs, and dogs are welcome.
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08 · Kinloch Rannoch, Perthshire · Sleeps 2
Loch at Redhill Retreat
Sheryl and Lynsey built the three little cabins at Redhill themselves, and Loch is the one with the view. It sits on a grassy knoll above a pond, and its whole front is glass, so from the bed you look past the stove and across the fields to Loch Rannoch and the wooded hills beyond.
It’s warm plywood inside, with a leather love seat, a sheepskin and a small stove for the evenings. The woodland sauna, with its cold shower outdoors, and two fire pits are shared with the other two cabins. Redhill is for adults only.
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Places to see and eat, nearest first
The Black Wood of Rannoch
Carie Forest Walks
Loch Rannoch
Kinloch Rannoch
The Cornerstone
Kinloch Rannoch
The Shed Gallery
Kinloch Rannoch
Kinloch Rannoch
Pitlochry
Schiehallion
Craiganour Skyspace
Kinloch Rannoch
09 · Near Collace, Perthshire · Sleeps 2
The Cabin at Fairygreen
This tiny home for two was built entirely from Scottish timber, designed in Edinburgh and made in Inverness. It looks out over the Sidlaw hills and the Strathmore valley, and inside it’s calm and pale, with a king-size bed facing a big window and a small kitchen.
Out on the deck there’s a roll-top bath for soaking under the sky and a fire pit with a grill. It’s private and quiet, and you can walk from the door up to King’s Seat. Pets aren’t allowed.
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10 · Cove Harbour, Scottish Borders · Sleeps 4
Blue Cabin by the Sea
Cove is a harbour with no pubs, no chip shops and no road to the water. You walk in through a tunnel cut through the rock in 1752, and on the far side is a crescent of sand, two stone piers and a handful of houses. The Blue Cabin stands at the top of the beach, painted the blue of the local fishing boats.
It was built in the 1880s, and its owners have furnished it as the home of a retired sea captain, with straw-backed Orkney chairs, a stove in a blue-tiled fireplace and charts that pull down like blinds. There’s a box bed for two and a bunk room for children.
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11 · Near Nairn · Sleeps 4
Boath Cabin
Boath Cabin sits on a small estate near the Moray Firth, five minutes’ drive from Nairn and its beach. It has a curved timber shell and big windows that bring the countryside into the room, and inside it’s light and Nordic, with a double bedroom and a second room with adult-sized bunks.
There’s underfloor heating for coming back to after a wet day on the coast, and a hot tub for when the light goes. Cawdor Castle and Fort George are both a short drive away.
12 · Sligachan, Isle of Skye · Sleeps 6
Sligachan Blackhouse
There are two of these dark timber A-frames at Sligachan, each with a glazed gable end that frames the Cuillin, so the mountains are the first thing you see in the morning. Inside, the living space is open, with a vaulted ceiling and a wood-burning stove set in front of all that glass.
You’re at the crossroads of Skye here. The walks up Glen Sligachan and the old stone bridge are a few minutes away, and the bar at the Sligachan Hotel is an easy stroll. Stays are for three nights or more.
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Places to see and eat, nearest first
Glen Sligachan
Isle of Skye
Sligachan Old Bridge
Isle of Skye
Sligachan
Isle of Skye
Skye Adventure
Sligachan
Seumas' Bar
Sligachan
Cuillin Brewery
Sligachan
Café Cùil
Sàtran
Carbost Burn Waterfall
13 · Glendale, Isle of Skye · Sleeps 4
Black Box Cabin
Black Box is an architect-designed cabin in the Glendale valley, blackened timber outside and calm, pared-back rooms within. The best seat in the house is outdoors: an open-air bath on the deck beside a fire pit, looking out over the moor. There’s a second, egg-shaped tub indoors for colder nights.
It sleeps four, and Glendale is a lovely corner of Skye to be based in, with Neist Point and its lighthouse, MacLeod’s Tables and the Coral Beaches all a short drive away.
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14 · Skinidin, Isle of Skye · Sleeps 2
The Black Shed
The Black Shed is a cabin for two on a working croft in north-west Skye. It’s simple and thoughtfully done, with comfortable furniture and a wood-burning stove that keeps it warm in the worst of the island’s weather. Inherited, handmade and vintage pieces sit beside local art, natural textiles and ceramics.
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If it’s a hot tub you are after, we have gathered those separately: see Cabins and Bothies with Hot Tubs in Scotland.
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