Wick
Wick is the principal town in the far north of the mainland.
Wick was originally a Viking settlement, and holds the claim to fame of once being the busiest herring port in Europe - in the mid-19th century. The town's story is told in the excellent Wick Heritage Centre in Bank Row, Pultneytown (Wick is actually two towns - Wick proper, and Pultneytown, immediately south across the river), which contains a fascinating array of artefacts from the old fishing days.
The dramatic 15th to 17th-century ruins of Sinclair and Girnigoe castles rise steeply from a needle-thin promontory three miles north of Wick. There's a good clifftop walk to the castles via Noss Head lighthouse from the tiny fishing village of Staxigoe. You'll encounter seabirds, including puffins, and come across the beautiful Sinclair Bay beach, popular for windsurfing and sand-yachting.
