Holidays in Scotland and the Scottish Highlands

Gairloch Harbour has a range of shops & a cafe

View over Gairloch and Strath

Old Croft near Melvaig

Gairloch and the surrounding area is a short scenic drive from Inverness and it takes approximately 2 hrs to drive. As some of the roads leading to holiday cottages and other accommodation may be on single track roads you are advised to plan for slightly longer journeys than you would normally consider for the distances involved. Take your time and drive safely to enjoy your holiday in the Highlands of Scotland.

Rua Reidh Lighthouse near Gairloch

At Gairloch there is plenty to do. The Gairloch Golf Course is open to visitors, rarely will you play golf in such beautiful surroundings, the clubhouse is also open to the public for lunches and snacks so even if you don’t play golf drop in and have a coffee. Gairloch also has several sandy beaches where families can enjoy lazing about or playing in the water. In fact Gairloch has many other things available, from pony trekking, sea, river and loch fishing, hill walking, sailing and wildlife watching. You will find plenty to do on holiday at Gairloch.

Long Empty Beaches

If you love long, empty sandy beaches then take the road to Badachro, past Opinan and South Erradale to Redpoint. The other large beach is in the opposite direction towards North Erradale, called the Big Sand. The camping and caravan park at Big Sand has caravans to rent as well as space for touring caravans and campers. On this road you will also come to the Youth Hostel. Beyond Big Sand is Melvaig and at the end of the road is the Lighthouse at Rua Reidh.

Gruinard Bay has clean sandy beaches

Caravanning and Camping

Camping holidays are a very popular way of seeing Scotland and experiencing the wonderful Highlands of Scotland. It is ideal for families, individuals and groups. It is a relatively cheap way of having a holiday in the Highlands and there are a number of excellent Caravan and Camping sites in Wester Ross including the Sands Holiday Cent re at Big Sand, the Gairloch Camp Site and the National Trust camp site at Poolewe near the Inverewe Gardens.

Happy dogs at Lochcarron

Dogs are also welcome on the beaches as long as you keep them under control and clean up after them. In some locations you will often find sheep (and sometimes cattle) roaming around the beach, or more likely nearby on the grass hills, so you do need to be aware that you must never allow your pets to chase sheep, keep them on the lead when farm and wild animals (deer) are around.

Mellon Udrigle

Loch Maree and Beinn Eighe

Loch Maree

Loch Maree is one of the most beautiful lochs in Scotland and is steeped in history along with beautiful scenery, mountains and wildlife.

Lighthouse Holidays

Lighthouse near Gairloch

The Rua Reidh Lighthouse is available for holidays and is provided on a room by room basis or for the whole lighthouse. The Rua Reidh Lighthouse is approximately 12 miles from Gairloch along a single track road. If you love out of the way holidays in a lighthouse then you should check out this holiday location.

Trout fishing in Highland Lochs

Wild Brown Trout caught by webmaster

The hill lochs around Gairloch are full of wild brown trout; there are also certain lochs with pike fishing, as well as salmon and sea trout available locally. Fishing these lochs is by permit and you can buy these from the local tackle shop.

Sea angling is also popular in this area and you can hire a boat from the Gairloch harbour for sea fishing or go on a fishing charter trip.

An Teallach

Old Croft Building and view of An Teallach

Hill walking in the Scottish Highlands

Fisherfield is a large area consisting of 5 munros that requires a good level of hill walking experience. Yet the beauty and remoteness of this area can be appreciated by an easily accessible hill track from Gruinard and we have walked this track with our dogs during summer months. You are advised to keep dogs on a lead as deer and other animals are in this area.

Clean Sandy eaches in the Highlands

Holidays in Scotland can be all year round although you do need to expect changeable weather. The picture of Mellon Udrigle was taken in the autumn, as you can see you often get the place to yourself out with the normal tourism season.

The beach is ideal for summer picnics, swimming is optional although the water is usually a bit warmer than you would expect and I have enjoyed swimming in this area on hot summer days.

Poolewe and Inverewe Gardens

Poolewe

Poolewe is a very short drive from Gairloch and you will find this lovely village at the top of the sea loch - Loch Ewe. The famous Inverewe Gardens are at Poolewe with is looked after by the National Trust for Scotland. The gardens are a must see place to visit and plan to spend several hours at the garden. There is a NTS gift shop and restaurant at the gardens.

Inverewe Gardens at Poolewe

Inverewe Garden at Poolewe

One of the reasons to stay in Wester Ross is the number of truly brilliant places to visit; we love the peninsula of Applecross where you can drive over the spectacular mountain pass from the A896 – Torridon / Sheildaig to Kishorn road. An alternative route is to drive around the peninsula past Kenmore and Fearnmore. This road requires care and you can expect to drive at less than 30 miles an hour for a fair bit of the journey. Applecross has a campsite for the adventurous as well as cottages and bed and breakfast accommodation.