Holiday Cottages In Highland

Highland has over 1,500 self-catering cottages on selfcatering.co.uk, from log lodges in the Cairngorm pinewoods to whitewashed crofts on Skye and lochside boltholes along the Great Glen. This is Loch Ness, Ben Nevis, the NC500 and the Isle of Skye, and more than 900 of these cottages take dogs while over 200 have a hot tub.

Best areas and towns in Highland

Highland is by far the largest council area in Britain, reaching from the Cairngorms in the south to the far north coast and out to the Isle of Skye. The cottages cluster in a few clear places: the Strathspey resorts in the Cairngorms, the Great Glen along Loch Ness, the western mountains around Fort William, and the gentler coast of the Moray Firth and the eastern seaboard.

• Aviemore: the main resort of the Cairngorms, ringed by pinewoods, ski slopes and the Strathspey steam railway
• Inverness: the Highland capital at the head of the Moray Firth, a good base for Loch Ness and Culloden
• Nairn: a sunny former fishing town on the Moray Firth, with a long sandy beach and two golf links
• Portree: the harbour capital of Skye, with its row of painted houses above the bay
• Fort Augustus and Fort William: the towns that bookend the Great Glen, one at the foot of Loch Ness, the other under Ben Nevis
• Newtonmore, Grantown on Spey and Boat of Garten: quiet Strathspey villages near Aviemore, good for walking, wildlife and the river
• Spean Bridge and Torcastle: Lochaber bases just north of Fort William, near the Commando Memorial and the Caledonian Canal
• Dornoch and Tain: handsome small towns on the eastern coast of Sutherland and Easter Ross, with a famous championship links at Dornoch
• Strathpeffer: a Victorian spa village in the hills west of Inverness
• Culbokie and Craig Dunain: rural spots on the Black Isle and the edge of Inverness, handy for the city and the firths

Beyond these, the cottages thin out into some of the emptiest country in Britain, from Wester Ross and the NC500 to the remote glens of the west coast.

The Highland coast and its beaches

The Highland coastline is enormous, running from the Moray Firth round the top of Scotland and down the indented west coast, and much of it is followed by the North Coast 500 touring route. Several beaches held a Blue Flag in 2025, including Nairn Central Beach on the Moray Firth, Dornoch and Brora on the Sutherland coast, Achmelvich Bay in Assynt and Sango Bay at Durness in the far north-west. The white-sand bays of the west, from Morar to Gairloch, are among the finest in Scotland, while seals, dolphins and the occasional whale are regular sights along the firths. Much of the interior is mountain rather than coast, with Ben Nevis, the western Cairngorms and dozens of Munros within easy reach of the cottages.

Things to do in Highland

The Highlands are made for big days out. Urquhart Castle stands in ruins above Loch Ness, Culloden Battlefield marks the last pitched battle on British soil just outside Inverness, and Eilean Donan Castle guards the road to Skye on its own little island. On Skye itself the Fairy Pools and Dunvegan Castle & Gardens draw the crowds, while the Glenfinnan Viaduct carries the Jacobite steam train over its famous curve. Around Fort William you can climb beside Neptune's Staircase on the Caledonian Canal or pay respects at the Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge, and Glencoe offers some of the most dramatic scenery in the country. Further north, Dunrobin Castle at Golspie and the John o' Groats signpost reward the long drive, and the Cairngorms National Park wraps the whole of Strathspey in forest, mountain and loch.

When to visit Highland

Late spring and early autumn are the sweet spot, with long days, settled light and fewer midges than high summer. May and June bring the best of the weather before the midge season peaks, and September turns the hills purple and gold. July and August are warmest and busiest, ideal for the beaches, the boat trips and the high mountain paths. Winter belongs to the Cairngorms, where Aviemore has Scotland's main ski centre, and to the chance of the northern lights on a clear, dark night. Whatever the month, pack for four seasons in a day.

Dog-friendly and hot-tub cottages in Highland

More than 900 of the cottages in Highland take dogs, and more than 200 have a hot tub. Browse the cottages that welcome dogs or cottages with a hot tub to narrow your search.

Getting to Highland

Inverness is the gateway to the Highlands, about three and a half hours north of Edinburgh and Glasgow by road on the A9, which carries on south to Perth and the central belt. The A82 runs the length of the Great Glen from Inverness to Fort William and Glencoe, and the A87 strikes west to the Skye Bridge. Trains reach Inverness, Aviemore and Fort William from the central belt, and the West Highland Line to Mallaig is one of the great railway journeys in the world. Inverness Airport has flights from several UK cities, with the longer drive from Glasgow or Edinburgh airports an alternative.

Useful links

• Visit Inverness Loch Ness
• Highland Council
• Cairngorms National Park Authority
• VisitScotland

Highland is the largest local authority area in the United Kingdom, covering much of the north and west of mainland Scotland together with the Isle of Skye and a scatter of smaller islands. It stretches from the Cairngorm mountains in the south to the cliffs of the far north coast, and from the Moray Firth in the east to the deeply indented Atlantic seaboard of Wester Ross and Sutherland in the west. Despite its size it holds only a small population, much of it gathered around the Moray Firth.

The land is defined by the Great Glen, a long geological fault that slices the region in two and holds the deep waters of Loch Ness. To the south rise the western Cairngorms and the peaks of Lochaber, crowned by Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain. The west and north dissolve into sea lochs, white-sand bays and bare moorland, some of the emptiest country in Europe, while the gentler east coast runs in farmland and links golf down through Easter Ross and Sutherland.

Inverness, set where the River Ness meets the firth, is the only city and the administrative heart of the region, with Fort William the main town of the west and Aviemore the resort capital of the Cairngorms. The area is a stronghold of Gaelic language and culture, and its history runs deep, from the clan battles that ended at Culloden in 1746 to the Highland Clearances that emptied so many of its glens. Today tourism, crofting, whisky and renewable energy shape a landscape long prized for its wild beauty.