Easter Ross & Black Isle, Scotland: The Ultimate Travel Guide 2025

Tarbat Ness Lighthouse
CC BY-SA 3.0 / Thomas K

Easter Ross is full of history and romance – an area blessed with a fabulous pictish past, unsurpassed views from the Fyrish monument and seals basking along the shoreline.

You could easily spend a few days visiting the fascinating seaboard villages, following the Pictish Trail and drinking in the scenery whilst sipping a glass of the local Glenmorangie whisky.

The area contains a little over 4000 dwellings which are home to just over 9000 residents. The majority of the Easter Ross population lives in the three towns of Alness, Invergordon and Tain which are all located along the A9 corridor between the Cromarty Bridge and the Dornoch Bridge.

Visiting Easter Ross & Black Isle for the first time and wondering what are the top places to see in the city? In this complete guide, I share the best things to do in Easter Ross & Black Isle on the first visit. To help you plan your trip, I have also included an interactive map and practical tips for visiting!

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1 Best places to See in Easter Ross & Black Isle

This complete guide to Easter Ross & Black Isle not only tells you about the very best sights and tourist attractions for first-time visitors to the city but also provide insights into a few of our personal favorite things to do.

This is a practical guide to visiting the best places to see in Easter Ross & Black Isle and is filled with tips and info that should answer all your questions!

Fortrose Cathedral

Fortrose Cathedral
CC BY-SA 4.0 / DeFacto
Fortrose Cathedral is the serene heart of Fortrose, a town known for its sheltered harbour, twisting lanes, and peaceful shoreline. First built in the early 13th century, this was once the seat of the medieval Diocese of Ross and a powerful centre of religious life in the Highlands. Though much of the structure was dismantled in the 17th century, the…
Visiting Fortrose Cathedral

Here is a complete selection of hotel options in Easter Ross & Black Isle. Feel free to review each one and choose the stay that best suits your needs.

Best Day Trips from Easter Ross & Black Isle

A day trip from Easter Ross & Black Isle offers the perfect opportunity to escape the urban rhythm and discover the surrounding region's charm. Whether you're drawn to scenic countryside, historic villages, or cultural landmarks, the area around Easter Ross & Black Isle provides a variety of easy-to-reach destinations ideal for a one-day itinerary.

Fairy Glen Falls

Waterfall In Fairy Glen
CC BY-SA 2.0 / David Maclennan
Fairy Glen Falls is a delightful natural retreat tucked just outside Rosemarkie on the Black Isle, not far from Inverness. This steep-sided glen, filled with oak, ash, and birch, offers an immersive escape into woodland beauty. The trail winds along a sparkling stream toward two lovely waterfalls, creating a setting that feels timeless and serene. For many nature lovers, it…
| Website | Distance: 6.5km
Visiting Fairy Glen Falls

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Chanonry Point

Chanonry Point
CC BY-SA 3.0 / Shirehorse
Chanonry Point is one of the finest wildlife-viewing spots on Scotland’s east coast, located on the narrow peninsula between Fortrose and Rosemarkie on the Black Isle. Overlooking the deep tidal waters of the Moray Firth, it offers exceptional opportunities to see the region’s famous bottlenose dolphins—some of the largest in the world. For many travelers, it is one of the…
Visiting Chanonry Point

Udale Bay

Udale Bay is one of the most tranquil wildlife destinations on the Black Isle, offering sweeping views across an intertidal landscape rich in birdlife. This quiet corner becomes a bustling haven in autumn and winter, when thousands of waders, ducks and geese settle here to feed and rest. For nature lovers, it is one of the best places to visit…
Visiting Udale Bay

Inverness

Inverness Pano
CC BY-SA 3.0 / Avarim
Inverness meaning "Mouth of the River Ness" is a city in the Scottish Highlands. Inverness attracts visitors from across the world for its natural landscapes, quaint towns, medieval ruins, and prehistoric sites. Located in the Scottish Highlands, it’s a great place for nature lovers looking to explore its vast landscape. There are many hiking and cycling trails of various lengths…
Visiting Inverness
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Dingwall

Dingwall
© Peter Reynolds
Dingwall Museum offers an engaging and personal introduction to the history of this Highland town, tracing its journey from Viking settlement to royal burgh. Housed in the old council chambers, the museum presents centuries of local stories through artifacts, documents, and passionate volunteer guides. It stands as one of the must-see places in Dingwall for travelers wanting to understand the…
Visiting Dingwall

Fyrish Monument

Fyrish Monument Snow
CC BY-SA 4.0 / Astonmartini
The Fyrish Monument stands above the village of Evanton, rising dramatically against the skyline and offering one of the most evocative walks in Easter Ross. Built in 1782 by Sir Hector Munro, the monument was created not only as a symbolic structure but also as a way to provide work for local people during a period of forced evictions and…
Visiting Fyrish Monument

