FAQ's

Will my mobile phone work? Yes unless you are with a daft provider but probably best telling people you are out of range. You are on holiday. There is a pay phone somewhere in the village beside the recycle bins.

Can I get on the Internet using Broadband? Of course not. You are in the wilds of Scotland, doing Self Catering. Unless you have a wireless equipped computer and the correct SSID, along with a data encryption password, you will not get onto Broadband. Info. on connection settings is given on the pin board in the kitchens.

Is there a beach? Yes and No. When the tide out, there are some wonderful rock pools in the rocky shoreline with sand between the rocky bits. When the tide is fully in, there are rocks. Some very nice rocks which even get taken home for garden borders! If you do so, take a moment to research your rock. The thin line of gleaming quartz was sand during a volcanic eruption, compressed between lava flows 65 million years ago.

What's the weather like? It's Scotland, so the weather is always spectacular. In summer, the long sunny days with daylight until 11pm at night are wonderful. If it rains, it will be torrential or dreich. As is often said about Scotlands' West Coast and every other part of the world, if you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes.  In my own opinion - which is always the correct one - the best time to visit the north is January to June. My wife disagrees. She thinks May to September. (One year, we compromised and went skiing in Switzerland in April. People were sunbathing topless by the pool. The snow was not impressed.) But my sister says anytime as long as you pack for all seasons... Weather? There is always weather.

Are there shops in the area? There are two hotels, a bank, an award winning butcher's shop who's owner has also appeared on several cooking TV programs alongside the likes of Jamie Oliver, an excellent licenced and remarkably priced general store & post-office, a pretty decent cafe with a surprising menu, and a gift shop with bistro. One petrol station sells petrol/diesel and is opposite a well stocked Spar store, the other has an amazing range of products and also has an LPG pump.

What about sports? Lochcarron has its own nine-hole golf course, you can rent bicycles and canoes, there is a small sailing club and a wealth of interesting walks in all directions. And the occasional mountain... of course which is why you really came!

Pony trekking is also available close by, and cycle hire is sometimes available unless the fish are biting...

If you've towed your own boat up, the village has a public slipway and some public buoys in the bay. Opposite the Parrot House and Landervilla, there is ample space for a boat trailer.

How far away is...?

Fort William - anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours depending on how often you stop for photographs.

Inverness - anywhere from 60 minutes.

Plockton, where they filmed Hamish MacBeth - about 30 minutes

Skye - about 35 minutes

Kyle of Lochalsh and the Skye Bridge - about 30 minutes

Edinburgh - about 4 hours.

Glasgow - about 4.5 hours

Ullapool - about 2 hours depending on route and photo stops.

Applecross & Torridon - about 40 minutes. If you are a nervous driver, don't go as the pass is quite intimidating.

Dornie & Eilean Donan Castle- where they filmed "Highlander" - about 30 minutes

Strathpeffer, a pretty Victorian Spa town - about 40 minutes and watch out for the fairly common speed trap on the Dingwall side of the town.

Where do you go on holiday? That's an easy question. We don't need holidays as we're already there. Unless we go skiing!

Always remember you are on vacation and there is no need to rush. Often, the roads are straight and empty, the sky is blue, and you can be lulled into a false sense of forgetting the rules. The government are still interested in collecting speeding taxes! Actually, kidding aside, the Passing Places are designed to allow you to pass oncoming traffic and allow anyone behind to pass YOU! Highlanders like tourists but sitting behind someone doing 25 in a 60 limit can stretch their patience. Never, ever, talk to a local about cyclists!

Finally, Paranoid Motorcyclists. Are there secure bike parks at your properties?  Dream on. The worst that's going to happen is someone will take a photo of your bike. Or push it into the sea if it's a bit 'Girly or a Red Ducati '...  Georgina and I are both bikers though verging on the " when I was younger, I passed my husband twice in one lap at Knockhill " stage of life. (She was on her RC45, I was on my Marlboro Buell - not a fair lap)

What do I need to bring? Your own towels.

Finally, if you are one of the lucky 1 in a 100 of the population who suffer from Coeliacs Disease, so am I... The local hotel restaurants will not look puzzled when you query the menu. I trust them. You will be relieved to know the local shops do not stock GF breadstuffs, so do remember to bring the edible stuff you get on prescription.