Brigid Benson

We live in a hurried world where, for many of us, the essence of a deeply nourishing holiday is to dial down the schedules and the speed.

The gentle pace of Scotland’s far north coast has been promoted with huge success under the banner of the NC500 circuit of over 500 miles. While visitor numbers swell, many struggle to relax. Under the impression that the loop is achievable in a week, or even less, they soon discover the price of this approach is a gruelling itinerary and a sense of disconnection from places they pass through.

In my experience, the Slow Tourism route offers more rewards. To discover the diversity of this far north coast certainly requires more than a week. So take it easy, make meaningful connections with the landscape and the communities and come away with magic memories. Alternatively discover Scotland's spectacular northern highlands in stages, over a few trips.

Seashore crofting communities: Applecross to Toscaig

Applecross consists of seashore townships that are especially lovely to explore on foot or bike. Meandering in the company of free-range cattle, sheep and hens is a delight. The narrow shore road passes the inn and a parade of low stone cottages. An uphill path leads to a rare Atlantic rainforest at Carnach. High rainfall and stable mild temperatures create ideal conditions for more than 140 varieties of lichen and over 100 varieties of moss.

In these seashore clachans a Gaelic-speaking community of crofters, butchers, tailors, weavers, shopkeepers and a blacksmith lived largely self-sufficient lives. Times have changed. Many of the homes are now holiday cottages yet the community still supports a doctor’s surgery, two churches, a shop and a primary school renowned for a stag’s head on the wall and a wildcat with a rabbit under its paw in a glass case.

From Culduie, sunset views of Skye are especially romantic. Ard Dhubh is a community of traditional houses and ruins crammed cheek by jowl on to a headland. Along the shore, a walk of two kilometres follows a clear footpath to Ard Ban and Coille Ghillie, largely deserted townships with tropical white sand beaches. Toscaig is at the road end. This sleepy spot is where you might quietly catch sight of an otter.

The romance of the B8056, and a fabulous beach

Among my favourite roads is the B8056. This single-track carriageway boldly announces itself with an enormous sign at the modest junction with the A832. It proclaims a delicious invitation to discover idyllic inlets, romantic islands, crofting townships with sea views and spectacular beaches.

Lovely Badachro is an anchorage in the shelter of Eilean Horrisdale, the largest of the islands in Loch Gairloch. It is connected to the mainland by a floating bridge that rises and falls with the tide. Hideaway cabins offer guest accommodation. The unassuming pier and store on Badachro Bay are associated with the Laird of Gairloch’s grand scheme to export dried cod from the Highlands to Bilbao in the eighteenth century. On the hill above, Badachro Distillery is a cottage industry where small quantities of gin are made in a copper still known as Delilah.

As the road travels towards Red Point, the views are increasingly magnificent, especially on calm sunny days when the sea sparkles. As the tarmac warms in the heat, sleepy lambs settle down to snooze. Driving with care is essential. Red Point is a glorious swathe of amber sand. This magical place was the setting for the BBC drama What We Did on Our Holiday, starring Billy Connolly.

Clachtoll: a beach, a broch, a remote shop

Clachtoll is a magical place to sea watch for dolphins, porpoises, minke whales and basking sharks. The beautifully clear, cold water of Clachtoll Bay is the first stop on a nine-destination, self-guided snorkel trail around the coast of the north-west Highlands. Information is available from the Scottish Wildlife Trust website.

Clachtoll fishing station closed in 1994. The humble bothy where salmon fishers gathered to catch the king of fish is now a tiny museum. The valuable catch was stored and kept fresh in an underground ice house. Slabs of ice were hacked from local lochs and pools in winter. A large boulder on the shore bears a plaque celebrating the life of Clachtoll-born Presbyterian minister Norman McLeod (1780–1866), who sailed from Scotland with his followers, known as ‘Normanites’. He established communities in Nova Scotia, Australia and New Zealand.

A walk north along the shore discovers the remains of an Iron Age broch monument that may have stood some 17 metres high on rocks beside the sea. Mystery surrounds the lives of the people who constructed these impressive towers around 2,000 years ago. Flossie’s of Clachtoll is a small blue beach hut of wonders. Here you will find freshly baked cakes, freshly laid eggs, freshly ground coffee, fresh local news and occasionally, Rocky the dog.

Wick: a planned town and outdoor pool

Wonderful Wick is full of surprises. Making time to stay a while and discover them properly is hugely rewarding. Wick was shaped by the economic and social impact of the Highland Clearances in the 19th century. With depopulation threatening, the British Fisheries Society proposed purpose-built fishing villages to regenerate the Highland economy. Thomas Telford was commissioned by governor Sir William Pulteney to deliver the scheme. Plans for a fully operational self-sufficient fishing community were laid in 1803 and Telford named the area on the south bank of the River Wick Pulteneytown in honour of his patron. Wick became Herringopolis, the largest herring fishing port in Europe.

A stroll around historic Pulteneytown is fascinating. Streets are named after Telford and other luminaries involved in its development. Fishing boats are depicted in Caithness stone lintels above the doorways of neat terraced houses. Popular sayings in the local dialect – like ‘A new broom can sweep clean . . . but ’e owld broom kens aal ’e coarners’ – grace the walls. Wick’s wonderful volunteer-run Heritage Centre adds hugely to the experience of this friendly town.

The Trinkie is a tidal swimming pool in the rocky foreshore. In the local dialect, trinkie means ‘trench’. A team of dedicated volunteers care for this giant saltwater bath, removing litter, refreshing paintwork and scraping away slippery seaweed with garden hoes. On bright summer days, a bracing swim followed by a picnic flask of reviving hot soup is great fun. The town boasts a further tidal pool at Blackrock shore on the north bank of the River Wick.

Caithness: eerie stories in stone

The Hill of Many Stanes is a Caithness mystery. At this ancient site, 22 rows of 200 stones stud a sloping hill. The tallest ‘stane’ or stone is around a metre high. This weird arrangement may be some 4,000 years old. The eerie massed ranks are associated perhaps with ritual and solar or lunar cycles. Whatever their purpose, the stanes are not telling. The red-and-white striped tower of redundant Clyth Ness Lighthouse peeps into view as the A99 continues south along the coast towards the Grey Cairns of Camster. The astonishing cairns are yet more examples of weirdly wonderful Caithness expressed in stone. An unrelentingly straight minor road across a bleak moor reaches the ancient site. The landscape feels lonely until the pair of immense grey mounds appears on the scene like misguided whales beached on peat. The cairns are of Neolithic origin though they have been reconstructed in modern times. A dark, narrow passageway invites visitors to crawl through time into the sacred burial chamber of ancient ancestors. Whatever your belief, the experience is extraordinary.

North Coast Journey: The Magic of Scotland’s Northern Highlands by Brigid Benson is published this week by Birlinn (£16.99, pbk) www.birlinn.co.uk @brigid_benson