Ullapool (photo: Andy Walmsley)
Boat trips to the Summer Isles during summer, and a car ferry to Stornoway in the Western Isles, are available.
Four miles (6.6km) north is the excellent campsite at Ardmair, on the shores of Loch Kanaird. This is a clean and well-equipped site with showers, laundry room, shop and restaurant. Chalets are also available for hire. The site has a very short season however: Easter to September at best.
Ullapool makes a good base for the Coigach peaks.
Bonar Bridge
This is a small village at the head of the Dornoch Firth. The iron bridge here replaced Telford's original, which used to carry the main A9 northwards before the building of the new bridge linking Tain and Dornoch.
The village has shops selling provisions, calor gas, films, etc, and a filling station, but no bank. Accommodation is available nearby at Ardgay, or further north at Lairg.
Access to Ledmore junction and thus to the Assynt hills, via Strath Oykell, or to Laxford bridge and the Reay Forest, via Loch Shin, is surprisingly easy from here. Ben Klibreck is also easily reached.
Lairg
This is a slightly larger village than Bonar Bridge with similar facilities. There are chalets for hire in the vicinity, notably at Rogart in Strath Fleet to the east.
Although Lairg, like Bonar Bridge, is on the eastern side of the northern peninsula, it lies close to the main through-routes, and post buses run regularly to various points north and west. It is thus more convenient than you might think as a base for visiting Assynt, Coigach and the Reay Forest, and has the advantage that accommodation on this side is generally cheaper than on the west coast.
Achiltibuie
This is one of the far north's special places. The ‘village’ is little more than a straggling group of houses strung out along the coast at the foot of Ben Mor Coigach and overlooking the Summer Isles, but it has a unique atmosphere: remote – some might say bleak – yet welcoming.
There is a hotel and self-catering cottages in the area, as well as a youth hostel at Acheninver (20 beds) a little to the south (GR043056), and a campsite by the rather exposed beach at Achnahaird (GR015136). Boat trips are available to the Summer Isles (but, appropriately enough, only in summer) – contact Iain McLeod at the post office.
Achiltibuie is located right at the foot of Ben Mor Coigach, and makes a good base for any of the Coigach mountains.
Inverkirkaig
This is a small, scattered, coastal settlement at the head of the tiny Loch Kirkaig. There are self-catering chalets and cottages here and a public telephone box, but not much else. The situation, looking out towards the Western Isles, is superb.
Achmelvich Bay and campsite at Lochinver (photo: Andy Walmsley)
The well-known Achins bookshop and café are situated slightly inland at the start of the path to the Falls of Kirkaig.
Lochinver
A main centre on the north-west coast, Lochinver has all the necessary conveniences of civilisation, such as a bank with cash-point, filling station and two well-stocked grocery stores, as well as hotels, outdoor shop, the Assynt Visitor Centre and a wealth of self-catering accommodation. Baddidaroch, along the north side of Loch Inver, also has a good number of self-catering cottages for hire.
The nearest campsite is at Achmelvich, 3 miles (5km) north by Loch Roe. This is a good, reasonably priced, fairly well-equipped site (open March to September) close to the excellent sandy beach of Achmelvich Bay. There is also a youth hostel (38 beds – open March to September) here.
Stoer
Situated on the picturesque coast road between Lochinver and Kylesku, Stoer is merely a tiny crofting community with a small sandy beach (pleasant in good weather, but usually just bleak) and a post office with limited opening hours. Nearby is the rather basic campsite at Clachtoll (which has an attractive sandy cove). The scenery at Stoer is defaced by ramshackle mobile homes, which are common in the area.
Drumbeg
A slightly larger community than Stoer and rather more attractive, Drumbeg is situated further north along the same road. Its location is elevated, overlooking the rocky shore of Eddrachillis Bay and Oldany Island. There is a parking area with toilets, and a view indicator looking out across the bay with its multiple islands – a picturesque scene in good weather. There is also an hotel and a post office here.
Kylesku
Once an important staging post on the route north, the village of Kylesku is now much quieter. A new bridge (an elegant one, it must be said) means that the village is now bypassed by the A894, which sweeps effortlessly over the narrow Caolas Cumhang and Garbh Eilean to reach the Duartmore Forest. The name Caolas Cumhang means ‘the narrow straight’, and it is from a corruption of this name that the anglicised form, Kylesku, is derived.
Kylesku has its own inn, and boat trips are run from the village up the fjord-like Loch Glencoul to visit the Eas a Chual Aluinn waterfall – Britain's highest at 658ft.
There is also a good choice of accommodation in the vicinity, and this area makes a good base for both the Assynt peaks and also those of the Reay Forest, further north.
Brora
An east coast village, somewhat larger than those above, Brora has most amenities, including campsites, hotels, etc. Its location is rather inconvenient for the main mountains of the far north, but it does have the advantage of being served by the railway.
Helmsdale
Like Brora, Helmsdale is located on the east coast, is serviced by rail, and has a youth hostel and a tourist information office, as well as shops, hotels, etc. It is reasonably convenient for the eastern peaks such as Morven, and could also serve as a base for peaks such as Ben Klibreck if motorised transport is available.
About halfway between Brora and Helmsdale is a campsite (Crakaig Camping – GR960097). The site is basic and low priced, and is in an attractive setting by the beach at Lothbeg Point.
Scourie
This is a pleasant crofting village built in a natural bowl among low rocky hills and overlooking the sheltered Scourie Bay. There is a friendly hotel, expensive filling station, well-stocked provisions store/post office, and a number of self-catering cottages nearby. Scourie also has the best campsite in the far north. Reasonably priced, the site is clean and well laid out with terraced pitches overlooking the sea, and has a relaxed atmosphere. Free hot showers are available, along with a laundry room, a restaurant, and an affable owner who will allow dogs, provided they are exercised off the site (open from Easter to end of September – occasionally at other times if there is demand).
A boat runs (weather permitting) from the pier to the Handa Island Bird Sanctuary.
Scourie is a convenient base for the Reay Forest and the far north-west.
Rhiconich
Little more than a hotel with a few surrounding crofts
