Wick

Pulteneytown is now a living museum of fishermen's cottages and derelict sheds and stores around the near-deserted quays. It gives a good idea of the scale of the herring trade during its heyday in the mid-19th century, when over 1,000 boats set sail to catch the 'silver darlings'. Here, on Bank Row, is the superb Wick Heritage Centre. The highlight of the centre is its massive photographic collection dating from the late 19th century. Info - Easter-Oct Mon-Sat 1000-1545, £2, children £0.50, Tel. 605393.

Three miles north of Wick are the impressive 15th-century clifftop ruins of Sinclair and Girnigoe Castle. On the A99 heading north out of town is the Caithness Glass Visitors Centre, where you can watch the famous glass being blown. Info - Mon-Thu 0900-1630. The shop is open till 1700. Tel. 602286. There is a good walk along the rocky shore east of town to The Trinkie, and about a mile further on to the Brig o' Trams. Ask for details at the TIC. Before Wick, at Ulbster, is another archaeological site, the Cairn o' Get. Opposite the sign are the precipitous Whaligoe Steps, which lead down to a tiny, picturesque harbour.

One of the most fascinating archaeological sites in the north are the well-preserved Grey Cairns of Camster. These chambered cairns, dating from the third and fourth millenia BC, are burial mounds of stone raised around carefully structured circular chambers with narrow entrance passages.To get there, head a mile east of Lybster on the A9, then turn left on to the minor road leading north to Watten. The cairns are five miles along this road, on the left-hand side. They comprise two enormous prehistoric burial chambers dating from 2500 BC. They are amazingly complete, with corbelled ceilings, and can be entered on hands and knees through narrow passageways.