Balnakeil Beach

Balnakeil Beach was incredible and a must visit when traveling along the North Coast. Once camp was set up at Sango Sands, I went for a quick run down to Balnakeil Beach as the sun was starting to set. It was a picturesque scene, with a sailing boat in the bay, white sandy beach and crystal clear water. This was one of my favourite evenings on the NC500 There is parking nearby along the road and easy access to the beach. The road is single lane in parts but plenty of space to get a van or car down. Tip: Park in Durness and walk to Balnakeil Beach. It's a scenic walk with fantastic surrounding views of the mountains, green fields and the seafront below More photos on @ roam_with_ross

We've visited Durness a few years ago. But didn't really have time to look around. This time we brought a bit more time with. Parked our car at the very pretty remains of the Balnakeil Church and then headed to the beach. It was a windy, grey and rainy day. Sometimes the sun broke through though. Made a very nice, magical and eerie atmosphere. Despite the weather there were some visitors. A good number of the with dogs. So our Bulldog had fun meeting furry friends on this dog-friendly beach. It is a beautiful beach. By the colour you feel like transported right into the caribbean. It's just a wee bit colder here. A wide, very clean and fine sand beach. Backed by lovely dunes. Great for a walk. Nice to let your dog run free. We followed the long beach to the northern end and planned on walking to the Faraid Head. There's a nice trail heading there. A pretty easy walk. But we only managed halfway. The wind was incredibly strong that day. The sand blew in our faces and in our dogs. It was quite painful and didn't make sense to keep going that day. So we decided to head back... the rain did hit us a few minutes later back on the beach. Nonetheless a wonderful place to visit. And maybe next time we'll get to the Faraid Head.

Spectacular beach in the far north-west of Scotland. Balnakeil Bay gets flatter towards the beach. As a result, the cold Atlantic water can warm up if there is enough sunshine. Two kilometers of the finest sandy beach and hardly anyone far and wide. The only thing you won't find here is shade, unless clouds are hiding the sun. In spring and summer, please be sure to stay on the paths through the dunes so as not to disturb the birds while they are rearing.

Absolutely my favourite beach in Scotland! Combines amazing sand, crystal clear water and spectacular views of the mountains and cliffs. If you’re lucky you’ll also see the fast jets from NATO doing their practice bombing runs too. Make sure you try and do the walk up to the radar station and return via the cliffs on the east side and then back via the beach.