Wick: from the river to the cliffs

My brother spent several days in Wick and came away talking about the riverfront, how friendly people had been and how much he’d enjoyed staying there. I can see why. Follow the river down to the harbour and you get a better sense of the town than you do from the main road. There’s a bit of grit to Wick, which is hardly surprising when you consider that this was once Europe’s biggest herring port. These days you can go down to Creel & Crumb on the harbour front and eat seafood that might have come off a boat that morning.

I rate the Wick Heritage Centre because it gives as much attention to how people lived as it does to what they did for a living. For a slightly more peculiar glimpse of town life, have a look in the old graveyard beside St Fergus Church. Wick made room for boats, barrel makers and streets full of fishing families, but the old graveyard ran out of room. The flat gravestones are so close together that parts of it look like a paved square, until you start reading what’s under your feet.

If I had time for two stops on this part of the coast, I’d go to Castle Sinclair Girnigoe, north of town, and the Brig o’ Trams to the south. You’ll find the story of Sinclair Girnigoe in our 'History and Heritage' section. For the Brig o’ Trams, carry on along the coast path beyond the ruins of the Castle of Old Wick, giving the cliff edge a wide berth. There’s a natural arch in the rock and, with the sea running below you, this is the Caithness coast in full HD and surround sound.

Wick makes a good overnight stop. You can get here by rail or bus, there’s a campsite by the river, and there’s accommodation to suit most budgets. If we’re going out for a special meal, we usually go to Mackays Hotel, where the bistro door opens onto the world’s shortest street. I’m still not quite sure how a two-metre stretch of pavement qualifies as a street, but it gets you to supper. In the blogcast, I’ll take you out from Wick harbour to see why anyone would build the Whaligoe Steps into a cliff, and tell you about the trip that got me close to two lighthouse towers I’d only ever seen from the mainland.

To learn more, listen to the blogcast or book one of our North Coast Explorer private tours.