🗺️ NC500 Attractions

The Castle of Mey is one of the most personal and touching royal residences in Scotland — the beloved summer home of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1952 until her death in 2002. The Queen Mother discovered the neglected 16th-century castle while in the depths of grief following King George VI's de…

Castle Sinclair Girnigoe is arguably the most dramatically positioned castle ruin in Scotland — and one of the most impressive anywhere in Britain. Two castles (Girnigoe built 15th century, Sinclair added in 1607) merged into a single complex standing on a narrow prom…

Old Wick Castle — also known as Castle Oliphant — is one of the oldest standing castle structures in Scotland, built in the 12th century on a remarkable sea stack south of Wick. The castle consists of a simple rectangular tower (the "keep") standing on a narrow rock promontory above the sea, with …

Keiss Castle is a striking 16th-century tower house ruin dramatically positioned on the clifftop above Keiss beach on the Caithness coast. The roofless tower stands adjacent to the later Keiss House (18th century, still occupied) creating an interesting archi…

Ackergill Tower is a remarkably well-preserved 15th-century tower house standing directly on the shore of Wick Bay, now operating as an exclusive private events venue and luxury accommodation. The tower has a turbulent history including a siege in 1547 and connections to the Gunn and Keith clans. From the A99 co…

Bucholie Castle is one of the most dramatically situated and least-visited ruins on the entire NC500 — a 12th-century Norse stronghold balanced on a narrow clifftop stack between two inlets on the Caithness coast, accessible via a narrow path between the sea and the rock on both sides. The castle is associated with Swein Asleifsson, the celebrated Norse warrior described in the Orkneyinga Saga as "the gr…

Freswick Castle is a 17th-century fortified house incorporating an earlier tower, standing above Freswick Bay on the Caithness coast between Wick and John o'Groats. It is a private estate and not open to visitors, but the exterior can be seen from the road and beach. The bay below the…

Thurso Castle stands as a substantial ruin on the eastern edge of Thurso town, at the mouth of the Thurso River. The castle was the seat of the Sinclairs of Ulbster (later the Dunbars) and the existing ruins date primarily to the 17t…

Nybster is primarily known for its Iron Age broch — a circular tower typical of the Caithness and Northern Isles coastline — sitting on a narrow promontory north of Wick with extensive coastal views. The Caithness Broch Project has documented the site and the surrounding area has a high density of prehistoric and histo…

Forse Castle is a little-visited 14th-century ruin on the Caithness coast between Whaligoe and Lybster, sitting on a clifftop above a dramatic geo (narrow cliff inlet) that acts as a natural moat. The castle was a Sutherland stronghold and the ruins retain some walling. The surrounding area has other points of inter…