Sutherland, Caithness and Ross-shire

Including the Northern Highlands, Wester Ross, Easter Ross, Sutherland and Caithness

This is a huge area which encompasses every kind of landscape, from the green and fertile farmlands of the Black Isle, just north of Inverness, to the startlingly dramatic North-West Highlands of Sutherland and Wester Ross.

The west coast is fringed with white, sandy beaches, on which there are rarely more than a handful of people even in the height of summer.

The Black Isle is home to LHH and the HIghlands is the area in which we probably have the most self catering cottages and lodges. It's hard to single out individual ones for mention as all our self actering houses are carefully selected to ensure they please. However, a representative choice would range from a cosy self catering cottage for 4 sitting right on the waters edge in the popular holiday village of Fortrose, the best dolphin watching place in the UK, to a fabulous 5 star mansion house with 8 en suite bedrooms.

Golfing in the Highlands includes:Royal Dornoch Course - stay at Ospisdale House or Pitcalzean House. Castle Stuart golf course - stay at Quarryfield, Cotterton Farmhouse, Roth Ach, The Cuillins  or Braefoot. All of these are excellent self catering for golfers.

For those who love wilderness, this area of the Northern Highlands has some of the most challenging mountains: from the peaks in the north, such as Ben Loyal, Ben Hope and Arkle, to, further south in the area, the Assynt Mountains - sandstone remnants of a former massif which are beautiful to look at from the roads which wind underneath them and which are reasonably easy to climb. Take one of our self catering lodges in Sutherland and climb these magnificent peaks or wander the superb beaches of Durness, Balnakeil, Sandwood and Oldshoremore.

Travelling in the Northern Highlands.

Main airport : Inverness (10 minute drive from the centre of Inverness. Car hire available at the airport).
Main train stations: Inverness, Dingwall, Garve, Kyle of Lochalsh, Invergordon, Tain, Bonar Bridge, Dornoch, Golspie, Brora, Wick and Thurso.

This vast area has good A roads, which are rarely congested, going from Inverness to the north and west coasts. Once off the A roads, many of the roads are single track with passing places. Because the traffic density is very low, these are easy to travel on for long distances but it is very important to be aware of other traffic behind you. Always allow the person behind to overtake as they may be a doctor, district nurse or a local person collecting children from school or trying to get to work. When meeting a car coming the other way, the person closest to a passing place should pull in to the left (never the right) to allow the other vehicle to pass. It is customary to acknowledge with a wave if another vehicle has pulled over for you to pass. The scenery is breathtaking, so take plenty of stops to enjoy it.

Climate: The climate goes from very cold in the winter time, with temperatures falling to -22C in very cold years, to hot and sunny in July with temperatures of +30C. It is possible to be sunbathing in April and experience brief snow showers in May! However, the general pattern is that the best months of the year are May, June and September which tend to be the driest. July and August are usually the warmest but are sometimes wetter than the early summer. October and March are the windiest months, although October is stunning when the trees are in their finest colours. Winter in the Highlands can be breathtaking when the snow lies on the hills and the air is crystal clear. The night skies at this time have to be seen to be believed. However, it can also be wet, grey and windy like everywhere else in the British Isles!