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Sutherland

Ceilidh Place

Ullapool's hotel, café-bar, restaurant, bookshop and music venue in a row of white cottages, begun in 1970 by the actor Robert Urquhart in his birthplace.

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Welcome

In 1970 the actor Robert Urquhart opened a small café in the boatshed of Broomview Cottage in Ullapool, the house where he had been born.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

He wanted a place for eating, meeting, talking and singing, and more than fifty years on that is still what the Ceilidh Place is.

It has grown along a row of white-harled cottages on West Argyle Street into a hotel with simple, peaceful rooms and no televisions, a restaurant, a café-bar with plenty of whisky, an art gallery and a bookshop, strong on Scottish writing, that stays open as long as the café does. Live music is a fixture, and the venue has been named Music Venue of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards.

The food leans on local seafood, scallops and fish and chips among it, with plenty for vegetarians. Breakfast starts at eight, dogs are welcome, and on a good evening the whole place hums.

Before you go

The café is open from 8am until late and the bar from 11am, every day; breakfast is served from 8am to 11am and food from noon to 8pm.

The bookshop is open as long as the café door is.

Where
14 West Argyle Street, Ullapool, IV26 2TY.
Café
8am till late.
Food
Breakfast 8 to 11am; noon to 8pm.

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Did you know

A row of white-harled cottages with slate roofs and a rooftop balcony lines a street in Ross and Cromarty.
Did you know

Born in the house.

The actor Robert Urquhart started the Ceilidh Place in 1970 in Broomview Cottage, where he was born in 1921.

White-harled buildings with black slate roofs and dormer windows make up The Ceilidh Place in Ross and Cromarty.
Did you know

A bookshop with rooms.

The bookshop stays open for as long as the café door is.

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Where it is

On West Argyle Street in Ullapool, a street back from the harbour.

Close byUllapool.
  1. Bookshop corner with postcards pinned above tables and crowded shelvesCeilidh Place BookshopCeilidh Place on West Argyle Street in Ullapool is a bookshop with a bar, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. The hatch of the Seafood Shack trailer, with its crab sign, open for orders.The Seafood ShackUnder a mile as the crow flies
  3. Whitewashed buildings housing Ullapool Bookshop and Captains Cabin under grey slate roofsUllapool BookshopBooks on the harbour front.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. A table for two in the dining room at the Dipping Lugger, with red wine, two plates of food, wild flowers in a jar and a lamp glowing on the shelves.The Dipping LuggerUnder a mile as the crow flies
  5. Knockan Crag National Nature ReserveKnockan Crag National Nature ReserveWhere the rocks of the north-west were first understood.13 miles 19 min by road
  6. Stac PollaidhStac PollaidhA spiky peak on the road to Achiltibuie.15 miles 21 min by road
Directions
Dried flowers hang above a tiled café counter with wooden crossback chairsCafeCult CafeA step away
AttractionsUllapool Golf Club0.6 miles
Fjell, Wester RossBraes, UllapoolFjellSleeps 2 · 1.4 miles
The timber-clad house's cantilevered corner overlooks a loch framed by hills, bare trees in the foreground.Braes, UllapoolFjordSleeps 4 · 1.4 miles
Curved shingle beach beside white cottages, hills rising under cloudy skiesAttractionsArdmair Beach3.4 miles

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The Daily for 25 October, from Scotland with love. bare tree stumps standing in an autumn loch, forested hills reflected in the still water

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the Ceilidh Place, and when each is next free.

Fjell, Wester RossFjell
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Braes, Ullapool
  • A mile from the Ceilidh Place
Free 12–15 NovThe timber-clad house's cantilevered corner overlooks a loch framed by hills, bare trees in the foreground.Fjord
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Braes, Ullapool
  • A mile from the Ceilidh Place
Free 2–5 NovPlaces to stayEvery stay in SutherlandAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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