Lybster – Coastal Road Trip

Day 25 – Lybster to Invergordon

Today we will drive 107 miles on our journey along the North Sea down to the Dornoch and Cromarty Firths. Probably one of our shorter journeys, but still we have a lot to see, so let’s hit the road!

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Dunrobin Castle, Dalmation, Waiting, Sitting in Car — A patient chauffeur, waiting at Dunrobin Castle.

Lybster Harbour

Coastal Road Trip, Lybster, Harbour, Lighthouse — The sun rising in the sky over the cosy Lybster Harbour.

Dunbeath Bay

Coastal Road Trip, Latheron, Views South, Dunbeath Bay — Views south from Latheron along the rugged coast to Dunbeath Bay.

Laidhay Croft Museum

Coastal Road Trip, Laidhay croft museum, Jarno — We stopped by the Laidhay Croft Museum (keys from the coffee shop next door). Absolutely packed with antiques and household goods from the crofting era.

Badbea

Coastal Road Trip, Badbea Clearance Village — All that remains from this tiny clearance village at Badbea.

Coastal Road Trip, Badbea Clearance Village, View to North Sea — The unspoiled views over the cliffs out to the North Sea. Fine on a calm day like today, but must have been rough living at the top of these cliffs on a stormy day.

Helmsdale

Coastal Road Trip, Helmsdale, Church Tower — The church tower peeping through the tree tops in Helmsdale.

Brora

Coastal Road Trip, Brora, Golf Club, Golf Course — The Scottish coast was littered with Golf courses, all with stunning views.

Carn Liath

Coastal Road Trip, Carn Liath, Iron Age Broch, Settlement, A9 — An amazingly well preserved Iron Age broch at Carn Liath (a round house), just a couple of minutes north of Dunrobin Castle.

Dunrobin Castle

Coastal Road Trip, Dunrobin Castle — The extravagant Dunrobin Castle, the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland.

Coastal Road Trip, Dunrobin Castle, Garden — The impressive French influenced gardens viewed from the castle.

Coastal Road Trip, Dunrobin Castle, Falconry Display — We stopped by a fun falconry display in the garden.

Coastal Road Trip, Dunrobin Castle, Dalmation, Waiting, Sitting in Car — Patiently waiting for Cruella De Vil in the castle car park.

Dornoch

Coastal Road Trip, Dornoch, Beach, 2 minute beach clean, Jarno — What a great idea at Dornoch Beach, encouraging visitors to a 2 minute beach litter clean. Dornoch itself was a beautiful village. Clearly the locals were looking after the area.

Tarbat Ness

Coastal Road Trip, Tarbat Ness — After all the yellow and white lighthouses we’d seen along our coastal road trip, it was refreshing to find a lovely red and white stripey one at Tarbat Ness! 😉

Baltintore

Coastal Road Trip, Balintore, Mermaid of the North, Seaboard Villages — Driving along the coast of the Seaboard villages we arrived at the Mermaid of the North atop ‘Clach Dubh’ (black rock) at Balintore.

Arabella

Coastal Road Trip, Arabella, Eastern Ross-shire, Wind Turbine, Sun, Clouds, Fields — On our way to Invergordon for the evening, hazy evening views across the countryside near Arabella. Wind turbines became a really familiar sight whether on land or off shore along our journey.

Daily video

Day 24 – Bettyhill to Lybster

Great weather on day twenty-four as we set-off to the most northeasterly point of Britian. Plenty of lighthouses and a few castles along the way.

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Castle of Mey, Queen Mother — Castle of Mey, previously the Queen Mother’s Scottish pad.

Armadale

Coastal Road Trip, Armadale, Small bay, Reismeave — After heading east out of Bettyhill we made our first stop of the day at Armadale, where we found this small bay hidden at the end of a farm track beyond Reismeave. There was a winch and basket down to the bottom of the steep cliffs, we assumed for fishing.

Coastal Road Trip, Armadale, Drying fishing nets, Reismeave — At the top of the cliff there were these great masts, at first we thought it was some kind of radio aerial, then we realised they were for hanging and drying the fishing nets.

Strathy Point

Coastal Road Trip, Strathy Point, Lighthouse, Julian, Jarno — First of many lighthouses today at Strathy Point.

