The Stacks of Duncansby, off the cliffs south of Duncansby Head.

The guide

Caithness. Caithness guide

Big skies, sea stacks and clifftop castles at the top of the mainland, from Wick to Dunnet Head.

A Hidden Scotland guideThe Stacks of Duncansby, off the cliffs south of Duncansby Head.

The four parts of Caithness

A map of Caithness in relief, with its towns and villages and its four parts

Caithness is a place on the edge. Roughhewn cliffs and windswept gorse characterise this far-flung corner of the map, the so-called ‘Land Beyond the Highlands’, the place where the north-eastern tip of the mainland reaches out into the wild waves of the North Sea. It’s a region where the rocks, moors and hills have an elemental rawness to them, a semi-mystical feel that can sometimes make the whole headland seem closer in spirit to Orkney and Shetland – both of which lie off its coast – than to the rest of the country.

Wick, Keiss and Noss Head

Wick and the east coast

Wick grew rich on herring, and its harbour and Telford's Pulteneytown still tell that story, along with the Old Pulteney distillery and the world's shortest street. On the cliffs to the south stand the Castle of Old Wick and the Brig o' Stack, and to the north Castle Sinclair Girnigoe, Noss Head lighthouse and the long sands of Sinclair's Bay.

An aerial view shows a ruined castle perched on a narrow sea headland, cliffs dropping to the water and a lighthouse visible on the point beyond.

A stone harbour lined with terraced houses and pubs holds moored fishing boats and a marina, calm water reflecting the buildings.

The ruined towers of a coastal castle stand on layered rock cliffs, warm evening light catching the stone above calm sea.

John o' Groats, Duncansby and Mey

John o' Groats and Duncansby

John o' Groats is the end of the road from Land's End, with its famous signpost, a little harbour and boats across to Orkney in summer. Walk on to Duncansby Head for the lighthouse and the great stacks off the cliffs, look for seals in the Bay of Sannick, and visit the Queen Mother's Castle of Mey along the Pentland Firth.

Two sea stacks rise from the water in the foreground, a further stack and headland visible in the haze beyond.

An aerial view of a curving sandy beach lit by low evening light, weathered red rock at the shoreline and dune grass rising to the clifftop.

A blue fishing boat is moored inside a stone harbour, calm sea stretching beyond the breakwater walls.

Thurso, Castletown, Dunnet and Reay

Thurso and the north coast

Thurso is the mainland's most northerly town, with Scrabster's harbour and the ferry to Orkney just beyond it. East along the coast, Dunnet Bay has two miles of white sand and surf, and Dunnet Head is the most northerly point of mainland Britain, with puffins on its cliffs. West towards Sutherland, deep geos cut into the striped cliffs at Drumhollistan.

A wide sandy beach curves into the distance beneath dune grass and a cloudy sky, waves breaking gently along the shore.

Tall dark cliffs stretch along a hazy coastline, waves breaking white at their base under a cloudy sky.

Two tall sea stacks of banded sedimentary rock frame a narrow gap of open sea, a smaller stack visible in the distance beyond them.

Whaligoe, Lybster, Latheronwheel and Dunbeath

Lybster and the south

South of Wick, the Whaligoe Steps zigzag down the cliffs to a tiny natural harbour. Lybster was built as a fishing village, with a stone harbour and a little lighthouse, and inland you'll find the Grey Cairns of Camster, more than 5,000 years old, and the rows of the Hill o' Many Stanes. Dunbeath has its white castle and its old herring harbour.

Small fishing boats crowd a stone harbour beneath a grassy headland, a white lighthouse standing at the harbour mouth.

An aerial view shows a narrow sea channel winding between rocky headlands, waves breaking white where the channel meets open water, and a path running along the clifftop above.

Waves surge into a walled harbour beneath layered sea cliffs, a stone pier curving out into the rough water.

Best known for.

Viking history, fishing harbours and a sense of faraway adventure. To the average traveller, John O’Groats is a more famous name than Caithness itself, which says something about the region’s place in public consciousness. But for those who make the effort to journey here – and its position on the North Coast 500 route means there are plenty who do – the rewards are substantial.

More about Caithness

But while this is a remote land almost entirely bound in by the sea – the only exception being its western edge, which forms a land boundary with neighbouring Sutherland – its human history is pronounced. Today some 25,000 people live up here, concentrated on the small towns of Wick and Thurso and a scattering of smaller villages and coastal settlements, among them the iconic outpost of John O’Groats. Edinburgh feels a long way away indeed.

