📌 Wick, Highland
★★★
Another impressive coastal ruin in a spectacular location – northern Scotland has lots of these, but Castle Sinclair Girnigoe deserves better recognition. According to historical accounts there were actually two castles here – Castle Sinclair and Castle Girnigoe – connected by a drawbridge. The former is believed to have been built for beauty, the latter for strength. Over half a millennium, the exposed location hasn’t been kind to the castle(s): various tottering towers and walls look ready to fall into the sea below at any moment. Fortunately the Clan Sinclair Trust has now set about stabilising the site. The scaffolding present when we visited detracted from the atmosphere a bit, but you can see how badly needed it was!
🌍 Location
📌 Off minor road to Noss Head lighthouse, 3 mi north of Wick
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: ND 378549
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 58.478081,-3.067991
❌ No public transport within 1 mi
🚗 Car park at 🧭 ND 384546 / 🛰️ 58.475932,-3.057256
📝 Key info
⌚ Always open
🎫 Free
💬 From the car park it’s a 15-min walk (each way) to the castle, following a track through fields (⬤ Easy).
