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Easter Ross.

Invergordon Mural Trail · Easter Ross
Easter Ross

Invergordon Mural Trail.

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Easter Ross  12° · Light rain showers
Easter Ross

Where to go, eat and stay in Easter Ross.

In Easter Ross, quiet farmland runs down to the firths and the sky feels enormous. It lies between the Dornoch and Cromarty Firths, with the old royal burgh of Tain on one shore and the painted gable walls of Invergordon on the other.

Pictish stones, an abbey, a lighthouse and painted wallsPlaces to visitSandy bays, a mermaid and the shore pathBeaches and the outdoorsVillage inns, an old station and home bakingFood and drinkDays we have driven, stop by stopDays out
The guide

Our guide to Easter Ross.

All of Easter Ross, part by part: what is where, how to get round, and where to eat and stay. Photographed by us.

Read the guide to Easter Ross
From our guideTainTain MuseumEddertonClach BiorachPortmahomackTarbat Discovery CentreShandwickShandwick StoneHilton of CadbollHilton of Cadboll StoneHill of FearnFearn Abbey

The history of Easter Ross.

People have farmed this low, fertile land for thousands of years, and the oldest marks they left are standing stones such as the Clach Biorach at Edderton and cup-marked boulders like the Ardjachie Stone.

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Days outA morningThe Invergordon mural trail walkBy carA morningThe Struie viewpoint and lunch in Tain's old stationBy carMore than a dayWhisky up the Highland east coast in three daysBy carA morningRhue lighthouse and the riverside paths walk at UllapoolBy carA morningPulpit Rock and Aldie Burn, two forest walks above TainBy carA morningA walk up to the Fyrish Monument above EvantonBy car

New days out in Easter Ross.

Ready-made days, the newest first, each with its drive times, its stops and somewhere to eat.

See every day out in Easter Ross
Lunch7 minutes agoEaster RossGreens Restaurant4.8 milesEaster RossPlatform 18644.9 milesSutherlandCocoa Mountain Dornoch6.4 miles

Lunch near Balblair Distillery.

The three good places closest to it: Greens Restaurant, Platform 1864 and Cocoa Mountain Dornoch.

See Balblair Distillery
From the magazine27 minutes agoThe printed copy of Issue 12Issue 12Spring / Summer 2026

The little pink house on the shore of Loch Glass, under Ben Wyvis in Easter Ross, looks like a lodge from a picture book, but it is an unfinished, empty shell.

Loch Glass is peaceful and secluded, tucked beneath one of the most prominent mountains near Inverness, and the strange little house leaps out from its surroundings in a burst of colour. Ben Wyvis above it is one of the less challenging Munros, about four to five hours on foot, with a steep climb, a long plateau walk to the summit and views for miles around. North of the loch, and much less visited, Loch Morie draws anglers after trout, salmon and Atlantic char. In 1902 Sir John Murray, the father of modern oceanography, used it in a study of the depths of Scotland's freshwater lochs.

See Loch Glass · Ross and Cromarty
Hidden Scotland, the magazineThe magazine

Issue 13

The autumn and winter issue is here.

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New at Glenmorangie47 minutes ago

Glenmorangie has released a 50-year-old single malt, the oldest whisky it has ever bottled.

Just 149 bottles have been filled, from spirit distilled at Tain in the mid-1970s, some of it made with barley malted at the distillery before its floor maltings closed in 1977. It is sold through selected retailers and the distillery's visitor centre.

A sitting room at Glenmorangie.See Glenmorangie Distillery · Easter Ross
Did you know1 hour ago

Fearn Abbey kept the name of a place it had left.

Fearn Abbey, in Easter Ross near Balintore, was founded in 1225 at another Fearn, near Edderton. When it moved here in 1238, it kept the name.

See Fearn Abbey · Easter Ross
Tonight1 hour agoEaster RossGreens RestaurantRestaurantEaster RossBalintore InnRestaurantEaster RossInver InnRestaurantEaster RossPlatform 1864Restaurant

A table for tonight.

Restaurants to book ahead, and the ones you can still walk into.

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Free1 hour agoEaster RossBlack Water FallsAttractionEaster RossUdale Bay ViewpointAttractionEaster RossGlenmorangie DistilleryAttractionSutherlandLoch FleetAttractionEaster RossCadboll PointAttractionEaster RossShandwick BeachAttraction

Free to visit.

Beaches, waterfalls, viewpoints and stones: nothing to pay and nobody to ask.

See all the places to visit
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From the magazine2 hours agoThe printed copy of Issue 09Issue 09Autumn / Winter 2024-25

Portmahomack, a fishing village in Easter Ross, is on Scotland's east coast but faces west, and a berth in its harbour means a wait of 25 to 30 years.

On the Tarbat Peninsula, the quirks of the local geography turn the village back across the Dornoch Firth. Its partly sheltered spot has drawn settlers for millennia, with shell middens dating back to at least 1,000 BC. Fishing kept it busy, and some 40,000 lobsters were caught in the spring of 1792 alone. Its harbour was designed by the engineer Thomas Telford, and today it is a popular spot for sailing, fishing and wildlife boat trips in waters renowned for their dolphins. Take a walk out to Tarbat Ness Lighthouse, standing since 1830, which at 43 metres is the tallest lighthouse on the Scottish mainland.

See Portmahomack · Easter Ross
Quiz2 hours ago

Glenmorangie's stills at Tain, the tallest in Scotland, all keep the long-necked design of a pair it brought in 1887 from what kind of distillery?

Did you know2 hours ago

What is thought to be a Viking-age assembly site, dating to around the 11th century, was found under a car park in Dingwall, in Ross-shire.

The Norse called such a place a Thing: an open-air gathering where they settled disputes, upheld laws and made political decisions. Dingwall's own name probably comes from the Old Norse for the field of the assembly, and historians had long wondered whether the town had been one. Records show a mound there called the moot hill, or assembly mound, in the 13th century, and in 1947 its top was flattened to make a car park. Digging led by the archaeologist Oliver O'Grady found soil in its lowest layers dating to around the 11th century, which he said was the first dating from any Thing site in Scotland.

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