WHEN THE HIGHLANDS ARE CALLING

The lure of the Scottish Highlands is hard to ignore. Rugged scenery, warm hospitality and single malts all conspire to draw people from around the world to this beautiful part of the UK. 

Driving is the only way to take in everything the Highlands has to offer truly, and the North Coast 500, an 830km drive around the northern coastline of Scotland, is the perfect framework for doing so. 

The biggest decision when starting out on the NC500, as it’s known, is whether to go clockwise or anticlockwise.  

No matter which direction you decide upon, you can start or finish your trip at Links House at Royal Dornoch.  

Situated just an hour north of Inverness, considered the heart of the Highlands and the beginning (or end) of the drive, it’s the sort of place where you can stop, breathe, and soak in the best of Highlands hospitality.  

“We want people to coorie in,” says managing director Phil Scott, explaining this Scottish phrase as “Highland hygge” after the Danish word we know to mean nestling in comfortable surroundings, enjoying simple pleasures.  

“It’s an opportunity to come and have a lovely dinner, stay in a warm room, have those fireside moments and enjoy a dram (of whisky).”  

Golfers’ Retreat  

Links House was established as a golfers’ retreat in 2013, situated as it is less than 100m from the first tee at Royal Dornoch Golf Club, whose coastal Championship Course is currently placed in the number two spot on Golf Digest’s World’s Greatest Courses biennial ranking.  

Today, it’s considered a luxury destination in its own right and was recently named among the Top 50 Boutique Hotels in the UK.  

The hotel comprises two buildings, a beautifully appointed 1843 manse house, and a new building across the way created for the new hotel.  

The total number of rooms in this boutique hotel is just 15. Each is furnished with antique touches and contemporary comforts, with exceptional works of art and Scottish accents, including the ubiquitous tartan blanket.   

The spacious Mallart penthouse sits atop the new building, essentially a full apartment that invites pure, indulgent relaxation.  

The hotel’s restaurant, Mara, is named for the Scottish Gaelic word for “the sea”. Its menu is built on what the hotel calls S4+0—which translates as Scottish, seasonal, sustainable, slow with an aim to achieve zero waste.  

In terms of ingredients, that includes a focus on locally sourced seafood, meat and game, including hand-dived Orkney scallops, Sutherland venison and Clashmore pheasant.  

The “minimal intervention” menu, overseen by executive chef Theo Creton, last year saw the restaurant receive two AA Rosettes.  

“There’s a sense of informality, but everything is delivered with a five-star respect for the food and the guests,” says Scott.   

Drinks with other guests before dinner is encouraged, just as you would enjoy if invited to a friend’s home for a weekend stay. And if you’d like a wee dram after dinner, you can do so with a round of Scrabble or a fireside chat.  

Where once 90 per cent of guests came for the golf, Scott says that since Covid, that number has inverted to just 10 per cent.  

And given all the traditional pursuits that the Highlands has to offer, fishing, stalking and falconry for starters, these can also be organised by the hotel with local exponents. 

For those less enamoured of outdoor pursuits, there are organised options such as “Retail and Relaxation” – taking in a local shopping experience in Dornoch, including antiques, bookshops and beauty retailers, followed by rejuvenating treatments at Aspen Spa.  

Inland drives 

If you want to take control of your own adventures, a two- or three-day stay at Links House will give you the perfect vantage point for some inland drives before continuing on the NC500. 

Loch Ness is just a half-hour drive southwest from Dornoch, where the vast expanse of water still shows no sign of that mythical monster (at least on the day that we visited).  

Along its northern side sits the ruins of Urquhart Castle, a medieval fortress that was once one of the largest castles in Scotland.  

Today, walking through the remnants of stone-walled rooms and taking in the remains of Grant Tower, you can only imagine the blood that was shed between the Scots and the English as they fought over this stronghold during the Wars of Independence.  

The replica trebuchet gives an idea of how war was waged in medieval times, with enormous rocks catapulted towards the enemy.   

The drive south to the Cairngorms National Park takes a little over an hour and offers plenty of scenic treasures, from spotting deer to taking in the grounds of Balmoral Castle, one of several castles in the park.  

Indeed, castle ruins seem to appear around every bend in the Highlands, overlooking every loch, acting as constant reminders of the rich and often bloody, history of this tiny country.   

 Just 15 minutes away from Links House across Dornoch Firth is Glenmorangie, one of the myriad whisky distilleries to be sampled across Scotland. 

 Even without a full tour, you can take in a thorough history of the brand, where you’ll also learn that you may have been mispronouncing it all these years… (For the record, it’s Glenmorangie, like orange-y.)   

 Depending on your level of fandom, James Bond tragics might also be tempted to drive three hours southwest from Links House to Glen Coe, where you can take the same scenic route as Daniel Craig and Judi Dench when they go off-grid in Skyfall.  

 The beauty of the unfolding landscape is breathtaking, its lush peaks covered in grass, ferns and heather, ominous clouds looming overhead, and tiny waterfalls winding down hillsides like tears down a craggy face.  

 This is picture-perfect Highlands. (To add another Bond attraction later in your NC500 itinerary, you can wander through Eilean Donan Castle, which stood in for the MI6 Scottish HQ in The World is Not Enough.)  

 Wherever your journey takes you, returning to Links House after a day of driving and sightseeing is nothing short of a tonic.  

 Taking a long bath, enjoying a delicious meal at Mara, and then that wee dram by the fire is exactly what Highlands dreams are made of.  

 Leaving is the hardest part, even knowing that more adventures lie ahead in the Highlands.  

When Scott sends you off with that traditional Scottish farewell, “Haste ye back,” you feel sure you’ll come back again.  

The writer was a guest of Links House and Visit Scotland.  This article appeared in the Autumn 26 issue of Kanebridge Quarterly, which you can buy  here.