Bakhoos and Fortrose Cathedral – Coffee on the Black Isle
A few hours.
The route
Bakhoos is a small bakery on Fortrose's High Street, on the Black Isle, where the sourdough is shaped by hand and the counter fills each morning with croissants, pastries, cakes and good coffee.
A few minutes' walk away, the red sandstone remains of Fortrose Cathedral stand in a quiet green square under old trees.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Newhall Mains in Balblair, 6 miles away.
The day
Fortrose
A slow Black Isle morning: a coffee and something warm from the oven, then a quiet half hour among old red stones.
About an hour and a halfAbout 0.5 miles on foot
Bakhoos Bakery
Coffee
In Fortrose, park in Cathedral Square, or in the free car park beside the fire station on Station Road, and walk 7 minutes east along the High Street to Bakhoos. It's a bakery with hand-shaped, slow-fermented bread and seasonal cakes, mostly for takeaway, with a few stools by the window. It opens Thursday to Sunday, 8am to 3pm. On a Wednesday, IV10 Café Bar Deli at 18 High Street opens from 10am instead.
About 7 min on foot
Fortrose Cathedral
An attraction
Then carry your coffee back to Fortrose Cathedral, in its green square shaded by old trees. The cathedral of the bishops of Ross is said to have moved here from Rosemarkie in the 13th century. What still stands, in red sandstone, is the south aisle with its chapels and the chapter house, with a clock tower beside them. It's free to wander round, and the square is a lovely spot to finish a pastry.
If it rains
In rain, perch on a stool at Bakhoos's window rather than taking coffee out, then take a short look at the cathedral's arches; the south aisle's chapels give a little shelter.
Worth a detour
- The Clootie Well
Just outside Munlochy, beside the A832, a short path from the roadside car park leads to the Clootie Well, an old holy well in the woods where people have long tied strips of cloth to the trees for healing. On the road west, stopping adds about 2 minutes to the drive, and a quarter of an hour there is plenty.
Photograph by Graham Newell via Google