John o’Groats and Duncansby Head Day Trip from Inverness
Visit the northeastern tip of the British mainland on this must-do day trip to John o’Groats and Duncansby Head from Inverness. Traveling by luxury minivan with an expert guide, you’ll pass through a rugged landscape of unspoiled natural beauty, stopping at the picturesque seaside village of Caithness for lunch. After exploring John o’Groats, head to Duncansby Head for a cliff-top walk and marvel at the area’s incredible wildlife.
Leave Inverness by luxury minivan and head north, across the dramatic Black Isle Peninsula and Cromarty Firth. As you travel through northern Scotland’s beautifully barren plains, your expert guide will talk you through some of the area’s fascinating history. Learn about the notorious First Duke of Sutherland, who evicted several Highland villages in the 19th century, making enemies of many Scots in the process.
After an hour of driving, you’ll reach the coastal village of Caithness – home to some of Scotland’s most fascinating wildlife like red deer and grey seals. After exploring the wee village at leisure, your guide will meet you for lunch (own expense) at a café in the pretty harbor and, as you eat, you’ll learn all about the region’s traditional herring fishing industry.
In the early afternoon, you’ll arrive in John o’Groats – the most anticipated stop of the day! Famed as the northernmost dwelling on the British mainland, the tiny hamlet is set in a sensational landscape of rugged open moorland, and is blessed with some of the finest wildlife in the country.
After stopping for an obligatory ‘I’ve been there’ photo in John o’Groats, you’ll head on to the nearby sandstone cliffs at Duncansby Head – the mainland’s true northeastern point. Known as ‘Seabird City,’ the spectacular cliffs are alive with a rich variety of seabirds, and you’ll see guillemots, kittiwakes and maybe even puffins during a bracing cliff-top walk with your guide. Watch out for the rocky inlets known as the Stacks of Duncansby before heading back to your minivan.
Back on board, you can continue spotting the area’s fascinating wildlife with binoculars provided by your guide. The journey south passes through the historic estuary town of Wick, and you’ll arrive back in Inverness in the early evening.
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