Tollie Red Kites RSPB Visitor Centre

Tollie Red Kite Feeding Centre
CC BY-SA 2.0 / sylvia duckworth
Tollie Red Kites is one of the best places to visit in the Dingwall area if you’re fascinated by birds of prey. Set on the Brahan Estate with expansive views across Easter Ross toward Ben Wyvis, this RSPB site offers a memorable experience of watching red kites swoop, circle and glide in their natural environment. The afternoon feeding sessions are…
| Hours: Visitor centre open from 9am-5pm; access to outdoor viewing screens at all times; Feeding times: daily at 2.30pm in summer and 1.30pm in winter (Feeding times change when the clocks change). | Distance: 15.9km
Visiting Tollie Red Kites RSPB Visitor Centre

Hugh Millers Cottage, Cromarty

Hugh Millers Cottage
CC BY-SA 2.0 / ronnie leask
Hugh Miller’s Cottage is one of the most atmospheric heritage sites in Cromarty, offering a vivid glimpse into the early life of a man who would become one of Scotland’s great intellectual figures. Born here in 1802, Miller rose from a humble stonemason’s apprenticeship to international recognition as a pioneering geologist, folklorist, editor and campaigner for social justice. Today, this…
| Hours: Open daily 12-5pm April - September; Saturday-Monday in October | Distance: 16.5km
Visiting Hugh Millers Cottage, Cromarty

South Sutor walk

The South Sutor Walk is one of the best places to visit in Cromarty for anyone who enjoys combining gentle adventure with stunning coastal scenery. Beginning in the historic town, the route climbs through beautiful woodland before reaching the South Sutor viewpoint—an elevated lookout across one of the deepest natural harbours in Europe. With spring flowers carpeting the hillside and…
Visiting South Sutor walk

Nigg Old Church

Nigg Old Church is one of the most atmospheric historic sites in Easter Ross, renowned for housing an extraordinary eighth-century Pictish cross slab. Intricately carved with Christian imagery and classic Pictish symbols, it is widely regarded as one of the finest stone monuments of its period anywhere in Europe. For visitors interested in early Scottish history and archaeology, it is…
Location: Nigg Stone Nigg Tain IV19 1QR United Kingdom | Hours: Church open 10am-5pm, April - October. | Distance: 20.7km
Visiting Nigg Old Church

Nigg Bay Nature Reserve

Nigg Bay Nature Reserve is one of the most important wildlife sites in the Highlands, forming a major stop-over for migratory birds travelling between Arctic breeding grounds and wintering sites further south. Its wide mudflats, saltmarsh and wetlands support thousands of waterfowl and waders, making it one of the best places to visit in Easter Ross for anyone with an…
| Hours: RSPB Nigg Bay Tain IV19 1PG United Kingdom | Distance: 21.9km
Visiting Nigg Bay Nature Reserve

Rogie Falls

Rogie Falls
CC BY-SA 2.0 / Andrew Wood
Rogie Falls is one of the most dramatic natural attractions in Easter Ross, set in mixed woodland along the Blackwater River. Short, well-marked trails lead through scented pine and birch forest to the impressive series of cascades, where water tumbles powerfully toward the valley below. For many visitors, it is one of the best places to visit in Contin, especially…
Visiting Rogie Falls

Ben Wyvis National Nature Reserve

An Cabar Cairn On Ben Wyvis
CC BY-SA 2.0 / Ian Stewart
Ben Wyvis is one of the best places to visit in Garbat for walkers seeking a classic Highland mountain experience. This brooding, broad-shouldered Munro dominates the northern skyline and forms a natural gateway to the Wester Ross Biosphere. Known affectionately as “The Ben,” it offers a rewarding ascent with panoramic views that stretch across the Highlands to the sea. Its…
Visiting Ben Wyvis National Nature Reserve

Ledmore and Migdale Wood

Ledmore and Migdale Wood is one of the best places to visit in the Bonar Bridge area for anyone who loves peaceful woodland walks, wildlife and ancient Highland landscapes. This beautiful reserve combines Ledmore’s ancient oak woods with Migdale’s soaring Scots pine, all set within a rugged glen of rocky outcrops, heather moorland and tumbling burns. It’s a place where…
Location: Ledmore & Migdale Ardgay IV24 3AE United Kingdom | Distance: 35.1km
Visiting Ledmore and Migdale Wood

Dornoch

Dornoch Beach
CC BY-SA 3.0 / Neil Aitkenhead
Dornoch is a town, seaside resort, parish and former royal burgh in the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray Firth to the east. The name 'Dornoch' is derived from the Gaelic for 'pebbly place', suggesting that the area contained pebbles…
Visiting Dornoch

