Rosemarkie – a Wood-Fired Sauna by the Sea and Lunch
A few hours.
The route
Highland Mobile Sauna's wood-fired barrel sauna sits on the grass at the top of Rosemarkie beach on the Black Isle, and its glass door looks straight out across the sand to the Moray Firth.
Sit in the heat for a while, cool off in the sea air or the water, and finish with lunch at Crofters along the seafront. It's a lovely slow morning for adults, alone or with a friend or two.
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 Newhall Mains in Balblair, 6 miles away.
Book a seat at Highland Mobile Sauna on its website before you go, £15 at the time of writing (the whole sauna for up to six £70); sessions usually run on Friday evenings and at weekends, for over-16s only, and the sauna also travels, so check it is at Rosemarkie on your day.
The day
Rosemarkie
Wood-fired heat with the sea outside the door, a cold breath of the firth, and a warm lunch along the front.
About two and a half hours
Highland Mobile Sauna
The sauna is mostly based at the north end of Rosemarkie beach, by the beach café and its car park off Mill Road, but it also travels, so check where it is when you book. Book a seat in a public session on its website, £15 at the time of writing with up to four people sharing, or the whole sauna for up to six for £70. Sessions usually run on Friday evenings and at weekends, and the times are on the booking page. It's for ages 16 and over, and 16- and 17-year-olds come with an adult. Bring two towels (one to sit on), water and swimwear, and arrive showered. Stay in for 5 to 15 minutes at a time, never more than 20. The cold plunge is the sea, and the sauna's own rule is plain: anyone who uses it does so at their own risk, and should be a capable swimmer who can cope with the cold, the tides and rip currents. In bad weather a session may be cancelled and rebooked.
8 min on foot
Crofters Café, Rosemarkie
Lunch
Lunch is at Crofters on Marine Terrace, about 8 minutes' walk south along the front from the sauna, with window seats looking over the firth. It usually opens every day from 10am and serves food into the evening, so it's an easy one after a morning session; ring ahead to check the kitchen's hours. Dogs are welcome at the tables outside and in the covered marquee. If you'd rather stay by the sauna, the Rosemarkie Beach Café beside it does home baking and sausage sandwiches, usually from 10am to 3pm, but it opens fewer days in winter, so check its Facebook page first.
If it rains
The sauna is warm in any weather and Crofters has a covered, heated marquee; in a storm the sauna may cancel and rebook.
Photograph by Highland Mobile Sauna via Google