Coldbackie – A Sandy Cove below Watch Hill, then Lunch
A few hours.
The route
Coldbackie is a crescent of pale sand tucked under cliffs and dunes at the foot of Watch Hill, looking out over Tongue Bay to the islands.
It's reached by a steep, rough path from the road, so it's often nearly empty, with caves in the cliffs and shells along the tideline. Lunch is a few minutes west in Tongue, at the Brass Tap in the old hunting lodge that is now the Tongue Hotel.
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 Lundies House.
The day
Tongue
Down to a quiet bay of sand and caves below Watch Hill, then along the road to Tongue for lunch by the Kyle.
About two and a half hoursAbout 1 mile on foot
Coldbackie Beach
An attraction
Coldbackie is on the A836 east of Tongue, where the road bends below the rocky cone of Watch Hill. Park in the small parking area at the bend, which is often busy, and look at the information board: the view runs across Tongue Bay to Melness and the islands. The way down isn't clearly marked. Walk back a little towards the village to find a rough track and steps, steep and slippery in the wet, so it's no place for a pushchair or a wheelchair. At the bottom the sand curves away under cliffs and dunes, rocky at its north end, with high dunes and caves in the cliffs to the south. At low tide you can get round the rocky point to a second beach, but watch the tide: it's very hard to climb out of that one if you're cut off, so check the tide times before you go. Look along the tideline for whelk, razor and otter shells. There are no toilets.
6 min by car
The Brass Tap Bar, Tongue Hotel
Lunch
Lunch is in the Brass Tap at the Tongue Hotel, in the middle of Tongue, 6 minutes' drive west; the Castle Varrich car park is a short walk from the door. The hotel was built in the mid-1800s by the Duke of Sutherland as a hunting lodge, and the Brass Tap is its bar, open to everyone, every day from noon to 11pm. Food is served from noon to 5.30pm, walk-ins are welcome when there's room, and on Fridays there's takeaway fish and chips from 3pm to 5pm. For a larger group, ring ahead on 01847 611206. Well-behaved dogs are very welcome.
If it rains
The beach has no shelter and the path down turns slippery: in rain, look down on the bay from the parking area and go on to lunch in the Brass Tap.
Photograph by Tongue Hotel via Google