Route follows many roads not used by, or inaccessible to, the large coaches
Picture above shows cliff scenery near John o'Groats; near the horizon you can see Muckle Skerry, one of Orkney's uninhabited islands.
This is not an aerial shot - you can get the same photo!
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On most Puffin Express tours we see Highland cattle but it's on this John o'Groats tour that we can virtually guarantee you photo opportunities of these shaggy beasts.
There's also a New
Zealand site with pictures of the different types of Highlanders,
black and pale examples as well as the better-known reddish-blonde ones. |
Time spent outside the vehicle can be broken down approximately as follows:
- 10-30 minutes at seals;
- 10-20 minutes with deer;
- an hour at our harbour lunch stop, divided as you please between picnicking and exploring the rock scenery;
- 20-45 minutes at prehistoric sites (more time in March, April, August-October; a shorter stop May-July);
- an hour at our main cliff visit with some of the finest rock scenery in Europe - during May, June and July we may increase this time to 75 minutes;
plus many shorter stops to look and, if so desired, to photograph - sometimes, for example, we run into our old friends Ellie and Kirsty:
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Click on thumbnail for a closer look at these beautiful Clydesdales - photo courtesy of Puffin Express client Moira Dye of Norwich
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The tour....
We leave Inverness northwards by the A9. In the Cromarty Firth,
depending on tide conditions, we may see our first seals. Beyond the Dornoch Firth we pass by the estate of Andrew Carnegie into Sutherland.
In one of the Sutherland coastal villages we stop for a drink, toilets.
On a hill above Golspie is an astonishing statue,
27m (90') high. This is of the First Duke of
Sutherland, whose agents were involved in the most notorious of the Clearances
in the Highlands in the 19th century. Another half-hour brings us to the wilds
of southern Caithness. Here we'll be watching out for red deer, the "Monarch
of the Glen". In the evenings these are often right by the roadside,
even in the morning we can usually find a few though they may be some hundreds
of yards away.
Caithness grew rich with the development of the herring fishing
in the 19th century. This resulted in the creation of many exceptionally beautiful harbours in the county and we stop at one of these for picnic lunch. (If you don't have picnic food with you, we stop where you can get the 'makings'.) If the weather isn't suitable for a picnic, we stop at a café. Either way you have up to an hour to eat and explore some of the rocky coastline.
In May, June and July we spend more time at the cliffs. On all trips we visit at least one prehistoric site (and point out many more): either a broch; the Hill o' Many Stanes; the Grey
Cairns of Camster (below); or the stone 'circle' - actually more a horseshoe - of Achavanich. In the March/April and
August-October periods we usually have more time to spend at prehistoric sites.
The guide usually picks whichever feature fits in best with the day's timing and other variables - eg weather! - but if there is a particular prehistoric feature you want to see, let us know when booking.
Built by stone-age man 5,000 years ago to honour his dead, these
are the most important chambered cairns on the mainland of Britain
- only Newgrange in Ireland and Maeshowe in Orkney are more important,
and Camster has the advantage of being a wild site with no habitations
visible; also it's FREE! Three tunnels give access to three different
burial chambers.
Photo by kind courtesy of Puffin Express client KAREN PATTON
Beyond Camster we pass the birthplace and memorial of Alexander Bain, inventor (in 1843) of the facsimile machine.
Between John o'Groats and Wick we stop at one of a number of cliffs. Here, until late July,
we nearly always find PUFFIN. This visit usually includes views of spectacular
cliff and rock scenery, especially the STACKS OF DUNCANSBY.
Another look for seals near John o' Groats before turning south. At John o'Groats or nearby you leave the tour if continung to Orkney on one of our Orkney Adventure; Orkney Overnighter; or Orkney September trips. (Passengers must do whole JoG trip to have most chance of seeing both deer & seals - though we do often see both on the north run.)
Part of the return route is usally different from the north trip. During this return journey, we tell you about a battle near Dornoch
between Viking and Pict and the dead Pict's terrible revenge.
If time permits on the way back we leave the A9 and go by the wild isolation of Loch Buidhe, where, till late July, we can expect to see osprey.
In this itinerary, we mention only a few of the more obvious creatures observed.
For a full list of birds & mammals observed, click here: CHECKLIST
This tour has strong links with 3 Commonwealth Prime Ministers: Sir John A Macdonald and John G Diefenbaker of Canada and Peter Fraser of New Zealand. Other more or less well-known people who have associations with this itinerary include the writers Neil Gunn, Robert Louis Stevenson and Harriet Beecher Stowe and the actress Aline Mowat - yes, you've probably seen her in something, even if you don't recognise the name!
One-way fares: We are sometimes asked, by people planning to spend some time in Caithness or continuing to Orkney, about the one-way fare to John o'Groats. We don't make any reduction for one-way journeys - nearly all the tour features are done on the way north and we have little chance of selling a one-way seat south - but, if you want a northward-only trip, we will pick you up, with your luggage, from accommodations in Inverness at no extra charge.
