🗺️ NC500 Attractions

Old Pulteney Distillery in Wick holds a special place in Scottish whisky — it is the most northerly mainland distillery and bills itself as "The Maritime Malt", a reference to the salt-spray, briny, sea air character that permeates its whisky. Founded in 1826 in the planned fishing town of Pulteneytown (now part of Wick), the distillery uses famously unusual sti…

Wolfburn Distillery on the outskirts of Thurso is the northernmost distillery on the Scottish mainland — a craft operation founded in 2013 on the site of a distillery that operated in the 1820s. Wolfburn is a small independent operation producing whisky in tiny batches, which means every bottle is genuinely limite…

Dunnet Bay Distillers, producers of the award-winning Rock Rose Gin, sit near Dunnet Head — the true most northerly point of mainland Britain — in the dramatic Caithness landscape. Founded in 2014 by Martin and Claire Murray, the distillery uses water drawn from a spring on the Dunnet Head estate and…

North Point Distillery at John o'Groats is Scotland's northernmost rum distillery — and one of very few rum distilleries in the country at all. Situated right at the iconic northeastern tip of mainland Britain, it produces the Pentland Firth Rum range using import…

8 Doors Distillery is one of the newer craft spirits operations on the NC500, established in Wick in 2020 and producing whisky, gin and vodka. The name references the eight doors of a traditional Caithness flagstone cottage — a nod to local vernacular architect…

Stannergill Distillery is a small craft gin producer based in Thurso, adding to the growing cluster of artisan spirits operations in Caithness. Using locally sourced botanicals including heather, bog myrtle and coastal plants from the Caithness landscape, Stannerg…

Dunnet Head is the true most northerly point of mainland Britain — a fact that surprises many visitors who assume John o' Groats holds this distinction (it doesn't). The dramatic headland rises to 127 metres above the Pentland Firth, with views across to Orkney (just 8 miles away at it…

The Castle of Mey is one of the most personal and touching royal residences in Scotland — the beloved summer home of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1952 until her death in 2002. The Queen Mother discovered the neglected 16th-century castle while in the depths of grief following King George VI's de…

Castle Sinclair Girnigoe is arguably the most dramatically positioned castle ruin in Scotland — and one of the most impressive anywhere in Britain. Two castles (Girnigoe built 15th century, Sinclair added in 1607) merged into a single complex standing on a narrow prom…

Old Wick Castle — also known as Castle Oliphant — is one of the oldest standing castle structures in Scotland, built in the 12th century on a remarkable sea stack south of Wick. The castle consists of a simple rectangular tower (the "keep") standing on a narrow rock promontory above the sea, with …

Keiss Castle is a striking 16th-century tower house ruin dramatically positioned on the clifftop above Keiss beach on the Caithness coast. The roofless tower stands adjacent to the later Keiss House (18th century, still occupied) creating an interesting archi…

Ackergill Tower is a remarkably well-preserved 15th-century tower house standing directly on the shore of Wick Bay, now operating as an exclusive private events venue and luxury accommodation. The tower has a turbulent history including a siege in 1547 and connections to the Gunn and Keith clans. From the A99 co…

Bucholie Castle is one of the most dramatically situated and least-visited ruins on the entire NC500 — a 12th-century Norse stronghold balanced on a narrow clifftop stack between two inlets on the Caithness coast, accessible via a narrow path between the sea and the rock on both sides. The castle is associated with Swein Asleifsson, the celebrated Norse warrior described in the Orkneyinga Saga as "the gr…

Freswick Castle is a 17th-century fortified house incorporating an earlier tower, standing above Freswick Bay on the Caithness coast between Wick and John o'Groats. It is a private estate and not open to visitors, but the exterior can be seen from the road and beach. The bay below the…

Thurso Castle stands as a substantial ruin on the eastern edge of Thurso town, at the mouth of the Thurso River. The castle was the seat of the Sinclairs of Ulbster (later the Dunbars) and the existing ruins date primarily to the 17t…

Nybster is primarily known for its Iron Age broch — a circular tower typical of the Caithness and Northern Isles coastline — sitting on a narrow promontory north of Wick with extensive coastal views. The Caithness Broch Project has documented the site and the surrounding area has a high density of prehistoric and histo…

Forse Castle is a little-visited 14th-century ruin on the Caithness coast between Whaligoe and Lybster, sitting on a clifftop above a dramatic geo (narrow cliff inlet) that acts as a natural moat. The castle was a Sutherland stronghold and the ruins retain some walling. The surrounding area has other points of inter…

John o' Groats is the symbolic end of the North Coast 500 and the most famous point on the northeast tip of mainland Britain. Though not actually the most northerly point (that's Dunnet Head, 15 miles west), it holds a unique place in the nationa…

Whaligoe Steps are one of the most extraordinary and undervisited places on the entire NC500 — a staircase of 330 flagstone steps cut vertiginously into the face of a 70-metre cliff above a tiny natural harbour used by herring fishermen from the 18th century. The steps were cut to allow the herring fisherwomen (the "gutting girls") to carry their heavy baskets of fish up the cl…

Sandside Bay near Reay offers one of the more surreal views on the NC500 — the beach is genuinely lovely with soft pinkish-white sand and clear water, but the decommissioned Dounreay nuclear power station dominates the horizon to the east. Despite its unusual industrial backdrop, the beach is clean, safe for swimming, and often quiet. A memorable and unusual…

Dunnet Bay is a magnificent 3-mile arc of sand on the north Caithness coast, frequently cited as the finest surf beach in mainland Scotland. The bay faces directly north into the Pentland Firth — one of the most powerful tidal passages in the world — and th…

The Bay of Sannick is a small, sheltered bay near Duncansby Head, just southeast of John o'Groats, known for its shell-rich shoreline glittering with different coloured shells. Far quieter than nearby John o'Groats. From the headland above, the path to Duncansby Head leads past dramatic sea stack…

Keiss Beach is a pleasant sandy beach in the quiet fishing village of Keiss on the east Caithness coast. The beach is sheltered and clean, with the ruins of Keiss Castle — a 16th-century tower house — providing a pictures…