Home / Explore / Locations / Easter Ross Peninsula

Easter Ross Peninsula

From Kildary and Tain inland, the Easter Ross Peninsula extends out to the coast across a tapestry of rich farmland, welcoming villages, winding roads and historical sites of national acclaim. Looking out across the Moray Firth, the coast stretches from the North Sutor at Nigg across the peninsula via some fine beaches and the three seaboard villages of Shandwick, Balintore and Hilton to the lighthouse at Tarbat Ness near Portmahomack.

From the picturesque harbour at Portamahomack, and the nearby Tarbat Discovery Centre with its Pictish treasures, the coast follows the shores of the Dornoch Firth back inland past Inver to Tain. All along this coast, the low-lying land known as the Fendom was used by the RAF in the Second World War and the buildings are still visible today. A railway town, Tain is steeped in history and celebrated for its golf course, street markets, Highland games and the world-famous Glenmorangie Distillery.

A land of living history and loving life

Easter Ross is renowned for its Pictish traces. Spectacular standing stones dating from around 800AD have been found at Nigg, Shandwick and Hilton. The latter is now a replica; the original displayed partly in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and partly in the John Ross Visitor Centre in Balintore. The seaboard villages we see today were established as fishing communities connected to the Abbey of Fearn. Prosperous in the 19th century with herring and later with salmon fishing, the area’s rich culture is celebrated in the local Fisherfolk Festival. The seashore is a haven for wading birds such as curlew, ringed plover and oystercatcher, and at Balintore, there is also a good chance of sighting a mermaid, albeit it in the form of an impressive sculpture sitting on the shore.

Today, nearby Nigg is home to a base serving the energy industry, but it has been an important ferry crossing for centuries. On a pilgrimage route once followed by those paying homage at the shrine of St Duthac in Tain – including Robert the Bruce and James IV – it was known as the King’s Ferry. Granted its first royal charter in 1066, Tain itself is Scotland’s oldest royal burgh, and commemorated its long and distinguished history with the opening of the town’s Rose Garden in 1966. Today, this fine and fragrant garden remains a quiet place of reflection at the heart of this most attractive Highland town.

Plan your visit

Places to Stay

Things to Do

Food and Drink

A Local View

Get Inspired

Memories of Youth

"The anticipation as the guard announced each station...The smell of the leather seats in the old Humber taxi which took us the three miles to the croft..."

Train platform at Tain Station. The brick building on this Tain Station platform has a shelter in the center, with a man wearing black standing under

Big Jock

Local heroes can be found in every corner of the Highlands and Islands. Discover the story of Big Jock - a World Record Holder whose shadow loomed large at Highland Games!

Salmon Stations Around the Easter Ross Peninsula

Journey to the Dornoch and Moray Firths, where the salmon netting stations stretched from near the north Sutor to the Dornoch Firth and Paterson Island near Inver. Discover salmon fishing stories surviving through relatives of those men who worked the sea and the land throughout the year.

Black and white image showing 5 men holding salmon netting on the banks of the Kyle, Bonar Bridge

The Tattie Holidays on the Easter Ross Peninsula

The tradition of lifting tatties is a firmly established part of the history of Easter Ross.

Black and white photograph of the 'Tattie Squad' at Cullisse Farm standing on a wagon attached to small tractor vehicle

Wreck of the Linnet

The story of the shipwrecked Linnet echoes down the generations in the Easter Ross Peninsula Seaboard Villages. Learn more here and read the Gaelic elegy, written by Arthur Ross, to commemorate the victims of this disastrous event.

Postcard with a photograph of Balintore Harbour with small boats secured to posts, 1950s

Plan your visit

Places to Stay

Things to Do

Food and Drink