Golf in the Scottish Highlands

The far north is the most soul-stirring golf trip in Scotland. The scenery is wild and empty, the links are natural and uncrowded, and the light in summer lasts almost until midnight. Inverness is the gateway — fly in, hire a car, and the great courses are strung along the coast north and east.

Royal Dornoch is the jewel — remote, natural and endlessly admired, and named by many of the game's best judges as their favourite course anywhere in the world. An hour further north, Brora is a James Braid links where sheep and cattle still graze the fairways behind little electric fences — a gentle, timeless delight and a bargain. Both reward the drive many times over.

Closer to the airport, Nairn is a classic championship links on the Moray Firth — a former Walker Cup venue where the sea is in play down the entire front nine — and Castle Stuart (now Cabot Highlands) is a spectacular modern links that has hosted the Scottish Open, with sweeping views across the firth. Nearby, the Old Tom Morris links at Tain — with the Aldie Burn winding through its finish — is a charming, brilliant-value round beside Dornoch, and out on the Black Isle the ancient links at Fortrose & Rosemarkieruns along a spit into the Moray Firth beside one of Europe's best dolphin-watching spots.

Base in Dornoch for the north or Nairn/Inverness for the Moray Firth. This is a natural add-on for anyone doing the grand tour — see the 7-day itinerary.

At Dornoch, Links House is the luxurious base right by the first tee, while the Dornoch Castle Hotel — with its celebrated whisky bar of hundreds of bottles — is the characterful heart of the town. Around the Moray Firth, the Golf View at Nairn sits by the links, and Inverness offers everything from the boutique Rocpool Reserve to riverside hotels as a gateway base.

The far north rewards the drive with more than golf. Inverness is the gateway to Loch Ness and the Great Glen; Dornoch has a lovely little cathedral, a superb beach and a genuine end-of-the-world calm; and Dunrobin Castle, a fairytale pile near Golspie and Brora, is worth a visit. This is whisky country too — Glenmorangie at Tain is minutes from Dornoch, with the Speyside distilleries not far south. In high summer the light barely fades, so you can eat late and still have played 18 in the evening sun.