Visit Ullapool and Durness on your cottage holiday.

Ullapool

The neat, whitewashed fishing village of Ullapool is the main base from which to explore the north-western Highlands of Scotland. There are supermarkets, pubs, restaurants and all the other facilities required on a cottage holiday in this remote region, together with the ferry crossing point for visits to Stornoway on Lewis, the largest settlement in the Western Isles. The Ullapool Museum is a testament to the hardy nature of the people that conquered this harsh region of Scotland over the centuries, and tells their story and that of the wider Loch Broom region. Discover this area for yourself, with a short pleasure cruise out to the Summer Isles on Loch Broom from Ullapool’s harbour. Also worth a visit from Ullapool is the spectacularly steep-sided Corrieshalloch Gorge, which can be viewed from a suspension bridge, set twelve miles south of the village.

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Close to Kingussie and around twelve miles south of Aviemore, Newtonmore is a picturesque resort centre serving the Cairngorm National Park. As with most places in the area, outdoor enthusiasts of all persuasions are drawn here to pursue their passion, whether mountain biking, rambling, angling or golf. It’s a fine place to soak up the sense of wide, open space and the big skies of this part of the world.

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At the head of Loch Dunvegan in the northwestern part of the island, Dunvegan Castle brings many visitors to this corner of Skye. Claiming to be the oldest continually inhabited castle in Scotland, owned and lived in by the McLeod clan for almost eight centuries, the castle houses a wealth of history and ancient treasures, from the Jacobite uprisings and links with Bonnie Prince Charlie to modern appearances as the backdrop to Hollywood films, such as Highlander and Made of Honour.

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Set in picturesque countryside along the banks of the river Cree, the small town of Newton Stewart is a haven for anglers and walkers on a cottage holiday. Nature is at its most abundant in this region, where the Galloway Forest Park provides a good starting point for ramblers and nature lovers, and is home to southern Scotland’s highest peak, Merrick, which is set within more than three hundred square miles of spectacular forest park, woodlands, mountains and lochs. Birds of prey are common here, and birdwatchers can hope to find red kites, buzzards and maybe even a glimpse of a golden eagle.

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Jedburgh is an ideal place to visit on a cottage holiday. Ten miles north of the English border, historic Jedburgh is a fascinating town set among beautiful, rolling green hills. Like so many towns in this area, its story is one of repeating sacking and rebuilding, and is told in the town’s visitor centre, which brings alive the turbulent and bloody history of the Scottish Borders region. Mary Queen of Scots is associated with the town, and a leisurely ramble along the town trail takes in some of the best sights. Jedburgh Abbey is a stunning ruin, standing unbowed on the banks of the Jed River, and Mary Queen of Scots House is a beautiful sixteenth century tower where the troubled Queen stayed in the middle of that century before visiting her future husband in Hermitage Castle. The displays recount the sad history of her life.

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