Nairn is somewhat a hidden gem when it comes to Scottish coastal destinations. Perhaps it’s the distance from the city-dwellers of Edinburgh and Glasgow – more than a three-hour drive whichever route is chosen – or its latitude: only four European capital cities are further north.
People have made their home in and around where the town lies for millennia – certainly dating back to 5,000 BC. Many have come and gone – the ancient Picts before the Romans’ recce and then centuries of kings, thanes, bishops and barons who battled over the area’s fertile and strategic lands.
Even the town’s origins are somewhat a mystery. It takes its name from the river. The Nairn rises in the Monadhliath Mountains to the west of the Cairngorms – and it is these hills and Old Father Time that have shaped Nairn’s siting, growth and success as a stunning coastal town on the Moray Firth.
Those high hills soak up the prevailing westerly rainfall – helping to create a micro-climate that makes Nairn sunnier and drier than many other places nearby. The Picts clearly knew a thing or two.
The third