This is, however, no mountainous retreat – instead you’ll find jagged sea stacks, stony outcrops and rolling farmland, as well as a character and prehistory that is very much Caithness’ own. Its location also means there’s plenty of Norse heritage to explore. Back in 2016, when a new county flag was unveiled, the chosen design centred on a blue and gold Nordic cross – blue for the sea, gold for the beaches – on a black background that represents the dark local stone. In the corner of the flag, meanwhile, stands a galley, its sails billowing, providing a reminder that the local gaze remains a seaward one.

What would you like to look at?

A ruined stone tower stands at the cliff edge above a narrow sea channel, waves breaking below grassy headlands on either side.

See and doCastles on the cliffs, steps and cairns

A blue fishing boat is moored inside a stone harbour, stacked lobster creels lining the quay in the foreground.

Eat, drink and shopSeafood by the harbour and a French kitchen

Two lighthouse buildings stand on a clifftop at dusk, a stone outbuilding with a slate roof in the foreground.

Where to stayLighthouse cottages and rooms by the sea

Ruined castle towers atop layered rock cliffs above the sea

History and storiesBrochs, Vikings and the herring boom

An aerial view shows a rugged headland where dark cliffs meet a turquoise sea, waves breaking white against sea stacks and a narrow inlet cutting into the rock.

ItinerariesDays we have driven, stop by stop

A distant lighthouse stands on a grassy headland above dark cliffs, calm sea stretching towards it under a soft evening sky.

Getting hereThe Far North Line, the A9 and the Orkney boats

An aerial view follows a long sandy beach edged by dune grass at dusk, waves breaking gently along the shore.

What is on in CaithnessSomething new from the region every day

What is on in Caithness

Friday the 16th of October.

Sunrise 07:51, sunset 18:05.

Things you might not know.

Graeme Johncock
Graeme is the writer and storyteller behind Scotland’s Stories, sharing Scotland’s traditional folklore and legends.

Possession of the Isle of Stroma was disputed by the Earls of Orkney & Caithness. Since it was widely accepted that snakes lived on the mainland, but not Orkney, legend says that the Earl of Caithness shipped the reptiles in to prove that Stroma was his.

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The Flow Country is an enormous area of peat bog and at roughly 4000 sq km, it’s the largest in Europe.

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A white lighthouse with a black lantern room stands behind low outbuildings on a grassy clifftop, the sea stretching out under a dusky sky.

While John O’ Groats is world-famous, Dunnet Head is actually the most northerly point of the British mainland.

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A wooden boardwalk leads across moorland to a large chambered cairn built of stacked stone, forest lining the horizon.

The hole in the top of the round Camster Cairn was made after a Victorian woman got stuck inside and needed to be hoisted out.

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Between 1922 and 1947, the temperance movement took hold in Wick and it became an alcohol-free town.

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The Battle of Altimarlach, which took place between the Campbells and Sinclairs near Wick in 1680, is regarded as the last clan battle in Scotland without government involvement.

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Trees aren’t abundant in Caithness, but stone is plentiful and so fields around the region are often seen bordered with upturned flagstones instead of fences.

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A ruined castle crowns a grassy headland, a broken chimney stack and roofless towers rising above the sea beyond.

While often claimed to be two separate strongholds, Castle Sinclair Girnigoe is actually just one castle known by two titles until they were merged into a single name to ease confusion.

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Sandstone corner building with tall chimney stacks against clear sky

The world’s shortest street is Ebenezer Place in Wick at 2 metres long, containing just 1 door.

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The name Caithness means Headland of the Cat.

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A turreted white castle-style hotel stands beside a row of colourful houses above a small harbour where a boat is moored.

The Pentland Firth separating Caithness from Orkney is an incredibly dangerous stretch of water with one of the strongest tidal currents in the world.

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A tall sea stack rises from the water beside layered cliffs, waves breaking white at its base under a hazy sky, a smaller stack visible behind.

The iconic Duncansby Stacks were almost destroyed as part of an Atomic Bomb experiment in 1953 but fortunately the weather was too wet for the electronics.

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Read about Caithness.

Issue 6Caithness - Discovering the nooks and crannies

Photographs by Mackays Hotel, Ana Marrie, L.M. de Groot, Forss House Hotel, North Coast Watersports and The View From Bide Hotels via Google