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Day 1: Forres to Burghead ~ 12.75 miles
Day 2: Burghead to Lossiemouth ~ 9 miles
Day 3: Lossiemouth to Buckie ~ 15.75 miles
Day 4: Buckie to Cullen ~ 7.5 miles
Day 1 - Started at Forres railway station (
after a quick train ride from Inverness) on a beautiful sunny September morning and followed the B9011 to pick up the trail at Findhorn, stopping for a quick lunch overlooking the beautiful River Findhorn estuary.
Exited Findhorn via the sand dunes and dropped onto the spectacular beach stretching all the way to Burghead. (
Look out for dolphins in the bay).
We walked about 1/2 way along the beach, then scrambled up a dune into the Roseisle forest to cool down and get a bit of change of scenery (
and a WC).
Got into Burghead at about 4 o'clock, stayed at the Harbour Inn (
had excellent fish'n'chips there).
Day 2 - The trail after Burghead is a mixture of beach and low cliffs/dunes. Since it was a relatively short distance for the day, we got up late and took our time, enjoying the fantastic views and unseasonably warm and sunny weather.
Reached Hopeman before noon and spent the afternoon mostly walking on the beach, reaching Lossiemouth around 3pm.
Day 3 - Left Lossiemouth at around 10am, again it was a beautiful sunny day. First few miles we scrambled along the pebble beach before heading slightly inland and some easier footing parallel to the beach.
Stopped for a lovely lunch at the Speyside Coffee Roasting Co. in Garmouth. Then headed over the viaduct, through some woods and farms and north to Spey Bay where we picked up the coast again. Shortly after Spey Bay the trail cut inland again into a magical moss covered forest. We exited near Portgordon and spent the afternoon strolling along the coast into Buckie. Had a great meal at the Bengal Brasserie washed down with some Cobra beer. Highly recommended.
Day 4 - Just outside Buckie there is a viewing point at Strathlene Golf Course where we saw a pod of seals basking in the warm sun. You can also see seals from Buckie harbour. After some more coastal walking we came across a little football pitch surrounded by low cliffs. Unfortunately we didn't have a ball so we carried on through the picturesque town of Findochty.
Past Portknockie we came across Bow Fiddle rock. It is far more spectacular in real life, no photo I have seen has done it justice. (
It does look more like a whale's tale than a bow for a fiddle though).
Just as we left Bow Fiddle rock the weather turned from sunny to the more seasonal wind and rain we're all used to in Scotland at this time of year. We battled our way through the gusting winds, down through the cliffs and onto the beach leading into Cullen and the end of the trail. We reached Cullen centre around 1.30, plenty of time to grab a sandwich and dry off in time for 2 o'clock bus to Aberdeen.