Coastal Road Trip, Strathy Point, Lighthouse — Actually, no longer a working lighthouse, but holiday lets.

Coastal Road Trip, Strathy Point, Lighthouse, Rocks, Sea, Armadale Bay — The view back west along the coast towards Armadale Bay.

Coastal Road Trip, Strathy Point, Lighthouse, Rocks, Sea, Armadale Bay — Very choppy waters!

Coastal Road Trip, Strathy Point, Lighthouse, Rocks, Sea, Crashing Waves — Waves crashing against the rocks.

Strathy Beach

Coastal Road Trip, Strathy Beach — At Strathy Beach the waters were calm, quite a contrast from the rough waters around the corner at Strathy Point.

Portskerra

Coastal Road Trip, Portskerra, Bay — A small quiet cove at the far end of Portskerra.

Sandside Bay

Coastal Road Trip, Sandside, Bay, Beach, Dounreay — We were going to stop at Sandside Beach for a picnic, and wondered why no one else was around…

Coastal Road Trip, Sandside, Bay, Beach, Dounreay Nuclear Power Station Warning — … then we got some clues from this sign, we moved on.

St Mary’s Chapel

Coastal Road Trip, St Mary's Chapel Ruin, Crosskirk, Sheep, Bay — The 12th century St Mary’s Chapel on top of cliffs near Crosskirk.

Dunnet Bay

Coastal Road Trip, Dunnet Bay, Castlehill, Flagstone, Trail, Windmill, Dunnet Head — The remains of a windmill at the Castlehill Flagstone Trail, with Dunnet Head in the background.

Dunnet Head

Coastal Road Trip, Dunnet Head, Lighthouse, Most northerly point of mainland Britain — So we’ve visited the most westerly point of mainland Britain at Ardnamurchan Point, and now we’re at the most northerly point at Dunnet Head. Plus another Lighthouse as a bonus!

Coastal Road Trip, Dunnet Head, Scarfskerry — On the way back to the main road we caught these views looking east towards Scarfskerry.

Castle of Mey

Coastal Road Trip, Castle of Mey, Queen Mother — A royal stop on our tour! Castle of Mey, previously owned by The Queen Mother as one of her private residences. Fascinating to look around. Although grand, it also felt surprisingly homely with many grandma type knick-knacks here and there. The guides were great, very enthusiastic and informative, clearly they were very proud to work there.

Coastal Road Trip, Castle of Mey, Queen Mother, Gardens, Wheelbarrow — Lots of colour in the walled garden

Coastal Road Trip, Castle of Mey, Queen Mother, Gardens, Flowers — Full of blooming flowers.

John o’Groats

Coastal Road Trip, John o'Groats, Julian, Jarno — Such tourists! Yay, made it to John o’Groats in the northeastern corner of Scotland. To Jarno’s delight, named after a Dutchman John de Groot.

Duncansby Head

Coastal Road Trip, Duncansby Head, Lighthouse, Muckle Skerry, Pentland Skerries High and Low Lighthouses — Just a few miles east of John o’Groats, we arrived at Duncansby Head Lighthouse. In the distance you can see Muckle Skerry, with the Pentland Skerries High and Low Lighthouses. Three lighthouses in one picture, bargain!

Coastal Road Trip, Duncansby Head, Stacks of Duncansby — Then looking back south we could see over to the spectacular Stacks of Duncansby.

Ackergill Tower

Coastal Road Trip, Ackergill Tower, Sheep — We spotted Ackergill Tower whilst looking for Castle Sinclair Girnigoe. Now a hotel, but looked very neat on the waters edge so stopped for a quick photo.

Noss Head

Coastal Road Trip, Noss Head, Lighthouse — Our final lighthouse of the day at Noss Head, just north of Wick.

Castle Sinclair Girnigoe

Coastal Road Trip, Castle Sinclair Girnigoe — Just to the west of Noss Head, we took a short hike down a track to the remains of Castle Sinclair Girnigoe. Actually two castles (15th and 17th century) merged into one. Perched precariously on rocks over Sinclair Bay, it was great that we could ramble around the remains, but it did somehow feel that it might collapse at any minute!

Coastal Road Trip, Castle Sinclair Girnigoe, Sunset, Field — A final look back at Castle Sinclair Girnigoe as the sun started to set, before continuing on to Wick and then Lybster for the night.

Daily video