Strathpeffer
Strathpeffer is a leafy Victorian spa town surrounded by wooded hills four miles west of Dingwall on the Black Isle.
During its heyday, Strathpeffer was a renowned European health resort. A recent facelift is redeveloping the grand pavilion as a performing arts centre and has recently restored the Pump Room, where visitors drank water from wells to treat all manner of ailments. You can still so this here, if you like, or at the small pavilion in the main square. The Highland Museum of Childhood, located at the restored Victorian train station, looks at growing up in the Highlands.
Strathpeffer is within striking distance of the bleak Ben Wyvis, and so is also a popular base for walkers. There are superb views from the Iron Age hill fort of Knock Farril, of the Cromarty Firth and the surrounding mountains. Another good walk is through Ord Wood to picturesque Loch Kinellan, where a small island bears the ruin of a fort.
