Endless expanses – that could also be the title of this article, because the fine sandy beaches of Findhorn are almost infinitely long…
Where is Findhorn? That’s what I asked myself when my wife brought up the name.
She was in the process of researching a pitch for our next overnight stay and I was just about to steer our (slightly too big) motorhome towards Inverness.
Findhorn is located on the north-east coast, not far from Inverness. The coasts of the north-east and east
although we had already been to Scotland several times. We were yet to learn to love them, but we didn’t realise that at the time.
A little unfocussed, I must have said ‘yes, ok’ and ‘poof’ the place was booked.
One afternoon in Inverness and the Clava Cairns later, we chug along the mouth of the Moray Firth to the north-east. The country here is rather flat, but after the quite sweat-inducing journeys (with our large motorhome on the smallest roads) in the mountainous north-west, I’m not at all angry about it.
Even before we reach the village of Findhorn, my attention is suddenly activated: We follow a sandy bay, or is it a river estuary? Behind it are pine forests and numerous sailing boats and motorboats bob leisurely in the water – a very beautiful scene!
I also like the village itself straight away: beautiful little old cottages and cute little houses, a few larger houses and a nice little street right on the shore.
Some of the houses are built in the typical Scottish style from large, dark stone blocks. But a surprising number are also painted in bright colours, a rather unusual sight in Scotland.
Our pitch is located near the harbour and directly in the dunes. There is also a large car park for anyone who wants to visit the beach.
We arrive and follow our dog, who has had the sea in his nose for a long time and finally wants to play ball on the beach. The dune belt is wide and beautiful. When the view of the sea opens up, we are speechless: a huge fine sandy beach lies before us.
Huge, because it is seemingly infinitely wide and now, at low tide, also very deep. Sandy beach as far as the eye can see – almost.
Because on the edge of the dunes there are numerous small, colourful bathing huts made of brightly painted wood. A super pretty sight. In the distance, far to the west, you can see the high mountains of the Scottish north-west, the northernmost foothills of the Highlands.
In the evening, we stroll into the harbour, where we find food and drink at a quaint pub-restaurant. We take a seat on one of the benches outside and look out over the small sandy bay with jetties and boats anchored in the water. A beautiful picture.
So nice that we add another night and go for a ride on the electric folding bike the next day (with dog trailer). We cycle back through the beautiful village and along the road and turn into the Eco-Village, the first eco-village in Scotland? Or one of the first.
A little further on, we return to the beach through an extensive dune landscape with hiking trails. It is actually the same beach as before, or an extension of it, as it stretches for several kilometres along the coast.
We follow the small beach roads and paths and find our way back to Findhorn. Another short photo walk and we find ourselves back at our harbour restaurant. There’s already a lot going on here, as the local sea rescue service is honouring one of its long-serving volunteers today.
Sea rescue plays a major role here, as I have also experienced in Ireland. Every year, money is collected for funding, there are charity events and volunteers are always needed.
It really makes sense for the islands with thousands of kilometres of coastline, where there are so many swimmers and boats out and about, not to mention the many fishing boats.
Over the next few days, we will follow the coast further east and then south and keep finding beautiful beaches and super nice harbour towns. One of them is the cute harbour town of Portsoy, which I will write a separate article about, which I will link below.
Also worth mentioning are Hopeman East Beach, Findochty Harbour and Beach, Bow Fiddle Rock, a great rock formation on the coast, and Pennan Harbour, a tiny bay with a cool tiny harbour.
Conclusion
Anyone travelling to Scotland will certainly already know about Edinburgh, Loch Lomond and Loch Ness, the Isle of Skye and the Highlands from Glencoe to Inverness.
But Scotland also has some wonderful landscapes and coastlines off the beaten track. We found the north-east coast very beautiful and really enjoyed our time there.
Even if the north-east coast is perhaps less spectacular than the high, brown peaks of the Highlands, it is also much more inviting.
Incidentally, it is also more inviting in terms of the weather, as the east of the country receives far less rainfall than the west. This is because the Atlantic usually brings the large amounts of rain with the westerly wind.
The clouds rain down over the mountains of the west and by the time they reach the east, they have already shed a large part of their burden. Incidentally, the same phenomenon occurs in Ireland.
So the Scottish north-east is definitely a hot tip!
More interesting articles or you
Coming soon…
Picture credits cover picture: Colourful rainbow over colourful beach huts near Findhorn (photo: Ulrich Knüppel-Gertberg)
