Plenty for children and families to do on the North Coast 500
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Children with a sense of adventure will love the North Coast 500, and there are plenty of attractions just for them!
From golden sandy beaches and wildlife wonders to crafts and hands-on fun at museums, you will be able to keep the little ones entertained on your journey.
Taking a road trip can be tiring for young ones, so make sure you’ve got plenty of things they can do while in the car or motorhome, such as colouring books, reading or toys to play with or cuddle when they get sleepy.
And, of course, they will need plenty of snacks, which you can pick up at local stores as you travel.
Along the route there are a number of places that are worth families looking out for. Here are just some of them:
Inverness Castle Viewpoint
Climb the steps to the top of the tower and get a 360-degree view over Inverness and the surrounding countryside. You can watch a film showing the city from the air before making your way up the steps. Booking advised in high season.
www.highlifehighland.com/invernesscastleviewpoint
Wyvis Natural Play Park
A wonderful new forest play area opened in 2018 and is proving popular with little ones from miles around. Children can climb, balance, swing or try out the zip wire for a real adventure. Set among beautiful woodland below the Munro of Ben Wyvis, it is a great place for the kids to stretch their legs and get closer to nature. The park can be reached by a short walk from Silverbridge, near Garve, on the A835 or there is limited parking closer by. For directions, search “Wyvis Natural Play Park – Garve” on Facebook.
Dolphin spotting
The Moray Firth has its very own population of bottlenose dolphins – and you could be lucky enough to spot one! From the land, the best place to go is Chanonry Point, near Rosemarkie on the Black Isle, where the cetaceans can often be seen jumping out of the water in front of a crowd of enthralled onlookers.
Or you could take a boat trip to get a closer look – you never know what else you might see out there. Orcas have been spotted around the shores of the Highlands, along with basking sharks, porpoises and other marine mammals. Boat trips take place from Cromarty, Wick, Ullapool, John O’Groats, Inverness, Kylesku and elsewhere around the North Coast 500.
Feed the animals at the Castle of Mey
Children can help bottle feed the lambs and learn more about our furry friends at the Animal Centre in the East Woods at the Castle of Mey. Supervised sessions allow them to be hands-on with rabbits and other smaller creatures, while kids and parents can have a try at milking Daisy, the wooden cow. Open May to September (except July 24 to August 5 inclusive), 10am-5pm.
Tollie Red Kites
Watch these magnificent birds of prey up close as volunteers feed the kites every day from a specially converted farmstead building on the Brahan Estate near Dingwall. As well as watching this spectacle, kids can draw and colour or try out the floor puzzles.
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/tollie-red-kites/
Children’s Room at the Historylinks Museum in Dornoch
Dressing up as a Viking and having your photograph taken in the stocks outside is all part of the fun of a visit to the Historylinks Museum in Dornoch. There are puzzles and quizzes to keep the children entertained throughout their visit, as well as building blocks for them to create their own model of the town’s cathedral. The Children’s Room also has a cabinet for children to display their own items.
www.historylinks.org.uk/childrens-room
Crafts for kids at Timespan, Helmsdale
Young children can get creative with a range of crafts and other activities at Timespan in Helmsdale. The public art gallery and museum works to preserve the culture of the northern Highlands and promote the area’s thriving art scene.
