I’m completely smitten. I adore the Highlands. It’s breathtakingly beautiful.

Wild. Vast. Ancient.

My parents used to take us there on holiday and I grew up falling in love with the misty windswept coastlines, the ancient bones of millennial old rock peaking through the mossy heather, the breathtakingly ominous looming mountains dominating the horizon and the long winding single lane roads fringed by wild flowers.

As a young child accustomed to living in a flat in the city centre I fell in love with the endless space and freedom – excitedly playing on the beach, clambering over hillsides and splashing about in the freezing Atlantic Ocean.

As a melodramatic and impressionable teenager, I fell in love with the misty atmospheric wilderness, casting myself in the role of a highland Cathy from Wuthering Heights, waiting for my Heathcliff.

And now, as an adult (thankfully not, as it turns out, married to a Heathcliff) I continue to fall in love with it each time I visit– appreciating the peace and humbling perspective the ancient landscape offers.

Where to Stay

One of my favourite places to stay in the Highlands is Culkein Stoer in Assynt.

In number 252 Culkein Road to be precise.

My dad stayed there when he was a child and the wee white croft remains resolutely in a time gone by. Two minutes from the beach, no tv, no phone signal and no Wi-Fi . With a decidedly ‘niche’ vintage décor – cupboards full of books and board games and a kitchen crammed with mismatched crockery – it’s a house full of memories and you can feel the happy weight of them when you enter.  

I undeniably continue to see the area through rose tinted glasses. Hazy and happy memories of holidays spent drying off from the wind and rain, curled up reading borrowed books, enduring bracing coastal walks and endless flasks of tea. But, reading through the visitor notebook, I realise that my experience here is by no means unique and that others hold its particular charms in as high regard as I do. We try and visit Culkein every couple of years.

There are quite a few holiday lets in Culkein Bay, some far more accessible than others. We’ve stayed in No. 252 and Tig -na-Cathair (just along the road) but you can also hire wooden challets just on the shore front that offer unparalleled views of the sea.

Wherever you stay in Culkein though – one mustn’t forget the midges.

Oh.Those.Midges.

(Top Tip – stock up on ‘Skin So Soft’ from Avon before you go – midges hate it!)

Culkein Bay

Culkein, like many of the surrounding places in Assynt is enveloped in an inimitable peaceful white noise of waves, wind and sheep.

If approaching on one of those rare sunny days the first glimpse of Culkein is breath-taking. Coming over the top of the hill, past the Old Schoolhouse, you’re greeted with an endless horizon of blue sea framed at either side by millennia old rocks, splashes of grey and green covered in intermittent white dots of sheep and cotton grass. Then, as you head down over the rattly cattle grid, you’re greeted with a view of the horse shoe white sandy beach.

Culkein is decidedly less touristy than nearby Clachtol and Alchmelvich. There aren’t any ice cream vans or boats to hire – instead there is a quiet mesmeric calmness.

Things to Do…

Culkein is perfect for folk who enjoy losing themselves in a view – personally we always enjoy sitting with a mug of coffee, watching the waves roll in. However, there is plenty to fill your time if inclined – sailing, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, snorkeling, climbing, walking or nature watching to name a few.

A short clamber from the beach, over the ancient shelves of rock stretching out into the sea, you can find a selection of well worn rabbit paths that wind round the headland. These take you past dramatic clifftops, marshy peat fields and secret beaches with hidden caves – all the way to the Old Man of Stoer, the Stoer Lighthouse and the old abandoned WW2 RAF base. It’s a beautiful walk and you genuinely feel like you’re right at the very edge of the world, looking out at the unbroken blue line on the horizon. You’re unlikely to meet many people on this walk but you will bump into the occasional highland cow.

The Stoer Lighthouse is postcard picture perfect – which you can now rent out! Definitely on the bucket list!

You can also venture away from Culkein Bay and head upwards to Loch Cul Fraoich – a beautiful Loch at the top of Culkein, roughly a 20 minute walk from the beach. It offers views over to Stoer and Balchladich and is a popular spot for fly fishing. It’s a perfect spot to visit in the early evening.

Where to Eat

The Culkein Store is a wee haven of cosy hospitality, home baking and coffee with a view.  

Only recently opened, this is likely to become a ‘must visit’ spot for years to come. As you enter you’re greeted by rows of perfect pots of homemade jams, chutneys and marmalades, hand-knitted goods, quirky gifts and sumptuous cakes. They supply several nearby coffee shops with their cakes and also have a regular spot at the Lochinver Market.

The Culkein Store also has a wee store house at the back, full of second hand curiosities for sale – (….I will be forever haunted by the Highland Stoneware casserole dish I should have bought!).

The owners couldn’t be lovelier, welcoming you in as if you were an old friend and happy to give advice on where to go and what to do throughout Sutherland. We initially only popped in for a quick nosey but ended up staying for filled rolls, cake and several coffees, soaking up the sunshine on the picnic benches outside and wishing we were staying for another week!                                            

Accessibility

Culkein is best reached by car – public transport doesn’t really reach this part of Assynt. Although there are absolutely gorgeous walks across the headland between Culkein and Stoer (mainly rabbit paths) you can also easily embrace the breath taking views from the car by driving round the top of Culkein Bay – if you’ve got a Landrover or something similiar you’ll be able to drive out as far as Loch Cul Fraoich.

No 252 is a beautiful one level croft but steeped in nostalgia for us and with regards to accessibility it’s not ideal. There are 5 or so shallow steps up to the entrance and then a narrow corridor connecting the rooms inside. Other more accessible holiday lets are available in the bay.

The Culkein Store is easily reachable by car and offers accessible seating inside and outside.