Nairn – The Beach, the Harbour and a Bowl of Cullen Skink
A few hours.
The route
Nairn was once called the Brighton of the North, and it still has a long sandy beach backed by the green Links, with the Black Isle across the water.
An afternoon here is a walk along the shore to the old harbour, with its stone piers and little white light at the river mouth, then a bowl of Cullen skink, the smoked haddock soup, at Basil Harbour Café.
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 Boath Cabin, 2 miles away. Sleeps 4; next free Fri 16 Oct to Sun 18 Oct.
Then Culbin Edge, 5 miles away. Sleeps 4; next free Mon 9 Nov to Wed 11 Nov.
The day
Nairn
It's an easy afternoon at the seaside on the Moray Firth. A stroll on the sand and round the harbour, then a warm lunch by the boats.
About two hoursAbout 1.5 miles on foot
Nairn Beach
An attraction
Park at the Links car park on Marine Road, right behind Central Beach, where you pay what you think fair; it fills on hot days. Then walk down onto the sand: the beach runs in a long curve of pale sand and dune grass, with the Black Isle across the firth. Walk east along the shore to the harbour, about 9 minutes along the sand or the promenade. The promenade above the beach is level for a wheelchair or a pushchair, and the Nairn Beach Cabin at the leisure centre lends beach wheelchairs free.
About 9 min on foot
Nairn Harbour
Nairn's harbour sits where the River Nairn meets the sea, its basin held between two long stone piers, with a small white light at the end of one. Walk out along the pier for the view back over the beach and out across the firth. The pier edges are unfenced, so keep small children close.
9 min on foot
Basil Harbour Café
Lunch
Lunch is a few steps on from the harbour at Basil Harbour Café on Harbour Street, open every day from 10am to 4pm. It's a small, friendly café with sandwiches, soups, hot meals and cakes, and its Cullen skink is the dish people praise. Children and dogs are said to be welcome. If it's full, the Strathnairn Beach Cafe on Marine Road is a takeaway kiosk with outdoor seating in the season. Then it's 9 minutes' walk back along the shore to the car.
If it rains
In wind and rain the beach is wild and the piers are no place to be: keep to the promenade, look at the harbour from the shore, and go straight into Basil Harbour Café to warm up.