Helmsdale

By train: Four trains a day M-Sat run north from Inverness via Dingwall, Tain, Golspie (for Dunrobin Castle) and Brora to Helmsdale, taking 2 hrs 30 min. There's only one train on Sunday. They continue north to Thurso and Wick.
is 200 yards west of the village.
By bus: Stagecoach Highlands Bus X98 / X99 runs four times daily from Inverness via Tain, Dornoch and Brora to Helmsdale, 2 hours; two on Sunday. The buses continue north to Wick and Thurso.
Stagecoach Bus 66 runs three times a day from Lairg via Golspie and Brora to Helmsdale, 80 mins. Lairg has buses to Kinlochbervie and Durness on the west coast.

The village is walkable but you need a car to reach the distillery or Badbea.

• commemorates those who left the Highlands. It's by the A9 road bridge across the river: building this in the 1970s demolished what was left of Helmsdale castle.

• Timespan Museum and Gallery

  phone: +44 1431 821327
  address: Dunrobin Street, KW8 6JA
  Local history museum, covering the Clearances, and the Helmsdale gold rush of 1869. You can still pan for gold further up the valley. With café.
• , 5 miles north of Helmsdale along A9, was a village whose inhabitants were evicted to make way for sheep. Such remains are dotted all over these hills and glens but this is one of the most accessible.

• Clynelish Distillery

  phone: +44 1408 623000
  address: Brora KW9 6LR
  Diageo whisky distillery, most product blended into Johnnie Walker but issues some single malt.

• Helmsdale Highland Games are held on the middle Saturday of August in Couper Park. Parades, pipe bands, tug of war, caber-tossing, and track and field events. The next event is Sat 15 Aug 2020.

• Thyme and Plaice

  phone: +44 1431 821598
  address: 7 Dunrobin St
  Friendly casual place, vegan options. No alcohol but bring your own.

• La Mirage

  phone: +44 1431 821615
  address: 7-9 Dunrobin St KW8 6JA
  Fish are the thing here.

• Try Bannockburn Inn or Tartan Lounge, both on Stafford Street.

• Helmsdale Hostel

  phone: +44 7971 516287
  address: Stafford St Helmsdale
  Clean friendly well-run hostel, six rooms en suite each with four beds. Open all year but Nov-March only for group bookings.

• Belgrave Arms Hotel

  phone: +44 1431 821242
  address: Dunrobin St Helmsdale KW8 6JX
  Small friendly 3-star with restaurant.

• Kindale House

  phone: +44 1431 821415
  address: Lilleshall St Helmsdale KW8 6JF
  Clean central friendly B&B.

• North to Wick, Thurso and John o'Groats
• South to Tain and Inverness