Embo Beach

Embo Beach is one of the best places to visit in Embo for those seeking a long, unspoiled stretch of golden sand on Scotland’s northeast coast. Stretching from the historic former fishing village of Embo to the mouth of the River Fleet, the beach offers soft yellow sand, clear water and a tranquil atmosphere that appeals to families, walkers and…
Location: Embo Beach(Embo Sands/Coul Links) Dornoch United Kingdom | Distance: 40.1km
Visiting Embo Beach

Skelbo Castle

Skelbo Castle
CC BY-SA 3.0 / StaraBlazkova
Overlooking Loch Fleet, Skelbo Castle was a motte-and-bailey fortification probably built in the 1130s following the suppression of a major rebellion in Moray. Attacked by Robert the Bruce in 1308, the castle was later rebuilt in stone and remained a residence into the eighteenth century. Skelbo Castle occupies an imposing site over- looking Loch Fleet, at the edge of a…
Visiting Skelbo Castle

Tarbat Ness Lighthouse

Tarbat Ness Lighthouse
CC BY-SA 3.0 / Thomas K
Tarbat Ness Lighthouse stands proudly at the north-west tip of the Tarbat Ness peninsula, a remote and windswept headland near Portmahomack on Scotland’s east coast. Engineered by Robert Stevenson and first lit in 1830, this soaring white tower with its two bold red bands is one of the tallest lighthouses in Scotland. For many visitors, it is one of the…
Location: Tarbat Ness Lighthouse, Tain, UK | Distance: 42.0km
Visiting Tarbat Ness Lighthouse

Loch Fleet National Nature Reserve

Upper Loch Fleet
CC BY-SA 2.0 / John Allan
Loch Fleet National Nature Reserve is one of the best places to visit in Golspie for wildlife watching and peaceful coastal walks. This remarkable reserve blends tidal waters, sandbanks, saltmarsh, dunes and tall pine woodland, creating a landscape that teems with animal and birdlife throughout the year. Whether you come to see seals hauled out on the sandbanks, ospreys diving…
Visiting Loch Fleet National Nature Reserve

Dunrobin Castle

Dunrobin Castle Sutherland Scotland
CC BY-SA 2.0 / jack_spellingbacon
Dunrobin Castle was mostly built between 1835-45, although its origins lie in the Middle Ages,  is a stately home in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland, and the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland. It is the most northerly of Scotland's great houses and the largest in the Northern Highlands with 189 rooms. Dunrobin…
Location: Dunrobin, Golspie, Sutherland, KW10 6SF | Hours: 10.30am-4.30pm Apr, May & Oct, 10am-5pm Jun-Sep | Price: adult/child £11.50/7 | Website | Distance: 48.9km
Visiting Dunrobin Castle

Brora to Golspie Coastal Walk

Scotland Carn Liath Broch 3
CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wojsyl
The Brora to Golspie Coastal Walk is one of the best places to visit in Brora for visitors who enjoy a varied and rewarding day outdoors. This gentle, signposted route links the two coastal villages while offering a wonderful mix of nature, archaeology and scenery. Starting at the fishing harbour where the River Brora meets the sea, the path follows…
Visiting Brora to Golspie Coastal Walk

Sutherland

Sandwood Bay
CC BY-SA 3.0 / Phillyacct
Experience the most incredible landscapes and seascapes. Sutherland makes up a large part of the North Coast 500, and will leave a lasting memory too. From the dramatic north-western scenery, where the mountains meet the sea, to the varied lands of the east – with scattered fishing communities, award winning golf courses, fairy tale castles, archaeological wonders and quaint harbours.…
Visiting Sutherland
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Isle of Skye

Old Man Of Storr On The Isle Of Skye
Visiting the Isle of Skye is a journey into the heart of Scotland's breathtaking natural beauty and rich cultural heritage. From its rugged coastline to its mist-shrouded mountains, Skye captivates visitors with its dramatic landscapes and ancient history. The largest of the Inner Hebrides, it's home to some of Scotland's most iconic landscapes. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous…
Visiting Isle of Skye

Where to Stay in Easter Ross & Black Isle

The best place to stay is in Tain or Cromarty, where charming inns and guesthouses provide access to whisky distilleries, scenic coastline, and dolphin-watching tours. Rural retreats in the countryside offer a secluded and peaceful Highland experience.

A 2 to 3-day stay is ideal for visiting castles, nature reserves, and distilleries. A 4-day stay allows for exploring more of the North Coast 500 and taking scenic drives through the Highlands.

Using the our Hotel and Accomodation map, you can compare hotels and short-term rental accommodations in Easter Ross & Black Isle. Simply insert your travel dates and group size, and you’ll see the best deals for your stay.

Easter Ross & Black Isle Accommodation Map

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