Things to do
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Balnakeil Beach
Pale sand runs north from Balnakeil for about 3 km towards the Faraid Head peninsula, backed by high dunes. Walkers continue out along the headland for puffins and other seabirds in early summer, though part of the tip is a military site. A small car park sits beside the roofless old church at the start of the sand.
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Balnakeil Craft Village
Flat-roofed huts built as a Cold War early-warning station now hold studios, galleries, a bookshop and cafes, a short drive west of Durness. Painters, potters and jewellers work and sell on site, and a chocolatier serves thick hot chocolate. Many units keep seasonal hours, so several close between late autumn and Easter.
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Cape Wrath
Mainland Britain's north-west tip carries a Stevenson lighthouse above high cliffs, with no public road in. From May to September a small passenger ferry crosses the Kyle of Durness from Keoldale, and a minibus covers the rough track to the lighthouse. Both depend on tides, weather and live firing on the military range, so sailings can be cancelled at short notice.
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Castle Varrich
Perched on a knoll above Tongue, a ruined two-storey tower looks over the Kyle of Tongue to Ben Loyal. A waymarked path climbs from the village in about 30 minutes each way, through birch and heather. Tongue lies about 50 minutes east of Durness along the A838, much of it around the shore of Loch Eriboll.
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Ceannabeinne Beach
Sand and turquoise water fill a cove below the A838 a few kilometres east of Durness, reached by a steep path from the roadside. Above the beach, a waymarked township trail visits the ruins of a crofting village whose tenants resisted eviction in 1841. A lay-by on the road has room for only a handful of cars.
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Loch Eriboll
Cutting about 16 km inland east of Durness, this deep sea loch is followed along its whole shore by the single-track A838. Its sheltered water served as a naval anchorage in the Second World War, and ships' names are still spelled out in white stones on the hillside. Ard Neakie, a tidal spit with old lime kilns, is the best stop for photographs.
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Sandwood Bay
A pink-tinged beach backed by dunes and a freshwater loch lies on a coast with no road, reached on foot from the car park at Blairmore. The walk is about 6.5 km each way on a good track, softening to peat near the end. The sea stack Am Buachaille stands off the southern point, and the Atlantic surf is too strong for swimming most days.
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Sango Sands
Below the village centre, Sango Bay is a sandy cove broken by limestone stacks and reached by steps from the clifftop. A campsite runs along the top, with a viewpoint over the bay. Most Durness beds lie within a short walk, and the steps down turn slippery after rain.
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Smoo Cave
A sea cave in limestone opens at the head of a narrow inlet just east of the village, its wide mouth reached by steps from the A838. A boardwalk leads to an inner chamber where the Allt Smoo pours in through a sinkhole. Guided tours go deeper by small boat and on foot in the summer season, when water levels allow.
