3 Tarrel Farm Cottages
The cottage is on the east coast of Scotland some 40 miles north of Inverness. Due to the unique location on the Tarbat Peninsular the cottage has views over the sea to both the east and the west. The local village of Portmahomack is renowned for its low rainfall (statistically the lowest in Scotland) and its pretty beach with views across to the Sutherland mountains. Please see the Location page for a map.
Portmahomack has a village shop/Post Office, two pubs and restaurants and the Tarbat Discovery Centre Museum. A few miles further up the peninsular is the dramatic lighthouse at Tarbat Ness, situated on a promontory of gorse and heather with beautiful views up the Sutherland and Caithness coastline. This is an excellent site for birdwatching and viewing dolphins and seals in their natural habitat.
This area of the Highlands offers a wide variety of leisure activities, including golfing, hill walking, costal walks, bird watching, fishing, dolphin watching and many historical places to visit.
Local golf courses include Tarbat (9 holes), Tain, Royal Dornoch, Bonar Bridge, Alness, Golspie, Invergordon, Strathpeffer, Brora, Fortrose & Rosemarkie.
The Black Isle has places of interest, including the historic town of Cromarty and possibly the best place for dolphin watching from the shore at Chanonry Point. The Isle also has a mountain biking centre at Learnie Forest and the Black Isle Wildlife Park is a must for any visitors with younger children. Accessible by road via the A9, a two-car ferry also runs between June and September linking Nigg , a few miles from the cottage, with Cromarty.
A few miles away you can choose from the Rogie Falls (near Strathpeffer) or the Falls of Shin (near Lairg) to watch the salmon leaping upstream in the summer season.
The city of Inverness and its airport are both about 45 minutes drive away. Inverness airport has excellent links from the rest of the country and flights available through EasyJet, BA and BMIBaby. For those preferring to travel by train the Intercity and Sleeper services (operated by FirstScot Rail) are available to/from Inverness with a local service onwards to either Tain or Fearn Stations. The cottage is a short taxi ride away (book in advance)
Bikes can be hired locally and can be delivered directly to the cottage (by prior arrangement).
Above all, please ask us if you need any further information or wish to find out about anything in the local area, as we either know the answer or will know someone who will!
Finally, please visit www.northernsights.net for an excellent collection of photographs of the surrounding area.
